Inactivity & grey castles

What happens if you don't play for a long time: when your realm turns grey, what happens to grey castles and why there is no vacation mode.

When a realm turns grey

If you don't log in for 56 days and no sitter plays in your account either, you leave the world: your account there is dissolved, your castles become ownerless and appear grey on the map. If you come back later, you start again from scratch in that world. Your realms in other worlds are not affected.

What happens to grey castles

The troops stay in the castle as a grey garrison, but gradually desert.
Construction sites added later are lost. If not all building levels fit on the remaining sites, the castle loses levels.
Normal grey castles disappear after 100 days; the map and the castle info show a countdown. Grey amber castles and settlements are removed shortly afterwards. Grey special castles such as Baldur's Fortress, ice, Halloween and mage castles stay.
Your construction and research orders, building master plans, favourites, notes and your address book in that world are deleted.

Conquering grey castles

Anyone may attack grey castles, regardless of attack range. With senators you can take them over (conquest) – which is exactly what the BITMEUP mission “Land Grab” asks for. You may demolish a conquered grey castle right away.