trigger · controls_province

Hands-On Usage

controls_province is commonly used to check whether a nation actually controls a specific strategic province, triggering special decisions, tasks, or events—for example, in campaign mods to unlock rewards only after one side controls a key port or fortress province. Note that it checks control (controller), not ownership, making it ideal for war progression tracking or occupation trigger scenarios.

# Example: A decision is only available when the player nation controls a specific key province
available = {
    controls_province = 1234  # 1234 is the target province ID
}

Synergy

• [controls_state](/wiki/trigger/controls_state): controls_province operates at the province level, while controls_state checks an entire state. These are often combined for layered occupation assessment—use state-level filtering for broad scope, then province-level verification for critical locations.
• [any_controlled_state](/wiki/trigger/any_controlled_state): When iterating over currently controlled states to further check specific provinces within them, commonly used as an outer loop container nested with controls_province.
• [activate_targeted_decision](/wiki/effect/activate_targeted_decision): After confirming province control, immediately activate a decision targeting that specific objective, forming a complete chain of "condition met → action unlocked".
• [has_country_flag](/wiki/trigger/has_country_flag): Typically paired with country flags to prevent control events from repeatedly triggering on the same province. Check the flag first before checking province control status.

Common Pitfalls

1. Confusing province ID with state ID: Beginners often input a state's numerical ID into controls_province, causing the condition to never be met. Province IDs must be looked up in the map editor or map/definition.csv—they follow a completely different numbering system than state IDs.
2. Overlooking the distinction between "control" and "ownership": controls_province checks the current controller. During war, if an enemy occupies a province, the original owner no longer satisfies this condition. If your scenario logic requires checking "who owns the province," use ownership-related checks instead; otherwise the condition will unexpectedly fail during occupation.