Ants Empire Beginner’s Guide (March 2026) Tips & Strategies
Welcome to the ultimate beginner’s guide for Ants Empire, one of Roblox’s most addictive colony-building simulators! If you’ve been struggling to grow your ant colony or wondering how to efficiently manage your tiny empire, you’re in the right place. I’ve spent countless hours building colonies, testing strategies, and discovering the most effective methods to transform a small nest into a thriving ant empire.
Ants Empire is a Roblox game where you build and control your own colony of ants from the ground up. You start with just a few worker ants and gradually expand by gathering food, crafting specialized ant eggs, upgrading your nest, and defending against dangerous bugs like spiders, beetles, and scorpions. Unlike typical Roblox simulator games, Ants Empire combines strategic resource management with active gameplay, creating an experience that’s both relaxing and engaging.
What makes Ants Empire special is its depth. You’re not just mindlessly clicking to collect resources – you’re making strategic decisions about which ants to upgrade, which areas to explore, how to allocate your premium currencies, and when to craft army ants for combat. The game rewards patience, planning, and smart resource management, making it perfect for players who enjoy simulation games with progression systems.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know as a beginner, from basic mechanics to advanced strategies that will accelerate your colony’s growth exponentially.
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Game Type | Incremental Colony Simulator |
| Developer | 1Spam |
| Platform | Roblox |
| Release Date | October 2026 |
| Server Size | 6 players |
| Total Visits | 659K+ |
| Key Features | Resource gathering, colony expansion, ant customization, combat system, quest system, auto-farming |
| Premium Currency | Golden Leaves |
| Main Resources | Food, Sugar, Fruit, Star Fruit, Leaves, Stingers, Spider Legs |
How To Play Ants Empire?
Playing Ants Empire starts simple but quickly reveals its strategic depth. Here’s exactly how to get started and what you need to know about the core gameplay loop.
Starting Your Colony
When you first spawn into Ants Empire, you’ll have a small nest with a few basic worker ants. Your Queen Ant will immediately start giving you quests – these are your roadmap for progression, so pay attention to them. Your initial goal is straightforward: collect food and resources to grow your colony.
The Core Gameplay Loop
Your ants automatically gather resources from the environment and bring them back to your nest. Food items like strawberries, blueberries, and other fruits are scattered across different field areas. When your ants collect these resources, you earn currency that can be used to:
- Purchase new ant eggs
- Upgrade your existing ants
- Expand your nest capacity
- Unlock new areas and zones
- Craft specialized equipment
Understanding Ant Types
Ants Empire features several types of ants, each serving different purposes:
Worker Ants: Your bread-and-butter resource gatherers. These ants automatically collect food from nearby sources and carry it back to your nest. As they level up, they become faster and can carry more resources.
Soldier Ants: Defensive and offensive units that protect your colony from enemy bugs. Soldier ants are essential for clearing higher-difficulty zones where spiders, beetles, and scorpions lurk.
Specialized Ants: As you progress, you’ll unlock unique ant types through crafting eggs. These include Demon Ants (passive damage during harvest), Fire Ants (increased combat damage), and other variants with special abilities.
The Auto-Farm System
One of Ants Empire’s most useful features is auto-farming. Once unlocked, you can select a specific area of the map, and your ants will automatically focus on gathering resources from that zone. The selected area highlights in green, making it easy to see where your colony is focusing its efforts. This is incredibly helpful when you’re hunting for specific crafting materials or want to maximize efficiency in high-yield areas.
Combat Mechanics
Unlike pure idle simulators, Ants Empire includes active combat. When you encounter enemy bugs like spiders or beetles, your soldier ants will engage them automatically if you’re close enough. However, you can also manually position yourself to help your army, and some enemies require specific strategies to defeat efficiently. Defeating enemies drops valuable crafting materials like spider legs and beetle shells, which are essential for creating advanced ant eggs.
Quest System
Your Queen Ant provides quests that guide your progression. These aren’t just busywork – completing quests unlocks new features, provides significant resource rewards, and often permanently buffs your colony’s capabilities. Always check your quest log and prioritize completing these objectives.
Essential Resources & Currencies Guide
Understanding Ants Empire’s economy is crucial for efficient progression. Let me break down every resource type and how to use them strategically.
Primary Resources
Food/Fruit: The basic currency earned by collecting strawberries, blueberries, and other fruits scattered across fields. This is your main progression currency used for purchasing basic ant eggs and initial upgrades. Early game, focus heavily on food collection as it unlocks everything else.
Sugar: A secondary resource that’s used for feeding and leveling up your ants. Sugar makes your ants more efficient at gathering and increases their individual power. You’ll find sugar scattered around the map and can earn it through quests and codes.
Leaves: Standard crafting material used in various egg recipes. Leaves are relatively common but required in large quantities for mid-game progression.
Premium Currencies
Golden Leaves: This is your premium currency, similar to Robux-purchased currencies in other Roblox games. Golden Leaves buy special items, boosts, and can accelerate your progression significantly. However, they’re also available through gameplay via quests, milestones, and codes. Never waste Golden Leaves on impulse purchases – save them for high-impact investments like permanent boosts or unlocking key features early.
Star Fruit: The most valuable resource for ant improvement. Star Fruit upgrades an ant’s rarity from Common → Uncommon → Rare → Epic. Each upgrade significantly increases that ant’s stats and efficiency. This is a limited resource, so you must be strategic about which ants receive Star Fruit upgrades. Only invest Star Fruit in ants you plan to keep long-term and that have high base stats or useful abilities.
Specialized Crafting Materials
Stingers: Dropped by scorpions and obtained through specific quests. Required for crafting Stinger Eggs, which hatch into powerful ant variants.
Spider Legs: Obtained by defeating spiders in mid-to-late game zones. Essential for crafting Bullet Eggs and other advanced ant types.
Mushroom Materials: Found in the exclusive Mushroom Zone, which requires approximately 500M food collected to unlock. These rare materials craft the most powerful ant variants in the game.
Beetle Shells: Dropped by defeating beetles. Used in various high-tier crafting recipes.
Resource Management Strategy
The key to succeeding in Ants Empire isn’t just collecting resources – it’s knowing when and where to spend them. Here’s my proven approach:
- Early Game (First Hour): Spend all food on worker ant eggs to maximize your gathering rate. Every additional worker compounds your resource generation.
- Early-Mid Game: Once you have 20-30 workers, start investing in nest capacity upgrades and tool improvements. These multiply your workers’ efficiency.
- Mid Game: Focus on soldier ants and begin clearing combat zones for crafting materials. This opens up the crafting system.
- Late Game: Selective Star Fruit usage on your best ants while working toward zone unlocks and permanent milestone buffs.
Beginner Tips & Strategies
After extensive playtime, I’ve identified the strategies that separate thriving colonies from struggling ones. These tips will accelerate your progression dramatically.
1. Redeem All Codes Immediately
Ants Empire codes provide substantial boosts, especially for new players. Codes often include Star Fruit, Golden Leaves, resource multipliers, and temporary field boosts. These rewards are most valuable when redeemed early because they amplify your early progression. Check for new codes regularly, as developers release them during updates and milestones.
2. Prioritize Tool & Backpack Upgrades First
This is the single most impactful early-game decision. Tool upgrades (power tools, mining equipment) directly increase how fast your ants gather resources. Backpack upgrades increase how much they can carry before returning to the nest. These upgrades affect ALL your workers simultaneously, making them incredibly cost-efficient.
My recommended upgrade order:
- Power Tool (Level 1-3)
- Backpack Capacity (Level 1-2)
- Nest Storage
- Additional Tool upgrades
- Specialized equipment
Each tool upgrade can double or triple your effective gathering speed, which means exponentially faster progression.
3. Master the Auto-Farm Feature
Auto-farming is game-changing once you understand it properly. Here’s how to use it effectively:
- For Quest Completion: Set auto-farm to the specific area your current quest requires
- For Material Farming: Target zones with the crafting materials you need (spiders for spider legs, scorpions for stingers)
- For Maximum Efficiency: Choose the highest-value fruit fields you’ve unlocked
- When AFK: Set auto-farm before stepping away so your colony continues progressing
The auto-farm highlight (green overlay) shows exactly where your ants will focus, so you can visually confirm you’re targeting the right zone.
4. Don’t Waste Star Fruit on Random Ants
This is the #1 mistake beginners make. Star Fruit is precious and limited. Using it to upgrade a random common ant is wasteful because:
- You’ll replace that ant with better variants later
- Star Fruit costs scale up dramatically (Epic upgrades require multiple Star Fruits)
- Better ants become available as you progress
Instead, follow this Star Fruit strategy:
- Save Star Fruit until you unlock at least 3-4 different ant types
- Check the Index to compare ant base stats and special abilities
- Only use Star Fruit on ants with:
- High base stats for their role
- Useful passive abilities (like Demon Ant’s harvest damage)
- Rare or Epic rarity potential
- Long-term viability (not quickly replaced by unlocks)
My recommendation: Save Star Fruit until mid-game, then push 2-3 “carry” ants to Epic rarity rather than spreading upgrades thin across many mediocre ants.
5. Complete Quests & Milestones Religiously
Quests and milestones provide some of the best rewards in the game, including:
- Permanent colony buffs (+% gather speed, +% resource yield)
- Large resource injections
- Unlocks for new features and zones
- Premium currency rewards
Many milestones offer compounding benefits that make every subsequent action more efficient. Ignoring these is leaving massive power gains on the table.
6. Balance Workers and Soldiers
Don’t neglect combat entirely. While workers generate resources, soldiers enable you to:
- Clear enemy-controlled zones for better gathering spots
- Farm crafting materials from bugs
- Access locked areas that require defeating guardian enemies
- Progress through combat-gated quests
A good ratio early is 4:1 workers to soldiers. As you reach mid-game combat zones, shift toward 3:1 or even 2:1 depending on the difficulty of enemies you’re facing.
7. Use the Index for Strategic Planning
The Index shows detailed stats for every ant type:
- Base movement speed
- Carrying capacity
- Combat stats (for soldiers)
- Special abilities and passives
- Resource requirements for crafting their eggs
Before crafting expensive eggs or using Star Fruit, always check the Index to confirm you’re investing in ants that match your current strategy.
8. Plan Your Zone Progression
Different zones have different characteristics:
- Strawberry Fields: Early game, low-value resources, safe
- Blueberry Fields: Mid-value resources, occasional weak enemies
- Spider Zone: High-value resources, requires strong soldiers
- Mushroom Area: Endgame zone requiring 500M+ food collected, best materials
Don’t rush into high-level zones unprepared. Each zone jump requires significantly stronger ants, so make sure your colony is ready before pushing progression.
9. Feed Ants Strategically
You can manually feed ants to level them up faster:
- Use Sugar and common resources on your primary worker ants
- Focus feeding on ants with high base stats
- Don’t over-invest in ants you’ll replace soon
- Save premium resources (Star Fruit, Golden Leaf items) for permanent members of your colony
10. Join the Community
The Ants Empire Discord server is valuable for:
- New code announcements
- Strategy discussions
- Learning about game updates
- Finding optimal ant builds and strategies
- Troubleshooting issues
Advanced Progression Strategies
Once you’ve mastered the basics, these advanced techniques will take your colony to the next level.
The Selective Specialization Method
Rather than evenly upgrading all ants, identify 2-3 “carry” ants and push them to maximum power. This strategy works because:
- Star Fruit upgrades have diminishing availability
- Epic-tier ants are disproportionately powerful
- Specialized ants with maxed stats outperform many mediocre ants
Choose ants with complementary abilities:
- One harvesting specialist (high speed, capacity)
- One combat specialist (high damage, durability)
- One utility specialist (special passives like Demon Ant)
Push these three to Epic rarity while keeping your other ants at Uncommon/Rare for cost-efficiency.
Milestone-Focused Progression
Organize your gameplay around hitting specific milestones:
- Total food gathered milestones (provide permanent gather speed buffs)
- Ant population milestones (increase nest capacity bonuses)
- Combat milestones (unlock army features and special eggs)
Check milestone requirements regularly and adjust your strategy to target ones that provide the biggest permanent buffs.
The Crafting Economy
Mid-game and beyond, the crafting system becomes your primary progression method. Efficient crafting requires:
Material Planning: Before attempting to craft specific eggs, verify you have ALL required materials. Nothing’s worse than farming spider legs only to discover you also need rare stingers.
Recipe Research: Check which eggs provide the best return on investment. Some eggs require minimal materials but produce strong ants, while others are expensive with marginal benefits.
Army Egg Strategy: Army eggs are your gateway to advanced content. If you can’t defeat enemies in a zone, don’t waste time dying repeatedly – craft army eggs first, then return with overwhelming force.
Material Prioritization Table:
- Spider Legs: Craft Bullet Eggs (excellent soldier ants)
- Stingers: Craft Stinger Eggs (balanced fighters)
- Leaves: Basic crafting for common eggs
- Mushroom Materials: Save for absolute endgame eggs
The AFK Optimization Strategy
If you play casually or AFK frequently, optimize for passive gains:
- Max out backpack capacity (fewer return trips needed)
- Set auto-farm to the safest high-yield zone
- Prioritize milestone progress that gives permanent buffs
- Keep a balanced mix of workers so your colony generates resources even while you’re away
The Active Playstyle
For players who actively engage:
- Prioritize tool upgrades over backpack (faster gathering beats storage)
- Manually position yourself near high-value spawns
- Actively hunt enemies for crafting materials
- Complete time-sensitive quests immediately for efficiency
Zone Unlock Strategy
Higher zones require significant investment but provide exponentially better rewards:
Spider/Mushroom Zone (requires ~500M food):
- Start preparing at 300M food by stockpiling army eggs
- Ensure you have multiple Epic-tier soldier ants
- Bring healing items if available
- The materials here craft the strongest ants in the game
Golden Leaf Spending Priority
Since Golden Leaves are limited, spend them wisely:
Tier 1 Priority (Best ROI):
- Permanent passive boosts (gather multipliers, storage increases)
- Critical tool upgrades you can’t afford with regular currency
- Essential nest expansions
Tier 2 Priority (Good but not essential):
- Temporary boosts during grindy progression phases
- Cosmetic nest decorations (if you care about aesthetics)
Tier 3 Priority (Generally avoid):
- Random consumables
- Items available through normal gameplay
- Impulse purchases without clear benefit
Common Mistakes To Avoid
Learning from others’ mistakes saves time and resources. Here are the pitfalls I see beginners fall into constantly:
1. Burning Star Fruit on Every Ant
I covered this earlier, but it bears repeating because it’s so common. Star Fruit is NOT meant to upgrade your entire colony. It’s a precision tool for creating powerhouse ants. Save it for the right candidates.
2. Ignoring Milestone Rewards
Milestones provide permanent percentage-based buffs that compound over time. A +5% gather speed buff seems small initially but becomes massive as your colony grows. Always pursue milestones actively.
3. Spending Golden Leaves Impulsively
Treat Golden Leaves like premium currency (because it is). Every purchase should have clear, measurable benefit. Ask yourself: “Will this accelerate my progression enough to justify the cost?” If the answer isn’t a definitive yes, save your Golden Leaves.
4. Neglecting Tool Upgrades
Some players focus entirely on buying more ants while ignoring tools. This is backwards. Tool upgrades multiply the effectiveness of ALL your ants. One tool upgrade that doubles gathering speed is better than doubling your ant count.
5. Poor Combat Preparation
Rushing into high-level zones without adequate soldier ants results in repeated deaths and wasted time. Before pushing into new combat zones:
- Scout the enemies first
- Ensure you have at least 5-10 soldier ants
- Upgrade your soldiers to at least Rare tier
- Bring healing items if available
6. Not Using Auto-Farm
Manually directing your colony to random resources is inefficient. Once auto-farm unlocks, use it constantly. The productivity difference is night and day.
7. Spreading Resources Too Thin
Beginners often try to upgrade everything simultaneously. This slows overall progression. Focus on:
- Maxing out 2-3 key ants first
- Completing one milestone at a time
- Saving for important unlocks rather than buying incremental upgrades
8. Forgetting to Check for New Codes
Codes expire, so check regularly. Missing out on free Star Fruit or Golden Leaves is leaving value on the table.
9. Solo Playing When Group Boosts Exist
Like many Roblox multiplayer games, Ants Empire provides bonuses for playing with friends. The gathering boost from having friends in your server accelerates progression significantly.
10. Not Reading Ant Abilities
Different ants have different passive abilities. Some ants do passive damage during harvesting (Demon Ant), others have increased movement speed, and some have special combat abilities. Always read what makes each ant unique before investing heavily.
Controls & Interface Guide
PC Controls:
- WASD Keys: Move your character
- Left Mouse Click: Interact with objects, collect resources, select options
- I Key: Open inventory and menu
- E Key: Enter colony (interact with Queen Ant)
- Enter: Confirm selections
- Esc: Cancel or back
Mobile Controls:
- On-screen Joystick: Character movement
- Tap Objects: Interact and collect
- Inventory Icon: Access menus
- Confirm Button: Complete actions
- Device Back Button: Cancel/return
Important UI Elements:
Top Left Corner:
- Settings (cogwheel icon) – Access codes and options
- Upgrade menu – Tools, backpack, nest improvements
- Quest log – Current objectives and rewards
Top Right:
- Resource counters – Food, sugar, golden leaves, etc.
- Nest capacity – Shows current/maximum ants
Bottom Center:
- Auto-farm button – Enable/disable automatic gathering
- Zone selection – Choose farming area
How To Find & Use Ants Empire Codes?
Ants Empire codes provide significant free rewards that accelerate your progression. Here’s everything you need to know about finding and redeeming them.
How to Redeem Codes:
- Launch Ants Empire on Roblox
- Click the cogwheel (Settings) icon in the top-left corner
- Look for the “Enter Code” text box at the bottom of the settings menu
- Type or paste your code exactly as shown (codes are case-sensitive!)
- Click the green arrow button to redeem
- Your rewards will be added to your account instantly
Code Tips:
- Codes are case-sensitive – copy and paste them exactly
- New codes typically release during game updates, milestones, or special events
- Codes can expire without warning, so redeem them immediately
- You can only use each code once per account
- Follow the developer’s Roblox group (1Spam) for code announcements
- Join the official Discord server for the fastest code notifications
Where to Find New Codes:
- Official Ants Empire Discord server (announcements channel)
- Developer’s Roblox profile and group
- Social media (if the developer has accounts)
- Community code tracking websites
- This guide (we update regularly with new codes!)
While I can’t list specific active codes here (as they change frequently), codes typically provide:
- Golden Leaves (premium currency)
- Star Fruit (for ant upgrades)
- Sugar (for feeding ants)
- Fruit/Food (basic currency)
- Temporary field boosts (multipliers for specific zones)
- Special items and consumables
Pro Tip: Bookmark dedicated Roblox code websites that update daily with new codes for hundreds of games. This ensures you never miss limited-time rewards.
Late Game Content & Endgame Goals
Once you’ve established a strong colony, Ants Empire’s endgame provides these long-term objectives:
1. Complete All Milestones Work through every milestone tier to max out your permanent buffs. Some milestones require billions of resources collected or hundreds of ants hatched.
2. Unlock & Max All Zones Reach and dominate every zone, including the elusive Mushroom Area that requires 500M+ food gathered.
3. Collect All Ant Types Craft and catalog every unique ant variant. This completionist goal showcases your mastery of the crafting system.
4. Build the Ultimate Colony Push multiple ants to Epic tier, max out all tools and upgrades, and create the most efficient resource-generating colony possible.
5. Compete for Leaderboards If Ants Empire implements leaderboards (common in similar simulation games), compete for top rankings in various categories.
6. Help New Players Share your knowledge with the community, help friends get started, and contribute to the growing player base.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main goal in Ants Empire?
The primary goal in Ants Empire is to build the largest and most powerful ant colony possible. This involves collecting food and resources, upgrading your ants and nest, unlocking new zones, defeating enemy bugs, and completing quests from the Queen Ant. The game is about strategic growth and efficient resource management rather than having a specific “ending.”
How do I get more ants in my colony?
You get more ants by collecting food and resources, which serve as currency to purchase ant eggs. Once you buy an egg, place it near your nest and it will hatch into a worker or soldier ant. You can also craft specialized ant eggs using materials gathered from defeating enemies or completing quests. Your nest has a capacity limit that can be increased through upgrades.
What’s the difference between worker ants and soldier ants?
Worker ants are your resource gatherers – they automatically collect food, fruit, and other materials from the environment and bring them back to your nest. Soldier ants are combat units that defend your colony and fight enemy bugs like spiders, beetles, and scorpions. You need both types: workers generate resources for growth, while soldiers enable you to access dangerous zones with better rewards.
How do I use Star Fruit effectively?
Star Fruit upgrades an ant’s rarity tier (Common → Uncommon → Rare → Epic). Only use Star Fruit on ants you plan to keep long-term. Check the Index to identify ants with high base stats or useful special abilities, then focus Star Fruit on 2-3 “carry” ants rather than spreading it across your entire colony. This creates powerful specialist ants that dramatically outperform standard ants.
What are Golden Leaves used for?
Golden Leaves are the premium currency in Ants Empire, used to purchase special items, permanent boosts, and exclusive upgrades. While they can be bought with Robux, you can also earn Golden Leaves through quests, milestones, and promotional codes. Spend Golden Leaves carefully on high-impact permanent upgrades rather than temporary boosts or cosmetic items.
How does auto-farming work?
Auto-farming allows your ants to automatically focus on gathering resources from a specific area you select. Once enabled, the chosen zone highlights in green, and your ants will prioritize collecting resources from that area. This is incredibly useful for farming specific materials, completing location-based quests, or maximizing efficiency when you’re AFK.
When should I upgrade my tools vs buying more ants?
Prioritize tool upgrades early because they multiply the effectiveness of all your ants simultaneously. One tool upgrade that doubles gathering speed provides more benefit than doubling your ant count. Focus on tool and backpack upgrades first, then invest in expanding your ant population once your workers are operating efficiently.
How do I unlock the Mushroom Zone?
The Mushroom Zone is a late-game area that unlocks after you’ve collected approximately 500 million food in total. This is tracked through your milestones. The zone contains powerful enemies but provides the best crafting materials in the game. Make sure you have strong soldier ants and adequate preparation before attempting this area.
Can I play Ants Empire offline or does it require internet?
Ants Empire requires an active internet connection since it’s a Roblox game. Your ants don’t collect resources while you’re completely offline. However, you can minimize the game or work on other tasks while using auto-farm to passively generate resources if you remain connected.
What should I spend my first codes’ rewards on?
Use Golden Leaves from codes on permanent upgrades or critical early-game tools. Star Fruit should be saved until you’ve unlocked several ant types and can make informed decisions about which ants to upgrade. Temporary boosts are best used during concentrated play sessions where you’re actively grinding. Free sugar and fruit should go toward immediate colony expansion and ant feeding.
Related Resources & Final Thoughts
Ants Empire offers a surprisingly deep and strategic experience within the Roblox ecosystem. What appears to be a simple colony simulator reveals itself as a game requiring careful planning, resource management, and strategic decision-making. The satisfaction of watching your small nest transform into a bustling empire is incredibly rewarding, especially when you’ve made smart choices about upgrades and specialization.
The key to success in Ants Empire isn’t rushing through content or trying to do everything simultaneously. It’s about understanding the game’s systems, making informed choices about resource allocation, and playing consistently to build momentum. Every tool upgrade, carefully selected Star Fruit investment, and completed milestone compounds your colony’s power, creating exponential growth over time.
Remember that Ants Empire is still actively developed, with the creator regularly adding new content, fixing bugs, and releasing promotional codes. Stay connected with the community through the official Discord server, check back regularly for new codes and updates, and don’t hesitate to experiment with different strategies to find what works best for your playstyle.
Whether you’re a casual player looking to relax while watching your ant colony grow, or a competitive player aiming to build the most powerful empire possible, the strategies in this guide will give you the foundation you need to succeed. Start small, think strategically, and before you know it, you’ll be commanding a legendary ant empire that dominates every zone in the game.