Build an Empire Guide: How population and civilians work
About
OverviewBuild an Empire is a Roblox tycoon-and-battle game where players compete on the same map, each starting from a tiny plot of land. You build farms and houses, grow a population of civilians, sell resources for gold, and send armies to capture flags and fight other empires.
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Contents
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How population and civilians work
Tips
Civilians are the engine of your economy. Every room you add is another slot for a worker, and an unstaffed economy building produces less than its full amount. The cycle is simple: more housing leads to more civilians, more civilians means more staffed buildings, and more staffed buildings means faster gold.
- A civilian joins your empire about every 60 seconds as long as at least one room is empty.
- Civilians assign themselves to jobs automatically and prefer the highest-tier building available.
- If you add a better building after civilians are already employed, they will switch to it when you rejoin.
- Economy buildings with fewer workers than their maximum produce a reduced amount, so full staffing matters.
- Sell population buildings to the Salesman, not the Shop Dude — you get back half the original price.
- The Apartment costs 1,700,000 gold but holds 24 civilians.
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Economy buildings
Table
The table below shows every economy building's cost, how many workers it needs to run at full output, and how much gold it earns per second at full staffing with no boosters.
| Building | Cost (G) | Workers needed | Gold per second |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm | 80 | 1 | 2.5 |
| Potato Farm | 200 | 1 | 2.7 |
| Carrot Farm | 400 | 1 | 4.0 |
| Orchard | 700 | 1 | 5.6 |
| Forest | 1,250 | 1 | 8.6 |
| Sheep Farm | 2,000 | 1 | 10 |
| Cow Farm | 3,400 | 1 | 12.5 |
| Bakery | 5,500 | 2 | 14.9 |
| Tomato Farm | 8,000 | 1 | 20.3 |
| Grape Farm | 14,000 | 1 | 24.9 |
| Blacksmith | 20,000 | 2 | 45.3 |
| Coal Mine | 25,000 | 1 | 173.3 |
| Iron Mine | 35,000 | 1 | 192 |
| Copper Mine | 55,000 | 2 | 160 |
| Small Lake | 75,000 | 2 | 140 |
| Library | 350,000 | 1 | 100.2 |
| Gold Mine | 750,000 | 2 | 240 |
| Museum | 4,500,000 | 1 | 166.7 |
| Diamond Mine | 50,000,000 | 4 | 760 |
Speed boosters for buildings and civilians
Check
Several utility buildings reduce how long you wait for things to happen. Each one has a cap or a placement rule.
- Workshop buy one from the Shop Dude for each builder you want; one builder per workshop, and two builders on the same building finishes it three times faster than normal.
- Builder cap each building has its own limit on how many builders can work on it simultaneously.
- Windmill and Barn together they stack their harvest-speed bonuses for farms, giving a combined 25% faster harvest, but placing two or more of the same booster on one farm is capped at 10% for Windmills and 15% for Barns.
- Clock each one reduces the civilian recruit timer by 5 seconds; you can own up to 15 of them.
- Fusing machine located at the end of the road; fusing turns buildings into golden versions with stats multiplied by 1.4.
Capturing flags and allying with other players
StepFlags sit between your empire and the enemy HQ. Your troops target the HQ flag automatically when you join, but you must capture each flag in sequence before setting the next one as a target. Standing more units inside a flag's range captures it faster.
- Set a flag target walk up to any flag and use the interaction prompt to direct your troops toward it; you must hold the previous flag first.
- First flag reward capturing it adds 5 to your unit cap (this bonus is not affected by the double unit-cap gamepass).
- Second flag reward grants your units 15% extra damage and 15% extra health.
- HQ flag reward gives 15% unit spawn speed, 15% unit movement speed, and a 5% selling bonus.
- Send an ally request open the Ally panel, pick a player, and send a request; you can only be allied with one player at a time, and the alliance ends when either of you leaves.
- Allied army benefit neither empire's units attack each other, and whichever army is stronger automatically holds any shared flag and collects its buff.
Building your army
Tips
Combat units spawn from army camps you buy at the Shop Dude. The basic Camp is the starting option. Reinforcing your empire with Fortresses raises unit health passively as you place more of them.
- The Camp spawns one unit every 5 seconds and costs 1,000 gold.
- Each Fortress adds 2% unit health, and the bonus stacks with every additional Fortress you place.
- The Castle earns 1,000 or 2,000 gold automatically every minute.
- The Training Camp building boosts unit damage by 10% and is not stackable.
- The Unit Hut increases your army size by 1 and can be purchased up to 7 times.
- Units from golden army camps have yellow heads.
The Golem Boss fight
Step
The Golem Boss is a PvE challenge added in the August 25, 2026 update. It can only be hurt by weapons and purchased abilities.
- Take the raft the boss is not on the main island, so find the raft and ride it out to the boss location.
- Buy abilities from the Powers Man abilities are the only things besides weapons that deal damage to the boss; the Reinforcement ability is free and calls units to help.
- Empire Level affects how strong the Reinforcement ability is.
- Collect Golem Fragments after the boss dies.
- Trade Fragments with the Trader bring enough Golem Fragments to the Trader to receive a Golem Spawner for your own empire.
Free bonuses before you spend any Robux
TableTwo free-to-access bonuses are available at the start.
| No extras | full access to every building and game mechanic with no bonus gold or sell rate increase. |
| Group member (free) | 2,000 bonus gold at the start and a permanent 10% sell value increase on all resources. |
| Roblox Premium (paid subscription) | an additional starting gold bonus on top of the group bonus, plus a further 5% sell value increase. |
| Empire offline | buildings keep producing while you are logged out. |
Glossary
Glossary- Civilian
- A resident who joins your empire when a room is free and automatically takes the highest-tier open job in an economy building.
- Shop Dude
- The in-game character where you buy buildings and sell produced resources for gold.
- Salesman
- The character who buys your buildings back for 50% of their original purchase price.
- Fusing machine
- A fixed station at the end of the road that combines multiple buildings of the same type into a golden version with stats multiplied by 1.4.
- Workshop
- A utility building that houses one builder, whose presence speeds up construction of other buildings.
- Powers Man
- The NPC who sells combat abilities used to damage the Golem Boss.
- Trader
- The NPC who exchanges Golem Fragments collected from the boss fight for a Golem Spawner.
- Golem Fragments
- Drop items earned by defeating the Golem Boss, traded to the Trader for the Golem Spawner.
Common questions
FAQMy civilians have stopped growing. What is wrong?
Civilians only join when at least one room is empty. Check your population buildings and add more housing so there is always a free slot waiting.
How do I make my units stronger without spending Robux?
Place more Fortress buildings — each one adds 2% unit health and the bonus keeps stacking. Capturing the second flag also gives all your units 15% extra damage and 15% extra health.
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