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The practical answer to “How many turns until grievances disappear?” is therefore “check the current tooltip.” It shows the active decay breakdown for that diplomatic relationship. A large grievance total in the Ancient Era may fall quickly, while the same total in the Future Era can take much longer. Occupying an ordinary city or the other civilization’s original capital can alter the result again.
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The short answer
| Situation between the two civilizations | What happens to natural grievance decay |
|---|---|
| At peace | Grievances tend toward zero each turn, subject to era and occupation modifiers. |
| At war | Natural decay is paused for that pair. |
| Peace while an ordinary city is occupied | The former owner’s grievances against the occupier decay one point per turn more slowly; the occupier’s grievances against the former owner decay one point per turn faster. |
| Peace while the other civilization’s original capital is occupied | The corresponding occupation adjustment is three points per turn instead of one, in opposite directions for the two sides. |
These are pair-specific rules. Look at the relationship between the two civilizations whose grievances you are trying to reduce; another diplomatic relationship has its own status and totals.
What a grievance represents
Grievances are Civilization VI’s running measure of diplomatic harm. They are directional: Civilization A can hold grievances against Civilization B, while B simultaneously holds a different number against A. Capturing a city, declaring war, breaking promises and other actions can contribute to that balance, but the important point for this question is that the two directions do not necessarily decay at the same speed.
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When peace exists, the game applies a natural reduction to each side’s grievance balance. The Civilopedia describes the rule this way: “During times of peace between civilizations, their Grievances tend toward zero turn by turn.” “Tend toward” matters. The displayed result depends on the current era and modifiers, and an occupation configuration may reduce the effective decay substantially.
Peace is required; war pauses the process
Natural decay only operates while the two civilizations concerned are not at war. If you declare war on a civilization that still has grievances against you, those grievances do not continue shrinking during the war. The same pause applies to the grievances you hold against that opponent.
Making peace allows the normal calculation to resume on subsequent turns. Peace does not erase the accumulated number instantly, and it does not guarantee a universal countdown. The game recalculates the relationship using the current era and any cities that remain occupied.
How to apply this when several wars are active
- Identify the exact civilization whose grievance total you are reading.
- Check whether you and that civilization are currently at war.
- Do not assume that a peace deal with one civilization changes the grievance timer for another; each pair has its own diplomatic state.
- After peace is established, inspect the grievance tooltip again rather than relying on a previous estimate.
Era determines the base rate
The detailed values below are the rule reported by the Civilization Wiki mechanics reference. The Civilopedia and the Civilization VI manual independently describe the same direction: decay is faster in early eras and slower as the game advances. Treat the numbers as the reference’s mechanic parameters, not as a promise that every current platform build has been independently tested against them.
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| Era | Reported base movement toward zero | What that means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient | 10 grievance points per turn | Fastest base decay. |
| Classical | 9 per turn | One point slower than Ancient. |
| Medieval | 8 per turn | Still relatively quick. |
| Renaissance | 7 per turn | Moderate mid-game rate. |
| Industrial | 6 per turn | Slower than Renaissance. |
| Modern | 5 per turn | Only half the Ancient base rate. |
| Atomic | 4 per turn | Late-game grievances fade slowly. |
| Information | 3 per turn | Very slow base decay. |
| Future | 2 per turn | Slowest reported base rate. |
The sequence is a one-point reduction per era after Ancient, ending at two in Future. If the tooltip shows a different effective figure, use that displayed value: occupation and leader-specific effects can change the base number.
Occupation changes who benefits
Occupation does not simply make every grievance decay more slowly. Its effect depends on who holds the grievance and which city is occupied.
Ordinary occupied city
Suppose Civilization A occupies one of Civilization B’s ordinary cities. B’s grievances against A decay one point per turn slower than the relevant base rate. A’s grievances against B decay one point per turn faster. The mechanics reference reports this modifier as independent of how many ordinary cities are held; occupying several ordinary cities does not create a separate one-point penalty for every city.
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The original capital
If A occupies B’s original capital, the adjustment is three points per turn rather than one. B’s grievances against A decay three points per turn slower, while A’s grievances against B decay three points per turn faster. “Original capital” means the civilization’s starting capital, not merely any capital city that changed hands later.
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| Who holds the grievance? | Ordinary city occupied | Original capital occupied |
|---|---|---|
| Former owner of the occupied city | Decay is reduced by 1 per turn. | Decay is reduced by 3 per turn. |
| Occupier | Decay is increased by 1 per turn. | Decay is increased by 3 per turn. |
This produces the counterintuitive result that the occupier can see its own grievances disappear faster at the same time that the former owner’s grievances against it disappear more slowly. Holding the original capital has the larger effect.
Why there is no universal “number of turns” answer
A simple division—grievance total divided by a rate—can be a rough mental model only when the pair remains at peace and the effective rate stays unchanged. In an actual game, the era can advance, a city can change hands, a capital can be occupied, or a leader-specific adjustment can apply. War pauses the natural movement altogether.
For example, an illustrative Ancient-era base of 10 points per turn would become 9 for a direction slowed by an ordinary-city occupation and 11 for the direction helped by that same occupation. With the original capital modifier, the corresponding illustrative figures would be 7 and 13. Those calculations explain the direction of the effect; they are not a guaranteed countdown, because the game’s tooltip is the authoritative value for the current situation and the reference notes uncertainty about whether some occupation combinations can completely negate decay.
How to check the current decay rate in-game
- Open the diplomatic relationship. Select the civilization whose grievances you want to understand.
- Confirm the pair’s war or peace status. If you are at war with that civilization, natural decay is paused.
- Locate the grievance total. Hover the grievance value to open its tooltip.
- Read the breakdown. The tooltip displays the current decay information, including the effect of the era and relevant occupation circumstances.
- Record the direction. Check whether you are viewing grievances you hold against the other civilization or grievances it holds against you; the occupation modifier reverses between those directions.
- Recheck after a diplomatic or territorial change. A peace deal, era transition or change in which cities are occupied can alter the displayed rate.
This method is more reliable than applying a fixed table value to every save. It also avoids mistaking a paused wartime total for a bug in decay.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Leader-specific adjustments
Some leader abilities or agendas modify how quickly grievances fade. The mechanics reference specifically notes faster decay of grievances against Gorgo and Alexander because of their agendas. It also notes that Ibrahim’s Capou Agha title can speed grievance decay against a particular player. The reviewed material does not provide exact numerical values for these effects.
Because those adjustments are not quantified here, do not add or subtract an assumed number from the era table. If one of these leaders is involved, use the tooltip’s displayed breakdown for the relationship rather than estimating from the base rate alone.
Edge cases and version limits
Can occupation stop decay completely?
The mechanics reference leaves open whether occupation modifiers can completely negate decay in some configurations. Do not assume that every peaceful relationship must lose at least one grievance point on every turn. If the displayed change is zero or otherwise unexpected, treat the tooltip as the current game state and consider the occupation and leader effects before concluding that the save is broken.
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The reviewed material does not settle the exact bookkeeping for grievances involving an eliminated civilization. That is an edge case rather than a reason to expect ordinary peaceful decay to fail. If elimination is central to your situation, the result may depend on game version and should not be generalized from the normal two-civilization rule.
Could an update change the result?
Official 2019 patch notes confirm that grievance calculation has been adjusted in updates. Older forum explanations may therefore describe a different edge case or value. The era trend, peace requirement and occupation direction described above are the stable framework supported by the Civilopedia, manual and mechanics reference, but the in-game display should take priority on a particular version.
Practical ways to manage a grievance problem
- If you want natural reduction to begin, establish peace with that specific civilization. War keeps the pair’s natural decay paused.
- Expect earlier peace to help more. The reported base rate falls from 10 in Ancient to 2 in Future, so waiting until the late game is slower.
- Account for occupied cities before predicting reconciliation. An ordinary occupied city changes the rate by one point per turn; the original capital changes it by three.
- Check both directions. Your grievances may be falling faster while the other civilization’s grievances against you fall more slowly.
- Use the tooltip after every major change. It is the best way to include leader-specific effects and any version-dependent calculation.
Bottom line for “Do grievances go away in Civ 6?”
They do, naturally, when the two civilizations are at peace. They do not naturally decay while that pair is at war. The Ancient-to-Future base rate slows from a reported 10 points per turn to 2, and occupation can speed one direction while slowing the other—especially when the original capital is held. Since those variables change the effective rate, there is no single number of turns that applies to every game. Read the grievance tooltip for the live value and its breakdown.
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