Lightyear Frontier difficulty settings: Creative, Relaxed, Balanced or Challenging?

Choose around the pressure you want

The preset appears when starting a new save; existing saves also show these options the first time they load into 1.0. Use Customize to adjust individual settings instead of assuming you must accept every part of a preset.

Preset	Officially described behavior	Suitable goal
Creative	No building/crafting cost, damage or threats	Experimenting with layouts and decoration
Relaxed	No damage taken and longer days	Learning systems or farming with less time pressure
Balanced	Standard experience; recommended for new players	Discovering the progression with its default trade-offs
Challenging	Increased damage, scarcer fuel and permanent item loss on knockout	A run where preparation and loss matter more

If you are unsure, begin with Balanced and decide what is actually uncomfortable before changing a setting. For a group focused on building together, Creative removes a different burden from Relaxed: materials and recipe costs versus damage and daily pace.

The custom settings that change a farming plan

The per-world settings include Day Length, Growth Time, Crafting Time, Item Weight, fuel consumption for the Mech and Constructs, damage settings, weather-related threats and No Costs. They can change the meaning of a production timetable or a hauling recommendation.

For example, a harvest plan written for default growth time cannot be treated as an exact schedule after changing Growth Time. Lower Item Weight changes the logistics problem, while a faster crafting setting changes machine throughput. Keep those conditions in mind before comparing farms or following a speed-focused route.

Change a small number of related options at a time. If the problem is that fieldwork fills the day, consider day length or the relevant tool upgrade before altering every production setting. If you want to test a build without resource collection, use an appropriately configured separate world.

Co-op settings belong to the world

The 1.0 framework is per-world and host-controlled. A guest’s preferred pacing does not automatically override the shared farm. Agree on settings before designing a group production plan, especially changes to growth, crafting, damage and item loss.

A useful group checklist is: the intended pace, whether losses are acceptable, how much hauling matters and whether construction should require resources. Record the choices with the farm’s name or group notes so everyone is planning under the same conditions.

Use Shared saves for who can access the farm when the original host is offline. World access and the host’s control over playstyle settings answer different questions.

Treat Challenging’s losses as a planning constraint

Permanent item loss on knockout changes the cost of an expedition. Bring the resources needed for the trip, leave unrelated valuables behind and check fuel before committing to unfamiliar terrain. Lola’s retrieval service should not be assumed to reverse a preset’s permanent-loss rule.

For late-game exploration, check the Highlands and hauling guide. For a difficulty problem caused by inadequate equipment rather than the settings themselves, use the upgrade guide to identify a relevant capability.