There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

Do the simple thing first. It is correct more often than the complicated thing people recommend instead.

  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.

No Man's Sky has been rewritten by updates so many times that old guides describe a different game. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively.

When the usual advice fails

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of No Man's Sky. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

The practical answer

The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time.

  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Write down what you changed, so you can undo exactly one thing if it goes sideways.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.

Worth knowing alongside this

Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

Why it works this way

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

What to do instead

Everything below is framed around the current state of No Man's Sky rather than a launch-week impression. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. No Man's Sky is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

Where people go wrong

  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.
  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.

No Man's Sky FAQ

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Is there a faster method?

Sometimes, at the cost of reliability. Where that trade exists it is described rather than recommended blindly.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Is this still accurate after the latest No Man's Sky update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Come back to the caveats list if it does not work first time — the answer is almost always in there.