# Living Settlements is STILL broken **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://forums.funcom.com/t/living-settlements-is-still-broken/301837 "2026-07-28T18:57:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Boris](https://forums.funcom.com/u/Boris)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://forums.funcom.com/t/living-settlements-is-still-broken/301837/1 "2026-07-28T18:57:16Z")
The update/patch today did nothing to fix the longstanding problem of Thralls ignoring locked doors and physical barriers like fences and moving through building geometry, sometimes clipping through the world and dying or disappearing. Please fix this issue or disable living settlements completely until it is fixed, this behavior is clearly a bug and has been a bug for a long time. Why are you bothering implementing new features without making sure the features you already released work properly? ---
**Author:** ![Bodin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/funcom/user_avatar/forums.funcom.com/bodin/32/1991_2.png) [@Bodin](https://forums.funcom.com/u/Bodin)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://forums.funcom.com/t/living-settlements-is-still-broken/301837/2 "2026-07-28T19:45:32Z")
The Devs can improve Living Settlements by focusing on pathfinding, collision safeguards, performance, and player control. The feature was intended to make bases feel active by giving thralls daily schedules, but frequent bugs (such as walking through doors and walls, becoming stuck, or falling through terrain) make the system unreliable. The first priority should be a pathfinding overhaul. Building pieces should dynamically update the local navigation mesh so thralls recognize floors, walls, stairs, doors, and gates correctly. Thralls should open unlocked doors through normal interactions, while locked doors and gates should be treated as impassable barriers. Before moving, sitting, sleeping, or working, thralls should also perform a ground-validation check. If the destination is unsafe or lacks valid flooring, the action should be cancelled. Thralls that clip into terrain or remain stuck should automatically return to their assigned bed, station, chair, or guard position. Performance can be improved by fully simulating thralls only when players are nearby. Outside render distance, schedules should be handled through simplified status changes rather than continuous physical movement. When a player returns, thralls could be placed safely at the appropriate scheduled location. Players should also be able to define settlement boundaries so thralls do not wander toward distant or inaccessible objects. Finally, Living Settlements needs better management options. Server administrators should be able to disable the system globally, while players should have per-thrall toggles and a “station lock” for essential crafting thralls. A pathfinding debug tool would also help administrators identify broken navigation areas. The fixes should be implemented in phases: first, prevent falls and recover stuck thralls; second, repair navigation and door behavior; third, add settlement boundaries, station locking, toggles, and diagnostic tools. These changes would preserve the feature’s immersive purpose while making it stable, efficient, and dependable. ---
**Author:** ![Boris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Boris](https://forums.funcom.com/u/Boris)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://forums.funcom.com/t/living-settlements-is-still-broken/301837/3 "2026-07-29T22:25:57Z")
These seem like very reasonable changes, any number of which could improve the Living Settlements player experience without too many resources spent on development. Even a single one of these changes, a “station lock”, would fix a lot of problems simply by disabling a Thrall from leaving a station and letting players who have had a lot of issues with the poor implementation of Living Settlements not have to deal with the constant headache of thralls ignoring building geometry and door locks. ---
**Author:** ![Orkan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/funcom/user_avatar/forums.funcom.com/orkan/32/142184_2.png) [@Orkan](https://forums.funcom.com/u/Orkan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://forums.funcom.com/t/living-settlements-is-still-broken/301837/5 "2026-07-30T02:05:41Z")
The devs have completely lost control of this IP. It’s painfully obvious at this point. Every patch breaks more things. It’s clear that whoever actually made this stuff is no longer around, and whoever is being tasked with fixing things has no idea how the original guy did what he did. This is what happens when someone completely loses control of a codebase. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/funcom/original/1X/8d85ca8a66fb78fa7574e255b50aa722d634177b.png) [@system](https://forums.funcom.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 2:06am UTC](https://forums.funcom.com/t/living-settlements-is-still-broken/301837/6 "2026-08-06T02:06:01Z")
Closed on August 6, 2026, 2:06am UTC This topic was automatically closed 7 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.