Progression
Island upgrades and growth stages
Island upgrades are where your money goes for most of the mid game. There are six categories,
all paid for in plain cash through /island upgrade.
The six upgrades
| Upgrade | Levels | At max |
|---|---|---|
| Border | 100 | 257x257 island |
| Crop Growth | 100 | +198% growth speed |
| Spawner Speed | 100 | +198% spawn rate |
| Hopper Limit | 100 | 1,010 hoppers |
| Spawner Limit | 50 | 270,000 spawners |
| Member | 5 | 10 player island |
The curve is the whole story
Border, Crop Growth, Spawner Speed and Hopper Limit share one price curve. Level 1 costs $2,500,000 and every level after adds about 9.6%. That compounding is gentle for a long time and then it is not:
- Level 10: about $6.31M
- Level 50: about $233M
- Level 100: $23.9 billion for that single level
- A full ladder: about $270.3B
Spawner Limit runs on a different, flat curve: $2.5M up to $45M over the first ten levels, a jump to $100M at level 10, then $5M more per level after that. Member is cheap by comparison at $52.5M to max, and it is the one with no gate on it.
Growth stages are the real gate
You cannot simply buy your way up. Border, Crop, Spawner Speed and Hopper each unlock four more levels per island growth stage. Stage 0 opens levels 1 to 4, stage 1 opens 5 to 8, and so on to stage 24 opening 97 to 100. Spawner Limit unlocks ten levels per stage across the first five stages.
So upgrading and growing are the same project. Growth is measured against your total value, not your weekly growth, and there are 24 stages, each named after a tree:
| Stage | Name | Total value | Upgrades needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sprout | 5 Billion | All four at Lvl 4, Member max |
| 5 | Birch | 22 Billion | Lvl 20, Member max |
| 10 | Cedar | 203 Billion | Lvl 44, Member max |
| 15 | Baobab | 1.3 Trillion | Lvl 64, Member max |
| 20 | Evertree | 8.2 Trillion | Lvl 84, Member max |
| 24 | World Tree | 25 Trillion | Lvl 96, Member max |
Note that Member has to be maxed at every stage. It is the cheapest requirement on the list and the easiest to forget.
What to buy first
Member, because it is cheap and gated on every stage anyway. Then whichever of the big four matches how you actually earn: Crop Growth if you farm, Spawner Speed if you grind mobs, Hopper Limit if your setup is choking on item transport, Border if you are running out of room.
Read next: how prestige compounds on top of all this.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to max island upgrades?
About $270.3 billion for each of the four big ladders. Level 1 costs $2,500,000 and every level after adds roughly 9.6%, so level 100 alone is $23.9 billion.
Why can I not buy the next island upgrade level?
Upgrades are gated by island growth stage. Each stage unlocks only four more levels of Border, Crop Growth, Spawner Speed and Hopper Limit, so you have to grow before you can keep buying.
What is the maximum island size?
257x257 at Border level 100, which needs island growth stage 24 to unlock.
