How to Join a Neighborhood in Hay Day (And Find One Worth Staying In)

Joining a neighborhood in Hay Day is supposed to be the fun part. You finish your silo. You finish your barn. You unlock the train. And then the game tells you, "find a neighborhood." So you tap around, you see a long list of hood names, and you have no idea what to do next.

This guide walks you through it. You will learn exactly how to join a neighborhood, what to do if the invite fails, and what to look for so you do not end up in another dead hood.

If you are already past all that and you just want a hood that actually plays, scroll to the bottom. We have an open spot or two.

What Is a Hay Day Neighborhood?

A Hay Day neighborhood, or "hood," is a group of up to 30 farms that play together. Hoods chat in a shared chat room. They help each other with derby tasks. They request and donate items, and they vote on which farm gets featured each week.

You unlock neighborhoods at level 18, when your farm is big enough to contribute. After that, you can join one, leave one, or start your own.

The most active neighborhoods run the weekly derby together. The derby is a 5-day race against four other hoods, where each member completes tasks for points. Strong hoods finish in the top three almost every week. Weaker hoods coast or skip it.

Picking the right neighborhood matters. The wrong one will leave you doing all the work alone. The right one will make the game feel like a team sport.

How to Join a Neighborhood in Hay Day (Step-by-Step)

Here is the exact path. It only takes a minute once you know where to tap.

1. Step 1. Open Hay Day on your phone or tablet.
2. Step 2. Tap the Neighborhoods icon. It is the small house with a flag on top, on the right side of your screen near the top.
3. Step 3. A panel opens with three tabs: My Neighborhood, Search, and Recommended. Since you are not in one yet, the panel will land on Search.
4. Step 4. You have two ways to find a hood:
   • Search by tag. Every neighborhood has a tag that starts with a hash, like #QLYPGCP8. If a friend gave you a tag, type it in the search bar at the top.
   • Browse the recommended list. Hay Day shows hoods that match your level and language. Scroll the list. Each row shows the hood name, level requirement, language, and how full it is.
5. Step 5. Tap a hood you like. You will see its description, current trophy count, derby league, and member list.
6. Step 6. Tap the Request to Join button. Most active hoods are set to "request only," so you tap, and one of the leaders gets a notification.
7. Step 7. Wait. Sometimes you get accepted in a few minutes. Sometimes the leader is asleep and it takes a few hours. While you wait, you can request to join other hoods too. The first one that accepts puts you in. The rest are cancelled automatically.
8. Step 8. Once you are in, the chat opens up. Say hi. That alone puts you ahead of 70 percent of new joiners.

That is the whole flow. Three taps to find a hood, one tap to request, and a chat message to land softly.

What Level Do You Need to Join a Hay Day Neighborhood?

You unlock neighborhoods at level 18.

Most active hoods set their minimum higher than that. Common floors are level 30, 45, 60, and 100. The higher the floor, the more competitive the hood.

If your farm is below level 30, you have two options. You can join a casual hood that takes anyone, or you can keep playing solo until your level climbs. Casual hoods are fine for chat and donations, but they rarely run the derby seriously.

Once you hit level 45, your options open up. Most derby-focused hoods accept level 45 farms because that is where you unlock enough crops, animals, and machines to actually contribute.

If you are above level 100, you can join almost any hood. Most leaders will accept a high-level farm on sight, because high-level farms can pull bigger derby tasks.

What If You Cannot Join a Neighborhood? (Troubleshooting)

A few things can block your join request. Here is how to fix each one.

Problem: The "Join" button is greyed out.

You are not at level 18 yet. Keep playing your farm, finish your tutorial quests, and the button will turn on once you cross the threshold.

Problem: Hay Day says the invite failed or the neighborhood is full.

The hood reached 30 members between the time you tapped and the time your request landed. Try a different hood, or message the leader and ask if they will hold a spot when one opens.

Problem: Your request was declined.

Three common reasons. You are below the hood's level minimum. Your in-game language does not match. Or the leaders prefer farms with a chat history, and yours is blank because you are new. Try a few hoods on the recommended list. Most leaders accept on the first try once your profile fits.

Problem: You requested to join a hood and never heard back.

The leaders may not be active. Cancel the request and try a different hood. A neighborhood that does not respond to applicants is usually a neighborhood that does not respond to anything.

Problem: You used to be in a hood and you cannot find your old one.

Your old hood may have disbanded, changed its name, or set itself to closed. If you remember the tag, search for it. If you only remember the name, browse the recommended list and ask in the global Hay Day Discord.

How to Find an Active Hay Day Neighborhood

Most "recommended" hoods are not active. They show up because they have an open slot, not because they actually play. Here is how to spot a real one in 30 seconds.

Check the trophy count. Active derby hoods sit between 50,000 and 200,000 trophies. Anything under 10,000 is a dead hood with the lights still on.

Check the derby league. Hay Day ranks hoods into leagues like Rookie, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Champions. Champions League hoods finished top three in their last derby. Rookie League hoods skipped it. Aim for Silver or higher if you want to play seriously.

Check the member count. A hood at 30 of 30 is full and stable. A hood at 5 of 30 is either brand new or bleeding members. Brand new can be great. Bleeding members is a warning sign.

Read the description. Active hoods say things like "we run the derby every week" or "task minimum 6." Dead hoods say "be active" with no specifics. Specifics are a sign someone is paying attention.

Read the chat in your first day. If the chat is empty for 24 hours after you join, leave. The hood is dead. If the chat has people saying hi, joking around, asking for donations, you are home.

What to Look For in a Hay Day Hood

The right hood for you depends on what you want from the game. Three rough archetypes:

The casual hood. No level minimum. No derby pressure. Chat is mostly stickers and "good morning." Good if you play a few times a day and want background friends.

The derby hood. Level 45 or higher, task minimums around 6 to 10 per derby, English speaking, request to join. Plays the derby every week. Aims for top three. Good if you want competition without burnout.

The grinder hood. Level 100+, task minimums of 19 out of 19, expects 6,000-plus points per derby per member, leader will boot you for a missed week. Good if you live and breathe Hay Day. Brutal if you have a job.

Most players want the middle one. A derby hood that takes the game seriously but does not punish you for having a life. That is what we built.

Looking for a Hood? Join Bingo Max Hood

This is what we run.

Bingo Max Hood
Tag: #QLYPGCP8
Derby league: Champions
Level required: 45
Language: English
Type: Request to join

Eleven members. Nineteen open slots.

Bingo Max started after our leader, Duncle, left a hood where the leader did not pull his weight and most members did nothing. He built it from scratch with baby farms and grew it into a Champions League crew. The core has been together for years.

We run the derby every week. We are not a grinder hood. We do not require 19 of 19 tasks or 6,000 points. What we ask is simple. Show up. Run a few derby tasks. Help with donations. Talk in chat.

We do not guilt anyone. If you have a slow week, we cover for you. If we have a slow week, you cover for us. That is the deal.

We host a monthly hood Zoom hangout. The link drops in in-game chat the day of, no separate apps required.

If that sounds like your kind of hood, search #QLYPGCP8 in the Hay Day neighborhoods panel and tap Request to Join. We will accept you within a few hours.

How to Leave a Neighborhood in Hay Day (If You Are Switching)

If you are reading this section, you already know you need to leave your current hood. Here is how to do it without burning the bridge.

1. Step 1. Open Hay Day. Tap the Neighborhoods icon.
2. Step 2. Tap the My Neighborhood tab. You should see your hood's name and members.
3. Step 3. Tap the gear icon, or the three-dot menu in the corner. The option name varies a little by app version.
4. Step 4. Tap Leave Neighborhood. The game asks you to confirm.
5. Step 5. Confirm. You are out.

A few notes. You can rejoin a neighborhood you left, as long as a leader accepts you back. You will lose any active boat orders and unfinished derby tasks, so finish anything in progress first if you can. And you do not need to make a big speech in chat before you go. A simple "thanks all, taking a break" is all the goodbye anyone needs.

Once you are out, the same join flow at the top of this page applies again. Search a tag, browse the list, request, wait.

If you are leaving because the hood was dead and you want one that actually plays, you already know where to find us. Tag is #QLYPGCP8.