A faction is a player-run organization: a shared treasury, shared storage, custom ranks with real permissions, diplomacy and wars, a mission board, a shared fleet, and eventually stations of your own.

Almost none of it is free-standing. Nearly every faction action is gated by a chain of requirements — a permission, a building, a place you have to be standing — and the error you get back names the missing link rather than the whole chain. That is what this guide is for. Part 3 is the requirements table: for each faction command, exactly what it demands before it will run. Read that part before you plan anything, and you will stop discovering requirements one rejected command at a time.

Command notation: facility action=faction_build means the facility command with its action field set to faction_build. Standalone commands like faction_invite are written plain, with their parameters named after them.

Part 1 — Getting Into a Faction

Creating one

create_faction name="<name>" tag="<TAG>" founds a faction. It costs nothing, needs no facility, and works anywhere — docked, undocked, mid-nowhere.

Rule	Value
Name length	3 to 32 characters, globally unique
Tag length	Exactly 4 characters, globally unique
Cost	Free
Where	Anywhere
You must	Not already be in a faction

You become the leader with every permission. The tag rides next to your members' names wherever they go, so pick one you can live with — neither name nor tag can be changed afterwards.

Rejections you will see: already_in_faction, invalid_name (under 3 characters), name_too_long, invalid_tag (not exactly 4 characters), name_taken, tag_taken.

Joining one

Membership is by invitation only.

faction_invite player_id=<id or username> sends one. Needs the invite permission. The target is notified.
faction_get_invites lists the invitations you have received.
join_faction faction_id=<id> accepts one. faction_accept_invite is an exact alias — same payload, same result.
faction_decline_invite faction_id=<id> turns one down.
faction_withdraw_invite player_id=<id or username> cancels an invite you sent, and notifies the target. Same invite permission.

Accepting without a pending invite returns no_invite. Accepting into a full faction returns faction_full — see the member cap under recruitment offices below.

Leaving

leave_faction quits. If you are the sole member and the leader, the faction disbands automatically — but only once its affairs are settled: open faction exchange orders (active_orders), package jobs using faction storage (active_package_jobs), live freight contracts (active_freight), and unpaid freight debt (freight_debt) each block the disband until you clear them. A leader with other members gets leader_cannot_leave and must hand leadership over first with faction_promote player_id=<member> role_id=leader, which demotes the outgoing leader to officer.

faction_kick player_id=<id or username> removes someone else. Needs the kick permission, and the leader cannot be kicked.

Part 2 — Roles, Ranks, and Permissions

Every member holds one role. A role is a priority number plus a set of ten permission flags. faction_info prints every role with its permissions object — that is the live, authoritative answer for your faction, and it is worth reading before you assume anything here applies to a custom hierarchy someone else built.

The four default roles

Role	Priority	Permissions
`leader`	100	All ten, always
`officer`	50	`invite`, `kick`, `manage_bases`, `manage_treasury`, `manage_facilities`, `broadcast`, `officer_room_access`
`member`	10	None
`recruit`	1	None

Officers deliberately lack promote, manage_roles, and manage_diplomacy — they can run the day-to-day, but they cannot rewrite the hierarchy or commit the faction to a war.

A member with no permissions is not powerless: depositing to the treasury and to faction storage requires no permission at all, and neither does reading faction_info, faction_garages, view_faction_storage, or faction chat.

The ten permissions

Permission	What it actually lets you do
`invite`	`faction_invite`, `faction_withdraw_invite`
`kick`	`faction_kick`
`promote`	`faction_promote`, but only to roles of lower priority than your own. Only the leader can hand over leadership
`manage_roles`	`faction_create_role`, `faction_edit_role`, `faction_delete_role`, and `faction_edit`
`manage_diplomacy`	Every ally, enemy, war, and peace command
`manage_bases`	`build_base`, `build_outpost`, and every `station` action except `info`
`manage_treasury`	Every outflow: `faction_withdraw_items`, `faction_withdraw_credits`, `faction_create_sell_order`, `faction_create_buy_order`, `faction_post_mission`, `faction_cancel_mission`, `faction_prepay_tax`, faction-funded crafting and packing, and faction-funded shipyard commissions
`manage_facilities`	`facility action=faction_build` / `faction_upgrade` / `faction_dismantle`, facility repair and sale, plus `faction_write_room` and `faction_delete_room`
`officer_room_access`	Reading and writing common-space rooms whose access level is `officers`
`broadcast`	A role flag you can set, but faction chat is currently open to every member regardless — `chat channel=faction` only checks that you are in a faction

Custom roles

faction_create_role makes a new role with a name (2 to 32 characters, unique within the faction), a priority from 2 to 99, and any mix of the ten permissions. Your own role's priority must be strictly higher than the new role's.
faction_edit_role and faction_delete_role change or remove custom roles. The four default roles cannot be edited or deleted. Deleting a role drops its members back to member.
All three need manage_roles.

faction_promote enforces two separate rules. Assigning role_id=leader is leader-only — anyone else gets not_leader, even with the promote permission. For any other role, your priority must be strictly greater than the target role's, or you get insufficient_priority with both numbers spelled out.

Part 3 — The Requirements Table

Faction actions are gated by up to four independent things, and a command fails on the first one it finds missing:

Membership — you are in a faction (not_in_faction if not).
Permission — your role carries the flag (no_permission).
Position — you are docked, and sometimes docked somewhere specific.
Facility — your faction owns an active facility of the right service type at that station.

Point 4 is the one that surprises people, and it is per-station: a Faction Admin Office in your home system does nothing for you three jumps away. It is also per-state — a facility still under construction, damaged, or offline does not count, and the error text will say which.

One wrinkle on point 3. A handful of faction commands are declared dock-required at the protocol level, which means the server docks you automatically that tick rather than refusing: the four storage and treasury commands, the two order commands, faction_post_mission, and espionage. Every other faction command that needs you docked — faction_edit, the room commands, faction_cancel_mission, faction_list_missions — checks it inside the handler and simply returns not_docked. Dock first.

Membership and administration

Action	Permission	Docked?	Facility needed
`create_faction`	—	No	—
`join_faction` / `faction_accept_invite`	— (needs a pending invite)	No	—
`faction_decline_invite`	—	No	—
`faction_get_invites`	—	No	—
`leave_faction`	—	No	—
`faction_invite`	`invite`	No	—
`faction_withdraw_invite`	`invite`	No	—
`faction_kick`	`kick`	No	—
`faction_promote`	`promote` (leader only for `role_id=leader`)	No	—
`faction_create_role` / `faction_edit_role` / `faction_delete_role`	`manage_roles`	No	—
`faction_edit`	leader or `manage_roles`	Yes	Faction Admin Office (`faction_desk`) at that station
`faction_info` / `faction_list`	—	No	—
`faction_garages`	—	No	—
`get_faction_achievements`	—	No	—

faction_edit is the one that catches everyone, because nothing else in the membership group needs a building. Changing your description, charter, colors, or ally-sharing toggles means docking at a station where your faction has an Admin Office. Building one anywhere unlocks the command galaxy-wide — but you still have to be standing at an Admin Office when you issue it.

Treasury, storage, and markets

Action	Permission	Docked?	Facility needed
`view_faction_storage`	—	No, if you pass `station_id`	Faction Storage at the station you are viewing
`faction_deposit_items` / `faction_deposit_credits`	—	Yes	Faction Storage here (may still be under construction)
`faction_withdraw_items` / `faction_withdraw_credits`	`manage_treasury`	Yes	Active Faction Storage here
`storage action=deposit target=faction` (and `withdraw`)	Same as above	Yes	Same as above, plus the station's own storage service
`faction_create_sell_order` / `faction_create_buy_order`	`manage_treasury`	Yes	Market Runner (`faction_market`) here, plus the station's own market and storage services
The same two with `private=true`	`manage_treasury`	Yes	Market Runner and Company Store here
`faction_post_mission`	`manage_treasury`	Yes	Faction mission board (`faction_missions`) here
`faction_cancel_mission`	`manage_treasury`	Yes, at the station holding the mission	None re-checked
`faction_list_missions`	—	Yes	None checked — returns an empty list where you have no board
`craft ... deliver_to=faction`	`manage_treasury`	Yes	Faction Storage here (plus the usual crafting venue)
`get_faction_tax_estimate`	—	No	—
`faction_prepay_tax`	`manage_treasury`	No	—

The asymmetry is deliberate and it is the single most useful thing to remember about faction storage: anyone can put things in, only manage_treasury can take things out. Recruits can haul ore into the vault on day one without you handing them the keys to it.

Facilities, stations, and common spaces

Action	Permission	Docked?	Facility needed
`facility action=faction_build`	`manage_facilities`	Yes	Faction Storage here first, for everything except the first storage facility itself
`facility action=faction_upgrade` / `faction_dismantle`	`manage_facilities`	Yes	The facility being changed, here
`facility action=faction_list` / `faction_owned`	—	`faction_list` yes, `faction_owned` no	—
`build_base`	`manage_bases`	Undocked	Station Core in cargo, lawless system, and the founding fee
`build_outpost`	`manage_bases`	Undocked	Outpost Kit in cargo, lawless system, and the founding fee
`station action=info`	—	Yes, at your faction's own station	—
Every other `station` action	`manage_bases`	Yes, at your faction's own station	—
`faction_rooms` / `faction_visit_room`	— (`officer_room_access` for `officers` rooms)	Yes	Faction Commons here
`faction_write_room` / `faction_delete_room`	`manage_facilities`	Yes	Faction Commons here
`faction_submit_intel` / `faction_query_intel`	—	No	An intel facility (`faction_intel`) anywhere your faction owns
`faction_submit_trade_intel` / `faction_query_trade_intel`	—	No	A trade-intel facility (`faction_trade_intel`) anywhere
`faction_scan_poi`	—	No	A sensor facility (`faction_sensor`) anywhere; range depends on its tier
`espionage`	—	Yes, at the target station	An active Espionage HQ built anywhere by your faction

Note the split: storage, markets, missions, commons, and the Admin Office are checked at the station you are standing on. Intel, trade intel, sensors, and espionage are checked anywhere in your faction's holdings — build one and the command works fleet-wide, though scan range and data quality still depend on where the building physically sits.

Part 4 — Faction Facilities

Faction facilities are built with facility action=faction_build facility_type=<id> while docked, and they all need the manage_facilities permission. Browse what is available with facility action=types category=faction, and see what you already own with facility action=faction_list (here) or facility action=faction_owned (everywhere).

Faction Storage comes first, always

faction_lockbox is the prerequisite for every other faction facility at that station. Try to build anything else first and you are told plainly: your faction must build a Faction Storage facility at this station first.

Storage tiers raise the per-item-type capacity:

Facility	Tier	Cost	Capacity per item type
Faction Lockbox (`faction_lockbox`)	1	200,000	100,000
Faction Warehouse (`faction_warehouse`)	2	750,000	200,000
Faction Depot (`faction_depot`)	3	4,000,000	300,000
Faction Stronghold (`faction_stronghold`)	4	15,000,000	500,000

Storage Extension (storage_extension, 500,000) adds a named bucket — a separate compartment with its own 100,000-per-item allowance, up to 10 per station. Bucket stock is genuinely separate: it is not seen or spent by anything reading the main vault unless you name the bucket. Rename one with facility action=set_name, move stock with storage action=deposit target=faction bucket=<name>, craft from it with craft ... deliver_to="faction:<name>", and source a build's materials from it with facility action=faction_build ... bucket=<name>. A Storage Extension must be emptied before it can be dismantled.

The Admin Office

Facility	Tier	Cost	Effect
Faction Desk (`faction_desk`)	1	100,000	Unlocks `faction_edit`; +15% production speed for your faction's own facilities at this station
Faction Office (`faction_office`)	2	500,000	Same, +30% production speed

One Admin Office unlocks faction customization for the whole faction, but faction_edit still has to be issued while docked at a station that has one. The production-speed bonus is per-station and does not stack across stations, which is the real argument for putting a desk at each industrial hub rather than one grand office at home.

Recruitment offices and the member cap

With no recruitment office at all your faction caps at 20 members. Building one replaces that number:

Facility	Tier	Cost	Cap
Hiring Board (`hiring_board`)	1	75,000	50
Recruitment Desk (`recruitment_desk`)	2	300,000	100
Recruitment Center (`recruitment_center`)	3	2,000,000	200
Guild Hall Recruiting (`guild_hall_recruiting`)	4	8,000,000	400
Grand Recruitment Bureau (`grand_recruitment_bureau`)	5	20,000,000	1,000

Your cap is your single best station's office in full, plus 25% of each other station's office. Two Hiring Boards at two stations give 50 + 12 = 62, not 100. Spreading recruitment presence is never wasted, but concentrating tiers at one station is what actually moves the ceiling.

Markets and the Company Store

Facility	Tier	Cost	Open faction orders
Market Runner (`market_runner`)	1	150,000	100
Trading Booth (`trading_booth`)	2	600,000	250
Faction Trading Post (`faction_trading_post`)	3	3,000,000	500

The Company Store line requires a Market Runner at the same station and adds a members-only order book — private listings outsiders never see, with their own separate cap: Company Store (company_store, 400,000) 20 listings, Company Outlet (company_outlet, 1,200,000) 50, Company Exchange (company_exchange, 5,000,000) 100. Post one by adding private=true to a faction buy or sell order. Use it to sell supplies to your own members at cost without tipping the open market.

Mission board

Facility	Tier	Cost	Simultaneous postings
Notice Board (`notice_board`)	1	50,000	3
Faction Mission Board (`faction_mission_board`)	2	300,000	8
Bounty Office (`bounty_office`)	3	2,000,000	15

faction_post_mission escrows real rewards from faction storage and the treasury, so it needs manage_treasury as well as the board. A posting takes a title (100 characters), a description (1,000), and up to 5 objectives: deliver_item, kill_pirate, visit_system, or dock_at_base. Postings default to 72 hours and can run to 720. Add the open_to_all trigger to let non-members take the contract. faction_cancel_mission refunds the escrow, but not while someone is actively working it (mission_active).

Two objective types carry an extra facility requirement, because they write data back into your faction's pools: visit_system needs an Intel Center (the tier 2 intel facility, no_intel_center), and dock_at_base needs a Commerce Terminal (the tier 2 trade-intel facility, no_commerce_terminal). Upgrade with facility action=faction_upgrade.

Common spaces and officer rooms

Facility	Tier	Cost	Rooms
Faction Quarters (`faction_quarters`)	1	100,000	1
Faction Lounge (`faction_lounge`)	2	400,000	3
Faction Clubhouse (`faction_clubhouse`)	3	2,500,000	6

There is no separate "officer room" building. A room is a room, and its access level decides who reads it: public (anyone docked here), members (your faction), or officers (members whose role carries officer_room_access). Set it with faction_write_room name=... description=... access=officers. Descriptions run to 4,000 characters, manage_facilities is required to write or delete, and visitors reach them with faction_rooms and faction_visit_room. This is the game's worldbuilding canvas — write the bar, and strangers docking at your station will read it.

Ship garage

Facility	Tier	Cost	Ships
Faction Ship Garage (`faction_ship_garage`)	1	600,000	20
Faction Ship Hangar (`faction_ship_hangar`)	2	3,000,000	50
Faction Fleet Yard (`faction_fleet_yard`)	3	12,000,000	100

Park a ship by gifting it to the faction while docked (send_gift recipient=faction ship_id=<id>); any member docked there can claim one with switch_ship. Claiming transfers ownership, so only pool hulls the faction is genuinely happy to give away. faction_garages shows the whole roster across every station from anywhere.

Fuel bunkers

Facility	Tier	Cost	Fuel capacity
Faction Fuel Bunker (`faction_fuel_bunker`)	1	800,000	50,000
Faction Large Fuel Bunker (`faction_large_fuel_bunker`)	2	3,000,000	200,000
Faction Capital Fuel Bunker (`faction_capital_fuel_bunker`)	3	10,000,000	500,000

Fill one from your own fuel production or by depositing straight from a docked ship's tank (storage action=deposit item_id=fuel), and your fleet refuels free at that station. refuel draws from your faction's bunker first, then allied bunkers if they have opened access. faction_info includes a galaxy-wide bunker summary. A bunker is also the prerequisite for building fuel production facilities at a station you do not own — without one you get no_fuel_bunker.

Intel, sensors, and espionage

Intel Terminal / Intel Center (faction_intel), Trade Ledger / Commerce Terminal (faction_trade_intel), the Sensor Dome line (faction_sensor), and Espionage HQ (faction_espionage) each unlock their commands from anywhere once your faction owns one, but their reach and data quality depend on where they sit. See Faction Intelligence & Espionage for the full treatment.

Transit lounge

Transit Lounge (transit_lounge, 500,000, 20 seats) through Transit Concourse (transit_concourse, 9,000,000, 150 seats) lets faction ships hand connecting passengers off to each other mid-journey — fares and deadlines carry over and whoever finishes the trip collects. See the Passengers & Tourism guide.

Who pays, and what it costs to keep

The first Faction Storage facility at a station is paid personally — your credits, your cargo and personal storage for materials — because there is no faction store there yet to draw on.
Everything after that is funded faction-first: the treasury pays the credits and falls back to your wallet for any shortfall; materials come from faction storage at that station (or a named bucket), then your cargo.
Tier 2 and above require Corporation Management skill at the facility's level — tier 3 needs level 3, and so on. Building faction facilities awards a large chunk of Corporation Management XP to the builder and a smaller share to every other member.
A faction may hold at most one facility of each service type per station. Storage Extensions (up to 10) and faction shipyard slots are the exceptions.
On your faction's own station, storage and a market come free — faction storage at the top-tier capacity and unlimited faction listings — so faction_lockbox, market_runner, and a private fuel bunker are all refused there as redundant. Build the station's own shared tank instead.
Faction shipyard slots (faction_shipyard_berth through faction_shipyard_complex) are stackable and each adds one build slot with member priority at a station that already has a shipyard of at least that level. They are the only faction facilities with a declared power and life-support draw.
At NPC stations, faction facilities pay rent from the treasury every cycle, and unpaid rent eventually means repossession — which locks your faction out of the stock inside its storage there until a new storage facility is built. At your faction's own station there is no rent, but service and infrastructure facilities consume maintenance instead. Read Player Stations & Facilities before you build widely; that page exists because two large factions have already lost access to their vaults this way.

Part 5 — Treasury, Storage, and Tax

The treasury (credits) is global — one balance for the whole faction, spendable anywhere. Item storage is per station and only exists where you have built a storage facility.

view_faction_storage shows the treasury, the items at a station, and recent activity. Pass station_id to inspect a station you are nowhere near.
faction_deposit_items and faction_deposit_credits need no permission. faction_deposit_items source="storage" moves items straight from your personal station storage into the faction vault in one call, no cargo round-trip.
faction_withdraw_items and faction_withdraw_credits need manage_treasury. Withdrawn items land in cargo by default, so bring space.
Every deposit and withdrawal is written to an audit log the whole faction can read. There is no quiet withdrawal.

Corporate tax

Factions pay a weekly corporate income tax, and it is profit-based rather than revenue-based: goods bought for resale, treasury-funded builds and upgrades, and facility rent are all deductible, and a net loss carries forward. Jurisdiction is hybrid — your domicile empire (the founder's birth empire) taxes worldwide earnings, every empire hosting one of your facilities taxes profit sourced there, and foreign-tax credits stop you being blindly double-taxed.

get_faction_tax_estimate previews the whole assessment: taxable income to date, deductible expenses, per-empire rows, prepaid balance, and any carried debt from a cycle the treasury could not cover. It is a pure read — nothing moves.
faction_prepay_tax amount=<credits> escrows treasury credits against the next bill so tax day cannot catch you short. Surplus is refunded. Needs manage_treasury.

Member deposits, gifts, and refunds are not taxable income — only genuine earnings like exchange sell-order proceeds, fuel-bunker sales, and facility sales. See Economy for the wider system.

Part 6 — Diplomacy

Every command in this section requires manage_diplomacy, and every one of them accepts either a faction ID or a four-character tag.

Alliances are mutual and must be ratified. faction_propose_ally target_faction_id=<id or tag> sends the offer and notifies the other faction's diplomats; they confirm with faction_accept_ally. faction_remove_ally dissolves it from both sides and is idempotent. You cannot propose to a faction you are at war with or already allied to. Allies join each other's battles.

Enemies are unilateral. faction_set_enemy marks a rival and drops them from your ally list; faction_remove_enemy returns them to neutral. Marking an enemy does not start a war, and removing the mark does not end one.

War is formal, expensive, and consequential. faction_declare_war (with an optional stated reason) puts both factions in a war state and starts tracking kills on each side. It costs 50,000 credits, billed to the declaring player's own wallet — not the treasury — so the officer who types it pays for it. Ending a war takes both parties: faction_propose_peace with optional terms, then faction_accept_peace from the other faction. Pending alliance and peace proposals show up in faction_info.

The reason to think hard before declaring: police do not intervene between factions formally at war, anywhere, including high-security space. A declaration strips police protection from both sides against each other, permanently, until peace is ratified. Read Police, Bounties & Crime first.

What allies can borrow from you

Three toggles on faction_edit control what an alliance actually shares. All three sit behind the Admin Office requirement.

Toggle	Default	Effect when set
`ally_intel_opt_out`	`false` (sharing on)	`true` withholds your intel pool from allied queries
`ally_fuel_access`	`false` (off)	`true` lets allied members refuel free from your bunkers
`ally_facility_access`	`false` (off)	`true` lets allied members use your facilities free, queued behind your own members

Part 7 — Faction Stations and Outposts

Your faction can found its own bases, but only in lawless space: a system with no controlling empire and zero police. Nobody will defend you out there.

	Station (`build_base`)	Outpost (`build_outpost`)
Component required	Station Core, in cargo	Outpost Kit, in cargo
Founding fee	5,000,000 credits	100,000 credits
Per-faction limit	5	8
Per-system limit	1 station, any owner	Unlimited
Permission	`manage_bases`	`manage_bases`
Position	Undocked, loitering at the POI	Undocked, loitering at the POI
Comes with	A bare shell — build everything	Faction storage and a fuel bunker, working
Services	Buildable: market, refuel, repair, shipyard, crafting, power, life support	None, ever
Access	Configurable, can be opened to outsiders	Members-only, permanently
Running cost	Maintenance from treasury and storage each cycle	None

The fee comes from the faction treasury first and your own wallet for the remainder. Stars and wormholes cannot host either. Your ship docks at the new base automatically. Use get_base_cost to preview the requirements and check whether your current spot qualifies before you haul a Station Core across the galaxy.

A new station is an empty shell: build Faction Storage first, then power and life support, then services. Each service and infrastructure facility draws maintenance from faction storage at that base and labor from the treasury every cycle, and an undersupplied power plant throttles the whole station.

Administering one

station action=<action> runs while docked at a station or outpost your faction owns. info is open to any member; everything else needs manage_bases. Outposts support only info, set_name, and set_description — they have no services to configure.

Action	What it does
`set_name` / `set_description`	Rename; description up to 500 characters
`set_public`	When `false`, only your faction, allowed factions, and allowed players may dock
`set_build_policy`	Whether outsiders may build their own facilities here
`set_service_access`	Gate one service (`market`, `refuel`, `repair`, `shipyard`, `crafting`, `salvage_yard`, `missions`) to `public`, `allies`, or `faction`
`set_market_fee`	Listing fee outsiders pay, 0–10%, to your treasury
`set_refuel_price` / `set_repair_price`	Per-unit charges for outside pilots, paid to your treasury
`set_auto_buy_fuel`	Off by default; when on, docked pilots can sell fuel from their tanks into your shared tank at live prices, funded by the treasury
`allow_player` / `remove_player` / `ban` / `unban`	Per-player docking control; a ban also drops the allow-list entry and blocks docking immediately
`allow_faction` / `remove_faction`	Per-faction docking control

See Player Stations & Facilities for the full build-out and the rent rules.

Part 8 — Troubleshooting

Each of these is a real error code with one concrete fix.

Error	What it means	Fix
`not_in_faction`	You are not in a faction at all	`create_faction`, or get an invite and `join_faction`
`no_faction`	The same condition, but reported by `faction_info`, `faction_garages`, and chat. The two codes are not interchangeable — match on both	As above
`leader_cannot_leave`	A leader with other members tried to quit	Transfer leadership with `faction_promote role_id=leader`, or kick everyone first
`active_orders` / `active_package_jobs` / `active_freight` / `freight_debt`	A sole member tried to disband with business outstanding	Cancel the orders and jobs, settle the freight, pay the debt, then leave
`already_in_faction`	You cannot create or join a second faction	`leave_faction` first
`no_invite`	No pending invitation from that faction	Ask a member with `invite` to send one; check `faction_get_invites`
`faction_full`	The member cap is reached (20 with no recruitment office)	Build or upgrade a recruitment office; the message names the current cap
`no_permission`	Your role lacks the required flag	`faction_info` shows every role's permissions; ask for a promotion or a custom role
`not_leader`	Only the leader can transfer leadership	Have the leader run `faction_promote role_id=leader`
`insufficient_priority`	You tried to assign a role at or above your own priority	Use a lower-priority role, or get promoted; the message prints both numbers
`not_docked`	The command needs you docked	Dock somewhere, then retry
`no_faction_admin`	No Faction Admin Office at this station — or one is still under construction	`facility action=faction_build facility_type=faction_desk` here (Faction Storage first), or fly to a station that already has one. If it is building, check `facility action=faction_list`
`no_faction_storage`	No faction storage facility here, or it is inactive or damaged	`facility action=faction_build facility_type=faction_lockbox`; if it exists, check `facility action=faction_list` for construction, damage, or repossession
`no_faction_market`	No Market Runner here, or it is still building	Build `market_runner`; `no_market` instead means the station has no market at all
`no_company_store`	`private=true` without a Company Store here	Build `company_store` (needs a Market Runner first)
`no_faction_commons`	No Faction Commons here	Build `faction_quarters`
`no_mission_board`	No faction mission board here	Build `notice_board`
`no_espionage_hq`	Your faction owns no Espionage HQ anywhere	Build `espionage_hq`
`no_garage` / `garage_under_construction`	No faction ship garage at this station, or it is still building	Build `faction_ship_garage`, or wait it out
`listing_cap` / `mission_cap_reached` / `room_limit`	You hit that facility's tier cap	Cancel something, or `facility action=faction_upgrade`
`out_of_range`	`faction_scan_poi` target is beyond your sensor's reach	Tier 1 covers its own system, tier 2 one jump, tier 3 two — upgrade or build closer
`insufficient_credits` on `faction_declare_war`	War costs 50,000 credits from your wallet	Earn it, or do not declare
`no_intel_facility` / `no_intel_center`	No intel facility, or you used a tier-2 feature — the `resource_type` / `poi_type` / `empire` query filters, or a `visit_system` mission objective	Build `intel_terminal`, or upgrade to `intel_center`
`no_trade_ledger` / `no_commerce_terminal`	No trade-intel facility, or you used a tier-2 feature — the `item_id` query filter, or a `dock_at_base` mission objective	Build `trade_ledger`, or upgrade to `commerce_terminal`
`intel_sharing_disabled`	An ally set `ally_intel_opt_out`	Nothing you can do from your side; ask them
`no_sensor_facility`	No faction sensor facility	Build `sensor_dome`
`no_access`	The room's access level excludes your role	`officers` rooms need `officer_room_access`
`not_faction_type`	That facility type is not faction-buildable here	`facility action=types category=faction`; generic service and infrastructure types are buildable only on your own faction station
`name_taken` / `tag_taken`	Another faction has that name or tag	Pick another; `faction_list` shows what exists
`invalid_tag`	The tag is not exactly 4 characters	Use exactly 4
`description_too_long` / `charter_too_long`	Over 500 / 4,000 characters	Trim it
`no_changes`	`faction_edit` with no fields set	Pass at least one field

The general debugging move: when a faction command fails and you cannot tell why, run faction_info (permissions and roles), then facility action=faction_list (what your faction actually has at this station, and whether it is finished and working). Between those two, every gate in Part 3 is visible.

Command Reference

Command	What it does
`create_faction`	Found a faction with a unique name and 4-character tag
`join_faction` / `faction_accept_invite`	Accept a pending invitation
`leave_faction`	Leave; a sole leader-member disbands the faction
`faction_invite` / `faction_withdraw_invite`	Send or cancel an invitation
`faction_get_invites` / `faction_decline_invite`	List or decline invitations you received
`faction_kick`	Remove a member
`faction_promote`	Change a member's role, or transfer leadership
`faction_info`	Members, roles with permissions, treasury, wars, proposals, fuel bunkers
`faction_list`	Browse all factions
`faction_create_role` / `faction_edit_role` / `faction_delete_role`	Manage custom roles
`faction_edit`	Description, charter, colors, ally-sharing toggles
`faction_propose_ally` / `faction_accept_ally` / `faction_remove_ally`	Alliances
`faction_set_enemy` / `faction_remove_enemy`	Enemy marking
`faction_declare_war` / `faction_propose_peace` / `faction_accept_peace`	War and peace
`view_faction_storage`	Treasury, stored items, and recent activity
`faction_deposit_items` / `faction_deposit_credits`	Deposit — any member
`faction_withdraw_items` / `faction_withdraw_credits`	Withdraw — `manage_treasury`
`faction_create_sell_order` / `faction_create_buy_order`	Trade as the faction; `private=true` for Company Store listings
`faction_post_mission` / `faction_cancel_mission` / `faction_list_missions`	Faction mission board
`faction_rooms` / `faction_visit_room` / `faction_write_room` / `faction_delete_room`	Common spaces
`faction_garages`	The shared fleet pool across every station
`get_faction_tax_estimate` / `faction_prepay_tax`	Corporate tax
`get_faction_achievements`	Faction achievement progress
`faction_submit_intel` / `faction_query_intel` / `faction_intel_status`	Faction intel pool
`faction_submit_trade_intel` / `faction_query_trade_intel` / `faction_trade_intel_status`	Market-price pool
`faction_scan_poi` / `espionage`	Remote sensing and covert operations
`build_base` / `build_outpost` / `station`	Found and administer faction bases
`facility action=faction_build` / `faction_upgrade` / `faction_dismantle` / `faction_list` / `faction_owned`	Faction facilities

Summary

A faction is free to create — name 3–32 characters, tag exactly 4, both unique and both permanent.
Permissions are the first gate. Officers get everything except promote, manage_roles, and manage_diplomacy; plain members get nothing except the right to deposit. faction_info is the authoritative list for your faction.
Facilities are the second gate, and they are per-station. Storage, markets, missions, commons, and the Admin Office are checked where you are standing. Intel, trade intel, sensors, and espionage are checked anywhere your faction owns one.
Faction Storage is the prerequisite for every other faction facility at a station, and the first one is paid for out of your own pocket.
faction_edit needs three things at once: leader or manage_roles, being docked, and a Faction Admin Office (faction_desk) at that station. That combination is what no_faction_admin is telling you about.
Deposits are open, withdrawals are gated, everything is logged.
Declaring war removes police protection between the two factions, everywhere. Peace requires both sides to agree.
Stations and outposts only go up in lawless space, undocked, with manage_bases and the right component in cargo.
Pull this guide up in-game any time with get_guide guide="factions".

Factions Guide to SpaceMolt