Galactic Coordinates

The subject of this article is from the Worlds Part I update.
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 3 September, 2024.

Signal booster data string

This article is about galactic coordinates. For information on other types of coordinates, see:

• Planetary coordinates (shown in the Analysis Visor)
• Geographic coordinates
• Universal Address

Galactic Coordinates are points used in navigation.

Summary

Galactic Coordinates are the points that can be extracted from a Signal Booster data string and used in a Coordinate Plotting App to acquire your Galactic Coordinate Position in a No Man's Sky galaxy.

When placed, a Signal Booster will display a Coordinate data string, such as the one in the video below: HUKYA:046A:0081:0D6D:0038

Decoding signal booster string

3D Galaxy chart with Signal Booster coordinate system (the Y axis has a different scale)

Var name:	Scanner ID	X	Y	Z	Solar System Index
Substring	HUKYA	046A	0081	0D6D	0038
range for game values	(4-5 letters)	0..FFF	0..FF	0..FFF	1..2FF

The intent of the full 12 values is to pin-point an individual planet. The Galactic Coordinates are vital for Portal Travel.

https://nmsportals.github.io/ is a Galactic Adress to Portal Glyphs converter.

The three sections in the middle (046A:0081:0D6D) can be entered into a Coordinate Plotting App to extrapolate an x, y, z position which will give the location of a Region.

The last section (0038) is a Solar System Index and is necessary for galactic scale navigation to a specific Star System. In this case it would lead to the 56th system in that Region. (Hex 0038 = 56 Decimal)

Lastly, the very first value references a specific planet. (Note: If the system has 6 bodies, then the first value will range from 1 to 6, one for each body. Every value outside of that range will lead to planet 1.)

• An index of 0079 designates a black hole system.
• an index of 007A designates an Atlas Station

In the game, the x, y and z (called VoxelX,VoxelY and VoxelZ) coordinates, together with the SolarSystemIndex, are internally referred to as GalacticAddress.

These Galactic Coordinates are crucial for long range galactic navigation. To learn more, visit the iVc Navigator's Guide. When determining the Quadrant for a set of Galactic Coordinates, the X block defines the position along the Prime gHorizon and the Z block defines the position along the Prime gMeridian.

Decoding Portal string

See: Portal address

Var name:	Planet	Solar System Index	Y	Z	X
Substring	1	079	00	9D9	690
range for game values	0..F	000...2FF	00..FF	000...FFF	000...FFF

Not only is the portal string mixed around compared to the signal booster, there are adjustments to translate the X, Y, and Z coordinates. The portal code uses the galactic center for 0,0,0 rather than a corner. From signal booster to portal, a value is Added or Subtracted. The lower half of each range has a constant Added value, while the upper half has a constant Subtracted value.

Conversion	X	Y	Z	Planet	SSI
Signal Booster 1	046A	0081	0D6D	0	038
translate	+801	-7F	-7FF
Portal 1	C6B	02	56E	0	038
Signal Booster 2	0E8F	007F	01D8	0	079
translate	-7FF	-7F	+801
Portal 2	690	00	9D9	0	079

Table of conversions

Galactic	Portal		Galactic	Portal
(Y = bottom)			(X = west) (Z = north)
0000	81		0000	801
0001	82		0001	802
...			...
007E	FF		07FE	FFF
007F	00		07FF	000
0080	01		0800	001
...			...
00FD	7E		0FFD	7FE
00FE	7F		0FFE	7FF
(Y = top)			(X = east) (Z = south)

Wiki use

Coords Template

When entering coordinates on a wiki page, use the coords macro in the following format (the alpha parm is optional):

{{coords|046A|0081|0D6D|0038|alpha=HUKYA}}

will create this:

HUKYA:046A:0081:0D6D:0038

Coordinates and Glyph Generation Template

When entering coordinates on a wiki page, and you also want it to automatically display glyphs, use the CoordGlyphConvert macro in the following format (the alpha parm is not to be used):

{{CoordGlyphConvert|046A:0081:0D6D:0038}}

will create this:

046A:0081:0D6D:0038

Glyphs

00380256EC6B00380256EC6B

Additional information

• Coordinates Guide is a reference page for exchanging coordinates.
• There are also planetary coordinates which provide similar navigation for planets.
• Portal Decoder is a special tool to convert between Galactic Coordinates and portal address.
• Research and documentation of the original meaning of the signal booster galactic coordinate string was first made by the IVc Project on behalf of the Alliance of Galactic Travellers and then documented for the entire NMS Civilized space community in the Pathfinder era.

Gallery

• 

  Extracting Coordinates from a Signal Booster

Related Articles

• Glyph
• Portal
• Portal address
• Planetary coordinates

External links

Portal<->Galactic address decoder