This comes up often enough in No Man's Sky that it deserves a straight answer rather than a thread to scroll through.

Short answer

In most cases the straightforward approach works. The exceptions are specific and listed below.

  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • If a menu path does not exist for you, your build is older or newer than the one described.

No Man's Sky has been rewritten by updates so many times that old guides describe a different game. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests.

Worth knowing alongside this

If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. 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. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

Why it works this way

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Keep a save or backup from before you start — it costs nothing and occasionally saves an evening.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.

What to do instead

No Man's Sky is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. 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. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

When the usual advice fails

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional.

Everything below is framed around the current state of No Man's Sky rather than a launch-week impression. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

The practical answer

Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time.

Where people go wrong

  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.

No Man's Sky FAQ

Is there a faster method?

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

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.

How long does this take?

Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

Bookmark it if you like, but honestly, once you have done it once you will not need to come back.