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The subject of this article is from the Voyagers update.
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 21 October, 2025. |
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 21 October, 2025.
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This article is about the current version of biomes. For the Atlas Rises version, see Biome (Atlas). For the Pathfinder version, see Biome (Pathfinder). |
Biomes influence a planet's general environmental hazard as well as the richness of animals and plants.
Summary[]
A description of the surface biome appears in front of "planet" or "moon" when first encountering the planet/moon in space and subjecting it to a starship scan.
Weather Variations[]
Biomes do influence the type of weather and therefore the intensity of the present environmental hazard. Each planet has a single biome to encourage exploration.[1]
All biomes change temperature depending on the day/night cycle, and thus their related temperature hazard over the course of day and night as temperatures rise and fall. The following biomes are most affected by the day/night temperature: Barren, Scorched and Frozen. While Lush planets are affected as well, it is rare for them to become dangerous outside of storms. Dead, Exotic, Toxic, Mega-Exotic and Irradiated typically exhibit variations in temperature but less excessive to become dangerous in non storm conditions.
Ecosystem Variation[]
There are four general ecosystem variations:
- Surface/Ground/Terrestrial - all biomes will have this
- Airborne/Flying - all biomes will have this
- Underground/Subterranean/Cave - all biomes will have this in the form of caves, but it is noticeably less present in dead and exotic biomes. Temperatures, radiation and toxicity will be different from the ground ecosystem, and generally do not vary in the day/night cycle. Ground level storms do not impact weather underground
- Underwater/Aquatic - some biomes will feature water and some will not. This can happen in all biomes except Exotic and Dead. Temperatures will be different from the ground ecosystem, and generally will only vary slightly in the day/night cycle. Ground level storms do not impact weather underwater
There is a special sub-case of subterranean aquatic ecosystem which is not uniquely defined as a separate ecosystem, as it will feature aspects of either aquatic or subterranean depending if the player is underwater in the cave or not.
Terrain Variations[]
The types of terrain will vary within each type of biome, creating a varied planetary appearance. In general they can be classified in the following types:
- Pangean - a planet which features no water in any form
- Continental - a planet which features large land masses separated by small or large oceans/lakes/seas
- Riverland - a planet without large oceans, which features ravines which may have water in the ravines. Rare.
- Wetlands - a planet without large oceans, which features low level of water covering large parts of world with land masses frequently disconnected by shallow water
- Swamp - a planet without large oceans, which features isolated landlocked water bodies, but no ocean/continent formations. (Not to be confused with Marsh biome)
- Archipelago - Mountainous, various level distinctions of island chains, typically large oceans with intermixed islands of various density
- Island Chains - These are small, relatively flat, islands or chains with midsized islands. All of them rise from the ocean floor in both shallow and deep oceans and are generally flat. Typically more than 50% of the world is water
- Oceanic - a planet which is mostly (80% or more) composed of water with occasional rare islands
- Reef - a planet devoid of any dry land masses
Dead and Exotic biomes will always be pangean when the celestial body is a planet. All other planetary biomes will feature other terrain in a procedurally generated manner.
Terrain Archetype[]
In addition to terrain types, there are also ten currently identified terrain Archetypes with ten further modifications for extreme mountain variations introduced in Origins. Archetypes can occur in any biome, under any terrain variation, but only one type will occur per planet. They do not appear to be strictly limited by biome type.
Biome Resources[]
Except for Dead, Exotic each biome has five resources that can be extracted with the proper tools:
- a unique agricultural resource that can be harvested with a Haz-Mat Gauntlet
- a biome specific localized mineral resource
- a random mineral resource
- a stellar element resource that depends on the color of the system's star. It can be extracted with the Terrain Manipulator.
- an atmospheric resource that can be obtained with an Atmosphere Harvester
Dead and Exotic biomes lack the agricultural and atmosphere resources. Some mega exotic biomes will in very rare cases lack an agricultural resource.
Atmosphere[]
Types[]
There are twelve types of biomes available for planets and moons.
Lush[]
A lush paradise.
Worlds with lush biomes are characterized by colourful grass covering most of the surface. These are essentially the Earth-like planets. Depending on the amount of flora, trees can be sparsely found or sprawl into lush forests. Occasionally, one can find "Barren Lush" worlds where there is an almost, if not complete lack of flora, save for hostile vine whips. When viewed from space, it looks like it's covered by a carpet of grass. The resources Paraffinium, Star Bulb and Nitrogen can always be found here.
These planets typically have some of the most varied types of Genera.
Yellow stars in Normal and Harsh galaxies have 2x higher chance to have lush planets, yellow stars in Lush galaxies have 4x higher chance, and yellow stars in Empty galaxies have the same chance as other star types.
Water is frequently found in lush biomes.
Barren[]
A desert world.
Worlds with barren biomes have a surface that is rocky and sometimes sandy. These are desert worlds. Cacti can be found here, of varying sizes. Occasionally, trees can be found here as well. From space, barren worlds look rocky, occasionally with some streaks of large canyons visible from space. The resources Pyrite, Cactus Flesh and Sulphurine can always be found here.
This biome has the 2nd most ideal weather, as day temperatures are liveable. However, nights can get quite cold, enabling hazard protection. However, extreme weather barren worlds require both cold and heat protection due to wild temperature swings. The heat can get sweltering during the day, plummeting to freezing temperatures at night. Heat storms in extreme weather barren worlds are POWERFUL, draining hazard protection in a similar rate to a storm in an extremely scorched biome.
Ironically it is possible, though less frequent, to have water and oceans on barren biomes.
Dead[]
A dead planet with no atmosphere.
Worlds with a Dead biome are characterized by a dearth of flora and fauna, no atmosphere and lower gravity. They have rocky and dusty surfaces and are comparable to some real life dead terrestrial bodies, such as Mercury or the Moon. They tend to have higher amounts of resources compared to other biomes. The resource Rusted Metal can be found here. Bring sufficient Oxygen Capsules, Life Support Gels, Oxygen and Dioxite when exploring, as they increase the strain on Life Support.
Yellow stars in Tranquil galaxies have 1/4 the chance to have dead planets, and yellow stars in Ancestral galaxies have 2x the chance, compared to other star types.
Unlike other biomes, dead worlds never contain any structures such as trading posts, and storms never occur. It has been observed that underground/subterranean ecosystems seem to occur less often than other biomes.
Dead biomes will never have water.
Exotic[]
The Hex, only biome seen from space!
Exotic worlds are characterized by having various mysterious objects not found in any other biomes. The game's code for these worlds is "Weird."[2] When viewed from space, most of them look rocky and pockmarked by holes. However, there are some that look like giant, artificial Hex worlds.
Unlike dead worlds, there is no elevated strain on life support. Unique structures and, very rarely, vacant bases can be found here as well. Gold deposits can sometimes be found on these planets.
More uniquely than other biomes, flora and minerals are wholly determined by the specific sub type of exotic biome; Exotic biomes will only have a handful of unique flora and mineral types exclusive to this biome. An exotic biome will almost always have only one type of fauna, although rare cases of exotic worlds with two species of fauna have been found.
As of Visions, exotic types have been expanded and standardized, and a single unique Stabilised Reality Glitch will be found in each exotic biome.
Exotic biomes will never have water.
Mega Exotic[]
A Mega Exotic planet. Notice the heavy red hues, giant versions of flora and massive ring-like formations.
First appearing in the NEXT update, these worlds are characterized by having mega-sized versions of objects found in other biomes, like giant circular rock formations, algae, smokestack plants and trees. They have atmospheres that refract light into certain colors, which can vary from a strong orange hue to a dismal black-and-white dystopia.
Though they are classified similarly to exotic biomes, they are clearly a class of their own. They can have any variation of weather - clear, normal, or extreme weather conditions. Large varieties of flora and fauna are typically present. Over-sized fauna seem to appear with higher frequency in mega exotic biomes. Waypoints are present if the system is inhabited.
From space, they look similar to Dead biomes, but they have an atmosphere. Look for them in red, green and blue star systems.
Water is frequently found in mega exotic biomes.
Scorched[]
A really scorched world.
The surface of scorched worlds resemble barren worlds, being rocky and occasionally sandy. However, high temperatures has caused the flora to adapt in bizarre ways, with some having boiling liquids coursing through. When viewed from space, large channels of intense heat are visible.
The resources Phosphorus, Solanium and Sulphurine can be found here.
Note that Hazard protection is always on due to high temperatures. Thermal Protection upgrades are recommended, especially on extreme worlds. Heat storms can occur, draining hazard protection up to three times faster than normal.
Ironically, it is possible, though less frequent, to have water and oceans on scorched biomes.
Frozen[]
A frozen planet.
Frozen worlds resemble lush worlds in the ice ages, having a surface covered by ice and snow. Trees tend to sprawl quite a lot here. However, the less the amount of flora, the higher the amount of dead trees. When viewed from space, they are generally snow-white in color.
The resources Dioxite, Frost Crystal and Radon can be found here.
Note that Hazard protection is always on due to frigid temperatures. Thermal Protection upgrades are recommended, especially on extreme worlds. Cold storms can occur, draining hazard protection up to three times faster than normal.
Water can be found on some frozen biomes.
Toxic[]
A toxic world.
Toxic worlds are characterized by a seemingly endless rain of toxic gunk, a muddy-looking surface that is occasionally covered by a bright film of some unknown substance, and a serious infestation of various mushrooms, fungi and highly poisonous and bizarre-looking plants. When viewed from space, the planet looks muddy and has rivers of toxic ooze flowing through.
The resources Ammonia, Fungal Mould and Nitrogen can be found here.
Note that Hazard protection is always on due to high amounts of toxic substances. Toxic Protection upgrades are recommended, especially on extreme worlds. Toxic storms can occur, draining hazard protection up to three times faster than normal.
Water can be found on some toxic biomes.
Irradiated[]
An irradiated planet.
Irradiated worlds have a rocky surface with spirals, vents of steaming radioactive gasses and highly mutated, warped plants. Viewed from space, they have lots of spiraling circles.
The resources Uranium, Gamma Root and Radon can be found here.
Note that Hazard protection is always on due to high amounts of radiation. Radiation Protection upgrades are recommended, especially on extreme worlds.
Water can be found on some irradiated biomes.
Marsh[]
A marsh planet.
Marsh worlds have large non-scannable tree stumps and fungi typical to toxic planets. They can occasionally resemble Lush or Toxic planets. It can be difficult to identify them from space; they can either appear completely normal or incredibly misty.
Marsh planets' resources are inconsistent. Some marsh planets have Faecium or Mordite in mineral deposits.
Water can be found on most marsh biomes.
Volcanic[]
A volcanic planet.
Volcanic worlds have erupting volcanoes all over the surface, and plants with crowns glowing with the same color as volcanic lava. Viewed from space, they look reddish. Temperatures are high just like on scorched worlds. Ground will sometimes self-ignite due to high temperatures.
Volcanic worlds' resources are inconsistent.
Note that Hazard protection is always on due to high temperatures. Coolant Network upgrades are recommended, especially on extreme worlds.
Water can be found on some volcanic biomes.
Waterworld[]
A waterworld planet.
Waterworld biomes do not have a surface, but rather, waters. If viewed from space, the planet is covered entirely by a vast ocean. Without Aqua-Jets for aquatic landing, it is impossible to land on the planet, though it is slightly possible that they have very small islands to land on. They are only known to be found in purple colour star systems.
Waterworld resources will normally be Lithium, and Quartzite, or Activated Quartzite.
Note that Hazard protection is a challenge swimming in great depths. Maximized use of life support, Aeration Membrane, Underwater Protection Modules, and Underwater Oxygen Upgrades are essential, but often insufficient for extreme deep dives, which will need the Nautilon.
Gas Giant[]
A blue-colored Gas Giant.
Gaseous planets, unlike any other planetary biome (except for aquatic), are exclusive to purple systems and can only be found as giant planets. Introduced in update 5.50, these planets are characterized by constant electromagnetic storms, thick fog and rocks floating around tornadoes,. Gas Giant worlds will have characteristics of any extreme weather worlds, in addition to resources unique to this subtype. Crystallised Helium and Activated Quartzite are always found on these planets, though Storm Crystals are also common due to their extreme storms. Players will have difficulty using their jetpack within this biome due to the high gravity atmosphere.
Due to their never-ending extreme storms, it is encouraged to bring Coolant Network upgrades.
Gas Giants harbor no fauna due to their extreme weather, however Sentinels can still survive the heat.
Biome subtypes[]
Infested[]
The Infested subtype can overlay the normal planetary biome types, creating twisted, infected flora not seen on other planets of the same variants.
They come in six different planetary pallets with each seemingly having its own main flora type for each planetary variant. Whispering Eggs dot the landscape and Biological Horrors appear with them when broken, similar to Dead worlds.
Infested planets also display chromatic aberration filters as well as glitch music, similar to Mega Exotic and Exotic worlds.
Space[]
The Space subtype is an extension of the general planetary info for every planet and moon. It is NOT related to the actual biome of the planet.
It includes both Space and a planet's Outer Atmosphere, and all planets and moons possess it. Note that it is dangerous to travel in these regions without a Starship, and should not be attempted without the proper equipment or planning.
Underwater[]
The Underwater subtype is present on some planets, but does not exist on moons except moons found within purple star systems. Some specific resources, as well as unique fauna can be found underwater. Beginning in Worlds Part II, some worlds covered in water will drain your Life Support faster while exploring the lower depths.
Underwater Oxygen upgrades are recommended to allow underwater exploration to occur at longer duration, and the Pressure Membrane is recommended to explore the lower depths of this biome subtype.
Biome probabilities[]
Likast 1 has Wire Cell type Exotic biome and located in a yellow star system (Visions)
When visiting a certain galaxy type, the probabilities of discovering various planet biomes are as follows. Meaning of the line "All" is not yet known, but the most likely explanation is that the probabilities for Biome types of these colored stars (Red, Green, & Blue) do not change based on Galaxy type.
Due to the harsh galaxy missing, the speculation is that this galaxy type is like the norm galaxy, but with more storms.
The values in the tables below can somewhat be interpreted as per the following:
- 4 - Very high chance
- 3 - High chance
- 2 - Normal chance
- 1 - Low chance
- 0 - Very low chance
Normal planets[]
This is the table for normal planet probability:
| System colours | Yellow | Red | Green | Blue | Purple | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Biome |
Norm | Lush | Empty | All | |||
| Lush | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Toxic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Scorched | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Radioactive | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Frozen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Barren | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dead | 2 | 0.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Weird | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Red | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.66 |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.66 |
| Blue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.66 |
| Swamp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| Lava | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| Waterworld | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.66 |
| Gas Giant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Prime planets[]
This is the table for prime planets, the planets that have been added with Origins:
| System colours | Yellow | Red | Green | Blue | Purple | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Galaxy Biome |
Norm | Lush | Empty | All | |||
| Lush | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Toxic | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Scorched | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Radioactive | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Frozen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Barren | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dead | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Weird | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Red | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.66 |
| Green | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.66 |
| Blue | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.66 |
| Swamp | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Lava | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Waterworld | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.66 |
| Gas Giant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Convert Dead To Weird[]
Convert Dead To Weird is a property with a value of 0.5.
It was added in the Visions update that introduced new Weird (Exotic) biomes by converting previously existing Dead biomes.
Due to this change there is a higher chance to find these biomes, even in yellow star systems.
Properties[]
Life Chance[]
Life Chance is NOT a property related to the probability of which coloured system will be uncharted. (Updated values as per 3.53)
| Yellow | Green | Blue | Red |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Abandoned Life Chance[]
Abandoned Life Chance property does NOT relate to the probability of which coloured system will be abandoned. (Updated values as per 3.53)
| Yellow | Green | Blue | Red |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Additional information[]
- The biome probabilities and properties are extracted from the 5.54 version of BIOMELISTPERSTARTYPE.MBIN game file.
Release history[]
- Prior to 1.38 - Nearly all gaia planets in survival and permadeath had aggressive sentinel presences forcing the player to face some challenge at all times on any given biome.
- Prior to 1.38 - Lush worlds in certain areas experienced acid storms instead of cold storms.
- Atlas Rises 1.38 - Heatstorms were added to lush worlds instead of acid storms. It would also replace all cold storms. This coincided with the addition of desert worlds with nightly freezing temperatures to make up for it.
- NEXT - The update changed the way planet biomes behave. Before temperature based biomes had fixed day and night temperatures and all other biomes often changed their hazard based on the day-night cycle. This led to some planets being safer or more dangerous at night, including their weather. Since NEXT this only is true for temperature based planets and the increase and reduction in temperature has become linear over the day and night and not sudden. Background effects like toxicity and radiation don't seem to change anymore, giving storms a more forseeable danger at all times.
Life Chance property values changed, formerly was 0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.5. Abandoned Life Chance property values changed, formerly was 0.1, 0.5, 0.1, 0.2.[2] - Visions - Convert Dead To Weird property added to the BIOMELISTPERSTARTYPE.MBIN game file.
- Origins - Two new biomes and a biome subtype added: Volcanic, Marsh, and Infested, probabilities have changed, added new line All to the tables. It is not yet known how this line is treated.
- Worlds: Part Two - A new biome added: Gas Giant, expanded the Underwater biome subtype. Water can also now sometimes be found on moons. Biome probabilities have been added for purple coloured star systems.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Livingston, Christopher (3 March 2016). Sean Murray: No Man's Sky's NPCs won't make you fetch "space-chickens" PC Gamer. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Guest (24 August 2017). NMS v1.37: BIOMELISTPERSTARTYPE.exml Pastebin. Retrieved 27 July 2017.