trigger · has_border_war

Hands-On Usage

has_border_war is commonly used to check whether a country or state is currently engaged in a border conflict, allowing you to conditionally trigger specific decisions, events, or diplomatic options. For example, in a mod you could use it to prevent countries actively in a border war from declaring formal war, or to unlock special mediation event chains for nations embroiled in border conflicts.

# In the available block of a decision, require that the player's country has no active border war before executing diplomatic negotiations
available = {
    NOT = { has_border_war = yes }
    is_subject = no
}

Synergy

• [has_border_war_with](/wiki/trigger/has_border_war_with) — When you need to identify the specific opponent in a border conflict, use this trigger alongside has_border_war for more precision: first filter broadly with has_border_war, then lock onto the specific country with has_border_war_with.
• [any_neighbor_country](/wiki/trigger/any_neighbor_country) — Iterate through neighboring countries within COUNTRY scope, pairing with has_border_war to check whether any neighbor is currently in a border conflict with your nation—ideal for building complex regional situation assessments.
• [divisions_in_border_state](/wiki/trigger/divisions_in_border_state) — Border wars typically involve troop concentrations in border states; checking both conditions together allows you to gauge combat zone tension more precisely.
• [country_event](/wiki/effect/country_event) — Trigger corresponding diplomatic or military events when border war conditions are met; this is the most common pairing for consequence effects.

Common Pitfalls

1. Scope Confusion: has_border_war supports both STATE and COUNTRY scope, but when written in a focus or national event's trigger block, the default scope is COUNTRY. If you mistakenly place it in a state's limit block without scope switching, results may not match expectations—always verify your current scope context.
2. Conflating with has_civil_war Logic: Newcomers often confuse the conditions for detecting border wars versus civil wars (has_civil_war). The has_border_war trigger cannot detect civil war states; they are completely independent mechanics. Misuse won't throw an error but will silently fail the condition.