Planets.Nu API

On December 21, 2011, Planets.Nu opened up an API for developers.

Public API

The public API calls consist of:

• Login - Use this to acquire the apikey of a given player.
• List Games - List the games on the Planets Nu platform in various ways
• Load Game Info - Load the publicly available data about a single game
• Load Turn Data - Load a single players complete turn package

Errors

API calls return a JSON dictionary. In the event of an API call failure, the following dictionary will be returned:

{"success":false,"error":"This is the error message."}

on occasion, instead of a JSON dictionary the following text is returned:

Error: Error Description Here

Login

The login API returns an API key which can be used along with a username for subsequent API calls.

The login command is an HTTP GET to http://api.planets.nu/login with the following values passed on the connection string:

variable	description	Required	Default Value
username	account username	YES	n/a
password	account password	YES	n/a

Example:

http://api.planets.nu/login?username=user12345&password=straightouttagalibor

The response is a JSON dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
success	Indicates if the call was successful (true or false)
apikey	The API key used in other requests. An API key is formatted as: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx where any x is a hexadecimal value.
settings	The current player's settings object

The API key is used for subsequent API calls for the given account. This is the API Key of the account and will only change if the user changes their account password.

List Games

The list games API returns detailed information about all games on the Planets Nu website or for an individual player. This API is a public API and does not require authentication.

The list games command is a GET call to http://api.planets.nu/games/list

The following variables are all optional:

variable	description	Required	Default Value
status	Current status of games to return, with multiple values joined by commas. Possible values are: 1 : Joining 2 : Running 3 : Finished 4 : Hold	NO	1,2
type	The type of games to return, with multiple values joined by commas. Possible values are: 1 : Training 2 : Standard 3 : Team 4 : Melee 5 : Blitz 6 : Championship	NO	2,3,4
scope	Current scope of games to return, with multiple values joined by commas. Possible values are: 0 : Public 1 : Custom (private games)	NO	0
ids	IDs of games to return, comma separated	NO	n/a
username	Username of the account to list games. Will list all games for this user regardless of other settings	NO	n/a
limit	The maximum number of records to return. A value of 0 (zero) will return all records.	NO	0

Each game record will be returned in a JSON array of game objects:

[{game 1},{game 2},{game 3}]

Load Game Info

The Load Game Info API returns all the publicly available information about a game including its historical game records.

The load game info command is a GET call to http://api.planets.nu/game/loadinfo with the following values passed on the connection string:

variable	description	Required	Default Value
gameid	The of the game being loaded	YES	n/a

On success, the following JSON dictionary is returned:

key	value
game	A game object dictionary
players	An array of player object dictionaries
relations	An array of relation object dictionaries
schedule	A text description of the host schedule
settings	A game settings object dictionary
timetohost	A text description of the time until the next scheduled host
wincondition	A text description of the condition required to win the game
yearfrom	The Planets.NU year that the game began
yearto	The Planets.NU year the game ended

Load Turn Data

The load turn API returns all the data for a single complete turn given a game id and player id. This API requires the api key from Login as authentication when loading a turn for a game in progress.

The load turn command is a GET call to http://api.planets.nu/game/loadturn

The following variables may be passed as arguments in the connection string:

variable	description	Required	Default Value
apikey	The api key from the login API call. Only required for turns in active games	NO	n/a
forsave	Indicates if the client intends to make a call to the save data APIs	NO	false
gameid	The game ID for which to request the turn	YES	n/a
playerid	The player to request a turn for. In an active game this value must match the player for the supplied api key, otherwise an error will be returned	NO	n/a
turn	The turn to request	NO	The latest turn

The response is a JSON dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
success	Indicates if the call was successful (true or false)
accountsettings	A player settings object for the player whose turn was fetched
ispremium	Indicates if the player is/was a registered subscriber when the turn was generated
rst	A result object which contains the bulk of the turn information
savekey	A unique, dynamically generated key for saving data back to the API. If forsave was false, this value is empty

Turn Result Object

The turn result object returned by Load Turn is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
settings	A game settings object for the current game
game	A game object for the current game
player	A player object for the player the turn data belongs to
players	An array of player objects for all players in the current turn
scores	An array of score objects for all players in the current turn
maps	A url to a pre-rendered image of the game map for the given player for the current turn
planets	An array of planet objects for the game
ships	An array of ship objects representing the ships controlled by the given player for the current turn
ionstorms	An array of ion storm objects for the storms currently active in the cluster
nebulas	An array of nebula objects
stars	An array of star objects
starbases	An array of starbase objects for the starbases under the control of the given player
stock	An array of stock item objects of the loose parts the player has at their starbases
minefields	An array of minefield objects for all minefields known to the player
relations	An array of relation objects for all diplomatic relations as of the current turn
messages	An array of message objects representing the system messages (reports) for the current turn
mymessages	An array of message objects representing the diplomatic messages sent and received for the player of the current game
notes	An array of note objects for notes attached to planets, starbases and ships
vcrs	An array of visual combat recording objects for any combat known to the player for the current turn
races	An array of race objects representing all races participating in the current game
hulls	An array of hull objects for the attributes of every hull possible for the current game
racehulls	An array of the hull IDs available to the current player's race
beams	An array of beam objects for the attributes of every beam weapon possible for the current game
engines	An array of engine objects for the attributes of every engine possible for the current game
torpedos	An array of torpedo objects for the attributes of every torpedo possible for the current game

Non-Public API

In addition to the publicly documented API, there are several calls available from reading the actual game code. The maintainers of Planets.Nu have stated that any API endpoint is safe to use.

Encoding

Any data sent over the non-public API is expected to be encoded to prevent & and = characters from getting mangled by the connection string.

• & (ampersand) characters are to be replaced with ||| (3 pipe characters)
• = (equals) characters are to be replaced with ::: (3 colon characters)

Send Message

The Send Message API allows users to send in-game messages to other players in the current game.

The send message command is a GET call to http://api.planets.nu/game/sendmessage with the following values passed on the connection string:

variable	description	Required	Default Value
gameid	The of the game in which to send the message	YES	n/a
playerid	The player who is sending the message	YES	n/a
apikey	The api key of the player sending the message	YES	n/a
to	A comma separated list of all recipients of the message	YES	n/a
body	The body of the message to be sent	YES	n/a

Send Message Response

The response for a send message API call is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
success	A boolean value indicating the success or failure of the API call
mymessages	An array of message objects for all the game's player messages (for the given player)
html	The html response containing any resulting messages (ie. "Message sent via ambassador immediately") sent to the client

Common Data Objects

The following objects are used or returned by the API calls:

Beam Object

The beam object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
cost	The amount of megacredits required to build the beam weapon
crewkill	The number of crew the beam will kill if the shields of the target ship are down
damage	The damage that the particular beam will do to the hull or shield of a ship
duranium	The amount of duranium required to build the beam weapon
id	The beam ID referenced by other objects, such as the Ship Object
mass	The mass of the beam weapon when constructed
molybdenum	The amount of molybdenum required to build the beam weapon
name	The name of the beam weapon
techlevel	The tech level required at the starbase to build the beam weapon
tritanium	The amount of tritanium required to build the beam weapon

Engine Object

The engine object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
cost	The amount of megacredits required to build the engine
duranium	The amount of duranium required to build the engine
id	The engine ID referenced by other objects, such as the Ship Object
molybdenum	The amount of molybdenum required to build the engine
name	The name of the engine
techlevel	The tech level required at the starbase to build the engine
tritanium	The amount of tritanium required to build the engine
warp1
warp2
warp3
warp4
warp5
warp6
warp7
warp8
warp9

Game Object

The game object returned by List Games or Load Game Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
allturnsin	Indicates if all turns have been submitted
createdby
datecreated	The date the game was created
dateended	The date the game ended
deletedate	The date the game was deleted
description	The text description of the game
difficulty
faststart
gametype
hostdays	The days of the week the host will run in the format SMTWTFS. An underscore will replace days the host will not run. eg. _M___F_ indicates the host will run on mondays and fridays
hosttime	The scheduled time of day for the host to run on scheduled host days
id	The ID of the game
ishosting
isprivate
lastbackuppath
lastloadeddate
lastnotified
maptype
masterplanetid
maxlevelid	The maximum level for captains to participate in the game
name	The name of the game / system
nexthost	The datetime of the next scheduled host run
quadrant
requiredlevelid	The required level for captains to participate in the game
scenarioid
shortdescription
slots	The number of player slots available in the game
slowhostdays
status
turn	The current game turn
turnsperweek	The number of scheduled turns per week
turnstatus	A set of characters indicating which players have submitted their turns. An underscore indicates the turn is not yet viewed.
tutorialid
wincondition
yearstarted

Game Settings Object

The game settings object returned by Load Game Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
allowchunneltowdropbug
averagedensitypercent
buildqueueplanetid
campaignmode
cloakfail
closeplanets
deadradius
debrisdiskpercent
developmentfactor
discussionid
duraniumlevel
fixedstartpositions
hideraceselection
hostcompleted
hoststart
hwdistribution
id
killrace
mapheight	The height of the map in pixels / lightyears. The upper limit is 4000
mapshape
mapwidth	The width of the map in pixels / lightyears. The upper limit is 4000
maxallies	The maximum number of allies a player can have in the current game
maxioncloudsperstorm
maxions
militaryscorepercent
molybdenumlevel
name	The name of the current game
nativeprobability
ncircles
ndebrisdiscs
nebulas
neutroniumlevel
nexthost
nuionstorms
numplanets	The number of planets in the game
planetscanrange
playerselectrace
roundmap
runningstart
shipscanrange
showallexplosions
stars
structuredecayrate
teamsize
tritaniumlevel
turn	The current game turn
uniqueraces
verycloseplanets
victorycountdown

Hull Object

The hull object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
advantage
beams	The maximum number of beams that can be added to the hull
cancloak	A boolean value indicating if the hull includes a cloaking device
cargo	The amount of cargo space available in the constructed hull
cost	The amount of megacredits required to build the hull
crew	The maximum crew capacity in the constructed hull
description
dur
duranium	The amount of duranium required to build the hull
engines	The amount of engines required by the hull when building a ship
fighterbays	The number of fighter bays in the constructed hull
fueltank	The maximum fuel capacity in the constructed hull
id	The hull ID referenced by other objects, such as the Ship Object
isbase
launchers	The maximum number of torpedo launchers that can be added to the hull
mass	The mass of the constructed hull
mc
mol
molybdenum	The amount of molybdenum required to build the hull
name	The name of the hull
parentid
special	The text description of the special abilities available to the constructed hull
techlevel	The tech level required at the starbase to build the hull
tri
tritanium	The amount of tritanium required to build the hull

Ion Storm Object

The ion storm object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
heading
id	The ID of the Ion Storm
isgrowing	A boolean value indicating if the ion storm is growing (strengthening)
radius	The radius of the ion storm in light years
voltage	The current voltage (strength) of the ion storm
warp	The speed at which the ion storm is travelling
x	The x coordinate of the ion storm's current position
y	The y coordinate of the ion storm's current position

Message Object

The message object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
body	The body of the message. May contain HTML line breaks
headline	The title of the message
id	The ID of the message
messagetype	The type of message.
ownerid	The recipient of the message
target	The ID of the subject of the message based on the context (Ship, Planet, etc) or the sender in the case of a diplomatic message
turn	The game turn in which the message was received
x	The x coordinate of the event described, may only be useful in certain contexts
y	The y coordinate of the event described, may only be useful in certain contexts

Message Types

The message types indicated by the messagetype field in the message object are as follows:

• 0: Outbound
• 1 : System
• 2 : Terraforming
• 3 : Minelaying
• 4 : Mine Sweep
• 5 : Colony
• 6 : Combat
• 7 : Fleet
• 8 : Ship
• 9 : Enemy Distress Call
• 10 : Explosion
• 11 : Starbase
• 12 : Web Mines
• 13 : Meteors
• 14  : Sensor Sweep
• 15 : Bio Scan
• 16 : DistressCall
• 17 : Player
• 18 : Diplomacy
• 19 : MineScan
• 20 : Dark Sense
• 21 : Hiss

Minefield Object

The minefield object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
friendlycode	The friendly code to safely pass through the minefield, if known
id	The ID of the minefield
infoturn	The turn the minefield information was last updated
isweb	A boolean value indicating if the minefield is a web mine
ownerid	The player ID that owns the minefield
radius	The last known radius of the minefield
units
x	The x coordinate of the center of the minefield
y	The y coordinate of the center of the minefield

Nebula Object

The nebula object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
n/a	This is a stub, please fill this out

Note Object

The note object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
body	The text body of the note
color	The hexadecimal color of the noted entity on the map
id	The ID of the note
ownerid	The player ID that created the note
targetid	The ID of the entity the note belongs to
targettype	The type of entity the note belongs to

If anyone has a clear list of what targettype IDs are possible, please add it here

Planet Object

The planet object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
buildingstarbase	A boolean value indicating if the planet is currently building a starbase
builtdefense	The number of defense posts being built this turn
builtfactories	The number of factories being built this turn
builtmines	The number of mines being build this turn
checkduranium
checkmegacredits
checkmolybdenum
checkneutronium
checksupplies
checktritanium
clans	The number of clans populating the planet
colchange
colhappychange	The increase or decrease of happiness points on the planet this turn
colonisthappypoints	The current happiness level of the colonists on the planet
colonisttaxrate	The current tax rate (from 1 to 100)
debrisdisk
defense	The total number of defense posts on the planet
densityduranium
densitymolybdenum
densityneutronium
densitytritanium
duranium	The amount of duranium sitting on the surface of the planet
factories	The total number of factories on the planet
flag
friendlycode	The planet's friendly code
groundduranium
groundmolybdenum
groundneutronium
groundtritanium
id	The ID of the planet
img	A url to the image of the planet
infoturn	The turn in which the information of this planet was last updated
megacredits	The megacredits available on the planet
mines	The total number of mines on the planet
molybdenum	The amount of molybdenum sitting on the surface of the planet
name	The name of the planet
nativechange
nativeclans	The number of clans of natives populating the planet
nativegovernment	The ID representing the government type of the native life on the planet
nativegovernmentname	The text name of the government type of the native life on the planet
nativehappychange	The increase or decrease in happy points for the native life on the planet this turn
nativehappypoints	The overall happiness points for the native life on the planet this turn
nativeracename	The text name of the native race populating the planet
nativetaxrate	The current tax rate (from 1 to 100) for the native race on the planet
nativetaxvalue
nativetype	The ID representing the race of native life on the planet
neutronium	The amount of neutronium sitting on the surface of the planet
ownerid	The player ID currently in control of the planet
readystatus
supplies	The amount of supplies sitting on the surface of the planet
suppliessold	The number of supplies converted to megacredits on the planet this turn
targetdefense	The target value for defense posts in the auto-build queue
targetfactories	The target value for factories in the auto-build queue
targetmines	The target value for mines in the auto-build queue
temp	The temperature on the planet (from 0-100) or -1 if unknown
totalduranium
totalmolybdenum
totalneutronium
totaltritanium
tritanium	The amount of tritanium sitting on the surface of the planet
x	The x coordinate of the planet in space
y	The y coordinate of the planet in space

Player Object

The player object returned by Load Game Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
activeadvantages
activehulls	The hulls (by ID) allowed for use by the player
email
finishrank
id	The ID of the player for the current game
isregistered	Indicates if the player is registered (paid subscription)
levelhullid
levelid
planets	The number of planets the player controls in the current game
prioritypoints	The number of priority points the player has at their disposal
raceid	The race ID of the player in the current game
savekey
score	The score object for the player in the current game
ships	The number of ships (war ships and freighters) the player currently controls
starbases	The number of starbases the player controls in the current game
status
statusturn
teamid
turnjoined	The turn at which the player joined the current game
turnready	Indicates if the players turn is ready (finished)
turnsmissed
turnstatus
username	The Planets.NU username of the player

Player Settings Object

The player settings object returned by Login and Load Turn is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
allymines	A hex RGB color code for allied minefields
allyplanetfrom
allyplanetto
allyshipfrom
allyshipto
assistanton
battletaskid
battletutorialid
enemymines	A hex RGB color code for enemy minefields
enemyplanetfrom
enemyplanetto
enemyshipfrom
enemyshipto
id
infoplanetfrom
infoplanetto
ionstorms	A hex RGB color code for ion storms
musicon
mymines	A hex RGB color code for the current player's minefields
myplanetfrom
myplanetto
myshipfrom
myshipto
soundon
unknownplanetfrom
unknownplanetto
webmines	A hex RGB color code for webmines

Race Object

The race object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
adjective	The adjective used to describe the race's ships and planets
advantages
baseadvantages
basehulls	The base set of hulls (by Hull ID) available to the race
hulls
id	The race ID
name	The full name of the race
shortname	The shorter version of the race name

Relation Object

The relation object returned by Load Game Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
color
conflictlevel
id
playerid
playertoid
relationfrom
relationto

Score Object

The score object is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
capitalships
dateadded
freighters
id
inventoryscore
militaryscore
ownerid
percent
planets
prioritypoints
starbases
turn

Ship Object

The ship object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
ammo	The number of Torpedos or Fighters present on the ship
bays	The number of fighter bays on the ship
beamid	The type of beam weapons installed on the ship. This corresponds to an entry in the beam object array
beams	The number of installed beam weapons on the ship
clans	The number of clans in the ship's cargo hold
crew	The number of active crew members aboard the ship
damage	The amount of damage sustained on the ship
duranium	The amount of duranium in the ship's cargo hold
enemy	The primary enemy assigned to the ship
engineid	The type of engine installed on the ship
experience	The experience of the crew on the ship
friendlycode	The friendly code assigned to the ship
heading
history	An array of (x,y) coordinates (as a dictionary) indicating the previous positions of the ship
hullid	The hull used in the ship
id	The ID of the ship
infoturn	The last turn the information about the ship was updated
iscloaked	A boolean value indicating if the ship is cloaked or not
mass	The total mass of the ship including all cargo
megacredits	The amount of megacredits on board the ship
mission	The current mission being performed on the ship
mission1target
mission2target
molybdenum	The amount of molybdenum in the ship's cargo hold
name	The name of the ship
neutronium	The amount of neutronium (fuel) in the ship's fuel tank
ownerid	The player ID of the owner of the ship
readystatus
supplies	The amount of supplies in the ship's cargo hold
targetx	The x coordinate of the flight path target for the ship
targety	The y coordinate of the flight path target for the ship
torpedoid	The ID of the torpedo launchers installed in the ship
torps	The number of torpedo launchers installed in the ship
transferammo
transferclans
transferduranium
transfermegacredits
transfermolybdenum
transferneutronium
transfersupplies
transfertargetid
transfertargettype
transfertritanium
tritanium	The amount of tritanium in the ship's cargo hold
turn
turnkilled
warp	The current warp speed of the ship
waypoints
x	The x coordinate of the ship's current position in space
y	The y coordinate of the ship's current position in space

Star Object

The star object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
n/a	This is a stub, please fill this out

Starbase Object

The starbase object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
beamtechlevel	The tech level for beam weapons on the starbase
beamtechup	The level raised of the beam tech in the current turn
buildbeamcount
buildbeamid
buildengineid
buildhullid
buildtorpcount
buildtorpedoid
builtdefense	The number of starbase defense points added this turn
builtfighters	The number of fighters built this turn
damage	The current damage level of the starbase
defense	The total defense points on the starbase
enginetechlevel	The tech level for engines on the starbase
enginetechup	The level raised of the engine tech in the current turn
fighters	The number of fighters currently on the starbase
hulltechlevel	The tech level for hulls on the starbase
hulltechup	The level raised of the hull tech in the current turn
id	The ID of the starbase
infoturn	The last turn the information on this starbase was updated
isbuilding
mission
planetid	The planet this starbase belongs to
raceid
readystatus
shipmission
starbasetype
targetshipid	The ship targeted by the current mission (if applicable)
torptechlevel	The tech level for torpedos on the starbase
torptechup	The level raised of the torpedo tech in the current turn

Stock Item Object

The stock item object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
amount	The quantity of the stock item on the starbase
builtamount
id	The ID of the stock item
starbaseid	The ID of the starbase that the stock item belongs to
stockid	The ID of the type of item in stock (looked up in the table corresponding to stocktype)
stocktype	The type of item in stock

Torpedo Object

The torpedo object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
crewkill	The number of crew the torpedo will kill if the shields of the target ship are down
damage	The damage that the particular torpedo will do to the hull or shield of a ship
duranium	The amount of duranium required to build the torpedo
id	The torpedo ID referenced by other objects, such as the Ship Object
launchercost	The amount of megacredits required to build the torpedo launcher
mass	The mass of the torpedo when constructed
molybdenum	The amount of molybdenum required to build the torpedo
name	The name of the torpedo
techlevel	The tech level required at the starbase to build the torpedo laucher and ammo
torpedocost	The amount of megacredits required to build the torpedo ammo
tritanium	The amount of tritanium required to build the torpedo

VCR Object

The vcr (visual combat recording) object returned by Load Turn Info is a dictionary with the following keys:

key	value
n/a	This is a stub, please fill this out

References

Official API Documentation