Skip to main content

How to move territory in Once Human

Found a pristine patch of land with your name written all over it? Here’s how to move your base in Once Human.

The player stands outside of their territory and faces their base in Once Human
Image credit: VG247/Starry Studio
UPDATE: We've added a little more information to this page about the best type of area to build a base in, as well as how to expand your territory in Once Human.

Let’s say you’ve built yourself a base in the starting area of Dayton Wetlands in the post-apocalyptic survival game that is Once Human. The area is overpopulated, the resources you need are miles away, and you’re thinking of packing up and moving elsewhere.

The good thing about choosing to change base locations and move territory in Once Human is that it’s easy. You don’t have to worry about rebuilding your base from scratch, like in V Rising, and can claim a new home in a matter of seconds. To help you do just that, here’s how to move territory in Once Human.


How to move territory in Once Human

In Once Human, once you select and place your territory, you’ll find that you have a sizable box as your plot of claimed land to build in. This box can be a surprisingly tight space if you’re building in close proximity to other player’s territories, strongholds, or roads, though.

Ideally, you want a flat plot of land with enough room surrounding it so that you can maximize your space. If you can build your base near water to have a constant supply of the stuff, even better. What's one step better than that is building near water in a polluted area, as you can then refine your dirty water into both drinking water and acid for crafting ammo.

This is hard to find in the early-game with new Meta-Human’s building just about everywhere (and pollution being low in Dayton Wetlands, for the most part), but as you explore more of the map, you’ll find more vacant, scenic spots to build in.

And once you do find the ideal spot to move to, simply do the following to move your base:

  1. Open your ‘Build’ menu using ‘B’.
  2. Press ‘Z’ to move territory.
  3. A blueprint of your current base will appear in front of you; choose where to place it and left-click to confirm.
The player stands outside of their territory with the build menu open in Once Human: the option to move territory is labelled
Press 'Z' while in build mode to move territory. | Image credit: VG247/Starry Studio

Moving territories has a cooldown of ten minutes, which means you can actually pack up and move base every ten minutes if you really wanted to. That said, if you’re scoping out an area temporarily while farming or taking on a boss, be sure to utilise your provisional camps by pressing ‘T’ rather than constantly moving territory.

How to expand territory in Once Human

If you later want to expand your territory in Once Human, there are two ways to do this. If you are playing solo, you want to unlock the Territory Expansion Memetic from Tier 3 of the Infrastructure Tab of your Memetics menu. Then, you can expand your space by pressing 'H' by your Territory Terminal.

The Territory Expansion Memetic is shown in Once Human
Image credit: VG247/Starry Studio

If you're playing with friends, however, there's a much more efficient way to get expanded territory. By joining a Hive with your friends, you will both be able to build in each others territories and share space. So, all you then need to do is place your territories beside one another and then you can build together!


For more on Once Human, take a look at how to change worlds, how PvP works, and how to get a motorcycle.

Read this next