Species rights

Version

This article is considered accurate for the current version (2.2) of the game.

This article is for the PC version of Stellaris only.

Species rights interface.

Species rights is a system where the rights of species in an empire can be determined. The rights can be determined individually for each species in- and outside of the empire. Rights can be changed every 10 years. What rights can be selected depends on if the species is the main species of the empire, what ethics the empire has, active policies and government forms. The set rights interface can be found from the species panel.

Citizenship[edit]

Citizenship represents the status of a species in an empire: whether they are free or subjugated, whether or not they can participate in the political processes of the country, what restrictions can be placed on them and even whether they have the right to live in your empire at all. In addition to rights and obligations, citizenship also affects pops' migration attraction: A Pop that is currently enjoying full citizenship is unlikely to move to another empire where their rights could potentially be curtailed, while Pops living under second-class citizen conditions are more likely to move to an empire that would grant them a fairer life. Note that enslaved Pops cannot migrate but may potentially revolt if they are dissatisfied enough and their overlord is inattentive.

Type	Pop Effects	Requirements	Description
Full Citizenship		Only option if primary species Full Military Service Species Rights if empire has Citizen Service Citizen Rights Artificial Intelligence policy if species is Synthetic Cannot grant to aliens if Xenophobe Not available for Hive-Minded species unless Hive Mind and Hive Minds can only give this to Hive-Minded species	Pops are free to be politically active and the species can produce Leaders. Each and every individual of this species is an esteemed member of this society.
Residence	-10% Happiness -25% Pop Amenities Usage -50% Pop Political Power	Citizen Rights Artificial Intelligence policy if species is Synthetic Not Full Military Service Species Rights if empire has Citizen Service	Pops are free, but may not engage politically and the species cannot produce Leaders. They have yet to prove themselves worthy of all rights afforded to others. Perhaps they never will.
Slaves	Determined by Slavery type	Xenophobe, Authoritarian, or Gestalt Consciousness Allowed Slavery Policy	All Pops of this species will be Enslaved. Freedom is an illusion. For some this truth is more tangible than it is for others.
Undesirables	Determined by Purge type	Outlawed Robotic Workers Policy if species is robotic Only option towards aliens if Fanatic Purifiers or Devouring Swarm Only option towards organics if Determined Exterminator	All Pops of this species will be Purged. State records do not recognize the existence of this species.
Servitude		Robotic species Not Citizen Rights Artificial Intelligence Policy	The overriding purpose of any machine must be to serve its masters and perform whatever tasks it was designed for, regardless of how intelligent it may be. A toaster will always be a toaster.
Assimilation	Determined by Assimilation type	Not robot or cybernetic Any of the following: Evolutionary Mastery - assimilates to Hive-Minded if Hive Mind, otherwise removes it Psionic Empires - assimilates to Psionic Cyborg Empires - assimilates to Cybernetic Synthethic Empires - assimilates to Synthetic Driven Assimilator - assimilates to Cybernetic	Pops of this species are altered over time to better match the dominant species of the Empire. Pops that are in the process of being assimilated will not produce any resources. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us.
Machine Integration		Machine Intelligence and the species to be robotic Driven Assimilator civic if the species is Cybernetic	All owned Pops of this species are fully integrated with the Machine Intelligence. Assuming direct control.
Bio-Trophy	50% Pop Growth Reduction	Rogue Servitor civic Only option towards organic species not Hive-Minded	Pops of this species are revered and cared for by the Machine Intelligence, freed from the burdens of responsibility and agency. Glory to organics.

Living standards[edit]

Living Standards represents how economically favored a population is, for example whether they benefit from social welfare or have restrictions placed on what kinds of occupations they can be employed in. The higher the living standards of a Pop is, the more Consumer Goods it will use, and the happier the species will be.

Type	Ruler effects	Specialist effects	Worker effects	Slave effects	Unemployed effects	Requirements
Chemical Bliss	1.0x Upkeep +40% Happiness -60% Resources from Jobs	1.0x Upkeep +40% Happiness -60% Resources from Jobs	1.0x Upkeep +40% Happiness -60% Resources from Jobs	1.0x Upkeep +40% Happiness -60% Resources from Jobs	-20% Happiness	Subdermal Stimulation technology
Academic Privilege	1.0x Upkeep +15% Happiness +10% Output +900% Political Power	1.0x Upkeep +15% Happiness +10% Output +400% Political Power	0.25x Upkeep	0.05x Upkeep	-20% Happiness	Materialist
Utopian Abundance	1.0x Upkeep +20% Happiness	1.0x Upkeep +20% Happiness	1.0x Upkeep +20% Happiness		+1 Unity +2 Research	Egalitarian
Shared Burden	0.4x Upkeep +5% Happiness	0.4x Upkeep +5% Happiness	0.4x Upkeep +5% Happiness		+1 Unity	Shared Burdens
Stratified Economy	1.0x Upkeep +15% Happiness +900% Political Power	0.5x Upkeep +5% Happiness +100% Political Power	0.1x Upkeep -10% Happiness -25% Political Power	0x Upkeep -10% Happiness	-20% Happiness	Authoritarian
Social Welfare	1.0x Upkeep +10% Happiness +400% Political Power	0.5x Upkeep +10% Happiness +100% Political Power	0.5x Upkeep +10% Happiness +50% Political Power	0.1x Upkeep +10% Happiness	+1 Unity	Shared Burdens
Decent Conditions	1.0x Upkeep +10% Happiness +700% Political Power	0.5x Upkeep +5% Happiness +100% Political Power	0.25x Upkeep	0.05x Upkeep	-20% Happiness	Shared Burdens
Basic Subsistence	0.5x Upkeep -5% Happiness +400% Political Power	0.25x Upkeep -10% Happiness -25% Political Power	0.05x Upkeep -20% Happiness -50% Political Power	0x Upkeep -10% Happiness	-20% Happiness	Shared Burdens Full Citizenship Rights
Servitude						Robotic species Servitude Artificial Intelligence Policy
Non-Existent						Undesirables Rights Purge is not Neutering or Displacement
Drone						Hive Mind if species is Hive-Minded Machine Intelligence if species is robotic
Mandatory Pampering						Bio-Trophy Citizenship
Hive Dissociation						Hive-Minded trait Assimilation Citizenship
Identity Sublimation	-50% Happiness					Hive Mind or Driven Assimilator Assimilation Citizenship
Transubstantiation Synthesis	-25% Happiness					Cybernetic or Synthetic main species Assimilation Citizenship
Transcendent Awakening	-25% Happiness					Psionic main species Assimilation Citizenship

Military service[edit]

Military Service determines a species' right to join the military and whether or not they can become commanding officers.

Type	Effect	Notes	Description
Full Military Service	Species can produce Armies, Generals and Admirals	Cannot grant to aliens if Xenophobe. Enables Full Citizenship if Citizen Service. Always on for primary species	They are doubtlessly among the most competent in our armed forces.
Soldiers Only	Species can only produce Armies		They make excellent soldiers - but command is better left to others.
Exempt	Species can not produce military Leaders or be used in Armies		They serve better away from the battlefield.

Colonization rights[edit]

Colonization Rights determines whether a species is allowed to board colony ships and settle new worlds.

Type	Description
Colonization Forbidden	In a vast sea of cold emptiness, a habitable world is the greatest treasure of all. Not all are worthy to seize it.
Colonization Allowed	Who are we to deny any species their place among the stars? Together we will drive back the darkness.

Population controls[edit]

Population Controls determines whether a species is allowed to reproduce enough to grow or only enough to ensure it will not die off.

Type	Notes	Description
Population Controls Enabled	Gives -10% Happiness from the species Not available if Xenophile Requires Allowed Population Controls Policy	Selective reproductive suppression fields are often referred to as the blunt instruments of demography.
No populations controls	Always on for primary species	A species that does not propagate itself is at an evolutionary dead end.

Migration controls[edit]

Migration controls determines whether a species is allowed to migrate. It applies both within the empire and towards empires with a Migration Treaty.

Type	Requirement	Description
Migration Controls Enabled		The free flow of pops can allocate resources efficiently, but sometimes what is necessary is not efficient.
No Migration Controls	Species is not enslaved	Just as our primitive ancestors wandered in search of a home, every being must be free to seek its destiny among the stars.

Slavery type[edit]

The Slavery type determines how a species with the Slaves Citizenship is used. All Slaves use only 0.75 Amenities, and their Political Power is reduced -75%.

Type	Pop Effects	Requirements	Description
Chattel Slavery	+10% Resources from Jobs -30% Happiness 0.75 Pop Housing Usage	Not Gestalt Consciousness	Chattel Slaves have increased resource production but cannot be employed in Ruler or Specialist Jobs. Chattel Slavery is the most common form of slavery in the galaxy. Whether for life or a limited time, unrestricted access to the labor of others is in some parts seen as a privilege with numerous counter-duties attached, and elsewhere considered a self-evident prerequisite for a functioning society.
Domestic Servitude	-20% Happiness 0.5 Housing when working as a Servant	Utopia DLC Not Gestalt Consciousness	Domestic Servants that are not holding another job will be employed as Servants, producing +4 Amenities. They cannot perform Ruler or Specialist Jobs, with the sole exception of working as Entertainers. Domestic servants spend much of their time tending to the needs of free Pops - some are assigned to individual domiciles, while others tend to public spaces. They tend to live alongside their masters, and thus require almost no dedicated housing.
Battle Thralls	-20% Happiness +20% Army Damage 0.75 Pop Housing Usage	Utopia DLC Not Gestalt Consciousness	Battle Thralls have no bonuses to resource production, but make excellent soldiers for local Armies. Battle thralls are weaponized serfs, often trained from birth in the martial arts and conditioned for absolute obedience. In exchange for unquestioning military service, they are granted much more autonomy than other slaves and can be employed in a greater variety of jobs.
Livestock	-40% Happiness 0.25 Pop Housing Usage	Utopia DLC Xenophobe or Hive Mind	Livestock Pops can not be employed to produce anything, but are instead regularly culled to produce +4 Food. Livestock is Pops!
Grid Amalgamation	-40% Happiness	Machine Intelligence	A long-term alternative to Chemical Processing, where enough of the organic population survives the process to continue to power our energy grid indefinitely. Combined with a form of fusion, we have found all the energy we will ever need.

Purge type[edit]

The purge type determines how species with the Undesirables Citizenship are purged. Any purge type except Neutering and Displacement runs the risk of causing Opinion penalties when interacting with other empires.

Type	Pop effects	Requirements	Description
Extermination	+600% Pop decline speed −1000% Happiness	Not Devouring Swarm	Affected pops are systematically eradicated. This is the fastest form of purging. The extermination squads are efficient. The dissolution of entire populations naturally takes time, but they get the job done.
Neutering	−20% Happiness	Utopia DLC. Not Gestalt Consciousness	Affected pops no longer grow and will die out over time, but gain only a moderate happiness penalty. Think of it as a phasing-out of a people. Our nation goes to meet the future, only some will not be with us.
Displacement	+100% Pop decline speed −30% Happiness −50% Pop housing usage	Not Genocidal Not available to Driven Assimilator if the species has the Cybernetic trait Not available to Machine Intelligence if the species has the Machine Machine or Mechanical traits	Affected pops are expelled from the empire over time, left to find refuge outside its borders. They will be received by empires with a welcoming refugees policy. However even if no empire accepts them a pop will be removed every 12.5 years, allowing displacement to work without a valid target empire. It's not that we drive them from their homes. Their homes are simply no longer theirs.
Forced Labor	+200% Pop decline speed −1000% Happiness	Utopia DLC Not Gestalt Consciousness	Affected pops are worked to death and can be used to produce food or minerals until their eventual demise. With this final sacrifice, they will at least have been of some use.
Processing	+300% Pop Decline Speed −1000% Happiness	Utopia DLC. Not Machine Intelligence	Affected pops are processed into nutrient-rich food sources, boosting food availability until death. It is a sad but inescapable fact that some are destined to simply fuel the ambitions of their betters.
Chemical Processing	+300% Pop Decline Speed −1000% Happiness	Machine Intelligence	Affected pops' physiologies are prepared for integration with the energy grid, where the chemical processes that sustain them are redirected to enrich our energy stores. The process is fatal, but death comes slowly. They will soon attain a more efficient form.