Understanding Civ6 District Mechanics

Complete reference for Civilization 6 district placement and adjacency bonus systems (Gathering Storm).

Modules

• placement_rules.py - District placement validation rules
• adjacency_rules.py - Adjacency bonus calculation engine

For hex grid utilities (neighbors, distance, etc.), use the hex-grid-spatial skill or import from src.hex_utils.

Usage

from civ6lib import (
    # Placement
    DistrictType, Tile, PlacementRules, get_placement_rules,
    validate_district_count, validate_district_uniqueness,
    # Adjacency
    AdjacencyCalculator, get_adjacency_calculator,
)

# Validate a placement
rules = get_placement_rules(tiles, city_center=(21, 13), population=7)
result = rules.validate_placement(DistrictType.CAMPUS, 21, 14, {})
if result.valid:
    print("Valid placement!")

# Calculate adjacency bonus
calculator = get_adjacency_calculator(tiles)
total, per_district = calculator.calculate_total_adjacency(placements)

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Part 1: Placement Rules

City Placement Rules

Minimum Distance Between Cities

Condition	Min Distance	Tiles Between
Same landmass	4 tiles	3 tiles
Different landmasses	3 tiles	2 tiles

Invalid Settlement Tiles

• Water (Coast, Ocean, Lake)
• Mountains
• Natural Wonders

Note on City Center Features

Settling a City Center on a tile with Geothermal Fissure or Luxury/Strategic Resources preserves them (they remain and provide adjacency bonuses to nearby districts). Districts cannot be placed on these tiles.

District Placement Rules

Universal Rules (All Districts)

Rule	Description
Distance	Within 3 tiles of City Center
Mountains	Cannot place
Natural Wonders	Cannot place
Strategic Resources	Cannot place (Iron, Horses, Niter, Coal, Oil, Aluminum, Uranium)
Luxury Resources	Cannot place
Existing District	Cannot place on occupied tile
Bonus Resources	CAN place (resource destroyed)
Woods/Rainforest/Marsh	CAN place (feature destroyed)

District-Specific Rules

District	Special Requirement
Harbor	Must be on Coast/Lake, adjacent to land
Water Park	Must be on Coast/Lake, adjacent to land
Aerodrome	Must be on flat land
Spaceport	Must be on flat land
Encampment	NOT adjacent to City Center
Preserve	NOT adjacent to City Center
Aqueduct	Adjacent to City Center AND fresh water (Mountain, River, Lake, Oasis)
Dam	On Floodplains, river crosses 2+ edges

District Limits

Population Formula

max_specialty_districts = 1 + floor((population - 1) / 3)

Population	Max Districts
1-3	1
4-6	2
7-9	3
10-12	4

Non-Specialty Districts (Don't Count)

These can be built regardless of population limit:

• Aqueduct / Bath
• Neighborhood / Mbanza
• Canal
• Dam
• Spaceport

Uniqueness Rules

Rule	Districts
ONE per city	Campus, Holy Site, Theater Square, Commercial Hub, Harbor, Industrial Zone, Entertainment Complex, Water Park, Encampment, Aerodrome, Preserve
Multiple per city	Neighborhood
ONE per civilization	Government Plaza, Diplomatic Quarter

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Part 2: Adjacency Bonus Rules

Critical Rule: Minor Bonus Calculation

Each +0.5 type is floored SEPARATELY, then summed!

WRONG:
  IZ with 1 Mine + 1 Lumber Mill + 1 District
  = floor(3/2) = 1  ❌

CORRECT:
  Mine: floor(1/2) = 0
  Lumber Mill: floor(1/2) = 0
  District: floor(1/2) = 0
  TOTAL = 0  ✓

Adjacency Rules by District

Campus (+Science)

Bonus	Source
+2 each	Geothermal Fissure, Reef
+1 each	Mountain
+0.5 each	Rainforest (floor separately)
+0.5 each	District (floor separately)

Holy Site (+Faith)

Bonus	Source
+2 each	Natural Wonder
+1 each	Mountain
+0.5 each	Woods (floor separately)
+0.5 each	District (floor separately)

Theater Square (+Culture)

Bonus	Source
+2 each	Wonder (built wonder)
+2 each	Entertainment Complex, Water Park
+0.5 each	District (floor separately)

Commercial Hub (+Gold)

Bonus	Source
+2	If tile is ON a river (binary!)
+2 each	Adjacent Harbor
+0.5 each	District (floor separately)

Harbor (+Gold)

Bonus	Source
+2 each	Adjacent City Center
+1 each	Coastal Resource (Fish, Crabs, Whales, Pearls)
+0.5 each	District (floor separately)

Industrial Zone (+Production)

Bonus	Source
+2 each	Aqueduct, Dam, Canal
+1 each	Quarry, Strategic Resource
+0.5 each	Mine (floor separately)
+0.5 each	Lumber Mill (floor separately)
+0.5 each	District (floor separately)

Districts with NO adjacency bonuses

• Entertainment Complex
• Water Park
• Encampment
• Aerodrome
• Spaceport
• Government Plaza
• Preserve

Government Plaza Adjacency Bonus

Government Plaza gives +1 adjacency bonus to adjacent specialty districts.

Districts that benefit when adjacent to Government Plaza:

• Campus (+1)
• Holy Site (+1)
• Theater Square (+1)
• Commercial Hub (+1)
• Harbor (+1)
• Industrial Zone (+1)

Note: Government Plaza also counts toward the +0.5 per district minor bonus.

Districts That Count for "+0.5 per District"

Counts: Campus, Holy Site, Theater Square, Commercial Hub, Harbor, Industrial Zone, Entertainment Complex, Water Park, Encampment, Aerodrome, Spaceport, Government Plaza, Diplomatic Quarter, Preserve, City Center, Aqueduct, Dam, Canal, Neighborhood

Destruction Effects

Placing ANY district destroys:

• Woods (FEATURE_FOREST)
• Rainforest (FEATURE_JUNGLE)
• Marsh (FEATURE_MARSH)
• Bonus Resources

This affects OTHER districts' adjacency!

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Key Classes

DistrictType (Enum)

All district types: CAMPUS, HOLY_SITE, THEATER_SQUARE, COMMERCIAL_HUB, HARBOR, INDUSTRIAL_ZONE, etc.

Tile (Dataclass)

Represents a map tile with terrain, features, resources, rivers.

PlacementRules

Validates district placements against all game rules.

AdjacencyCalculator

Calculates adjacency bonuses based on surrounding tiles and districts.

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Quick Validation Checklist

1. Is tile within 3 of city center?
2. Is tile NOT a mountain/natural wonder?
3. Is tile NOT a strategic/luxury resource?
4. Is tile unoccupied?
5. Does district meet special requirements?
6. Does city have district slots available?
7. Is this district unique and not already built?