Obstacles are trees, logs, rocks, and other foliage that is randomly placed in your village. You start with about 40 obstacles around your village. You can remove them if you have an available Builder and a small amount of Gold or Elixir.
Summary
Obstacles are structures that obstruct the placement of a village's Buildings.
While a player can still build villages without being hindered by obstacles (by building around them or choosing a relatively clear location), it is significantly harder to do so at higher levels. To free up space for buildings to be placed, the player must either remove the obstacles with a Builder or relocate it elsewhere with a Shovel of Obstacles.
If a Shovel of Obstacles is used on an obstacle, that obstacle will be permanently movable like any other building. The obstacle can also be stashed in Village Edit Mode similar to Decorations. The obstacle can also be removed normally afterwards, though this does not provide further compensation beyond the standard rewards for removal.
If you accidentally set a Builder to remove an obstacle, you can cancel it if the button is tapped before the Builder is finished.
Canceling the removal of an obstacle will refund you 100% of the resources spent, compared to the 50% refund on all other upgrades.
Your village can have a maximum of 45 obstacles at one time - if this limit is reached or exceeded, regular obstacles will no longer spawn until obstacles are removed. Gem Boxes and holiday-themed obstacles ignore this limit when spawning and can spawn even if more than 45 obstacles are present on the village.
Obstacles stashed in Village Edit Mode will still count towards this limit.
There is an achievement called "Nice and Tidy" which gives players Experience and Gems for removing obstacles.
Troops can be spawned beside and/or on top of obstacles that are not 3x3 in size.
After the Halloween 2014 update, the required time to remove all obstacles except Mushrooms was reduced.
Undecorated Obstacles
Each obstacle that is removed can contain anywhere from 0 to 6 Gems.
There are two cycles governing the number of Gems you receive by removing obstacles in your Home Village. These cycles all occur concurrently and are independent of each other, including those for Obstacles in the Builder Base. This means that clearing an obstacle advances only one of the below cycles and has no effect on the position of the other cycles.
The first cycle applies to original obstacles in the Home Village (those that spawned when you first created your Home Village). This cycle has no 4, 5 or 6 gem rewards. The cycle is 3, 0 ,1 ,2 ,0 ,1 ,1 ,0 ,0 ,3 ,1 ,0 ,2 ,2 ,0 ,0 ,3 ,0 ,1 ,0 for initial obstacles.
The second cycle governs the number of Gems you receive from spawned obstacles in your Home Village. It advances when you remove an obstacle in the Home Village. The cycle is 6, 0, 4, 5, 1, 3, 2, 0, 0, 5, 1, 0, 3, 4, 0, 0, 5, 0, 1, 0 for spawned obstacles.
On average, each obstacle cleared has 2 Gems. This pattern does not include the 25 Gems held from the Gem Box.
Vegetation
Vegetation respawns at a rate of one item per eight hours, except if all the spaces in your village are totally filled, or the 45-obstacle limit has been reached.
With the exception of the Gem Box, an obstacle will only spawn if there is a 1-tile buffer zone between the spaces in which it will spawn and another building or obstacle.
Since vegetation respawns and removing one may have Gems, removing vegetation regularly can be an unlimited (although sometimes slow) source of Gems.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Experience Gained
Respawn Weight
Mushroom
2x2
100
10s
3
10%
Bush
2x2
250
10s
3
20%
Trunk (1)
2x2
1,000
10s
3
10%
Trunk (2)
2x2
1,000
10s
3
10%
Fallen Trunk
2x2
1,000
10s
3
20%
Small Tree
2x2
2,000
10s
3
20%
Medium Tree
3x3
7,500
15s
3
5%
Large Tree
3x3
10,000
15s
3
5%
Clash-o-Ween Themed Appearances
Since 2012, most Vegetation obstacles have a special appearance during the Clash-o-Ween period.
Clash-o-Ween adds special textures and sounds to all Vegetation except the Small Tree. In 2012, the Mushroom had a different appearance to future years.
Halloween Mushroom (2012)
Halloween Mushroom (2013-Present)
Halloween Bush
Halloween Trunk (1)
Halloween Trunk (2)
Halloween Trunk (Fallen)
Halloween Tree (Medium)
Halloween Tree (Large)
Halloween Headstone (2014)
Halloween Cauldron (2015)
Scary Pumpkin (2016)
Halloween Obstacle (2017)
Witch's Hat (2018)
Spooky Tree (2019)
Vacant Tomb (2020)
"Friendly" Flower (2021)
Trick or Treat? (2022)
Sinister Sapling (2023)
Winter Themed Appearances
Since 2012, Vegetation obstacles have a special appearance during the Clashmas period which often extends through Winter.
Obstacles have special textures with snow mixed into them. In 2012, the Large Tree had a different appearance to future years.
Winter Mushroom
Winter Bush
Winter Trunk (1)
Winter Trunk (2)
Winter Trunk (Fallen)
Winter Tree (Small)
Winter Tree (Medium)
Winter Tree (Large 2012)
Winter Tree (Large 2013)
Clashmas Tree (2012)
Clashmas Tree (2013)
Clashmas Tree (2014)
Clashmas Tree (2015)
Clashmas Tree (2016)
Clashmas Tree (2017)
Clashmas Tree (2018)
Clashmas Tree (2019)
Clashmas Tree (2020)
Clashmas Tree (2021)
Clashmas Tree (2022)
Clashmas Tree (2023)
Rocks
Rocks do not respawn once they are removed.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Experience Gained
Stone (1)
2x2
500
10s
3
Stone (2)
2x2
500
10s
3
Stone (3)
2x2
500
10s
3
Stone (4)
2x2
500
10s
3
Stone (Pillar)
2x2
10,000
15s
3
Stone (Large)
3x3
20,000
15s
3
Rare Stone
In very early versions of the game, an odd looking stone was able to appear in a newly created village. It became unobtainable soon after the game's release, and only a few players are known to still have it. A few examples of players who still have this stone: (#Y98CJG, #L9G9RL, #LLJUOO, #C2VY8G, #UPYJ, #8J88U, #V9CC8).
This stone made a new appearance in the 23rd October 2018 update, in the new Single Player Campaign maps "High Pressure" and "Burning Sensation."
It also appears in the first battle in the Builder Base, against Master Jimmy.
You can also see it in the playground for testing Super Troops if you are Town Hall 11 or above.
There was a player by the name of arl it has 2 variants of obstacles. it is no longer exist.
Gem Box
The Gem Box is a mysterious box containing 25 gems.
When the Gem Box was added it was quickly deleted due to a few glitches relating to how many Gems it gives. The Gem Box was added back into the game on April 9, 2014, the update that added Clan Wars.
You can only have 1 Gem Box at any time. Clearing the Gem Box costs 1,000 Elixir. It takes 30 seconds to clear one, and the removal of one will yield 25 gems. The gem box is rare, but in the April 2014 update, their spawn rate was increased.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Removal Reward
Respawn Weight
Gem Box
2x2
1,000
30s
25 and 5
1%
Special Event Obstacles
These obstacles only appear for a limited time, and are usually created to commemorate holidays. After the period in which they spawn ends, players can continue to keep these obstacles.
Note that all special obstacles ignore the one-tile buffer zone rule that governs where normal vegetation can spawn. They can spawn in any 2x2 empty space within your village, though they tend toward spawning close to the outer edges of the field.
Clashmas Trees
Clashmas Trees are a prominent special obstacle, with different versions of them appearing in every winter period since the game's launch in 2012.
Each Clashmas tree takes 30s to remove and gives 5 Experience .
Clashmas trees were originally named "X-Mas Tree", which was later changed to "Clashmas Tree"
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Removal Reward
Respawn Weight
Clashmas Tree (2012)
2x2
25,000
30s
30,000 and 5 (Initially) 50,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2013)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2014)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2015)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2016)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2017)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2018)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2019)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2020)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2021)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2022)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clashmas Tree (2023)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Clash-o-Ween Obstacles
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Removal Reward
Respawn Weight
Halloween Headstone (2014)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Halloween Cauldron (2015)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Scary Pumpkin (2016)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Halloween Obstacle (2017)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Witchs Hat (2018)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Spooky Tree (2019)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
Vacant Tomb (2020)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
"Friendly" Flower (2021)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000
2%
Trick or Treat? (2022)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000
2%
Sinister Sapling (2023)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000
2%
Anniversary Obstacles
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Removal Reward
Respawn Weight
5th Anniversary Cake (2017)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
6th Anniversary Cake (2018)
2x2
25,000
30s
75,000 and 5
2%
7th Birthday Surprise (2019)
2x2
7,777
30s
77,777 and 5
N/A
8th Anniversary Cake (2020)
2x2
8,888
30s
88,888 and 5
N/A
9th Anniversary Cake (2021)
2x2
9,999
30s
99,999 and 5
N/A
10th Anniversary Cake (2022)
2x2
10,000
30s
101,010 and 5
N/A
11th Anniversary Cake (2023)
2x2
10,000
30s
101,010 and 5
N/A
Lunar New Year Obstacles
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Removal Reward
Respawn Weight
Fireworks Stash (2018)
2x2
500
30s
25,000 and 2
N/A
Fortune Tree (2018)
2x2
1,000
30s
75,000 and 2
N/A
Glowy Lantern (2020)
2x2
7,777
30s
77,777 and 5
N/A
Lucky Shrub (2021)
2x2
7,777
30s
77,777 and 5
N/A
Rabbit Lantern (2023)
2x2
7,777
30s
77,777 and 5
N/A
Lucky Letterbox (2024)
2x2
8,888
30s
88,888 and 5
N/A
Other Event Obstacles
The Spike-y Cactus was released in celebration of Supercell's highly anticipated game, Brawl Stars. It resembles the Brawler Spike.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Removal Reward
Respawn Weight
Spike-y Cactus
2x2
1,000
30s
75,000 and 5
N/A
Immovable Obstacles
These Obstacles cannot be made moveable by the Shovel of Obstacles and are immediately removed when tapped.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Benefit
Removal Type
Spawning Event
Tombstone
1x1
20
All Tombstones are cleared upon being tapped, including Dark Tombstones.
Attacking or defending Elixir troop or Ice Golem is killed.
Dark Tombstone
1x1
1
All Dark Tombstones are cleared upon being tapped, including normal Tombstones.
Attacking or defending Dark Elixir troop is killed.
Present
1x1
5,000
Each Present can be removed separately.
Presents spawned by the 2014 Clashmas tree.
Present
1x1
5,000
All Presents generated from the Spell are cleared upon being tapped.
All Sweet Elixir Tombstones are cleared upon being tapped.
Attacking Cookie Rumble Troop is killed.
Trivia
The rainbow effect on the Gem Box is a reference to the saying "There's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow." However, in this case, the pot of gold is a pot of gems.
The Gem Box may have squashed a patch of mushrooms when falling out of the sky. Mushrooms are visible underneath it.
If no gems are purchased, earned through achievements or spent on various purposes, 1623 obstacles (not including gem boxes) are needed to clear to buy the 3rd, 4th and 5th Builder Huts which cost 3500 gems in total, which roughly translates to 528 days (counting from the first obstacle removed and assuming that the village always contain less than 45 obstacles, in order for new obstacles to spawn).
Aside from the Gem Box, the Spike-y Cactus and the Glowy Lantern (from the Builder Base) are the only obstacles that give a different resource than used to remove it.
For a 2015 April fools prankSupercell said that Gem Boxes would be affected by Lightning Spell as well as other pranks.
On 13 December 2019, Clash of Clans Community Manager Darian made this Reddit post with a graph, seen on the right, with data on the number of players who had an Clashmas Tree from each year.
The Gem Box was temporarily removed from the game in the January 29 2014 maintenance break, however, it reappeared again in the April 2014 update, after its bugs were fixed.
Icon Descriptions
Tapping this icon removes this obstacle using Gold, if you have enough Gold and a free Builder. This icon only appears if the obstacle is in the Home Village and requires Gold to remove.
Tapping this icon removes this obstacle using Elixir, if you have enough Elixir and a free Builder (or B.O.B). This icon only appears if the obstacle is in the Home Village and requires Elixir to remove.
Tapping this icon, which is displayed while the selected obstacle is being removed, cancels the removal of this obstacle and refunds the full cost.
Tapping this icon allows this Obstacle to be permanently movable, at the cost of one Shovel of Obstacles. This icon is only shown if you have at least one Shovel of Obstacles.
Obstacles are trees, logs, rocks, and other foliage that is randomly placed in your village. You start with about 40 obstacles around your village. You can remove them if you have an available Builder and a small amount of Gold or Elixir.
Summary
Obstacles are structures that obstruct the placement of a village's Buildings.
While a player can still build villages without being hindered by obstacles (by building around them or choosing a relatively clear location), it is significantly harder to do so at higher levels. To free up space for buildings to be placed, the player must either remove the obstacles with a Builder or relocate it elsewhere with a Shovel of Obstacles.
If a Shovel of Obstacles is used on an obstacle, that obstacle will be permanently movable like any other building. The obstacle can also be stashed in Village Edit Mode similar to Decorations. The obstacle can also be removed normally afterwards, though this does not provide further compensation beyond the standard rewards for removal.
You can't place buildings on obstacles (apart from the Tall Grass).
If you accidentally set a Builder to remove an obstacle, you can cancel it if the button is tapped before the Builder is finished.
Canceling the removal of an obstacle will refund you 100% of the resources spent, compared to the 50% refund on all other upgrades.
Your village can have a maximum of 45 obstacles at one time - if this limit is reached or exceeded, regular obstacles will no longer spawn until obstacles are removed. Gem Boxes and holiday-themed obstacles ignore this limit when spawning and can spawn even if more than 45 obstacles are present on the village.
Obstacles stashed in Village Edit Mode will still count towards this limit.
There is an achievement called "Nice and Tidy" which gives players Experience and Gems for removing 10/50/500 obstacles.
Troops can be spawned beside and/or on top of obstacles that are not 3x3 in size.
You must have a Builder Hall level 3 in order to remove obstacles in the Builder Base.
Obstacles in the Builder Base respawn in a similar fashion to Obstacles in the Home Village. While trees (and variants), groves and grass will respawn over time if the obstacle limit isn't reached, mushrooms, rocks and stones will not respawn.
Many obstacles in stage 1 of the Builder Base also appear in the Home Village.
Undecorated Obstacles
Each obstacle that is removed can contain anywhere from 0 to 6 Gems.
There are two cycles governing the number of Gems you receive by removing obstacles in your Builder Base. These cycles are identical and all occur concurrently and are independent of each other, including those for Obstacles in the Home Village. This means that clearing an obstacle advances only one of the below cycles and has no effect on the position of the other cycles. These cycles follow the pattern 6, 0, 4, 5, 1, 3, 2, 0, 0, 5, 1, 0, 3, 4, 0, 0, 5, 0, 1, 0.
The first cycle governs the number of Gems you receive from the original obstacles in the Builder Base (i.e. the obstacles that are spawned when you first enter the Builder Base). It advances when you remove such an obstacle in the Builder Base.
The second cycle governs the number of Gems you receive from spawned obstacles in the Builder Base (i.e. obstacles that spawned sometime after you enter the Builder Base). It advances when you remove such an obstacle in the Builder Base. However, three of the original Builder Base obstacles are considered spawned. The three Builder Base Obstacles that count as spawned are all stone obstacles and the information was made public by Darian on the now closed Supercell Forum.
On average, each obstacle cleared has 2 Gems.
Each obstacle will only spawn in a certain stage, but can be moved to either stage using the Shovel of Obstacles. Tall Grass can spawn in either stage, based on the location of its spawning obstacles (the Old/Ancient Barbarian Statues or other Tall Grass).
Vegetation
All Vegetation except the Mushroom respawns at a rate of one item per eight hours, except if all the spaces in your village are totally filled.
An obstacle will only spawn if there is a 1-tile buffer zone between the spaces in which it will spawn and another building or obstacle.
The Tall Grass is the only Builder Base Obstacle that doesn't require a free Master Builder to remove, can't be moved by the Shovel of Obstacles, and will never yield Gems. You can either remove it with 50 or for free by placing a building on it, and the removal will be instantaneous. The latter method can be done without a Builder Hall level 3.
Removing the Tall Grass with 50 counts towards the Nice and Tidy Achievement and the Gardening Exercise Clan Quest, but placing a building on it for free won't count.
In the Village Edit Mode however, Tall Grass can be removed using Elixir, but cannot be removed by placing buildings on top of it.
The Old Barbarian Statue will spawn Tall Grasses by its side. The same goes for the Ancient Barbarian Statue decoration. If neither of these is present, any remaining Tall Grass can still spawn beside nearby Tall Grass, but if all the Tall Grass are cleared too, then Tall Grass will not respawn until the Ancient Barbarian Statue is bought.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Experience Gained
Respawn Weight
Spawning Stage
Tall Grass (1)
1x1
50 1
Instant
N/A
3%2
1
Tall Grass (2)
1x1
50 1
Instant
N/A
3%2
1
Mushroom
2x2
100
10s
3
0%
1
Tree Stump
2x2
500
10s
3
20%
1
Trunk
2x2
1,000
10s
3
20%
1
Small Tree
2x2
2,000
10s
3
20%
1
Tree
2x2
2,000
10s
3
30%
1
Big Tree
2x2
10,000
10s
3
10%
1
Grove
3x3
20,000
1m
7
20%
1
Small Root
2x2
15,000
10s
3
?
2
Small Root
2x2
15,000
10s
3
?
2
Small Root
2x2
15,000
10s
3
?
2
Small Root
2x2
20,000
10s
3
?
2
Root
2x2
30,000
10s
3
?
2
Root
2x2
30,000
10s
3
?
2
Large Root
3x3
80,000
1m
7
?
2
1 Can be removed for free by placing a building on top of it; see above for more details.
2 Tall Grass only respawns if at least one of the following is present: other neighboring Tall Grass, the Old Barbarian Statue obstacle, or the Ancient Barbarian Statue decoration.
Ponds
Ponds are similar to vegetation in that they respawn once removed, but cost Builder Gold instead. They naturally appear in Stage 2.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Experience Gained
Respawn Weight
Spawning Stage
Large Pond
3x3
60,000
45s
6
?
2
Large Pond
3x3
60,000
45s
6
?
2
Overgrown Pond
3x3
90,000
1m
7
?
2
Rocks
Just like in the Home Village, rocks do not respawn once they are removed.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Experience Gained
Spawning Stage
Stone (Small 1)
2x2
500
10s
3
1
Stone (Small 2)
2x2
500
10s
3
1
Stone (Small 3)
2x2
500
10s
3
1
Stone (Small 4)
2x2
500
10s
3
1
Stone (Small 5)
2x2
500
10s
3
1
Stone (Small 6)
2x2
500
10s
3
1
Stone (Small Pillar)
2x2
500
10s
3
1
Stone (Pillar)
2x2
10,000
15s
3
1
Stone (Large)
3x3
20,000
15s
3
1
Old Barbarian Statue
3x3
200,000
1m
7
1
Stone (Small, Stage 2)
2x2
25,000
15s
3
2
Stone (Small, Stage 2)
2x2
15,000
15s
3
2
Stone (Small, Stage 2)
2x2
15,000
15s
3
2
Stone (Small, Stage 2)
2x2
10,000
15s
3
2
Stone (Pillar, Stage 2)
2x2
40,000
30s
5
2
Special Event Obstacles
These obstacles only appear for a limited time, and are usually created to commemorate holidays. After the period in which they spawn ends, players can continue to keep these obstacles.
Note that all special obstacles ignore the one-tile buffer zone rule that governs where normal vegetation can spawn. They can spawn in any 2x2 empty space within your village, though they tend toward spawning close to the outer edges of the field.
Lunar New Year Obstacles
Obstacle
Size
Removal Cost
Removal Time
Removal Reward
Respawn Weight
Glowy Lantern (2019)
2x2
1,000
5s
75,000 and 2
N/A
Immovable Obstacles
These Obstacles cannot be made moveable by the Shovel of Obstacles and are immediately removed when tapped.
Obstacle
Size
Removal Benefit
Removal Type
Spawning Event
Tombstone
1x1
20
All Tombstones are cleared upon being tapped.
Several tombstones appear at the start of the Builder Base tutorial, but are never seen afterwards.
Trivia
Aside from the Gem Box, the Spike-y Cactus (from the Home Village) and the Glowy Lantern are the only obstacles that give a different resource than the one used to remove it.
The Glowy Lantern is currently the only special event obstacle to have spawned in the Builder Base.
Icon Descriptions
Tapping this icon removes this obstacle using Gold, if you have enough Gold and a free Master Builder or O.T.T.O. This icon only appears if the obstacle is in the Builder Base and requires Gold to remove.
Tapping this icon removes this obstacle using Elixir, if you have enough Elixir and a free Master Builder or O.T.T.O. This icon only appears if the obstacle is in the Builder Base and requires Elixir to remove.
Tapping this icon, which is displayed while the selected obstacle is being removed, cancels the removal of this obstacle and refunds the full cost.
Tapping this icon allows this Obstacle to be permanently movable, at the cost of one Shovel of Obstacles. This icon is only shown if you have at least one Shovel of Obstacles.
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and 5 
to remove and gives 5 Experience 
to remove and gives 5 Experience 
1
