Route preference
Route preference controls how each jump is scored during the search. The router always returns the lowest-total-cost path — preference decides what "cost" means.
| Preference | Help text | What it optimises for |
|---|---|---|
| Shorter | Min jumps | Fewest jumps, ignoring security entirely. |
| Safer | High-sec | Prefers high-sec; penalises low- and null-sec. |
| Less Secure | Low-sec | Prefers low-sec; penalises high- and null-sec. |
Shorter
Every jump costs exactly the same, so the router simply finds the path with the fewest jumps. Security status is not considered. This is the default.
Safer and Less Secure
These modes give each jump a cost based on the security of the system you're jumping into, then find the cheapest path. Cheaper systems are favoured, more expensive ones are avoided:
- Safer makes high-sec cheap and low/null-sec expensive.
- Less Secure makes low-sec cheap and high/null-sec expensive.
In both modes, null-sec is penalised the hardest — twice as much as the merely-disfavoured security band — so neither mode willingly routes through null unless there's no alternative.
The security penalty
When preference is Safer or Less Secure, a Security Penalty slider (0–100, default 50, in steps of 5) sets how strongly the disfavoured space is avoided.
The penalty grows exponentially, not linearly — the cost multiplier is roughly e^(0.15 × penalty):
| Penalty | Effect |
|---|---|
| 0 | No penalty — every jump costs the same and the route is effectively shortest-path again. |
| 50 (default) | Strong avoidance — the router will take many extra jumps to stay in favoured space. |
| 100 | Near-absolute — disfavoured systems are avoided unless literally the only way through. |
Because the curve is exponential, the difference between 40 and 60 is far larger than the numbers suggest. If a "Safer" route still dips through low-sec, raise the penalty; if it's taking absurd detours, lower it.
The slider is hidden for Shorter, where it has no effect.