Base building

The subject of this article is from the Synthesis update.
The information from this article is is up-to-date as of 18 February, 2020.

A player created base

Base building allows a player to build a personal residence.

Summary

Base building allows the player to build multiple bases, which can be used for farming, storage and recharging Hazard Protection or Shield. There is no limit to how many bases the player can have. Racetracks may also be created and shared at a player base. Base building is available to all four Game modes currently offered in No Man's Sky.

To create a base, simply place a Base Computer (found under "Portable Technology") anywhere and start building.

Location Selection

In general, selecting a location for a base is not restricted, however the following should be considered on selecting a location for a base:

• A base will normally not be allowed to be constructed within 300u of another player defined base (specifically one that is previously uploaded to Hello Games servers)
• A base that is constructed within at least 200u (some reports are 300u) of a planetary Portal will be allowed, but on upload, may not be visible to other players.
• Construction of a base on one of the weekly Community Research mission target sites for investigation will be regularly wiped (hourly) by Hello Games if constructed during the community research event
• Player should consider the availability of Hotspots for resources such as Electromagnetic Power Hotspot, Concentrated Gas Cloud, and Deep-Level Mineral Deposits nearby within 300u for selection of Base Computer placement

Base Construction

See Construction for a detailed description of construction information.

Base Editing

Editing a base can include removing a component or changing the colour scheme. To do either of these things, open the Build Menu, and hold down the left control key. This will bring up the following two options:

• Delete function: Aim at a base component, or a component of some sort. Click to remove it. Removing a component will usually refund the materials used (alternately, some components will be added to inventory as items instead), so this is helpful for relocating things. If a player removes a terminal and replaces it, the terminal employee will respawn with it. Note that components unable to be free-standing must be removed from an item before it can be deleted; i.e. a Landing Pad or Straight Corridor attached only to a Cylindrical Room in mid-air must be deleted before that Cylindrical Room can be deleted.
• Material function: Browse through texture options (Wood, Concrete, Rust and Stone). Pressing “F"/left click (PC) to select the desired material will bring the player to a new option called Colour. There are sixteen different options for colour schemes. The primary colour is mentioned first (large circle) and the secondary/accent colour is mentioned second (small circle). Changing the colour/material does not cost anything and can be done as often as desired.

Base Deletion

If a player chooses the "Delete Base" option in the Base Computer, all components in the base building area will be instantly erased and added to the Base Salvage Capsule. Once a player can build the capsule, a percentage of the materials from their deleted bases can be recovered.

Base Sharing

• A player can choose to upload their base to be discovered by other players. In order to do so, they must activate the Base Computer, and choose the option to upload their base.
• Player bases are only visible from the same Game mode, although all uploaded discoveries, system and planet names are shared between all modes.
• Only one base per player will be visible per planet or moon to other players who are not in a lobby with the base owner. The most recently uploaded base will be the one that appears to other players. Uploading a different base on that planet or moon will cause that base to appear instead of one that previously appeared to others.
• Only Communications Stations the player builds will be visible in other modes, even when built within the base (Message Modules are not) and Communication Stations cannot be deleted.

See the Player Base Catalogue for a list of shared bases. They can be visited using the respective coordinates on the Pilgrim Star Path website.

Base Components

There are a finite number of components that can be initially used to construct a base.

• Those available before the NEXT update are referenced on the Structure types page.

It is possible to increase the diversity of components in two ways:

• Mission base components: the player can unlock them for free as rewards for completing missions requested by employees
• Purchase component blueprints using Salvaged Data with a Construction Research Unit.

Mission Rewarded Base Components

A base provides a home location for a player's NPCs Employees. These can be recruited from Space Stations to fill their respective terminals that a player can install in their base. They then send the player to perform certain tasks to unlock new blueprints, such as Exocraft bays, Haz-Mat Gauntlet and the Advanced Mining Laser. The five types are Overseer, Scientist, Armourer, Farmer, and Technician. Each type will require a specialized terminal to be built before they can be hired. Doors count base NPCs as entities so if a NPC is close to a normal door, normal doors will stay perpetually open unless the NPC is moved further away from the door.

In the event that a player wants to move bases, all they have to do is construct the respective terminals inside of their new base. Hold the action key (E for default on PC) and they'll appear. This can be done without an issue and is cost free. This means a player could have terminals at all the bases they build, and simply "call" the needed employee when they have the needed materials for their mission or to begin generating their mission structures closer to a base on newly discovered planets.

The player should build a Construction Terminal as soon as possible. This will allow the first set of missions to be issued by the Overseer (see Employees above). These missions will lead to all other terminals, the employees associated with those terminals, and hence unlocking additional missions that can add to the number of base components available for base building.

The following blueprints are not available via Construction Research Unit and must be unlocked via the Expanding the Base mission and it's related missions and are in order of obtained:

• Overseer:
  • Storage Container
  • Science Terminal
  • Weapons Terminal
  • Agricultural Terminal
  • Galactic Trade Terminal
  • Exocraft Terminal

• Scientist:
  • Large Refiner
  • Save Beacon
  • Atmosphere Harvester
  • Autonomous Mining Unit

• Farmer:
  • Hydroponic Tray
  • Gutrot Flower (formerly Coprite flower)
  • Frostwort
  • Solar Vine
  • Fungal Cluster
  • Gamma Weed
  • Gravitino Host
  • Venom Urchin
  • Albumen Pearl Orb
  • Echinocactus
  • Star Bramble
  • Mordite Root

• Exocraft Technician:
  • Roamer Geobay
  • Colossus Geobay
  • Nomad Geobay

Using The Construction Research Unit

Additional components can be unlocked at the Construction Research Unit.

As the player buys/earns additional components from various methods, then the Construction Research Unit will unlock to allow purchase of additional related components; i.e walls with glass windows.

Salvaged Technology can be obtained by scanning for Buried Technology Modules with the Analysis Visor and then digging up the module with the Terrain Manipulator once the player is close enough. Opening them will give the player one to five Salvaged Technology and very rarely, two modules may spawn in the exact same spot.

Storage Containers

Storage Containers can be built for additional storage capacity. Each contains 20 slots with twice the capacity of a starship inventory slot, and up to 10 can be built. This provides the player with 200 additional inventory slots if they choose to build all the containers. The blueprint for Storage Containers is given by the Overseer during their mission series. Containers may be recoloured or named in order to keep track of where resources are stored, and also contain an external number from zero to nine. A player may build only one of each Storage Container, but they can be built at any base they own, including aboard their freighter. Resources can be teleported to storage from anywhere but they cannot be teleported back unless the player is actually in the base where the resources are stored.

Storage containers are shared across all bases, making resources retrievable at any location, as long as the container is built in the local base or on the players' Freighter.

Teleporters

Creating a base allows the player to build a Base Teleport Module, which can instantly transport the player to their other bases. It can also teleport to previous locations that have been activated, like Space Stations or other players' bases.

Bugs

• The Construction Research Unit's blueprint isn't available to old saves before the 1.53 patch
• Some 'investigate building' missions may possibly be bugged on planets with lots of water. The location may spawn under water and there may be no structure present. It is possible to receive new locations from the mission giver until a location is given on the surface.

Report Base

If you get trapped in someone's base, go into build mode (Z), bring up the wiring/color/delete menu, and pick Report Base to hide it from your game.

Tips

Bases should be built in a strategic location if possible to facilitate farming and completing missions:

• Build a base further away from the Base Computer as teleporting to it may cause the player's Starship to clip into their base if the Base Computer is too close to their base. Test where your ship lands before building!
• For optimal base building, bring large amounts of Ferrite Dust, Pure Ferrite, Magnetised Ferrite, Sodium, Chromatic Metal, Ionised Cobalt, Frost Crystals and Carbon; 3-4 stacks of each will do for a very small base but you will need more for a larger base and/or the Overseer mission and its related missions
  • Carbon for Access Ramps, Interior Stairs and wooden components
  • Chromatic Metal for some of the NPC terminals, the Science Terminal requires Magnetised Ferrite, the Weapons Terminal also requires Pugneum, the Agricultural Terminal requires Condensed Carbon and the Exocraft Terminal also requires Di-hydrogen
  • Ferrite Dust for Ladders and Solid Cubes
  • Frost Crystals for components with glass, windows, Viewing Sphere and Bio-Dome
  • Ionized Cobalt for Holo-Doors, Glass Cuboid Rooms, Curved Cuboid Roofs, Teleporters (which require Ion Batteries) and Health Stations (which also require Metal Plating and Uranium)
  • Magnetised Ferrite for Storage Containers, Viewing Sphere, Bio-Dome
  • Pure Ferrite for Infrastructure Ladders, Cuboid Rooms, Square/Cubical Rooms, foundations, doors, corridors, etc
  • Sodium for Lights and Storage Containers
• Choosing a Star system with five to six planets may offer a more diverse range of resource types without having to warp to other systems
• Build near Resource Deposits to make easier use of the Autonomous Mining Unit
• Remember to build Atmosphere Harvesters and Oxygen Harvesters to generate Radon, Sulphurine, Nitrogen and Oxygen depending on the Biome
• Build near water and caves for easier access to Kelp Sac, Cobalt and Marrow Bulb
• Resources respawn after leaving and returning to a base via Teleporter, but only if going to a different system
• Some decoration items have functions, with the ability to restore Shields or Health, grow Carbon, get Warp Cells, etc
• Build on a planet with no hazardous weather (hot, cold, toxic, radiant, hostile sentinels ²), so you don't have to worry about refueling or stabilizing Hazard Protection
• While doing the Armourer's exocraft missions it is advantageous to choose a planet with open flat land and few hills/cliffs. (HINT: You can complete them using your Starship to reach the locations, rather than your Exocraft) The presence of numerous animals. pillars, or trees, also interferes with exocraft missions. Some base missions are easier when the planet is not deserted and various buildings are close by.
• If a player wants to farm Gravitino Hosts naturally without planting them, it is required to be on an Extreme Sentinel planet
• The maximum amount of personal bases shown in the Base Teleport Module and Space station is 50, and 100 when in the Space station's Interstellar Terminus.
• Exploit (latest PC experimental build version): If you claim a base by a resource that’s too far from your main base and then delete it, you can then build base structures (like wooden panels, for instance) to that point until your main base’s boundary reaches that point.

Retrieving A Pre-NEXT Base

An inactive Base Computer ready to claim.

If an older save is updated to the NEXT version of No Man's Sky (version 1.5+), the player will spawn without their base. Follow these steps to get a previous base back:
1: Select the base building mission in Log. If the mission isn't selected, the base cannot be retrieved
2: Fly down to a planet's surface and use the Scanner. It will locate a Base Computer. Fly to the location.
3: Activate the Base Computer and choose the option to retrieve the previous base.
(note that these steps only work if the player is using the experimental patch as of 1.52. If they do not have the patch, nothing will spawn, so not allowing a player to retrieve their Pre-NEXT base)

Release history

• Foundation - Introduced as new major component of the game.
• Atlas Rises - The following base limitations existed:
  • Only certain locations were available for base building. These were marked by a circular structure, and represented an unclaimed base.
  • A player was allowed to operate only one base at a time. This was done by entering the base building and claiming it at the Terminal. If another base was claimed, the first one disappeared.
  • Habitable base locations were located by a number of different methods:
    • Finding them by exploring the planet surface.
    • Flying over a planet in a Starship.
    • Using a Starship's Scanner from space, sometimes a base will appear as a point of interest.
    • Beacons sometimes located habitable bases, but like using a Starship's Scanner, it was random.
    • Crafting a Signal Booster, then selecting Habitable Base from the list. A base on that planet would be located.
• NEXT - Bases can be created anywhere using a Base Computer, and the number of pieces a base can contain expanded tremendously.
• Beyond 2.06B - Reduced maximum base node count to allow very large bases to load better.
• Beyond 2.06D - Fix to prevent issues with base ownership.
• Beyond 2.06G - Dynamically limit base building limits to allow some very large bases to load in more situations.
• Beyond 2.09.1 - Adjusted base part data to improve performance in large bases. Made player-buildable sofas sittable. Fixed a crash that affected large bases.
• Synthesis 2.20 - Storage containers now have 20 slots instead of 5

See also

• Constructed Technology
• Construction
• Construction Tips
• Farming
• Freighter
• Structure types