Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
A Clan War is a two-day contest between two clans of the same size: a 23-hour Preparation Day followed by a 24-hour Battle Day in which each member gets two attacks, and the clan with more stars wins. Wars are fought against copies of your bases on a separate war map, so your village, loot, shield and trophies are never at risk. This guide covers how a war runs from search to payout, war sizes, war bases, scoring and tiebreakers, rewards and the Treasury, Friendly Wars and how Clan War Leagues differ.
Starting a war and matchmaking
Only the Leader or a Co-leader can start a war. They open the war screen, pick the members who will fight and start the search. The game looks for a clan of the same size and similar offensive and defensive strength, judged from each participant’s army, heroes, defenses, walls and traps. Experience level, trophies and clan level play no part. Supercell has also confirmed that a clan’s war win/loss record affects matchmaking.
- A clan needs at least five eligible members to go to war.
- Members mark themselves “I’m In” or “I’m Out” on their profile, and leaders can post a sign-up sheet in clan chat. Leaders can still override either choice.
- The search can take minutes or hours. It can be cancelled until an opponent is found; after that the war is locked in.
- There is no cooldown between wars, but you cannot search while already in a war, a Friendly War or Clan War Leagues, and regular war searches pause during the CWL sign-up days.
- A player who leaves a clan mid-war cannot fight for another clan until that war ends. Rejoining the original clan lets them carry on.
War sizes
Regular wars come in ten sizes, from 5 vs 5 to 50 vs 50 in steps of five. The 35 vs 35 and 45 vs 45 sizes were removed in March 2016 and brought back in April 2024. A war of size N has 3 x N stars on the table, so a 15 vs 15 war is out of 45 stars. Bigger wars earn the clan more Clan XP. Friendly Wars also allow 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3.
Preparation Day
Preparation Day lasts 23 hours (it was cut from 24 in December 2015). It is for getting your war bases ready and planning.
- Your war base uses its own layout, separate from your home layout. You get dedicated war layout slots in the layout editor (three more can be bought with Gems from Town Hall 7), and you can edit your war base during Preparation Day. Once Battle Day starts it is locked.
- Members donate defensive troops to each other’s war Clan Castles. These are separate from your normal Clan Castle troops, and the capacity matches your real Clan Castle.
- Scouting during Preparation Day shows each enemy’s strength, not their war layout. Since May 2016 enemy war layouts are only revealed when Battle Day begins.
Your war base is a snapshot. Heroes and Guardians that are upgrading still defend at their last finished level, and since the Town Hall 18 update temporary event troops and spells cannot be used in Clan Wars at all.
Battle Day
Battle Day runs 24 hours. Each participant has two attacks and may hit any enemy base, but not the same base twice. The game suggests a target for you based on your army, the enemy’s defenses and how the war is going; it is only a suggestion.
- Stars work as in normal battles: one for the Town Hall, one for 50% destruction, one for 100%.
- Only the clan’s best attack on each enemy base counts. Best means most stars first, then highest destruction. If one member takes a base for one star at 90% and another later scores two stars at 60%, the clan keeps two stars, and the 60% goes into the destruction total.
- An attack that takes at least one star earns your war loot even if it adds no new stars to the clan’s total, for example on a base that is already tripled.
- War attacks do not touch your trophies, shield or resources.
War tools
Tap an enemy base to claim it as your target (a flag shows on the map) or to leave a note for clanmates. Claims do not stop anyone else attacking that base, and they clear when you run out of attacks. Opponents cannot see your flags or notes. During and up to five days after the war, the War Events log shows every attack with a replay.
Stars, destruction and tiebreakers
When Battle Day ends, the clan with more stars wins. If stars are equal, the clan with the higher total destruction (the sum of best-attack percentages) wins; Supercell added this tiebreaker in September 2015. Only if stars and destruction are both identical is the war a draw. In practice that happens when both clans three-star every base or nobody attacks. Since February 2024 a draw no longer breaks your clan’s war win streak.
War rewards and the Treasury
Every enemy base shows its own war win bonus, the loot you collect if you take at least one star on it and your clan wins. The bonus is seven times the loot available in that base, up to a cap for each Town Hall level, and clan perks from clan level 3 raise it further. With a Blacksmith built, bases at Town Hall 8 and up also pay Ores for Hero Equipment (see the Hero Hall guide).
| War result | Share of your war win bonus |
|---|---|
| Victory | 100% |
| Draw | 75% (raised from 57% on February 23, 2026) |
| Defeat | 50% |
An attack with zero stars still earns a fraction of the bonus equal to its destruction percentage. Spectators get nothing, but a member who attacked and then left the clan before the war ended is still paid.
Resource loot goes to the Treasury in your Clan Castle; Ores go straight to the Blacksmith. The Treasury is the safest place in your village for resources. An attacker who destroys your Clan Castle can only take 3% of what is in it, and its capacity depends on your Town Hall level and your clan’s perks, not the Castle’s level. Collecting moves everything into your storages at once and cannot be undone, so leave loot in the Treasury while your storages are low and collect when you are about to spend it.
The clan earns Clan XP from attacks during Battle Day and 50 more for a win. Losing does not take any away. The war result goes into the clan’s War Log, which shows the last 50 wars and an all-time win, loss and draw record.
Clan War Leagues
Clan War Leagues are a once-per-season tournament built on the same war engine. After a two-day sign-up, your clan is grouped with seven others in its league and plays one war against each over eight days, with a new Preparation Day starting each day.
- Each player gets one attack per war, not two, and CWL war loot is double the regular amount to make up for it.
- Rewards are League Medals, and leaders hand out bonus medals to top performers.
- Clans choose 15 vs 15 or 30 vs 30 at sign-up. The February 23, 2026 update added 5 vs 5 CWL wars.
- The April 27, 2026 update added four leagues above Champion I: Titan III, Titan II, Titan I and Legend. Battle modifiers that strengthen defenses and weaken attacking heroes apply in Titan II and above.
Friendly Wars
A Friendly War lets a Leader or Co-leader challenge a specific clan. The challenger sets the size (2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, or 5 to 50 in steps of five), the length of each day (15 minutes up to one day), one or two attacks per player, and an optional difficulty mode. Friendly Wars pay no loot or Clan XP, and only Clan Castle troops are used up. Since April 2026 you can bring heroes and pets that are mid-upgrade.
Clan War tips
- Build your war base to stop three stars rather than to protect loot. Many war layouts accept giving up one or two stars and spend their strength on making the full clear as hard as possible.
- Keep the war Clan Castle central so its troops cannot be lured out from the edge, and fill it during Preparation Day.
- Use the first attack on a base you can three-star; the attack strategies hub covers armies by Town Hall. Save the second for clean-up on bases that other members left at one or two stars.
- Claim before you attack and read the notes. Two members hitting the same base when one would do wastes an attack.
- Scout the real war layout the moment Battle Day starts, then plan around where the Clan Castle and the defending heroes’ banners sit.
What changed since Clan Wars launched
Clan Wars arrived on April 9, 2014. If you read a guide from that era, these are the details that no longer hold:
- Preparation Day is 23 hours, not 24.
- Ties are broken by total destruction, and a true draw now pays 75% of the win bonus.
- Enemy war layouts stay hidden until Battle Day.
- War loot sits in the Treasury, and wars also pay Ores at Town Hall 8 and up.
- War sizes run from 5 vs 5 to 50 vs 50, and Clan War Leagues (October 2018) and Friendly Wars (October 2016) sit alongside regular wars.
Clan Wars FAQ
How long does a Clan War last?
47 hours: 23 hours of Preparation Day and 24 hours of Battle Day.
How many attacks do you get in a Clan War?
Two in a regular war, on two different bases. Clan War Leagues give one.
Can you lose resources or trophies in war?
No. War attacks and defenses happen on the war map, so your village loot, shield and trophies are untouched.
Who wins a tied war?
The clan with the higher total destruction. If that is also equal, it is a draw and both sides get 75% of their war win bonus.
Sources: Supercell release notes (February 2026 update notes, Sound of Clash update notes, Town Hall 18 update notes) and in-game data.
