Universe

The Universe is the "world" (server) in which the game takes place. The universe a player chooses will have a significant influence on gameplay demands and style of play. Therefore, the choice of universe is important, to make sure it matches with your play style and goals. Each universe consists of galaxies (usually 9) which in turn consist of 499 solar systems.

There are no inter-universe links and no interaction between different universes. All the universes are hosted on different servers, so if one breaks down, the rest of the game and forums don't go down with it.

The universe exists in the context of a community. The different communities all have their own web address (such as ogame.org, ogame.fr, or ogame.de among others) and universes, and are for speakers of a certain language. However, it is possible to choose a different language community in order to play on a more active universe. It is possible to have an accounts in more than one universe, and even more than one community.

Galaxies and planets
Each universe consists of a certain number of galaxies. This was formerly always 9, but newer universes may have less. The number can vary based on the universe. Some have as few as 4 or 5. Each galaxy consists of 499 solar systems; each solar system consists of 15 Planets and one Outer Space slot.

Since each player can have multiple planets (depending on the level of astrophysics), this means that a universe can theoretically hold many more planets than players. However, this is rarely the case in recent years although it was possible a decade ago.

Travelling between planets, systems, and galaxies takes time. The time taken to travel depends on the speed of the ships in the fleet and the Distance between the departure point and the destination.

Universe speed
The settings on universes vary significantly. A main difference is the "speed" settings of the universe.

Fleet speed
This affects how fast the fleets reach their destinations in a universe. A fleet speed of 1x is the original speed, and was set before mobile devices became popular. It was based on the fact that players would have to spend time away from their computers and thus was a help in planning. With the advent of mobile devices, players can check on their fleets more frequently. Thus faster fleet speed universes are common. For example, in a 6x fleet speed universe, the fleets will be 6 times faster than in a 1x fleet speed universe. In general, the faster the fleet speed, the more often a player must log in to the game to check on things.

Economy speed
Like fleet speed, the economy speed can vary. With the 1x original speed, resources accumulate slowly. It takes patience over months or perhaps even years to build a large and successful account. As such, slower speeds favor those with patience, long-term vision, and persistence. Such players will rise through the ranks over those who favor short-term goals. Such slow universes are now rare, with most featuring faster economic speeds. In a 5x universe, resources accumulate 5 times faster than in a 1x universe. In addition, the time to improve buildings (such as mines) and create ships is reduced to one fifth the time in a 1x universe. The faster the economy speed, the faster accounts can develop.

Research speed
Like the other speed settings, this affects how quickly accounts can develop. The original research speed (1x) is now very rare, with many universes having much faster speeds such as 10x. Much of the impact of this setting is similar to the economy speed impact.

Other features
Other features can be different in each universe. For example, the Alliance Combat System may be turned off in some universes. Others may have the marketplace or merchant disabled. Some have defenses included in the debris field. Others may include a higher percentage of fleet in the debris field than others.

Older and Redesigned Universes
Before 7 June 2010, universes had an older design. Nowadays all Universes use redesigned layout. See Redesigned Universe for more information.