Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
Obstacles are the trees, bushes, rocks and seasonal props that clutter your village and block building space. You clear one by paying a little Gold or Elixir, and since 2025 a Villager does the job instead of a Builder. Clearing them pays out Gems, so regrowing vegetation is a slow but endless free Gem source.
How clearing obstacles works now
Tap an obstacle, pay the removal cost, and a Villager walks over and clears it in 10 to 30 seconds. Two changes in 2025 made this painless. On February 10, 2025 obstacles stopped needing a free Builder, and with the Clash Anytime update on March 24, 2025 the Villagers officially took over the work. Your Builders can stay on upgrades the whole time.
If you tap remove by mistake, cancel before the Villager finishes and you get the full cost back. Normal upgrades only refund half when cancelled.
Every regular obstacle gives a few points of experience when cleared, and clearing counts toward the Nice and Tidy achievement: 5 obstacles pays 10 XP and 5 Gems, 50 pays 100 XP and 10 Gems, and 500 pays 1,000 XP and 20 Gems.
How many Gems obstacles give
A cleared obstacle can hold anywhere from 0 to 6 Gems. The amount is not random: the game steps through a fixed 20-step cycle. The obstacles your village started with run on a smaller cycle that tops out at 3 Gems and averages 1 Gem each. Obstacles that spawn later run on a bigger cycle that averages 2 Gems each. The two cycles are tracked separately, so the order in which you clear old and new obstacles does not change the totals.
The type of obstacle does not matter for Gems. A 100-Elixir mushroom pays the same as a 20,000-Gold boulder, which is why cheap vegetation is the best thing to clear when you just want Gems.
Respawning and the obstacle limit
- One new piece of vegetation can appear every 8 hours.
- Rocks never come back once removed.
- Your village holds at most 45 obstacles. At 45 or more, regular spawns stop until you clear some. Stashed obstacles still count toward the limit.
- Regular obstacles need a one-tile gap around them to spawn, so a tightly packed base gets fewer of them.
- Gem Boxes and seasonal obstacles ignore the 45 limit and the gap rule. Seasonal ones tend to show up near the edges of the map.
Vegetation
Vegetation is paid for with Elixir and regrows over time. The respawn weight is the chance that a new spawn will be that type.
| Obstacle | Size | Elixir cost | Time | XP | Respawn weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mushroom | 2×2 | 100 | 10s | 3 | 10% |
| Bush | 2×2 | 250 | 10s | 3 | 20% |
| Trunk (two styles) | 2×2 | 1,000 | 10s | 3 | 10% each |
| Fallen Trunk | 2×2 | 1,000 | 10s | 3 | 20% |
| Small Tree | 2×2 | 2,000 | 10s | 3 | 20% |
| Medium Tree | 3×3 | 7,500 | 15s | 3 | 5% |
| Large Tree | 3×3 | 10,000 | 15s | 3 | 5% |
Most vegetation changes its look for Clash-o-Ween each October and gets a snowy coat for the winter season, but the cost and payout stay the same.
Rocks
Rocks cost Gold and are gone for good once cleared, so they are only worth removing when you need the space.
| Obstacle | Size | Gold cost | Time | XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stone (four small styles) | 2×2 | 500 | 10s | 3 |
| Stone (pillar) | 2×2 | 10,000 | 15s | 3 |
| Stone (large) | 3×3 | 20,000 | 15s | 3 |
Gem Box and tombstones
The Gem Box is the obstacle everyone hopes to see. It costs 1,000 Elixir, takes 30 seconds, and pays 25 Gems plus 5 XP. Only one can exist in your village at a time, and it spawns rarely (a 1% respawn weight).
Tombstones are different. They appear where a troop died, whether it was attacking or defending. Tapping one clears every tombstone of that kind instantly. A regular tombstone gives 20 Elixir, and a dark tombstone from a Dark Elixir troop gives 1 Dark Elixir. Tombstones cannot be shoveled.
Seasonal and event obstacles
Holiday obstacles cost more to clear but return a lot more than they cost, and you can keep them as long as you like after the event ends.
| Event | Examples | Typical cost | Typical reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clash-o-Ween (October) | Ghost Post (2024), Cursed Seedling (2025), Curious Stump (2026) | 25,000 Elixir | 75,000 Elixir |
| Clashmas (winter) | A new Clashmas Tree every year since 2012 | 25,000 Gold | 75,000 Gold in most years |
| Clash anniversary | 14th Anniversary Cake (2026) | 14 Gold | 14,000 Gold |
| Lunar New Year | Snake Sculpture (2025), Kumquat Tree (2026) | 888 Elixir | 8,888 Elixir |
| Ore meteorites (from November 2025) | Shiny, Glowy and Starry Ore Meteorites | 18,181 Elixir, 18,181 Gold or 181 Dark Elixir | 181 Shiny, 18 Glowy or 2 Starry Ore |
Anniversary cakes change price every year, so check the in-game cost before assuming the numbers above. The ore meteorites are the only obstacles that pay out Ore for hero equipment.
Rare obstacles
The rarest obstacle is the Rare Stone, an odd-shaped rock that could spawn in brand-new villages in the game’s earliest days. It stopped appearing soon after launch, so only a handful of old accounts still have one. You can see it today in a couple of Single Player Campaign maps. The dark, pointed stones on Goblin maps have never been able to spawn in a player’s village.
Keeping obstacles with the Shovel of Obstacles
If you like an obstacle, a Shovel of Obstacles (one of the magic items) lets you move it. Since December 12, 2022, any obstacle you shovel stays movable forever, works like a decoration, and can be stashed in Village Edit Mode. Shoveled obstacles still count toward the 45 limit even when stashed. You can still clear a shoveled obstacle later, but you do not get the Shovel back.
Obstacles in battle
Obstacles do nothing in a fight. Attackers can drop troops on or beside them, and since February 2024 troops in combat walk straight through obstacles and decorations. Since the Ranked update of October 6, 2025 there is also a setting that hides obstacles and decorations a few seconds into an attack. Leaving obstacles around your base will not slow an attacker down.
Builder Base obstacles
The Builder Base has its own set, paid for with Builder Elixir and Builder Gold, and you need Builder Hall 3 before you can clear them. They follow the same 45 limit and 8-hour vegetation regrowth, but mushrooms and rocks there do not respawn. Tall Grass is the odd one out: it costs 50 Builder Elixir, clears instantly, never holds Gems, and disappears for free if you place a building on it.
Related Home Village pages
| Topic | Pages |
|---|---|
| Village overview | Home Village, Town Hall, Resource buildings |
| Other non-combat buildings | Loot Cart, Forge, Super Sauna |
Recent changes
- December 12, 2022: shoveled obstacles become permanently movable.
- February 2024: attacking troops can walk through obstacles and decorations.
- February 10, 2025: obstacles no longer need a Builder to remove.
- March 24, 2025: Villagers take over obstacle clearing.
- October 6, 2025: option to hide obstacles and decorations during attacks.
- November 1, 2025: Ore meteorite obstacles start spawning.
Obstacles FAQ
Do you need a Builder to remove obstacles in Clash of Clans?
Not in the Home Village. Since early 2025 a Villager clears them, so you only pay the Gold or Elixir cost.
How many obstacles can you have?
Up to 45. Regular spawns stop at that point; Gem Boxes and seasonal obstacles can still appear.
Which obstacle gives the most Gems?
The Gem Box, at 25 Gems. Regular obstacles all draw from the same cycle of 0 to 6 Gems, so the cheapest one is the best value.
Sources: Supercell release notes (Supercell, Clash Anytime update notes (Mar 2025)) and in-game data.
