• Baldur's Gate 3
  • Dreamlight Valley
  • Lethal Company
  • Monopoly Go
  • Jujutsu Chronicles
  • UGC Limited
  • Call of Duty
  • Legend of Zelda
  • Ethics Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Review Policy

No Man’s Sky: Can You Fast Travel?

Image of Ishmael Romero

Fast Travel – No Man’s Sky

The universe in No Man’s Sky is absolutely massive. Not only are there several galaxies, but they collectively house over 18 quintillion planets. Getting around can take ages, so any way to cut down on travel time is a welcome reprieve when trying to get some exploration and discovery on.

Unfortunately, there is no set fast travel option. You can’t just teleport around a planet or freely from star system to star system. But, you can move around much faster than simply walking and using your Starship’s base speed. Here are the ways you can traverse the universe just a little bit faster:

  • When on a planet, you can use your Airship’s boost (hold Circle) to move around faster.
  • When in space, your Pulse Drive can cut trips down to a matter of seconds. Just line yourself up with your destination and hold L1+R1 to activate it. Keep in mind that you must have it charged (uses Thamium9), and you can’t use it when too close to a planet or space station, or when in combat.
  • You can warp between star systems with your Hyperdrive (the closest thing to fast travel available so far). It’s not even close to unlimited, though, requiring Warp Cells to make a jump, and those take a lot of resources to craft. Also, you can only jump to adjacent systems with the base Hyperdrive. Upgrading will allow for further distances, but it’s still limited.
  • The final method is a Black Hole. The thing is, you have no way of telling where the Black Hole will take you, and they appear randomly.

It’s tough getting around, but that’s part of the fun. No Man’s Sky has many secrets tucked in all of its corners, so since you can’t really fast travel, why not do a bit of exploration.

If you need any more help with No Man’s Sky, check out our robust wiki full of guides and tips.

Heroes from AFK Journey

Follow Polygon online:

  • Follow Polygon on Facebook
  • Follow Polygon on Youtube
  • Follow Polygon on Instagram

Site search

  • Manor Lords
  • Dragon’s Dogma 2
  • FF7 Rebirth
  • Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  • Baldur’s Gate 3
  • GTA 5 cheats
  • PlayStation
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • Magic: The Gathering
  • Board Games
  • All Tabletop
  • All Entertainment
  • What to Watch
  • What to Play
  • Buyer’s Guides
  • Really Bad Chess
  • All Puzzles

Filed under:

How to use portals in No Man’s Sky

The fast travel network will likely be key to exploring the game’s upcoming season of new content

Share this story

  • Share this on Facebook
  • Share this on Reddit
  • Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: How to use portals in No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky portal

The latest update for No Man’s Sky , called Next, piles on the new features . It also lays the groundwork for what Hello Games promises will be its first season of new, free content . If you want to participate, you’ll more than likely need to be highly mobile. No amount of scrounging for di-hydrogen is going to get you where you need to go quickly enough to have any fun.

This guide will get you up to speed on the game’s fast-travel network, including how to find and use portals.

Short- versus long-distance travel

Much of the early game in No Man’s Sky revolves around gathering enough fuel to move from one star system to the next. In fact, the updated in-game tutorials and single-player campaign do an excellent job of explaining what resources you need to find and how to use them.

As you move from system to system, you’ll find that each one has its own space station. Inside every space station is a teleporter that will connect you with every other space station that you’ve visited. Traveling between teleporters is completely free, and you’ll find that your starship is docked and waiting for you when you arrive as well. You can even build a Base Teleport Module near your own base to link that into the network as well.

a person in a spacesuit stand near a cylindrical stone in No Man’s Sky

But the space stations themselves, along with any bases that you’ve connected, form a small, personal network only you can use. It’s easy to go back and retrace your steps, but these teleporters aren’t going to get you anywhere new.

To go further, you’ll first need to find a portal.

Flight of the navigator

Every planet in No Man’s Sky is supposed to have a portal, but searching for them by hand is a fool’s errand. Planets themselves are physically massive, and even skimming low and fast over the surface in your starship, portals can be laughably easy to miss.

To find one reliably, you’ll need to first locate a monolith . If you’ve played the game for a few hours, you’ve likely come across a few already. They’re dark, vertical towers with a few Knowledge Stones scattered around. If you haven’t found any, or you’re just not interested in backtracking, here’s how to find one in a hurry.

No Man’s Sky monolith sequence

How to find a monolith

To find a monolith, first you’ll need to gather a special in-game item called Navigation Data . As far as we know, it’s not possible to manufacture Navigation Data, but there are a few ways to locate them in the wild.

If you’re lucky, you’ll stumble across some on the open market, either at a building on the surface of a planet, from another pilot, or for sale by a vendor on a space station. Otherwise, you can find them hidden inside the orange cubes that you may find floating inside the space station lobby areas.

Navigation Data can also be found on the surface of planets. Pull up your visor and look for a yellow diamond marked as an Ancient Data Structure . Sidle on over, and you can pluck the items right off the ground.

Once you have that data in hand, you’ll need to build a Signal Booster from your inventory. Use the Navigation Data and choose to “locate nearby structure,” and then “scan for artifacts.” After a few tries, you should come up with the location of a monolith on your planet.

Finding a portal

Once at a monolith, you’ll need to interact with it and have the correct items in your inventory.

Depending on the dominant species in your part of the galaxy, that could be either a Vy’keen Dagger , a Korvax Casing or a Gek Relic . You’ll commonly come across these items as rewards from successful conversations with NPCs or for sale on the open market, as above. We've also received them as plunder from sending our frigates out on missions.

With the correct item in your inventory, select “locate portal,” and it will show up on your map.

No Man’s Sky portal glyphs

Portals and the Galactic Atlas

Once you walk up on the portal, a dais will snap out of the ground. On that dais will be 16 different runes, each of which you’ll need to activate by charging it with resources. Those resources should be fairly common. We were able to charge our first portal with just the salt, carbon, cobalt and chromatic metals that we had on hand. Otherwise, it’s nothing you shouldn’t be able to handle with a little bit of foraging.

Once you power up the portal, you can use it to find your own location in the galaxy. That location will be represented by a combination of those 16 glyphs. Once it pops up on screen, take a screenshot. You’ll likely want to have it on hand it later.

Here’s where the fun really begins. With the Next update, Hello Games also launched a website called the Galactic Atlas . It’s an interactive map where players can input the glyphs from the planet that they’re on, and get an actual map marker showing them where they are in the galaxy.

Prior to the launch of Next, Hello Games sent out a survey . In it, the studio asked for information about notable planets that players had discovered. The developers curated a short list of those planets and loaded them into the Galactic Atlas as points of interest. All you need to do is zoom in and click on an individual planet to get its 16-glyph code.

But before you can use that code to step through the portal and leap across the galaxy, you’re going to have to jump through some hoops.

No Man’s Sky - traveler Lisker

Robbing graves to find glyphs

You can power up portals on every planet that you find, but without earning the ability to use those glyphs, you’re not going anywhere. Unfortunately, learning each of those glyphs is a bit of a pain.

Shortly after you leave your first planet, you’ll pick up the Artemis Path storyline. If you follow the prompts in your log, you’ll eventually come to the grave of another traveler. By interacting with that grave, you’ll learn your first glyph . Now you just need to find 15 more graves to fully navigate the galaxy using the Galactic Atlas.

No Man’s Sky - traveler’s grave

After you interact with that first grave, other travelers will begin to show up inside space stations. If you pay them 100 nanites, they’ll cough up some anomalous data . Hop back inside your starship, and you’ll see a new location listed on the HUD. It’s called an Unknown Grave . Land at the grave, interact with it, and you’ll be given another glyph.

The legitimate way to unlock all 16 glyphs is to simply travel to enough new space stations that you bump into 15 more fellow travelers. On PlayStation 4, there are reports of a bug that will allow you to harvest all 16 glyphs from a single grave. So far, we’ve not been able to duplicate it, but if we can, we’ll update that here. Even if it works, expect it to eventually get patched out.

Once you have all 16 glyphs, return to any portal to input a code from the Galactic Atlas, and you’re on your way.

no man's sky fast travel

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

Sign up for the newsletter Patch Notes

A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon

Just one more thing!

Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

An image of Alter from Apex Legends. She has smeared eye makeup and pink and blue color scheme.

Apex Legends’ new character goes full Harley Quinn

A Manor Lords leader stands in front of a retinue in a field.

How to get retinue in Manor Lords

Hades is on sale for its lowest price ever hell yes.

Wearing a cowboy hat, Carolyn Page sits atop a mechanical bull and smacks its rear in a screenshot of Thousandaires.

Dropout’s newest game show asks who wants to be a... thousandaire?

Darth Vader standing with his red Lightsaber in Fortnite

Where to find Darth Vader and Chewbacca in Fortnite’s Star Wars update

Patrick (Josh O’Connor), shirtless and scruffy and smiling, Very Pointedly eats a banana in extreme close-up in a shot from Challengers

Sex scenes in movies are in rapid decline, despite rise in sex-scene discourse

  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Gameranx

Video Game News, Lists & Guides

No Man’s Sky: Atlas Rising – How To Fast Travel | Portals Guide

Fast travel and returning to previously explored planets is finally functional in No Man's Sky. Here's how the ancient portals work.

no man's sky fast travel

Finally, players can share and return to planets you’ve found in the wide-wide universe of No Man’s Sky , thanks to the brand new “ Atlas Rising ” free update. The system is pretty limited, and there are some huge drawbacks, but if you want to take a quick trip back to a planet you’ve only visited for a short amount of time, or if you want to mark a planet to share with everyone in the world, that’s totally possible now — even if the system is more than a little strange.

Let’s start with the biggest downside to the new portal system. You can’t bring your starship with you — that includes ground-based vehicles too. You won’t be able to leave whatever planet you zip back to through a portal.

The portals are found on planet surfaces, and as you learn the language of portals, you’ll be able to write down the symbols and input them like an intergalactic password. It’s all ground-based, so your ship will have to stay behind.

How To Fast Travel | Portals Guide

Portals are appearing on random planets all across the galaxy after downloading the 4GB “ Atlas Rising ” update. These special structures have three major features;

  • Portals can be used to travel to other planets / bases in the galaxy.
  • The portal glyph password can be shared with friends, allowing them to travel to your planet.
  • Portals can also send players to a random location.

The biggest breakthrough of the Ancient Portal system is that it allows you to share your planet discoveries with other players in the galaxy. Share the glyph “password” so friends can input the code, and travel to see the same locations.

While multiplayer has been included in a -very- limited capacity , you won’t be able to interact and fly around with friends. Co-op partners look like blue orbs with a name tag, but they can still wander around planets with you.

It’s important to know that ships cannot travel through portals . After traveling through a portal, your ship will be left behind. Go back to your origin point to recollect your ship before wandering too far away. Don’t forget that ships can also be called back in the quick menu — just not always.

About Kevin Thielenhaus

Reader interactions, leave a reply cancel reply.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Long read: How TikTok's most intriguing geolocator makes a story out of a game

Where in the world is Josemonkey?

No Man's Sky - How to reach the centre of the galaxy

Galactic travel explained.

The centre of the galaxy is quite literally your central goal in No Man's Sky: your raison d'être, the affirmative solution to your crushing existential woes, and for some an absolute crushing disappointment.

If you somehow hadn't already heard, then avert your gaze for now, because here's where we'll be explaining not only how to get the centre of the galaxy but also what exactly happens when you finally make it there. So, of course, there are full spoilers ahead. If you can really call them that.

Please note that our No Man's Sky guides are in the process of being updated after the launch of No Man's Sky BEYOND - for now, this page may still have plenty of useful info, but bear in mind it's due a refresh! If you're looking for more on that big update though, our guide to what's new in the No Man's Sky BEYOND update and its release time on Xbox One, PC, PS4 , our big list of No Man's Sky patch notes , or our guide to the new No Man's Sky multiplayer and Nexus hub are the best places to start!

Cover image for YouTube video

The fastest way to the centre of the galaxy in No Man's Sky

Getting to the centre is, fortunately, relatively simple business in No Man's Sky - the game gives you an irremovable waypoint marking the fastest route, after all - but here's a quick breakdown of what exactly you'll need to do to dodge the early-game obstacles and make it there as quickly as possible.

no man's sky fast travel

  • Get off your first planet - It sounds simple, but can be a real time-sapper if you get unlucky with the starter-planet lottery. We've assembled some nice and simple tips for explaining just how to fix your ship and leave the first planet as quickly as possible, in case you need to speed things up.
  • Craft a Hyperdrive and some Warp Cells - Next up is the Hyperdrive, along with it's relevant fuel. Unlike earlier versions of the game, in the NEXT update your Hyperdrive is earned pretty easily through following the directions of the main story. What's a little harder though is figuring out how to find crucial ingredients such as Antimatter and Chromatic Metal , to help you do exactly that.
  • Expand your inventories - if you're heading straight to the centre, you'll already be doing most of the work towards getting yourself a much larger inventory anyway, and you'll need that additional space to hold onto all those Warp Cells for fuel (because you'll need plenty). We've also highlighted the fastest ways to earn money and the quickest way to get Atlas Passes , too, which you'll need to both buy Warp Cell ingredients and purchase extra inventory slots or new ships in which to store them.
  • Follow the waypoint! - It's really as simple as that. Head to your galactic map when you're aboard your starship and already in space, and a marker will highlight the route to the galactic core in orange for you. Now that you're all stocked up, booking it to the heart of the galaxy is all that's left to it - unless you fancy a detour along the Atlas Path , first.

Cycle back to our main hub for what's new in what's new in No Man's Sky Beyond and more basic info on the big update, otherwise take a look at our deep dive on No Man's Sky multiplayer explained for more on teaming up, our guide to base building , an introduction into electrical wiring and powering your base , to how to expand your Exosuit, Ship and Multi-tool inventory space , and Freighters and Frigates explained . Plus other handy stuff like how to repair your ship and get the Hermetic Seal, Pure Ferrite, Metal Plating and Di-Hydrogen Jelly , locations of the Atlas Pass v1, v2 and v3 , a guide to No Man's Sky money and how to earn Units fast , plus how to get Antimatter and the Antimatter recipe , and even how to save the game in No Man's Sky , too. Finally, we have pages on how to reach the centre of the galaxy , how to get Chromatic Metal , and a Journey Milestones list , too.

What is at the centre of the galaxy in No Man's Sky?

The centre of the galaxy is, for many, something of a disappointment - although there is a genuine argument that it carries some philosophical weight. A final spoiler warning here, before we continue, just in case.

Reaching the galactic core will send you to an entirely new galaxy. Your inventory'scontents will remain, as will your Units, but your ship, multi-tool, and Exosuit's upgrades will be broken and all need repairing, as your ship did at the very start of the game.

It is, in essence, a completion of the hints at a story which are released to you through the various stages of your journey. The "Initialise" message suddenly means a little more as you re-boot, as it really does seem as though the entire galaxy you spawn in is a simulation devised by the ever-present Atlas.

It reduces much - if not all - of your efforts up until now to meaninglessness. Perhaps that's the whole point.

Read this next

  • No Man's Sky Orbital update overhauls space stations today
  • No Man's Sky is free to play again because it went so well last weekend
  • No Man's Sky is free to play this weekend as new Omega update lands

Apex Legends Alter abilities explained

Stellar Blade guides, tips and tricks

All Stellar Blade fish locations

How to rescue Chewbacca in Fortnite

How to get Darth Vader's Lightsaber in Fortnite

How to move supplies in Manor Lords

Wuthering Waves pre-registration rewards

How to pre-register for Wuthering Waves

Screen Rant

Is flying to other planets in starfield possible without fast travel.

Starfield focuses on fast travel, but the idea of interplanetary flight is appealing. The answer to whether such a journey is possible is complicated.

  • Fast travel is necessary in Starfield for interplanetary exploration, but manually flying from planet to planet would enhance immersion.
  • No Man's Sky allows travel between planets in the same solar system without fast travel, but not between solar systems.
  • There may be practical gameplay reasons why space travel is the way it is in Starfield .

Fast travel serves as the backbone of interplanetary exploration in Starfield , but the idea of flying directly from planet to planet is an appealing one. Encounters happen in space, from dogfights to random missions, but they tend to appear near the orbits of planets. Although the ability to skip over long stretches of space flight is necessary to keep up the pace in a game of Starfield 's scale, handling things manually would be a nice feature for immersion. In any scenario, the minutiae of landing on a planet's surface without wrecking the spacecraft is off the table.

There's some precedent for a game like Starfield allowing true interplanetary travel. It's possible to move between planets in the same solar system in No Man's Sky without engaging a fast travel mechanic, although this doesn't extend to travel between solar systems, which would take obscene amounts of time even if it was possible. Bethesda's prior RPGs like The Elder Scrolls 6: Skyrim and Fallout 4 have made it possible to traverse the entire map by foot, a feature that isn't surprising considering their significantly smaller scale.

Related: "An Instant Classic": Starfield Review

Flying To Other Planets In Starfield Is Sort Of Possible

The dedication of one streamer has revealed more about Starfield 's setup than was previously known, an undertaking described in a tweet from the user Kratos . Alanah Pearce spent a whopping 7 hours flying to the surface of Pluto, eventually clipping through it upon arrival.

Although this might seem like a somewhat underwhelming conclusion, it does eliminate the theory that space was arranged into distinct skyboxes that prevented travel between the many planets of Starfield altogether. The task is indeed possible; it just doesn't lead to the rewards that one might hope.

Fast Travel Is The Only Way To Land On A Planet In Starfield

An article from TheGamer makes a case for the futility of attempting to avoid fast travel in Starfield , pointing to the length of time necessary to even attempt interplanetary travel and the impossibility of landing on a surface. Even if a planet-to-planet run sounds like an appealing marathon to the dedicated enthusiast, fast travel is necessary to end up anywhere on solid ground. At the end of the day, Starfield is built around its fast travel system, and the design doesn't account for any other approaches. Navigating the Starmap doesn't have to be a pain thanks to the fast travel scanner workaround , but there's no getting around fast travel itself.

In the same vein as many expansive ventures, Starfield accompanies its substantial possibilities with a wide variety of limitations. Proper interplanetary travel ends up on the absent end of that equation, and it may never have even been seriously explored during development. However, even with its reliance on fast travel, the game doesn't entirely exclude the existence of long flights. It's possible to fly to other planets in Starfield without using fast travel, but the game doesn't offer any resolution or reward for doing so.

Sources: Kratos/Twitter , TheGamer

No Man’s Sky: How To Reach The Center Of The Galaxy

There are several ways to reach the center of the galaxy in No Man's Sky. We explore all the different methods to get there.

Quick Links

What is the center of the galaxy, step one: follow the normal course of the game, step two: upgrade your hyperdrive, step three: clear some inventory space for warp cells, step four: follow the waypoint, method one: just warp until you get there, method two: use black holes, method three: use the portals, tips for getting to the center of the galaxy.

While it had a rocky start, No Man's Sky has become more and more compelling and full of content with each update it receives from the amazing Hello Games development team. Nowadays, this game offers an experience full of surprises as well as new species, ships, and items to discover throughout your adventures.

Related: All No Man's Sky Multi-Tool Weapons, Ranked

While exploring the more than 18 quintillion procedurally-generated planets the game has to offer, which is an adventure by itself, there's a particular destination every player will, at some point, set out to reach. After all the exploring is done, all that's left to do is accomplish the ultimate goal, get to the center of the galaxy .

Updated July 14, 2023, by Sean Murray: Wanna know how to get to the center of the galaxy in No Man's Sky? This guide has been refreshed with the latest info to help make your journey to the Galactic Core that much easier.

In No Man's Sky, the center of the galaxy is considered the "end" game , and reaching that point has a slight plot twist .

The methods to reach this center may vary depending on what planet the player is on and their distance in light-years from the center. Some players will be lucky enough to be relatively close, others not so much. So how exactly do you get there?

If you want to get there, just start at the beginning. Repair your ship, get all the resources available on your home planet, and go out and explore outer space .

You can also have some fun with one of the best aspects of the game, its ships ; be it an Explorer , Fighter , Hauler , Exotic , etc. You might even get yourself an S-Class ship!

No Man's Sky's Artemis Path questline will eventually lead to The Purge , which will task you with heading to the center of the galaxy. More on that later, but just know that completing quests will eventually take you to the galaxy's core .

If you want to travel the stars, you're going to need a Hyperdrive. This faster-than-light engine will take you from one star system to the next and is crucial for reaching the Galactic Core .

The Hyperdrive, also known as the Warp Drive , has several possible upgrades, and the more it has, the greater the distance in light-years you'll be able to jump. You'll want to upgrade your Hyperdrive with the Indium Drive upgrade (blueprints are available at the Nexus) as well as the best upgrade modules you can find (preferably S-class).

The maximum number of Upgrade Modules you can use is three. Be sure to arrange the upgrade modules around the Hyperdrive in order to receive the highest possible adjacency bonus .

Related: No Man's Sky: Every Expansion And What Was Added

If you rely exclusively on the use of the Hyperdrive to get to the center of the galaxy, you'll need a lot of storage for fuel since it's a very, very long trip. The more storage you have, the more Warp Cells you can store, each one equivalent to one jump.

Plus, the extra space will be very helpful for storing repair materials . Trust us, you'll need it.

Once you've completed the Artemis Path and unlocked The Purge quest , you'll have a waypoint that will route to the center of the galaxy . Or, more accurately, the nearest Gateway System.

Gateway Systems are the surrounding systems of the center of the galaxy , and jumping to them puts you one jump away from the Galactic Core .

Once the Galactic Core is chosen as a destination on the Galactic Map, the way to reach the center starts to vary.

This is possibly the most tedious method , especially if you are nowhere near the Galactic Core. It consists of jumping from star system to star system , each time getting a little closer to the Galactic Core. This method uses a lot of Warp Cells and can take a very long time.

Be sure to check your progress on the Galactic Map , which shows your distance to the core in the upper left corner.

As previously mentioned, you'll want a ship that can warp long distances in order to shorten the number of jumps required to reach the Galactic Core. However, even a fully-upgraded Hyperdrive will likely run out of fuel before reaching it , requiring periodic pit-stops to refuel.

Related: No Man's Sky: Crucial Tips For Beginners

Black Holes are one of the fastest ways to reach the center of the galaxy. Each hole will spit you closer to the Galactic core faster than just using Hyperdrive.

However, doing this will randomly and unavoidably damage some part of your ship every time you use one. Be sure to have plenty of spare materials to make repairs .

You can get the location of a black hole by going to the Space Anomaly and asking NPC Priest Entity Nada or NPC Polo . This will cause a waypoint to appear on your Galactic Map that will guide you to the hole.

This method is perhaps the most complicated, but it's easily the fastest . The galactic portal network can be used to cross vast distances , going from the galactic rim to its very core in a single leap.

To fully use them, you need to learn glyphs (graphical coordinates) either by obtaining a new symbol by talking to travelers of different species and visiting their graves or by completing the Artemis Path. There are 16 glyphs in total , and from them, a portal address of 12 symbols can be formed. To locate a Portal Terminal , you'll first need to go to an Alien Monolith .

A trick you can use here is to reach the center using another player's help . They must have a home base in a star system close to the center or directly in a Gateway System that has a portal . Then they provide their portal address and using the nexus, you can teleport to this new location and jump with the Hyperdrive from there.

There are a number of tricks to getting portal coordinates near the center of the galaxy. The No Man's Sky Coordinate Exchange subreddit has a few threads with this info. Also, entering 12 sunrise glyphs will take you to within a half-dozen jumps of any Galactic Core.

  • Use an Explorer or Exotic ship as your main ship for the trip with the Hyperdrive , as these ships possess a higher warp speed than the others.
  • Jumping through the Galactic Core can be rough and will damage several of your ship's systems . Best do it in a beater ship so that you don't have to scavenge too much for repairs.
  • It can come in very handy to take repair materials with you .

Next: No Man's Sky: Everything You Need to Know About Having A Companion

no man's sky fast travel

No Man's Sky

no man's sky fast travel

Originally posted by Bristuhan : The S class hyperdrive upgrades will give range boosts between 200 LY and 250 LY range. There are guides that explain the RNG factor involved and how to use lower class upgrade modules to have the game generate a new RNG number for the next upgrade (for the module stats).

no man's sky fast travel

Report this post

Valve Logo

12 essential No Man’s Sky multiplayer tips you should know before playing

Everything you need to know about No Man's Sky multiplayer

There have been some changes to how No Man's Sky multiplayer works as part of the Beyond update. We’re talking about the ability to embark on new types of missions, and the fact that you can now enjoy a shared social space with your mates, if that’s the kind of thing you want to do in No Man's Sky . Here are some key things that you’ll need to keep in mind if you’re hitting up No Man's Sky multiplayer and jumping into space adventures with a group.

1. Objectives are still locked to each player

no man's sky fast travel

Annoyingly, you aren’t able to complete objectives together in No Man’s Sky, even if you’re in the same party. If every player is tasked with building a base as part of the main story campaign, for example, you’ll all have to build your own separate base for the game to register it as fulfilled for each member. 

This slows down the progress of story missions, side quests, and other activities, and might come as a surprise to those who were hoping to complete No Man’s Sky’s campaign together. Basically, don’t think you can coast off of someone else’s efforts in No Man’s Sky multiplayer; to make your way in this brave new world, you’re going to have to chip in as much as everybody else. 

2. Tagging objects is the next best thing to a minimap

no man's sky fast travel

No Man’s Sky’s new solar system map is a bit rubbish for trying to navigate the infinite swathes of space, but there’s a far more effective way to orientate yourself in multiplayer mode. See something in the distance worth investigating, and want to bring it to the attention of your team? Fire up your visor, aim directly at its location, and hold the “Tag” button to pinpoint it on the radar at the top of the screen. 

This will register across every other player’s radar, so you won’t need to faff around trying to describe its exact position on the planet. This works, by the way, for objective markers, space stations, entire planets, and other players too, and in a world as gargantuan as this one, it helps to let everyone know exactly where you’re headed.

3. Photo mode works in real time

no man's sky fast travel

Of course No Man’s Sky has a photo mode. It’s certainly deserving of it, with all the mind-blowing vistas and randomised sci-fi scenery. What’s more, in multiplayer, this feature takes on a new lease of life, as time doesn’t come to a standstill whenever you whip out the camera, but lets you essentially play the part of unofficial cameraman while everything around you continues as normal. 

In essence, it’s a great way to grab some neat action shots of your friends exploring the world, or just tail them without their knowledge, and Hello Games has added a whole suite of customisation tools so you’ll never be lost for new ways to snap your buddies. 

4. Weather conditions are shared

no man's sky fast travel

Weather conditions are shared between players on the same planet and in the same location. If you’re planet-side with a friend, then you can both enjoy the same, beautiful sunset as each other if the mood strikes. There are still a few hiccups in terms of weather conditions being slightly delayed from player to player on the same planet, but you’ll be experiencing rain and shine together in almost every instance. 

5. Try not to die if you want to stick together

no man's sky fast travel

No Man’s Sky is a big, big place, and there’s currently no ability to teleport, on command, to other comrades within the game. What’s more, when you die, there’s a very strong likelihood that you’re not going to spawn back next to your team, but literally on the other side of the world, depending on the mood of Hello Games’ unpredictable formula. 

We learnt this the hard way, after one of us bit the bullet before respawning thousands of miles away on the planet we’d been exploring. It wasn’t the end of the world (though it certainly felt like they’d reappeared at the end of the world), but it was a pain when reaching each other required leaving the stratosphere and pulse jumping just to reacquaint within a matter of minutes rather than hours. Learn from our failures; try not to die.

6. Trading with each other is possible, but there’s limits

no man's sky fast travel

As a game all about having the right chemicals for the right job, No Man’s Sky’s survival gameplay is made a lot easier now that you can trade almost any of your inventory items with party members. No longer will you have to desperately scrounge a planet’s surface for the right resource to keep your exosuit up and running, but simply ask a nearby buddy for the required mats (should they have any spare), and they can wire it over to your inventory within a matter of seconds. 

To give something to another player, all you need to do is enter your inventory, hit “Transfer”, but make sure you separate out the exact number you’re wishing to part with beforehand, otherwise you’ll give them your entire stockpile, and they might not be willing to ever give it back. One thing to note; you have to be in close proximity (basically next to each other) in order to make a trade, so it’s not going to work if the donor or recipient decides to run off mid-transaction. Keep that in mind when the going gets tough during No Man’s Sky’s tougher excursions. 

7. Friendly fire can now be turned on and off

no man's sky fast travel

Previously, we would have recommended extreme caution when it comes to brandishing your multitool at people in the area, since this would generally be a matter of your phasers being set to “kicking your mates’ asses” mode. However, you can turn friendly fire off in No Man’s Sky if you’re wanting a session that’s more about team bonding and custard creams than every astronaut out for themselves. That way, you don’t have to worry about someone shanking you in the back. 

The way you do that is by adjusting your Network Settings. Navigate to that part of the menu and make sure that the “Can damage players” option is set to No one. After that’s done, just pan back to your game with the updated settings and voila! You won’t be able to take a chunk out of someone else by accident anymore, despite your best efforts. You can still, however, cause a minor geological incident that results in a mate being buried underground; you just can’t hurt them directly!

8. You can play together with any save file, provided you’re in the same mode

no man's sky fast travel

Multiplayer doesn’t work in the traditional sense in No Man’s Sky, as no one’s ever really a host. Instead, think of it like Destiny, where explorers of the single, shared universe are simply teaming up to play the same game together. That means that someone who’s been playing for 100 hours can join a player who’s only just begun their No Man’s Sky journey, though there are a few strings attached. 

For example, to really appreciate the extent of the multiplayer, you’ll need to all be playing in the same game mode of No Man’s Sky, either Normal, Survival, Permadeath or Creative mode. Any player who joins a crew but isn’t playing in the same mode as the leader will be considered a “guest”, and won’t have access to all the features they might be familiar with. Otherwise, any progress you make in multiplayer will transfer over to single-player, and vice versa, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on anything for the most part. 

9. Anyone can board your freighter, but starships are off limits

no man's sky fast travel

Once you’ve earned enough credits to purchase a freighter in No Man’s Sky, any other player can join you aboard to check out the feng shui, customise their character, and enlist on new multiplayer missions. Your starship, however, is still very much your own thing. 

Other team members are unable to pilot it (so you won’t need to worry about any prank hijackings), and there’s sadly no multi-mannable starships for co-op dogfighting, as they’re still strictly one seaters only. Perhaps in future, Hello Games will let us share the sweaty confines of our ships as co-pilots, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime style, but today is not that day. 

10. Multiplayer missions don’t necessarily require multiple players

no man's sky fast travel

The aforementioned multiplayer missions are newly designed challenges that, like much of No Man’s Sky, are fairly simple, story-lite objectives which make use of the game’s exploration focus. You might be asked to scan a certain number of creatures, or take out a certain number of enemy starships, but don’t expect MMO style raids or epic story quests, even anything on the same level as No Man’s Sky’s story mode missions. What’s more, these multiplayer missions aren’t actually exclusive to multiplayer, but any solo spacefarer is able to take them on in solo mode, or perhaps as part of a multitasking effort while the rest of crew gets on with something else. 

11. You can just Space Anomaly and chill

no man's sky fast travel

With the introduction of the Space Anomaly (which you can now summon at will), there’s essentially a shared social space for Travellers to hang out. You can now choose to travel to the Space Anomaly whenever and experience chilling with up to 32 other players who are in the same instance as you if you’re playing on PC. 

Once you make your way to the Space Anomaly, you’ll note that the giant expanded station is now home to players from, well, everywhere. And unlike before, when multiplayer communication was limited to emoting, you can communicate via text chat and really make yourself known. There’s no distinction between players who are playing in VR and those who are just playing regularly, so if you see someone fondly stroking another Traveller’s dome while they’re just idly standing by, well, the former is probably just having a fun time with their Oculus.

12. Nexus missions are there if your team gets bored

no man's sky fast travel

You can queue up for team missions in The Nexus. The game will spit out a bunch of Nexus missions that swap out on a rotating basis, and you can queue up for these for up to 3 other Travellers. Think of them like strikes in Destiny 2. If you want to initiate them, you just rock up to the holographic looking sentinel sitting in the center of the proceedings and you’ll be greeted with a menu of Nexus missions to choose from.

Navigate to whichever catches your fancy, whether it’s raiding an outpost or chasing off some spacefaring bandits, and press Initiate Mission when prompted. The game will then display the number of people in your party who have initiated the mission and are ready for it, and once everyone is ready to go, you can all embark on your chosen Nexus Mission. You’ll be rewarded with a variety of things, but these will be indicated on the Mission Select screen before you pick what you’re going to throw your team into this journey.

No Man's Sky tips | No Man's Sky cheats | How to make money fast in No Man's Sky | No Man's Sky How to Save | No Man's Sky storage | No Man's Sky hidden mechanics | No Man's Sky free freighter | No Man's Sky Antimatter | No Man's Sky Atlas Pass | No Man's Sky Chromatic Metal | No Man's Sky Technology Modules | Best No Man's Sky bases | Best No Man's Sky mods | Games like No Man's Sky

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

Alex Avard

I'm GamesRadar's Features Writer, which makes me responsible for gracing the internet with as many of my words as possible, including reviews, previews, interviews, and more. Lucky internet! 

Roblox Brookhaven codes for music tracks and memes

How to find Bones Callers in Sea of Thieves

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will feature multiple decisions, but has no definitive ending

Most Popular

  • 2 Stellar Blade review: "A good action-RPG that I enjoyed a lot despite several issues"
  • 3 Manor Lords review: "Brimming with the potential to exceed its already broad horizons"
  • 4 Medici board game review: "Friendly competition"
  • 5 Arborea review: "Fascinating interplay"
  • 2 The Fall Guy review: "A snappy, sharp, sexy screwball action romance"
  • 3 Boy Kills World review: "A gleefully bonkers blend of The Hunger Games and The Raid"
  • 4 Rebel Moon Part Two – The Scargiver review: "Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic stumbles towards the finish line"
  • 5 Abigail review: "A blood-bomb of fun that needs more narrative meat"
  • 2 Dead Boy Detectives review: "Delightfully dark, deeply moving, and the perfect companion to The Sandman"
  • 3 X-Men ’97 episode 7 review: "Season one has finally hit a lull"
  • 4 Knuckles review: "A confident trial run for Sonic 3"
  • 5 Alien RPG Building Better Worlds review: "Carrying on the quiet momentum of one of the best TTRPGs out there"

no man's sky fast travel

  • VisualEditor
  • View history

There are a variety of ways to travel from point A to point B in No Man's Sky .

  • 1.1 Swimming
  • 1.2 Walking
  • 1.3 Sprinting/Running
  • 1.4 Jetpack
  • 1.5 Exocraft
  • 2.1 Normal Throttle
  • 2.2 Pulse Drive
  • 2.3 Hyperdrive
  • 3.1 Base Teleport Module
  • 3.2 Short-Range Teleporter
  • 3.3 Portals
  • 4 References

Player Movement [ | ]

The known methods are as follows, in order of relative speed.

Jetpack

Jetpack Upgrade

Swimming [ | ]

They Abyss release provided many reasons and opportunities for swimming. The player's Exosuit provides air and protection from whatever liquid the player is swimming in. Upgrades to the suit can extend the length and depth of submersion.

Walking [ | ]

This is the most common way of exploring a planet's surface, literally putting "boots on the ground." Sean Murray has stated that it is possible to walk completely around a planet , although that would certainly take a long time.

Player Steam-bot actually attempted this journey around the planet Dudenbeaumodeme and managed to walk around the entire planet .

Sprinting/Running [ | ]

If you press the melee button after running a little. you'll get a quick boost to help you get around faster. Best way to do so is reach to the top of a hill, save a short distance to enable run, run to the tip and melee off the tip (aim in the air), you will be launched straight into air. This way, with jetpack button coordinating, you could glide through a vast area with astonishing speed.

Jetpack [ | ]

This is an upgrade option for the player's suit that allows limited periods of flight over the surface of the planet. Jetpacks drain life systems which can be recharged with oxygen, Additional upgrades can be built to increase the length of time spent in the air.

Exocraft [ | ]

Exocraft

Land Vehicle Upgrade

  • Pathfinder - Three types of land vehicles collectively called Exocraft were added. They are capable of travel over a variety of surfaces, and are used for different purposes. The fastest of the three is the Nomad, which can also be used as a hovercraft. The Roamer and Colossus are slower vehicles, but are still faster than walking or running.
  • NEXT - The two-wheeled Pilgrim was added. It is the fastest of the various land excocraft.
  • Abyss - A water-based exocraft called the Nautilon was added. It serves the purpose of an individual submarine.
  • ExoMech - The Minotaur was added. This 5-meter tall mechanical walker is basically immune to all planetary dangers.

Ship Movement [ | ]

Normal throttle [ | ].

This method of ship propulsion is used when flying over a planet's surface. It does not require special fuel, and is disabled when you leave a planet's atmosphere. This will range in speed from 0-150u and is activated using the R2 trigger on the PS4 controller . Throttle speed can be boosted using the PS4 Circle.

Pulse Drive [ | ]

Ships uses the Pulse Engine to travel between planets within the same star system . Unlike travel within a planet's atmosphere, pulse drive requires that the ship be stocked with one of the available fuel elements . Typical cruising speeds are from 350-450u.

Hyperspeed

Hyperdrive Activation

Hyperdrive [ | ]

This is the fastest method of travel available, and is used to jump between star systems. It can be built as an upgrade to your ship, and takes a large amount of fuel (such as Thamium9 ) to operate. If the fuel tanks are emptied during a jump, the ship and player will drop out of hyperdrive back into normal space. Expect speeds of over 4000u when in hyperdrive.

Huge distances may be traveled using the Core to Core Jump method, allowing rapid jumps between galaxies.

Other Methods [ | ]

PortalBlue

Portal Capability

Base Teleport Module [ | ]

A player's base may contain a Base Teleport Module which allows the player to jump to (and return from) other locations in the galaxy. It retains the four most recent locations, and a player's ship is included in the teleportation process.

Short-Range Teleporter [ | ]

A player's base may contain a single pair or multiple pairs of Short-Range Teleporters which allow instantaneous transport within the confines of different locations of a single base.

Portals [ | ]

These devices are scattered around the galaxy on random planets. There will be at least one portal in each star system. They must be unlocked before use, which requires providing specific resources to each of the 16 keys. When entered, they transport the player to a linked portal on another planet in their own galaxy, or in a different one. The travelers current ship and its inventory are also transported.

References [ | ]

  • No Man's Sky
  • 2 Freighter
  • 3 Storyline

IMAGES

  1. No Man's Sky Brings 2022's Limited-Time Expeditions To Switch From

    no man's sky fast travel

  2. No Man's Sky Wallpaper

    no man's sky fast travel

  3. No Man's Sky

    no man's sky fast travel

  4. No Man's Sky Wallpapers

    no man's sky fast travel

  5. No Man's Sky

    no man's sky fast travel

  6. No Man's Sky on Steam

    no man's sky fast travel

VIDEO

  1. No Man's Sky: Зарисовки о путешествии. Эпизод №31. Большой эксперимент!

  2. No Man’s Sky KEEPS GETTING BETTER

  3. Don't tell anyone

  4. No Mans Sky How To Make Money fast 2024 (UNITS & NANITES)

  5. Phase 1 Complete 🌌

  6. No Man's Sky

COMMENTS

  1. No Man's Sky guide: How to get to distant locations faster

    Since the planets in No Man's Sky are planet-sized, getting there often feels like a slog . You can take a hint here from NASA. Point yourself at your goal and then head up to space. You won't ...

  2. No Man's Sky: Can You Fast Travel?

    No Man's Sky has many secrets tucked in all of its corners, so since you can't really fast travel, why not do a bit of exploration. If you need any more help with No Man's Sky, check out our ...

  3. No Man's Sky guide: Travel faster with a melee boost

    Melee boosting in No Man's Sky is incredibly straightforward. Simply tap the melee button then hit the jet pack button while moving forward. If done correctly, your character will do a huge dash ...

  4. Fastest way to travel within a planet? :: No Man's Sky General Discussion

    Head to the no man's sky keep clicking on fast travel boost for a second or two. Hit the atmosphere then cut boost and then level down to the target hit the fast travel boost. That is how I cover very large distances across planetary in a very short time. 20 mins goes down to a min or two. Straight up to space, aim at target & pulse jump is the ...

  5. Anyway to fast travel without a ship? (or find a closer ...

    When you get a few of the glowing minerals, don't examine them until you get back to your ship or somewhere you can make a save point. So make a save, then examine. There are several mats you can get from them, one of which is Herox. If you don't get Herox, reload and try again, as what you get is random and not seeded.

  6. How to use portals in No Man's Sky

    Short- versus long-distance travel. Much of the early game in No Man's Sky revolves around gathering enough fuel to move from one star system to the next. In fact, the updated in-game tutorials ...

  7. How To Super Jetpack Jump in No Man's Sky Expedition Update 2021

    The Expedition update in No Man's Sky accidentally added a super jetpack jump!! Most players in No Man's Sky use the shoulder boost to go places faster, but ...

  8. How to Chart and Use Black Holes to Travel

    A complete guide to using the Black Hole Suns tools to chart, log, and map black holes in No Man's Sky.Trying to find a faster way to travel the galaxy in No...

  9. No Man's Sky: Atlas Rising

    Fast travel and returning to previously explored planets is finally functional in No Man's Sky. Here's how the ancient portals work. Finally, players can share and return to planets you've found ...

  10. No Man's Sky

    The fastest way to the centre of the galaxy in No Man's Sky. Getting to the centre is, fortunately, relatively simple business in No Man's Sky - the game gives you an irremovable waypoint marking ...

  11. Is Flying To Other Planets In Starfield Possible Without Fast Travel?

    Fast travel is necessary in Starfield for interplanetary exploration, but manually flying from planet to planet would enhance immersion.; No Man's Sky allows travel between planets in the same solar system without fast travel, but not between solar systems.; There may be practical gameplay reasons why space travel is the way it is in Starfield.

  12. 14 essential No Man's Sky tips for successful galactic exploration

    If you're already in-game, you can go to the Network & Voice settings section of the Options in the pause menu, then choose Invite Friends to send out your invitations to explore. For more details ...

  13. No Man's Sky: How To Reach The Center Of The Galaxy

    Step One: Follow The Normal Course Of The Game. Step Two: Upgrade Your Hyperdrive. Step Three: Clear Some Inventory Space For Warp Cells. Step Four: Follow The Waypoint. Method One: Just Warp Until You Get There. Method Two: Use Black Holes. Method Three: Use The Portals. Tips For Getting To The Center Of The Galaxy.

  14. Fastest Way to the Galaxy Center! How to Get to the Galactic Core in No

    How do I get to the center of the Galaxy in No Man's Sky 2021? Well, in this No Man's Sky guide we will teach you how to quickly get to the galactic core in...

  15. Fastest way to the center of the galaxy? : r/NoMansSkyTheGame

    Option 2: once you have all the glyphs, look online for the glyphs for a "close to center" system and portal there. Have a friend join you by nexus, leave the game, join their game and join their system, portal interference is gone. By far the fastest way is to jump to other players' bases from the anomaly, and eventually you'll find one ...

  16. How do I get to the Galactic core? Faster? :: No Man's Sky General

    Move closer to the core until just before its out of warp range. Another route is to use black holes, but you need to prep a special ship for that. There you move 5-7K LY each black hole, but some of your upgrades in the main part of the ship will get damaged, hence setting up a special ship just for that.

  17. 12 essential No Man's Sky multiplayer tips you should know before

    Here are some key things that you'll need to keep in mind if you're hitting up No Man's Sky multiplayer and jumping into space adventures with a group. 1. Objectives are still locked to each ...

  18. How to travel faster? : r/NoMansSkyTheGame

    Once you have that, in order to travel to other Systems, while in space click down on the controller pad and select galaxy map. It will show you all the systems, you can then select a star and click travel. There are 4 star classes and are color coded, from basic to advanced are yellow, green, red, blue. You can reach yellow star systems with a ...

  19. Travel

    There are a variety of ways to travel from point A to point B in No Man's Sky. The known methods are as follows, in order of relative speed. They Abyss release provided many reasons and opportunities for swimming. The player's Exosuit provides air and protection from whatever liquid the player is swimming in. Upgrades to the suit can extend the length and depth of submersion. This is the most ...

  20. No Man's Sky

    Let's say you want to get across a barren wasteland super fast. We've got you covered!Subscribe: https://goo.gl/qw3Ac7Check out our full video catalog: https...

  21. new pirate space stations? how to fast travel to them via teleporter

    They'll display with a skull next to them on the teleporter's space station list. As said In the patch notes (read the patch notes), you can't teleport to pirate space station from normal systems and vice versa. Once you have a satisfactory answer to your question please reset the flair to "answered". This will help others find an answer to the ...

  22. Help. Fast travel option for Anomaly disappeared : r ...

    I think this option is only available if you teleported to your location from the anomaly portal. Not sure because it has been buggy for me as well. Once you have a satisfactory answer to your question please reset the flair to "answered". This will help others find an answer to the same question.

  23. Fast Travel back to Base : r/NoMansSkyTheGame

    Fast Travel back to Base Question Hey everyone, I am new to the game and made the mistake of getting attached to my companion and base on a planet in my starting galaxy. ... Light No Fire is an upcoming video game by Hello Games, the creators of No Man's Sky. Light No Fire is about adventure, building, survival, and exploration. Set on a ...