Interface Guide
A comprehensive breakdown of the MWarfare user interface elements, their functions, and how to use them effectively.
Main Layout Overview
The mobile resource bar has no separate Home shortcut. The existing Home entry in the player menu still returns to Overview; desktop navigation and Credits displays are unchanged.
Desktop side navigation buttons are about 10% smaller than the former 48px size; the native phone shell has no desktop sidebars. This adjusts the navigation artwork, not the underlying destinations or station selection.
Buildings, Shipyard, and Rankings use floating workspaces like Exchange, without large background frames. Construction queues and item details keep their controls and smaller shaded elements readable without enclosing the whole pane. On desktop, the Buildings cost, Improve and Teardown sections and Shipyard cost and build controls also sit on transparent detail panes.
The game interface is divided into several key areas:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ RESOURCE BAR │
├──────────┬─────────────────────────────┬────────────────────┤
│ │ │ │
│ LEFT │ CONTENT CONTAINER │ RIGHT │
│ MENU │ (Main Game Area) │ MENU │
│ │ │ │
├──────────┴─────────────────────────────┴────────────────────┤
│ CHAT │ STATION SELECTOR │ MESSAGE PANEL │
├───────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ FOOTER NAVIGATION │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Resource Bar
At the top, the resource bar shows the selected station's material stock, capacity, production and live energy balance. Credits belong to the selected galaxy; G belongs to your whole account.
Resource Types
| Resource | Color | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | Gray | Primary building material for all structures |
| Crystal | Blue | Used for construction and ships |
| Deuterium | Cyan | Fuel for ships and advanced technologies |
| Energy | Yellow | Powers resource production (not stored) |
Reading Resource Values
Resource details let you compare current stocks, capacity and hourly production:
125,430 / 500,000 (+1,234/h)
↑ ↑ ↑
Current Storage Production
Amount Capacity Per Hour
Resource Bar Indicators
- Normal - Resources within safe storage limits
- Yellow Glow - Storage at 90%+ capacity (resources being wasted)
- Red Glow - Negative energy balance (production reduced)
- Storage Timer - Metal, Crystal, Deuterium, and active Fuel Cell lines show a small countdown to the right of the bar so you can see when that storage will fill at your current production rate.
- Energy Satellite Hint - When energy is negative, the Energy line shows how many Solar Satellites would break even based on the selected station's current per-satellite output.
- No Factory, No Fuel Cell Timer - If a station has no Energy Cell Factory, the Fuel Cell line does not show a timer.
Hovering for Details
Hover over any resource to see:
- Exact production per hour
- Current storage capacity
- Time until storage is full
- Production breakdown by source
Currency Shortcuts
- Credits appear in light blue in the bottom-left corner on desktop and in the mobile/PWA footer. Select the balance to open your wallet and ledger.
- On desktop, G appears in gold at the bottom right, with two decimal places (for example, 1234.00 G) and a small store icon. Mobile and phone-layout PWAs show G-STORE text with that icon instead of the G balance. Select the text or icon to open Skins, then choose Get G for packs and contributions. The shortcut appears when the store is enabled.
In 3.0.5, Resource Settings includes Credits and Quantum Datacenter in the normal building table on desktop and phone. The row shows hourly Credit output, Fuel Cell and Deuterium use, fuel availability and its 0–100% production control. If either input runs out, only Datacenter income stops; your normal galaxy income continues.
Mobile Header
The G-number button opens your galaxy and player menu. The station icon opens your station selector, with resources between the header controls. Current galaxy and station choices matter before any build, trade or launch.
Mobile Build shortcuts
At the top of Build, use Industry, Station Defense, then Resource Settings. Industry appears when it is available in your galaxy. These shortcuts keep your current station selected.
Mobile Launch
In Units → Launch, a shortcut row below the Build / Launch tabs opens TSquad, Frontier, and Infiltration. Frontier and Infiltration appear only in galaxies where those features are available. This row is hidden when you switch back to Units → Build or another main tab.
In Units → Launch, the origin, destination, and mission icons share one row. Origin and Destination labels sit above their images, with coordinate captions (including station slot in station mode) beneath the origin and beneath a destination once all its coordinates are entered. Your current station is the origin; a fresh launch has no destination yet. On tablets, the station and mission artwork is larger than on phones; the same route, cargo and mission rules apply. Tap the destination icon to choose one of your worlds from the horizontal row, or enter coordinates and a target type. Links from the galaxy or an ACS invitation can fill in this route for you.
Once the route is filled in, tap the mission icon to choose a mission before selecting units. These initial choices express what you want to do, not permission to launch; some missions require special units, targets, or an ACS invitation. The mission icon has a cyan accent when the chooser is enabled; this does not mean the fleet is ready to send.
Tap Select ships beneath the Origin / Destination / Mission row to open the abbreviated launchable-ship grid. Tile tooltips and quantity labels retain the full ship names. Large stock counts are abbreviated on each tile; its tooltip has the exact amount. Missiles are not in this grid; select Missile Attack and choose the missile count in its separate settings. After closing the ship picker, your selected ship images and quantities appear inside the Select ships button: one through six ship types share one row with larger artwork, and seven or more use two rows. The selected button stays no taller than one and a half times its empty height. Large quantities use compact labels; reopen the picker to review or change exact quantities. Clearing your selection restores the Select ships label. After you choose units and quantities, the server checks them against the route; only eligible missions remain, and an incompatible mission selection is cleared. Changing units or coordinates checks availability again; you cannot launch while that check is pending or with no units. Clear selected ships before switching to a missile attack; missile count and target are chosen outside Select ships. Changing origin reloads that world's inventory rather than reusing the old fleet.
Mobile Launch does not show stasis or daily upkeep details. Check Shipyard for held ships and Credits for upkeep charges; billing is active in G1–G4.
Deep-space missions use position 16. ACS attacks use their invitation's destination, and missile attacks keep their own target settings. For cargo, >> loads as much as the origin and remaining hold permit, << clears the row, and Load All fills Fuel Cells, Deuterium, Crystal, then Metal. Red Not enough cargo indicates origin stock left behind because the hold cannot fit it; travel fuel remains separate. The close button or Escape dismisses each picker and returns keyboard focus to its opener.
In 3.0.5, the Frontier details panel places Launch expedition beside Mission at the top, so you can review the selected route before committing ships and its Credit launch fee.
Mobile Build details
In Build, tap a building to open its details from the bottom of the screen. The panel fills the space up to the bottom edge of the tabs, even for short details. Scroll inside the panel to review costs, requirements, and available actions; the close button stays at the top. Tap that button or the shaded area outside the panel to return to the building grid. With a keyboard, Escape closes the panel and returns focus to the building you selected. Switching tabs also closes the details.
Left Navigation Menu
The left side contains production and construction-focused pages:
BUILDINGS
Access your station structures:
- Resource Buildings - Mines and storage facilities
- Productivity Buildings - Factories, labs, and support structures
- View current levels, effective material and Credit costs
- Queue building upgrades
RESEARCH
Manage your research:
- Every technology is available from level 0. No lab level, other technology, section threshold, or neighboring node is needed to start it.
- In Research Constellation mode, search the category list and select a technology to see its price and bonuses.
- Spend RP for an immediate level, or choose Automatically invest RP to fund a technology over time, including its first level.
- Research costs and level caps still apply. Physical Research Labs generate RP.
- Researching a technology can still be required to build a ship or building or launch a mission.
- G1–G4 use RP rather than timed research queues.
DEFENCE
Build station defenses:
- Damage Dealing - Rocket launchers, lasers, cannons
- Shielding - Small and large shield domes
- Missiles - Anti-ballistic and interplanetary missiles
SHIPYARD
Construct your fleet:
- Military Ships - Fighters, cruisers, battleships
- Civil Ships - Cargo ships, Heavy Freighters, probes
- Queue ship construction
- View build times
- In 3.0.5, when stasis ships exist, Restore eligible ships appears on desktop Shipyard and phone Units → Build. It restores ships covered by the current galaxy's paid upkeep period without a second payment; otherwise keep enough Credits for the next bill.
RANKINGS
View the leaderboards:
- Player rankings by score
- Sort by General, Economy, Research, Military
- On desktop, Archetype shows each player's research profile title, including expanded alliance members and your alliance's member table. It describes completed research investment, not the selected Research Focus or a score bonus. Mobile keeps the Focus icons.
- Ratings and Achievements navigation is currently hidden on desktop; Hall Of Fame remains available from Rankings.
Right Navigation Menu
The right side contains strategic and exploration pages:
OVERVIEW
Your selected station dashboard shows:
- Station artwork and current station count against your Astrophysics capacity
- Active building construction
- Current RP investment
- Shipyard queue status
- Docked ships, defense units and energy balance
GALAXY
Explore the universe:
- Browse solar systems. Station addresses use [System:Planet-S#] (for example, [0:13-S3]); select your galaxy separately.
- On desktop/tablet, the orbital map shows the system's 3–10 physical planets in stable positions; positions with no planet stay blank, and existing stations keep their coordinates.
- Select a numbered empty station slot around a visible planet to prepare colonization; selecting a slot never launches a fleet by itself.
- Select a station or debris icon to open its action menu. Use Close, Escape, or click outside to dismiss it.
- Select a debris icon to prepare recycling, including debris at a position without a visible planet.
- Use − / + beside System to navigate on desktop and tablet, or enter a system and press Enter. There is no separate Galaxy field or Scan button in this layout. On narrower windows, scroll the map horizontally to reach outer planets.
- On phones, each compact row keeps four selectable station slots. Open Options to choose a station and see its available actions; station artwork, labels and actions stay visible.
- View planet owners and alliances
- Send spy probes
- Launch attacks or transport missions
- Find debris fields for recycling
- On desktop and mobile, selecting a debris field opens a Harvest action even when the slot has no planet; if you have at least one Recycler or Reaper on your selected world you can launch a partial or full harvest trip
LAUNCH PAD
Send fleet missions:
- Select ships for your fleet
- Choose target coordinates
- Pick mission type
- Load resources for transport
- Review the fixed 100% travel speed and arrival quote
- Deep-space mission hold times use quick-select buttons, with 1 hour preselected by default
- On desktop, ship and missile tiles keep the available unit count anchored at the bottom of the art so fleet counts are easier to scan during launch setup
MISSIONS
Track all fleet movements:
- View active missions
- See incoming fleets
- Recall your own fleets
- Attack countdowns
- Return times
- In 3.0.5, your own deployments, transports and Exchange ship transfers consistently appear as Your missions on desktop and phone, even when your account and galaxy-player IDs differ. Incoming fleets from other players remain distinguishable.
STATISTICS
The separate Statistics page is unavailable. Traditional Rankings remain available; desktop Ratings navigation is currently hidden, so do not rely on a Ratings shortcut to open your profile.
ALLIANCE
Manage alliance features:
- View alliance members
- Alliance messaging
- Circular messages
- Leave/join alliances
- Alliance rankings
Station Selector
Open the header station icon to switch between your owned stations. Desktop uses the same compact dropdown as mobile. Each choice represents a station, not all four slots around its physical planet. The menu preserves the existing ordering and has no player-customizable display mode.
Empire View Shortcut
The desktop interface also includes an Empire shortcut. Use it to inspect a last-synced snapshot of your holdings: station resources, storage, energy, buildings, ships, defenses and queues. Select a station to refresh its state; do not treat a cached snapshot as live inventory. The mobile Empire quick-action tab displays Coming soon.
Queue Ring Indicators
A colored ring around each station shows active queues:
| Ring Position | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Top Right | Green | Building in progress |
| Bottom | Blue | Research indicator; current RP funding is shown in Research |
| Top Left | Red | Ships/Defense building |
Selection Indicator
- Cyan Glow Ring - Your currently selected station
- The active tile and active icon both stay highlighted inside the selector panel
Chat Window
Located in the bottom-left corner, the chat allows real-time communication.
Chat Channels
| Channel | Letter | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Global | G | Universe-wide public chat |
| Alliance | A | Private alliance chat |
| Private | P | Direct messages to players |
Global chat is mirrored to the official Discord so players can follow public universe chat outside the game.
Using Chat
- Select Channel - Click the channel dropdown (G/A/P)
- Type Message - Enter your message in the input field
- Send - Press Enter or click the send button
Private Messages
When using Private (P) channel:
- Enter the recipient's username in the "Username" field
- Type your message
- Send
Chat Features
Optional profanity filter: Open Options → Gameplay, enable Filter chat
profanity, and save. It is off by default and saved for your player in the
current universe, across devices. Each recognized English profane word is shown
as *** in global, alliance and private chat, including your own messages and
older history, on desktop, tablet and mobile. Saving reloads the page; other open
chat views pick up the change on their next refresh (normally within 15 seconds
while visible). Disable it and save to see the original wording again.
The filter covers common English words and inflections, not every language, slang or deliberately disguised spelling. It only changes your display: sent messages, other players' views, Discord mirrors and moderation evidence remain unchanged. Report or block abusive players even if their words are masked.
- Auto-scroll - New messages appear at the top
- Timestamps - Shows time of each message
- Player Colors - Different colors for different player ranks
- Link Support - URLs are clickable
Message Panel
Located in the bottom-right corner, this panel shows recent game messages.
Viewing Messages
- Collapsed State - Shows only the header
- Hover to Expand - Panel expands on mouse hover
- Fade Animation - Smooth transition when expanding
- Combat report tech rows - Defender details now split fleet bonuses and defense bonuses onto separate lines so fixed-defense modifiers are easier to read
Message Types
| Type | Content |
|---|---|
| Combat Reports | Battle results and outcomes |
| Espionage Reports | Spy probe intelligence |
| Espionage Activity | Alerts when another player probes you |
| Fleet Reports | Mission completions |
| Alliance Messages | Communications from alliance |
| System Messages | Game notifications |
In 3.0.5, espionage reports retain the target identity and activity from the original scan, including older reports after a target changes or disappears. Earlier reports remain readable with retired facility entries.
Footer Navigation
The footer appears when your mouse approaches the bottom of the screen.
Footer Buttons
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Home | Return to Overview page |
| Wiki | Open game documentation (new tab) |
| Options | Access account settings |
| Issues | Report bugs or problems |
| Logout | Sign out of your account |
Proximity Activation
- Footer is hidden by default
- Appears when mouse is within 60px of screen bottom
- Fades away after 2 seconds of inactivity
- Stays visible while hovering over buttons
Content Container
The central area where main game content is displayed.
Scrollable Content
- Vertical scrolling for long content
- Hidden scrollbar for clean appearance
- Scroll position remembered when switching pages
Page Transitions
Content updates instantly when clicking navigation buttons without full page reload.
Tooltips
Fixed Tooltips
Hovering over many UI elements displays helpful tooltips:
┌────────────────────────┐
│ Building Name │ ← Title (cyan)
│ Level 5 │ ← Current level
│────────────────────────│
│ Building... │ ← Status (green)
│ Time: 01:23:45 │ ← Countdown
└────────────────────────┘
Tooltip Information
- Buildings - Name, level, upgrade time, requirements
- Ships - Name, count, stats, build time
- Resources - Production rates, storage info
- Research - Technology name, level, effects
Queue Displays
Building Queue
Shows current construction with:
- Building icon
- Level being built
- Time remaining countdown
- Total queue completion time
- Spinner animation on active item
Research investment
Research uses RP rather than a timed queue. The Research screen shows completed levels, current funding and automatic investment. Canceling automatic investment stops future funding; it does not remove completed levels or refund already invested RP.
Shipyard Queue
Shows ship/defense construction:
- Unit icon
- Quantity in production
- Per-unit build time
- Total queue time
- Later queue items already factor in queued Shipyard, Robotics Factory, and Nanite Factory upgrades once those upgrades finish
Visual Indicators
Activity Animations
| Animation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Spinning overlay | Item currently building |
| Pulsing glow | Requires attention |
| Slow rotation | Selected/active |
Color Coding
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cyan (#00e5ff) | Interactive, selected |
| Green (#4ade80) | Positive, building |
| Blue (#3b82f6) | Research, information |
| Red (#ef4444) | Military, warning |
| Yellow (#fbbf24) | Caution, queued |
| Gray (#848484) | Inactive, disabled |
Responsive Design
Desktop (1025px+)
- Full layout with side menus visible
- The left and right menus stay vertically centered as you change pages or scroll content
- Both menus curve inward at the top and bottom, with the middle button (or middle pair) inset 20px from the screen edge; desktop and tablet buttons are slightly narrower with a little more space between each inward step
- Hover effects active
- All features accessible
Tablet (769px - 1024px)
- In the desktop interface, the same centered side menus remain visible with space reserved for the page between them
- If your device opens the mobile interface, its touch navigation stays unchanged
- Touch-friendly buttons
- Footer always visible
Mobile (768px and below)
- Stacked layout
- Larger touch targets
- Simplified navigation
- Optimized for vertical scrolling
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Enter |
Send chat message |
Escape |
Close modals/popups |
Accessibility Features
- High Contrast - Cyan on dark backgrounds
- Clear Typography - Readable font sizes
- Focus Indicators - Visible focus states
- Hover States - Clear interactive feedback
Related Guides
- Quick Start - Get playing in 5 minutes
- First Steps - Your first hour of gameplay
- Resources - Understanding the economy
- Buildings - Complete building guide