how to set a system off limits for the minister

Ministers default to off, if thats what you're asking.

There are 10 types of people in the world:

Those that understand binary, and those that don't.

The short answer is no. The colony minister just finds the most valuable planet and goes to colonize it. I've read through the scripts and there is no check for any kind of "off limits" setting to tell the ships not to go to certain areas. Having said that, you might be able to code something in. but it'd be very difficult and involves figuring out pathing and keeping track of which systems have enemies to avoid.

Thanks... I'll have to add that to my list of things my AI shouldn't do.

Dragagon

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

-- Robert Heinlein

You can set System to Avoid by going to the system and right clicking on it. From the menu you can select the command to set the system off-limit.

Ok so now the question becomes, "Does the AI care if it is set to off limits when it tells it to colonize?" Guess we'll have to wait and see if System to Avoid is hardcoded in the movement code. Because if it isn't, it still doesn't matter as they will still go colonize.

Dragagon

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.
-- Robert Heinlein

That's the way it worked for SE4... I presume that it is working for SE5 too... I do not use ministers for colonization, I prefer choose the planets myself