Age of Empires 4 map seeds are randomly generated when you start a new game in Skirmish or multiplayer. No two maps are exactly the same even though you’re choosing one of 17 presets. Some features, such as coastlines, resources, and relics, will be slightly different for each match. But map seeds allow you to play the same map as much as you’d like. So how do you find and use them? Can you get the same map twice?
To find map seeds, create a custom game. Go to Map Setup, and choose one of the 17 map templates:
- Dry Arabia
- Lipany
- High View
- Mountain Pass
- Ancient Spires
- Danube River
- Black Forest
- Mongolian Heights
- Altai
- Confluence
- French Pass
- Hill and Dale
- King of the Hill
- Warring Islands
- Archipelago
- Nagari
- Boulder Bay
Once you’ve done that, choose any other modifiers you’d like, such as size, biome, starting location, resources, and win conditions. Start your game.
When you load into the map, pause the game by pressing the “ESC” button. Look above the “Resume” option to find this map’s seed. It will be a string of numbers and letters with (map seed) in parentheses.
If you want to create this specific map again, copy this code down on your phone or a piece of paper. When you start another custom game, go to Map Setup, and enter the seed string in the Map Seed box to the right of “Locations.” You will then be taken back to that specific map setup. Mostly.
It’s worth noting that you can change certain modifiers for map seeds, like biome and starting Age, and the topography or Sacred Site locations will stay the same. The map will change slightly if you make it larger or smaller by increasing the maximum number of players, though.
Age of Empires 4 map seeds aren’t the best stand-in for a true map editor or scenario editor; you can’t customize any of the topography or resources on a micro level. But they’ll have to do until those tools are (hopefully) added sometime in the future. For more on AoE 4, consider heading over to our hub of help articles.
