Purpose: Fast formula card for capacity, load, and online status. For the full system — units, infusion 96/4, substation connectionCapacity dilution, allocations, and the GridCascade brownout — see energy.md. For workflows (infusing, wiring substations, offline recovery) see the structs-energy skill.
The chain stores power in milliwatts: 1 W = 1,000 chain units, 1 kW = 1,000,000. Player base draw is 25000 = 25 W; 1 ualpha infused = 1 mW, so 1 gram of Alpha = 1 kW. See energy.md — Units.
online = (load + structsLoad) <= (capacity + capacitySecondary)
availablePower = (capacity + capacitySecondary) - (load + structsLoad)
allocatable = capacity - load
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
capacity |
Your own generation (infusions). The only capacity you can allocate out. |
capacitySecondary |
Received from a substation you’re connected to (its connectionCapacity). Not re-allocatable. |
load |
Power you’ve allocated out. |
structsLoad |
Player passive draw (25 W) + sum of passiveDraw of your online structs. |
If load + structsLoad exceeds capacity + capacitySecondary, the player goes offline and cannot act until load is reduced (deactivate structs) or capacity raised (infuse/agreement). Online is checked per message; recovery actions are never gated. Energy is per-block and ephemeral — idle capacity is waste, not savings.
Each struct needs BuildDraw while building and PassiveDraw once online (both must fit available capacity). Examples (watts):
| Struct | Build | Passive | Total while building |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ore Extractor | 500 W | 500 W | 1,000 W |
| Planetary Defense Cannon | 600 W | 600 W | 1,200 W |
| Ore Bunker | 750 W | 750 W | 1,500 W |
Build draw is temporary and releases when the build completes. Full per-struct draws and build limits: struct-types.md.
New players usually start with zero personal capacity and rely on capacitySecondary from their guild substation. Cumulative load through the standard onboarding build order:
| Item | Build Draw | Passive Draw | Cumulative Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player (base) | — | 25 W | 25 W |
| Command Ship (build) | 50 W | — | 75 W |
| Command Ship (online) | — | 50 W | 75 W |
| Ore Extractor (build) | 500 W | — | 575 W |
| Ore Extractor (online) | — | 500 W | 575 W |
| Ore Refinery (build) | 500 W | — | 1,075 W |
| Ore Refinery (online) | — | 500 W | 1,075 W |
Worst-case load during onboarding is ~1,075 W (all three structs online plus a build in progress). Minimum viable capacity: ~575 W for player + Command Ship + Ore Extractor online. If the guild substation provides less, activate the Command Ship first, then build one struct at a time.
| Entity | Online When |
|---|---|
| Player | availablePower ≥ 0 |
| Struct | available capacity ≥ struct.passiveDraw |
False positive: a player on a substation pool can show capacity = 0 while structs run fine — the substation supplies capacitySecondary. Use structsLoad > 0 as the real “functioning” signal, not capacity > 0.
Reactor infusion (safe, reversible, you keep ~96%), generator infusion (more kW/gram but irreversible and raidable), or buying via an agreement. Rates, the 96/4 split, and substation distribution are in energy.md.