I may have a console command fix to stop your settlements from being attacked.

I have tried this myself for over 20 hours and have not had any settlements attacked that use this code. The thing is, I'm still not convinced it is 100% effective, so I want others to try it out and see if it works for them too. It seems that the game uses the ownership of the workshops as one of the criteria for deciding a settlement attack. So if one changes the ownership, in theory, the settlement should fail the check.

To do this, you have to be on PC and visit each workshop individually.

Open the console and click on the workshop workbench so its Ref ID is visible then type:

setownership 35DE

Isowner

The last line isn't required but is used to verify that the owner is not the player.

That's it. The first line sets the owner of the workshop to the Generic NPC Faction and doesn't seem to affect anything else in the game.

If you ever want to set ownership back, just do the same commands minus the Ref ID (35DE) and the workshop will be owned by the player once again.

So who owns it after you give it up from console? How do the settlements behave once you do that?

The settlements behave exactly as before. That's what I was trying to say with, "and doesn't seem to affect anything else in the game."

Though the point is moot. In what can only be characterized as a lesson in humility, within 10 minutes of posting this, one of my settlements was attacked. First one in over 20 hours.

Back to the drawing board...

I've turned to a double defense policy (2x food+water) and I haven't yet had an attack on a doubly defended settlement this playthrough (~80 hours so far into it), although I know it can happen. The few attacks I have had were on settlements where the defense wasn't up to par due to material shortages delaying construction. More defense definitely seems to help drive down the attack chance. It doesn't help at all with radiant quests though... the only solution there is to avoid turning in finished quests and just letting them slowly autocomplete.

I subscribe to a similar defense policy and have significantly reduced attacks as well, though not all unfortunately. (Just had an attack on Abernathy last night...food/water total about 140, defense at 250. I maxed the settlement out so I can't add more defense...)

For the radiant quests, I just avoid talking to all of my non-traders after the initial equipment swap and work assignment.) It has so far worked. (Hoping not to jinx myself, but not a single kidnapping on this play through so far.)

Even my settlements with zero defense do not get attacked as much as I figured.

...not that I don't care, I just sometimes run out of materials for turrets...

I have had a few attacks, mostly in the ones with very large farms. The smaller settlements, with 4 or 5 people and just enough food to feed them, they never get attacked. Also, sanctuary has never gotten attacked, maybe some are more prone to attacks than others. What I do now, is just ignore them, they fail, and I move on. Until they get a better way of managing them I just don't want to deal with it. It is not my job to personally save everybody.

There's a http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4180/? for this. Can't say yet if it works 100%, but I haven't had an attack since I installed it - and I installed it because it seemed like I was getting an attack once every two in-game days.

I don't mind coming to the rescue. It never pops when I'm actively doing something which is nice. Plus, attacks mean more loot to scrap for gun parts and pieces.

You know you can break the settlement object limit right? On PC, you can just use console commands (or better yet, a command script found on the nexus, since it takes like 4 different commands). On all platforms though, you can just drop a bunch of guns and store them in the workship using the build mode. Each build mode store or scrap will decrease the object and poly counts for the area, but dropping an item doesn't increase it. You can retrieve the guns and repeat as necessary. Do be careful though not to build more than your system can handle.

I've considered adding a mod to halt the radiant quests. I'm fine with the random attacks, as they are quite rare for well defended settlements and I like to watch my defenses tear things apart. I actually enjoy doing a few radiant quests as well, but I'd prefer they work as a sort of bounty board setup where you only take a quest when you want it... instead of having timed quests forced on you. Neglecting to turn in the radiant quests slows them down to a tolerable pace though, so I'm content for now.

I like them as well, for reasons of immersion and loot. I just wish they weren't so frequent. I installed the mod above after dealing with one attack, travelling half the map to a quest point, getting another message about an attack, travelling all the way to deal with that one, returning to my quest point, and getting another message...

Maybe the RNG was trolling me that night, who knows? In any case, ideally I'd like a mod that lets you reduce the frequency of attacks to a level you're comfortable with. Might even dust off my ancient and rusty programming knowledge and see if I can hack one out.

Double wall defense. The first wall has a manned position and Auto Turrets, with a laser tripwire in the doorway, so that if anyone comes through, they trigger the laser turrets, flamethrowers and Tesla traps. That "cushion" is rigged to a master switch that allows trade caravans to come and go from my settlements. There is also a Sally door on the opposite side of the settlement so that we can operate with ease.

I've also set the Red Rocket Truck stop as a Trade Hub, so all settlements are linked to that one in some way. It also has the Tier 4 merchants in it, so it is the best place to be, and with multiple armed guards dressed in Road Leathers and Synth armor and carrying automatic Plasma Weapons. Accept no substitutes in your security force. Also, get as much Mutfruit as possible in the start, as it has the most food value so far. Codsworth can farm more than 6 plants, so I've assigned him to do so.

My settlements now are ignored for the most part and happiness is high.