Orders, Behaviours and Assignments
The captains of ships (both player owned and NPC) are capable of performing a variety of tasks based on the skill level of the captain and the size/role of ship flown. These tasks can be direct Orders, Default Behaviours which are automatically performed when there are no orders queued or Assignments where a ship will perform a task or set of tasks for their commander. Player owned ships can be ordered by selecting the ship with a left click and then right clicking the target object/location to open a menu with a choice of available orders. The Default Behaviour for the ship is set under the Behaviour section of the Information Menu. Some behaviours have additional fields that need to be set before the ship will begin performing the task.
Orders
Orders are instructions that can be given to ships or groups of ships, they typically are a simple task "mine at this spot for this ware" or "fly to this spot", after executing the order the ship will generally return to its default behaviour.
Orders are provided to ships by selecting them in the map (LEFT-CLICK) and then either opening the ship(s)' context menu (RIGHT-CLICK) to assign a general order or opening the context menu for how that ship interacts with a target (RIGHT-CLICK target object).
| Icon | Name | Skill | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Assign to Commander | 0 | Assigns the ship(s) to a Commander (either a ship or station) to begin an Assignment E.g. Miner -> Assign to Commander -> Mining Station -> Mine for Commander -> Group -> Alpha |
 | Attack | 0 | Instructs the ship(s) to attack a particular target or sequence of targets. |
 | Attack in Range | 0 | Instructs the ship(s) to attack any hostile target (as set in the fire authorisation overrides) within a chosen radius. |
 | Board | 0 | Instructs ship(s) to begin a boarding operation. This order will open the boarding menu and ship behaviours during the boarding operation can be greater customised within this menu. See Also: Combat and Boarding |
 | Collect | 0 | Orders a ship to retrieve a cargo container. |
 | Collect Drops | 0 | Orders a ship to retrieve all cargo containers in their radar range about a chosen position. |
 | Collect Lockbox | 0 | Orders a ship to attempt to open a lockbox. Caution is advised as lockboxes can be rigged with explosives and NPC pilots don't have the finest accuracy. |
 | Crew Transfer | 0 | Orders a pair of ships to exchange crew. The specifics of which crew are swapped is handled by the crew transfer menu which pops up when this order is given. |
 | Deploy Object | 0 | Orders a ship to deploy a deployable at a specified location. |
 | Dock and Wait | 0 | Instructs a ship to dock at a valid target (i.e. it needs to be friendly and have an appropriately sized docking bay) and remain docked until instructed to do otherwise. |
 | Dock At | 0 | Instructs a ship to dock at a valid target (i.e. it needs to be friendly and have an appropriately sized docking bay) and then resume its prior default behaviour. |
 | Equip/Re-equip/Repair | 0 | Instructs a ship to fly to a pre-selected wharf, equipment dock or shipyard and undergo repairs or upgrades. |
 | Escort | 0 | Orders a ship or group of ships to escort a particular ship. This has similar behaviour to the defend assignment for ships and stations. This order has the benefit of allowing player ships to be effectively assigned to NPC faction ships. This carries the same caveats though as the defend behaviour where escorting ships won't proactively attack enemies and will only retaliate after their escortee has been attacked |
 | Explore | 0 | Orders a ship to explore a sector, either the sector that the ship is already in or through a jump gate. The ship will then fly at cruise speed in an outwards spiral. |
 | Exchange Wares | 0 | Commands a ship to exchange wares with another asset belonging to the player (this can be another ship (requires L ships with cargo drones), a station or a station's build storage). This offers greater flexibility over trading with assets as the amounts aren't limited to the demand and assets like build storages can be over filled. |
 | Find Build Tasks | 0 | Instructs a builder to roam the galaxy with the goal to undertake station construction jobs. |
 | Fly and Wait | 0 | Instructs ship(s) to fly to a specified location in the map. This location can be adjusted "vertically" by holding shift and left clicking the target point while dragging. |
 | Flee | 0 | This order can only be given if the ship has been attacked and is given to override the ship's default response. |
 | Follow | 0 | Commands a ship(s) to fly with a target ship. The ship(s) will not attempt to defend or attack on behalf of their target ship in any way. |
 | Mine | 0 | Commands a mining ship to mine a single resource at a single location (the ship will not sell the goods it mines). Use of this command is limited to special circumstances, automine and the station mining assignments perform better for general mining. |
 | Dock to Trade | 0 | Orders a ship to dock at a station and then open the trade menu when docked. The main use of this function is to trade with stations with sale orders not being updated by satellites or ship traffic |
 | Protect until further Notice | 0 | Different to Postion Defence Commands a ship or ships to attack any ships that come within a specified distance of its target object. This is distinct from attack in range as the order doesn't complete when all enemy targets are defeated, making it a semi-permanent means of protecting an object. |
 | Recall Subordinates | 0 | Instructs a commander to have its subordinates return to the commander. In the case of carriers this will order them to dock as well. |
 | Recycle | 0 |
Default Behaviours
Behaviours are what a ship will perform when no direct orders can be given. Behaviours can be incredibly diverse and range from mining for a particular station to patrolling a sector. Behaviours are also typically "fire and forget" and ships can be expected to complete their behaviour actions independently of player micromanagement.
| Icon | Name | Skill | Description |
| Combat | |||
 | Patrol | 0 | Ship(s) meander around a chosen sector at cruise speed and will engage any enemies encountered within the ship(s)' radar range. Ships given this command will not respond to threats that they cannot directly see, that is if a ship on the other side of the sector is being attacked by pirates the patrolling ship(s) will not intervene as they themselves cannot "see" the pirate. This command hence works best with large amounts of ships each performing the patrol behaviour to get the best possible coverage. |
| Police | 2 | Similar to patrol ship(s) will meander around a chosen sector that is owned by the player and will attempt to enforce the illegal wares set by the player. Players should be warned as this can be a way to lose reputation as setting common wares like energy cells to be illegal in the player's sectors will not cause the average NPC trader to drop their cargo. This then upsets the player's policing ships who attack the terrible brigand who traffics energy cells and will then significantly drop relations with the offending faction. |
| Protect Position | 0 | Different to Position Defence Commands a ship or ships to attack any ships that come within a specified distance of its target position. This is distinct from attack in range as the order doesn't complete when all enemy targets are defeated, making it a semi-permanent means of protecting an area. |
| Protect Ship | 0 | Identical to escort |
| Protect Station | 0 | Similar to escort and protect position but is used for defending friendly stations. For defending player-owned stations Defend Commander (Assignment) makes the property-owned menu more readable. |
| Mining | |||
 | Local AutoMine | 0 | The basic AutoMine routine allows a mining ship to mine 1 resource in 1 sector and then sell the spoils to any station purchasing that ware within the sector. |
 | Advanced AutoMine | 3 | The Advanced AutoMine routine allows a mining ship to mine and trade within 3 jumps of a starting sector. The routine also allows for selecting multiple wares to mine and trade |
 | Expert AutoMine | 4 | |
| Navigation | |||
| Dock and Wait | 0 | The ship will dock at a target ship or station when not completing manually assigned instructions. |
| Fly and Wait | 0 | The ship will fly to a position and wait when not completing manually assigned instructions. |
| Fly to Object | 0 | The ship will fly to the vicinity of a ship, station, gate or other object when not completing manually assigned instructions. In the case of a ship it behaves identically to "Follow Ship". |
| Follow Ship | 0 | The ship will fly with a target ship. The ship will not attempt to defend or attack on behalf of their target ship in any way. |
 | Hold Position | 0 | Ships operating with this behaviour will do nothing unless given and order or an assignment. |
| Salvage | |||
| Auto-Salvage | 2 | Salvaging ships will tow wreckage to scrap processing facilities. Their operating range is at minimum 2 jumps and will increase to match the weighted crew skill (for a max of 5 jumps). |
| Trade | |||
 | Local AutoTrade | 0 | The basic AutoTrade routine allows a trading ship to trade 1 ware in 1 sector. |
 | Advanced AutoTrade | 3 | The Advanced AutoTrade routine allows a trading ship to trade multiple wares with the range (in jumps) being equivalent to the pilot's skill. |
 | Fill Shortages | 2 | Ship (recommended for L traders) will buy a ware en masse from a specified whitelist at a station and sell it in smaller amounts to stations/resupply ships. |
| Find Build Tasks | 0 | Builder ship will fly slowly around the galaxy awaiting a request to build a station from an NPC faction or the Player. NPC factions will not hire player owned builder ships and as such this behaviour does not fulfill any real functionality. |
 | Revisit Known Stations | 1 | Ship will fly between stations in a chosen sector, dock at them temporarily, and then proceed to the next station to update trade offers as an alternative to satellites. (It is most useful for leveling up pilots). |
 | Supply Fleet | 0 | Resupply ship will resupply either a sector or a fleet depending on the player's choice. see also: Resupply Ships |
| Advanced | |||
| Repeat Orders | 1 | Ship will repeat a set of orders transforming the order queue into the order loop. | |
Assignments
Ships can be assigned to a commander to fulfill a default behaviour on their behalf. Assignments range from mining for a station to intercepting fighters and medium ships for their fleet commander.
Assignments are created with the "Assign Role for" order.
| Icon | Name | Skill | Description |
| Defend Commander | 0 | Ship(s) will defend their commanding ship/ station and will act when the commanding ship/station is attacked. Subordinates will not be proactive in engaging enemy targets and their commander or another fleet member must be attacked to provoke retaliation. |
| Defend Position | 0 | Ship(s) will defend a particular region of space for their commanding carrier in a more "portable" and adaptable variation on the default behaviour of the same name. Multiple positions can be set-up within the galaxy and there are options for the following:
These 3 options are all selected by default and can be turned on/off by group. |
| Attack with Commander | 0 | Ships(s) will attack their commanding ship/station's target. |
| Intercept for Commander | 0 | Ship(s) will attack hostile fighters (S/M) ships near its commander. |
| Bombard for Commander | 0 | Ship(s) will attack hostile capital ships (L/XL) ships near its commander. |
| Follow Commander | 0 | Ship(s) will follow their commanding ship and will not respond if attacked (except as dictated by their global orders, but will certainly not respond as a fleet) |
| Supply Commander's Fleet | 0 | Resupply ship(s) will buy wares to resupply and repair their commanding ship's fleet. When not trading for wares the resupply ship will try to fly with the fleet. See also: Resupply Ships |
| Trade for Commander | 0 | Trading ship(s) will trade resources for their commanding station or auxiliary ship. |
| Mine for Commander | 0 | Mining ship(s) will collect/mine resources for their commanding station. |
| Salvage for Commander | 0 | Tug ship(s) will collect scrap for their commanding station and deliver them to the processor module(s). |
 | Mimic Commander's Behaviour | Equal or greater than skill required for commander's behaviour | Ship(s) will copy the commander's default behaviour. This may be a behaviour like patrol or another assignment to another commander. |