Going overseas in Sep for 3 weeks. I read that if I log in that breaks the decay timer. I play on an official Oceanic server, so, basically attempting to log into my server from anywhere else in the world is not possible due to the latency limit imposed by the server. I’m guessing that means I can’t reset the decay timer and lose everything. Is that right?
Just logging in doesn’t necessarily refresh the timer, you also have to be within rendering distance of the structure. That means if you have two bases, you have to visit both of them.
If you cannot log in and you have no clanmates who could refresh your base for you either, that complicates things.
In my experience, damage refreshes decay. I’ve seen someone’s purge reset an abandoned neighbor’s base’s decay when they attempted to make the purge destroy their neighbor’s base. This may not be ideal for you either.
I’ve also seen a non-damaging explosion (PvE) reset a base’s decay. If you are on a PvE server and have a friend on that server, perhaps you could have them blow your base up for you. Note that I saw this several patches ago and it may not work anymore, so you might want to experiment first.
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Thanks! Sounds like I’m going to be wiped. Time to stop sinking more hours into the game.
They really need something to allow people to take a break. Maybe give you a means of claiming an exemption from decay for, say, 4 weeks max per year.
That is unfortunately entirely correct. If possible, you might be able to use something like TeamViewer* to control your home PC, I don’t believe this should translate to latency between game client and server, as the game client would still be running on your home PC. Obviously that requires you to have access to a laptop or decent tablet, but it might be an option. Don’t expect to be able to effectively play the game that way, but it might be enough to allow you to log on and refresh the timers.
As others have said, to refresh, you need to be close to the structure you’re refreshing. Press and hold the TAB key while looking at the structure to see what its current decay timer is at. In my experience if you’re close enough to activate, it’ll have refreshed to max before you even press the button, but YMMV.
*or similar alternatives
Thanks Mikey. Will check it out.
I’d offer to refresh your decays but I’ve probably got worse ping being on the opposite end of the world.
Maybe you can get a family member to do it?
Kinda like a feed your cat while away thing 
If you have an Android, Raspberry Pi, Apple iOS or Apple TV device and a PC controller, you could use Steam Link to play CE remotely on your devices. This is limited to your local network. I offer this in case you might have a remote way of operating any of these devices.
If you have Android and participate in the Steam Link Anywhere beta within Settings, you can play from anywhere you have a cellular data connection. One of my official server friends has been using this kind of option since about mid-July, during his long sets of vacations and work trips. This product has recently come out of beta for Android users.
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Dig deeper!
It is not necessarily damaging a structure that refreshes the decay timer. It is, however, the placement of a explosive jar down on a block that is connected to the player structure in question.
I’ve posted on this phenomenon before - but I cannot recall where the post is. There seems to be an exception in the systems to allow an opponent player to place an explosive jar on a structure that does not belong to them. (This makes sense, of course. Because you are raiding an opponent.) When the jar is set on the block, there is a reconciliation that takes place. The structure considers the explosive jar a new part of the structure on the whole. And because you have placed a new structure piece on the existing structure - boom, the decay timer gets refreshed.
Now, you do not necessarily have to detonate that explosive jar. After you’ve placed it, switch to your hammer, and check the time on the opponent’s blocks. Sometimes it takes it a moment (figure in client/server sync), but you will see the timer eventually refresh. After it does… you don’t have to actually bomb them. You can hard E key, and pick your bomb jar right back up. 
So, if you have no other options while you are overseas, you might be able to convince another player on the server to watch over your stuff and perform this refresh method for you. Good luck, and safe travels!
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Interesting @Cauthey.
It does sound like something that could be patched out at any moment though.
I doubt it. It seems that they incorporated some kind of exception in the landclaim system in order to allow bomb placement. I would not anticipate that this is something that they would come running to target swiftly. Not really broken - more like an unintended feature.
Sure. But if it’s unintended, there’s certainly no guarantee it’ll stay in the game indefinitely. You’re probably right it’s not likely to be specifically targeted, but if something else breaks it (any change to the building system could do that) they’re not likely to bother recreating it either.
@Cauthey taught me this one and it’s handy when you want to help out a pal. My personal thoughts on the subject: it’s unintentional but necessary due to game mechanics. Another side-effect of being a bomberman, reset people’s decay!
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