Settlements are the Hubs and Cities that turn individual deliveries into persistent regional progress. A mapped Settlement is commissioned by its initial delivery, begins consuming Food and starts at level 1. Food becomes its operating supply; the cargo its Projects are paid in (Lumber, Steel, Building Materials, Fuel and Industrial Parts) enters the Reserve used for levels and construction. Raw cargo from Sources, such as Logs, Grain or Oil, is not taken by a Settlement.

Food only supplies a Settlement when it is delivered to that Settlement. Food unloaded at an airfield is stored there and supplies nobody until it is taken out and flown on.

Settlement Food consumption runs only while at least one player is flying an airplane or helicopter. With nobody flying, Food stock and Trust are frozen; source production and factories continue running overnight.

Higher levels require Reserve cargo, increase Food demand and unlock construction capacity. The level itself uses no build slot, and upgrading an existing Project keeps its current slot.

A Settlement stores at most 100% of its level's Food target, so Food cannot be stockpiled without limit.

• Full store: the pad stops accepting Food. The crate stays where it was set down and can be picked up and flown to a Settlement that still has room.
• No stockpiling beside the pad: a crate left on the ground survives only one restart, see Restarts.
• Whole crates: a crate that still finds room always counts in full, so the last one can take the store slightly past its target, for example 18.8 of 18.
• Several crates at once: the pad takes crates until the store is full and leaves the rest standing.
• Rare collision: if another delivery fills the store at the same moment, the crate is refused after it has left the pad and returns to the pad at the next mission restart.
• Displays: the Radio Menu shows a full store as FULL, the Live Map's inner fill shows the same 100%, and the F10 map label counts delivered crates within a second.

Hubs can specialise through as many as three Hub Project slots. Cities use up to two City Project slots and gain one separate Institution seat at level 3. A Settlement's Trust reflects sustained Food supply. Unrest pauses levels and new Projects, and also pauses selected growth perks until the Settlement recovers.

The Live Map represents a Hub or City's Trust with its outer ring and stored supply with its inner fill. Its detail panel shows the level, Supply and Trust as separate blocks, Storage, occupied slots, locked slots and paused effects.

• Commission a Site
• Build a Project
• Recover a Settlement

• Cargo
• Projects
• Institutions
• Trust
• Unrest