District Center

The District Center is the building that defines a district in Timberborn. A district consists of every path tile and every building connected through an unbroken chain of paths back to its District Center. Each District Center provides the core administrative functions for its district: it defines the Path Network, holds the district's population and resource pools, supplies four built-in builder slots, and opens the district-specific migration and worker-type controls. The first District Center is placed for free at the start of the game.

District Path Networks radiate outward from a District Center and cannot cross the path network of another District Center without a District Crossing between them. When a District Center is selected, a path line extends along connected paths to show the district boundary; after 70 tiles the indicator changes color from green to red to show distant path reach and increased travel time. Needs satisfied in one district do not carry over to another. Each district maintains its own population count, wellbeing score, and separate resource pools; resources are not automatically shared across district borders and workers will not cross District Gates or path boundaries to work. Movement of people between districts is handled by migration rather than routine work travel.

A new District Center can be built for free and without a builder. There can only be one District Center in any given district, so planned expansion must be segregated from existing districts before construction by removing or rearranging connected paths. Moving an existing District Center is allowed but requires care: the new District Center must connect to the existing path network for existing buildings to function, and relocating it moves the administrative center relative to resources and workers.

The District Center detail window includes district-specific controls. When multiple districts exist, the Migrate Population control opens the Manage Settlement Migration interface to move Beavers and Bots between districts. After Bots are unlocked, the District Center lets you set the default worker type for new buildings in that district; if Bots are chosen but a given Bot worker type is not yet unlocked, Beavers remain the default for that building type until changed.

• The District Center supplies 4 builder slots by default; additional builders come from Builder's Huts in the same district, not from adding more District Centers.
• Build a new District Center only after you have segregated the area from other path networks; connecting two District Centers directly without a crossing merges the areas into one district.
• Use the path-range line as a planning tool: the color change at ~70 tiles highlights when travel times become large and building efficiency falls.
• Migrate population only when the destination district has housing and basic services; migrating beavers to a district without available housing or food can leave them homeless or destitute.
• When planning multi-district layouts, treat each District Center as the heart of a semi-self-sufficient unit with its own water, food, housing, and entertainment to survive temporary crossing disruptions.