You’re staring at the galaxy map. Thousands of stars. Dozens of potential colonies. But then there’s that one achievement staring back at you from the Steam list. Stellaris don’t count your planets. It sounds like a suggestion, maybe some cryptic Zen advice for a Grand Admiral, but it’s actually a specific challenge tied to the Under One Rule origin.
Honestly, it's one of those achievements that forces you to play the game in a way that feels fundamentally wrong if you’re used to the "paint the map" playstyle. Usually, Stellaris is about growth. More pops. More alloys. More science. But here? You’re walking a tightrope.
The achievement requires you to finish the Under One Rule situation without ever having more than one planet. Well, technically, it’s about not having more than one planet at the time the situation finishes. But if you've ever tried to manage a one-planet empire while your neighbors are hitting Repeatables, you know it’s a nightmare.
Why Under One Rule Changes Everything
The First Among Equals origin isn’t just a flavor pick. It’s a narrative-heavy powerhouse. You start with a Luminary leader who has incredible traits but a very short fuse. They want power. They want stability. They want to be a god-emperor.
If you're chasing the Stellaris don’t count your planets achievement, you aren't just playing a strategy game. You’re playing a political thriller. You have to navigate the "Imperial Heirloom" events and the "Luminary's Health" crisis while keeping your borders tiny.
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Most players fail this because they get greedy. They see a Gaia world nearby and think, "I'll just grab it for the extra minerals." Don't. The moment you colonize a second world, you’ve basically set yourself up for a frantic race to abandon it later. It is much easier to just stay on your capital. It’s boring for the first fifty years, sure. You'll spend a lot of time watching bars fill up. But that’s the price of the achievement.
The One-Planet Economy Trap
How do you survive on one planet? You shouldn't be able to.
In the current 2026 meta of Stellaris, the "Tall" vs "Wide" debate is mostly settled—Wide usually wins. More planets mean more building slots. More building slots mean more researchers. To make Stellaris don’t count your planets work, you have to lean hard into Habitats and Starbases.
Wait, can you use Habitats?
The achievement check is specific to planets. In the game's code, Habitats are often categorized differently, but for safety’s sake, the community consensus is to stay as lean as possible. You need to turn your Capital into a megalopolis. We're talking Ecumenopolis as fast as humanly possible.
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You need the Arcology Project ascension perk. Without it, your pop growth will stall out and your economy will crater before the Mid-Game Crisis even starts.
Focus on Vassals
Since you can't own planets, you need someone else to do the dirty work. This is the "Sovereign Guardianship" or "Feudal Society" approach.
- Find a neighbor.
- Beat them into submission.
- Turn them into a Scholarium or a Prospectorium.
- Extract every single resource they have.
Basically, you are the brain, and they are the body. You provide the military protection (fueled by your superior tech from a hyper-focused capital), and they give you the basic resources you can't produce on your own.
The Narrative Pivot
The "Under One Rule" origin has a branching path. You eventually hit a point where the Luminary’s health fails or a civil war threatens to break out. This is the "Appease the Masses" vs. "Crush the Opposition" moment.
To get the achievement, you have to reach the conclusion of the situation. You’ve got to keep that leader alive or successfully transition the government.
If you trigger the civil war, you’re in trouble. Why? Because the rebels might take your only planet. If you lose your one and only world, it's game over. Or, even worse, if you win the war and "re-conquer" rebel planets, you might suddenly find yourself owning three planets at the exact moment the situation code checks for the achievement.
It’s finicky. Stellaris achievements often check for conditions on a specific tick. If you're at two planets for even a day when that flag triggers, you've wasted hours of your life.
The Problem With Auto-Migration
Turn off auto-migration. Seriously.
If you are playing a game where you might have conquered a system with a primitive civilization that suddenly reaches the space age and "joins" you, or if you accidentally integrate a vassal—boom. Extra planet.
You have to be a bit of a micromanager here. You’re playing a "Stellaris don’t count your planets" run, so you should only be looking at one planet anyway. If you see another green icon on your outliner, delete it. Abandon the colony. Move everyone to the capital. It's expensive in terms of Influence and Unity, but it's the only way to be sure.
Strategic Ascension Choices
You can't just pick whatever looks cool. You need a build that maximizes a single world's output.
Sovereign Guardianship is arguably the best civic for this. It gives you massive defensive bonuses and buffs your pops as long as you stay small. Since you're staying at one planet for the achievement, the "Empire Size" penalties from this civic don't matter. You’ll be the most efficient empire in the galaxy.
Then there's the Ecumenopolis.
You need the alloys. You need the consumer goods. A single Ecumenopolis can house hundreds of pops. By the time you reach the end of the Under One Rule event chain, your capital should be a glowing ball of city-districts.
Refinery Habitats are your friend. While the achievement is about planets, the game generally allows you to use orbital stations to supplement your rare crystals and volatile motes. If you’re nervous about the "Planet" tag on a Habitat, just stick to Starbase-level resource collection and heavy trading.
The End of the Line
When the situation finally closes, and your Luminary either becomes a Divine Sovereign or steps down into a new form of government, the achievement should pop.
It’s a test of patience. Most Stellaris players are used to the dopamine hit of seeing their color spread across the map. Here, success looks like a tiny dot in a sea of rivals. It's about being the most powerful dot in the universe.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Run
- Start with the Under One Rule origin and pick traits that boost leader longevity; you need that Luminary alive to see the end of the chain.
- Rush the Arcology Project. You cannot sustain a late-game economy on a standard Continental or Desert world. You need the density of an Ecumenopolis.
- Abuse the Market. Since you lack space for mines and farms, use your massive trade value or energy production to buy what you need.
- Vassalize early. Don't expand your borders to include planets. Instead, make your neighbors pay "tribute" in the form of basic resources.
- Double-check your Outliner. Before the final stage of the Under One Rule situation triggers, ensure you have exactly one colonized planet. No more, no less.
Staying small is hard. It goes against every instinct the game has taught you since 2016. But if you can resist the urge to colonize that 25-size Gaia world, you'll join the small percentage of players who actually have the Stellaris don’t count your planets achievement. Just remember: one is enough.