Your flagpole is the most important thing you'll build. It claims your territory, lets you build, and decides whether your base can be raided. On Is Dead, a base is only raidable when its flag is lowered to 0% and removed from the pole, so a raised flag means a safe base.
Before you start: make a group. You can't place a flagpole or any building piece until you're in a group. Press M, open the Group tab, and create one, even if you play solo.
What you'll need in total
| Item | Amount | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Short wooden sticks | 3 | Flagpole kit |
| Rope | 2 | Kit and pole |
| Wooden logs | 10 | Base, support, and pole |
| Large stones | 32 | Support |
| Nails | 60 | Pole |
| Metal wire | 1 | Pole |
| A flag | 1 | Raising it claims the territory |
Tools: a sledgehammer, a shovel or pickaxe, and a hammer or hatchet. Mine large stones by hitting boulders with a pickaxe or sledgehammer. Logs and stones are heavy, so a vehicle makes this far easier.
Building it
- Kit: combine 3 short sticks with a rope to make a flagpole kit, then place it where you want your base.
- Base: 1 wooden log, built with a sledgehammer.
- Support: 32 large stones and 6 wooden logs, built with a shovel or pickaxe.
- Pole: 3 wooden logs, 60 nails, 1 rope, and 1 metal wire, built with a hammer or hatchet.
- Flag: attach a flag and raise it. Raising takes several actions, so keep going until it's at the top.
Territory rules on Is Dead
- Your flag claims a 75 meter radius, from 30 meters below to 30 meters above the pole. Flagged items show a flag icon on their nameplate.
- Anything built outside your territory becomes unflagged and despawns after about two weeks.
- Flags from different groups must be at least 150 meters apart, and your sleeping bags must be within 50 meters of your flag.
- Build at least 300 meters from military areas, encampments, and traders.
- The flagpole must be outside any locked area and reachable by raiders. If it isn't, staff may move it.
- Each group gets one main base. At group Level 5 you can place one extra flagpole for a small outpost.
Keep it raised. Flags slowly lower over time, so raise yours back to the top whenever you're home. A lowered flag alone doesn't make you raidable, but a lowered and removed one does.