One Account, Many Universes
Your account credentials and avatar are global. Each universe has a separate captain name, ship, credits, XP, alignment, planets, mines, and corporation membership.
Core Manual
Core Play
Use this reference for the Flight Deck, resources, trading loop, market opportunities, dynamic banking, Stardock services, ships, Reconstruction, safe harbor, scoring periods, awards, Comms, universe selection, and progression. New captains should begin with the Getting Started manual.
First Run
Quick Start
- Create or sign into your account, then use Captain Registry to join or select a universe.
- Start at Earth and inspect Sector Console, exits, ships, cycles, fuel cells, cargo, shields, and credits.
- Open Captain's Orders: use Cadet Orientation as your first-flight checklist and daily directives for repeatable rewards.
- Move to a nearby port, buy what it sells, then sell that commodity at a port that buys it.
- Use NavCom to plot known routes and compare Fastest, Efficient, and Safest priorities.
- Return to Stardock for repairs, fuel, personal banking, equipment, upgrades, hulls, government filings, Tavern or Police assignments, and safe harbor.
- Check Comms after logging in; public activity, private alerts, conquests, bounties, and diplomacy can change while you are away.
Captain Registry
Universes And Scoring Periods
Joining Rules
Public universes can be joined directly. Private or invite-only universes require an access code, and locked universes reject new captains.
Living Expansion
When a captain first joins, the persistent universe can grow by 0-5 connected outer sectors. Rare route-less sectors remain reserved for future jump-drive discovery.
Maintenance
During a pause, read-only screens remain available while gameplay commands return a maintenance response. On resume, cycle, bank, market, planet, NPC, combat, and finite scoring-period clocks shift by the outage duration.
Banners
Information, warning, and critical banners announce release windows, outages, playtest resets, and other operational notices.
Persistent World
Ordinary scoring rollover does not reset ships, credits, cargo, planets, corporations, exploration, markets, mines, or territory.
Competition
Scoring Periods And Awards
Current PeriodFinite periods show a countdown; infinite periods have no scheduled end. Maintenance pauses freeze and extend finite deadlines.
Period XPCurrent standings rank XP earned since the period baseline. Lifetime XP remains intact and continues to determine captain titles.
Tracked ActivityPeriod records include trade, combat, missions, rescues, exploration, planet activity, wealth change, and alignment change.
Your SeasonComms summarizes your current overall position, period XP, trade, combat, mission, exploration, and planet counters.
History & AwardsCompleted periods preserve immutable player and corporation standings plus category winners.
Award CategoriesOverall, alignment, trade, combat, exploration, planets, missions, rescue, and corporations.
RolloverClosing a finite period assigns awards and starts the next scoring period without resetting the persistent universe.
Interface
Command Deck
Shared Flight Deck
Sector, NavCom, Planets, Comms, and Corporation use one command-station shell. Select the header identity for Profile or the compact ship strip for full ship details.
Sector Scan
The first-person bridge view contains selectable stations, planets, and other ships. Busy sectors use a complete searchable overflow roster, while your own ship remains in the status strip.
Next Move
One gold suggestion highlights the best immediate local opportunity. The active mission stays visible, while Captain's Orders and Sector tools begin collapsed.
Immediate Exits
Every adjacent route appears below the scan with cost, risk, and known intelligence. Selecting an enabled exit commits the jump immediately; insufficient resources disable it with a reason.
NavCom
Use Route Planner for manual courses, Known Markets for visited port intelligence, and Trade Officer for compatible automation hardware.
Planets
Review colony production, stores, citadel systems, and other known worlds. Distant colonies plot a course; only a current-sector colony opens local operations.
Comms
Galaxy is the quiet default feed. Standings groups Your Season and Good/Evil leaders, while full rankings and historical awards remain available in focused views.
Corporation
Overview, Crew, Assets, and Diplomacy organize projects, memos, treasury information, membership, planets, ports, influence, relations, and bounties.
Captain's Orders
Expand the single-level panel for daily Profit, Adventure, and Power directives plus permanent Cadet Orientation objectives. Ready rewards remain marked in the heading.
Return Report
After at least 15 minutes away, useful alerts, galaxy events, Trade Officer results, colony stores, and your active assignment are summarized before play resumes.
Phone Navigation
On phones, fixed navigation directly exposes all five stations, the next move precedes the scan, exits show their costs before an immediate jump, and focused commands use full-screen views.
Meters
Core Resources
CyclesMost commands consume cycles. They refill over time and are advanced correctly after maintenance pauses.
Fuel CellsMovement consumes fuel. Wormholes cost exactly 1 fuel and 1 cycle. Ship fuel capacity depends on hull.
Cargo HoldsCargo includes commodities, colonists, mines, and automation freight. Fuel is reactor supply except planet-to-planet logistics, where it can move as cargo.
CreditsSpend credits on fuel, repairs, upgrades, hulls, charters, bounties, ports, and construction.
Banked CreditsStardock banks protect stored credits, earn interest at the current shared APR, and preserve private balance and rate history.
XP And AlignmentXP drives standings and titles. Alignment affects leaderboards, mission eligibility, bounties, NPC targeting, and Federation enforcement.
Personal Finance
2nd Galactic Bank
TransfersDeposit, withdraw, or use Max from an illustrated Bank terminal. Each transfer is limited to 1,000,000 credits and settles accrued interest first.
Shared APRThe universe rate starts at 1.00% and stays between 0.50% and 5.00%. Net deposits move it down; net withdrawals move it up; equal flows cancel out.
Daily LimitThe shared APR can move no more than 0.15 percentage points per UTC day, regardless of total transfer volume.
HistoryBalance and APR charts cover up to 45 UTC days, include accessible tables, and refresh about once per minute. New accounts may have sparse history at first.
InterestInterest accrues on economy ticks using historical rates and fractional carry. A paused universe does not accrue bank interest while paused.
Corporation TreasuryCorporation funds remain separate: treasury transfers neither earn personal-bank interest nor affect the shared personal APR.
Economy
Ports And Trade
Sells And Buys
Sells are goods the port sells to you. Buys are goods the port buys from you. This direction matters for manual trading and automation.
Dynamic Markets
Buying reduces stock and raises price. Selling reduces demand and lowers price. Corporation ports also use finite source inventory and operating treasury.
Core Commodities
Alloy Ore, BioMatter, Fabricator Parts, and Fuel Cells are the main economy goods. Colonists and mines are cargo with special rules.
Known Markets
In NavCom, compare remembered sellers and buyers by Efficient-route cycles, fuel, or sector. Rows show offer or demand and visit age, not fabricated remote prices or stock, and preload Route Planner without moving.
Trade Feedback
Rows preview totals before confirmation. Results show quantity, transaction value, remaining credits, cargo and fuel context, executed and next price, plus eligible XP.
Living Market
Evolving Opportunities
Comms shows up to three priority demand surges selected from real shortages at ordinary non-fuel ports. Each dispatch window lasts six hours.
Known Location
If you have explored the sector, the opportunity shows its sector and port and offers Plot Course through Route Planner.
Unknown Location
An unexplored opportunity names the port but hides its sector number and disables course plotting, preserving your navigation memory.
Priority Premium
Sell the named commodity at the active port before expiration to receive the displayed 15% premium. The trade row and result identify the bonus.
Shared Conditions
The underlying port still has finite demand and dynamic pricing. Confirm current demand, route cost, and time remaining before committing cargo.
Service Hubs
Stardocks
Stardocks are typed service hubs with station-specific panoramic art and server-provided facilities. A station's directory shows only the services it actually supports, so inspect the concourse rather than assuming every location offers the same work.
Concourse
The icon-led directory opens Shipyard, Bank, Armory, DriveWorks, Government Offices, Police Station, or Tavern when that station provides the facility. Return to Concourse between services.
Berth Services
Repair hull and shields, refuel, or refit drones from itemized quotes showing current and maximum capacity, missing units, unit cost, total cost, and any credit shortfall. Armory can jump directly to its authorized drone refit.
Shipyard
Browse all eight hulls with alignment-specific art, role descriptions, seven-stat comparisons against your fitted ship, and a purchase summary. Cargo overflow, insufficient credits, invalid names, and the active hull block buying with an explanation.
Mission Venues
The Tavern Job Board offers Survey, Delivery, and real-player Rescue work to every alignment. Police offers lawful Hunt assignments to good and neutral captains. You can hold one active assignment per universe across both venues.
Armory And DriveWorks
Illustrated catalogs show stored equipment, drone and mine rules, inventory, free holds, fitted capacity, compatible upgrades, installed levels, price totals, and the active ship's automation capabilities before purchase.
Government Offices
Ship Registry changes cost 1,000 credits and require a different valid name. Corporation Charters cost 150,000 credits and retain all recruiting, membership, and alignment checks.
Police Station
Good and neutral captains can post escrow-funded warrants against evil captains. The Wanted Register combines Police warrants and Tavern contracts, identifies sources and posters, and lets each poster withdraw only their own posting for a refund.
Lost Trader's Tavern
Alongside civilian jobs, the Tavern offers up to eight public Rumor Mill dispatches and free Information Broker advice. Its backroom remains an evil-only venue for personal criminal contracts.
Personal Bounties
Bounties are escrow funded, have a 1,000-credit minimum, do not expire, aggregate on wanted lists, and pay eligible PvP victors.
Safe Harbor
Secure Berth at capable Stardocks or eligible citadel planets protects a docked active ship from PvP. Active combat and the 15 minutes after hostile action block berthing; movement clears it.
Comeback Path
Federation Reconstruction
An eligible captain in an Escape Pod can request Reconstruction from a Stardock shipyard once every seven days.
LocationYou must be physically present at a Stardock that offers Shipyard service.
ReplacementThe package replaces the Escape Pod with a starter Courier Rig named Federation Recovery Rig.
SuppliesThe recovered ship receives starter condition and supplies, plus a 500-credit operating stipend.
ProtectionThe package applies 24 hours of Federation protection so the captain can rebuild.
CooldownEach captain can claim the package once every seven days. Ineligible captains still use the normal pod trade-in and ship-purchase path.
Hull Roles
Ships
These are the base hull values shown by Shipyard. Installed upgrades affect your fitted ship comparison but do not change the catalog baseline. New hulls arrive fully fueled and repaired with full shields and drones; installed upgrades are removed, and cargo transfers only when it fits.
Courier Rig
Free starter generalist for learning trade routes and the wider universe.
- Price
- 0
- Cargo
- 20
- Fuel
- 50
- Shields
- 25
- Drones
- 10
- Attack
- 5
- Scanner
- 1
- Escape
- 1
Pathfinder Skiff
Compact survey craft with enhanced scanners and a strong escape profile.
- Price
- 650
- Cargo
- 12
- Fuel
- 45
- Shields
- 20
- Drones
- 8
- Attack
- 6
- Scanner
- 2
- Escape
- 3
Bulk Hauler
Dedicated freight carrier with automation hardpoints and light combat systems.
- Price
- 900
- Cargo
- 70
- Fuel
- 65
- Shields
- 30
- Drones
- 10
- Attack
- 5
- Scanner
- 1
- Escape
- 1
Prospect Barge
Colony-supply hauler and the only hull that supports Planetary Logistics Core.
- Price
- 1,200
- Cargo
- 90
- Fuel
- 80
- Shields
- 28
- Drones
- 8
- Attack
- 4
- Scanner
- 1
- Escape
- 1
Sentinel Cutter
Combat-focused cutter with reinforced shields and a larger drone bay.
- Price
- 1,350
- Cargo
- 16
- Fuel
- 45
- Shields
- 45
- Drones
- 20
- Attack
- 12
- Scanner
- 1
- Escape
- 2
Deep Range Trader
Explorer-trader with capable scanners, useful holds, and a large fuel reserve.
- Price
- 1,650
- Cargo
- 40
- Fuel
- 75
- Shields
- 35
- Drones
- 14
- Attack
- 8
- Scanner
- 3
- Escape
- 2
Ghost Runner
Discreet runner with the best escape rating and capable scanners.
- Price
- 2,200
- Cargo
- 24
- Fuel
- 55
- Shields
- 24
- Drones
- 12
- Attack
- 9
- Scanner
- 2
- Escape
- 5
Federation Lance
Patrol interceptor with strong shields, drones, and the highest base attack rating.
- Price
- 2,900
- Cargo
- 18
- Fuel
- 60
- Shields
- 55
- Drones
- 26
- Attack
- 15
- Scanner
- 2
- Escape
- 2
Escape Pod credit: Pod trade-in credit is capped at the replacement hull price, and unused credit is not paid out, including when commissioning the free Courier Rig.
Standing
Progression
Lifetime ProgressLifetime XP determines captain titles and survives scoring-period rollover. Ship destruction costs 10% of current XP, capped at 1,000 XP.
Career TracksSix lifetime tracks derive progress from authoritative universe activity. Each track shows five visible cosmetic milestones alongside the captain's operational profile.
Combat ContextStandard interceptions, ambushes, bounty hunts, and corporation warzones preserve their encounter context, including visible initiative modifiers and per-round shield, drone, or hull targeting.
Period StandingXP earned since the current period baseline determines seasonal placement, with activity counters and immutable completed-period history.
Corporation StandingCorporations receive period standings and awards while influence and planet count remain important territorial context.
WrecksDestroyed player ships can leave wrecks with 50% surviving assets. Victors get 10-minute exclusive salvage; wrecks decay after 24 hours.
RecoveryDestroyed captains continue in an Escape Pod. At a Stardock shipyard, eligible captains can claim weekly Federation Reconstruction; otherwise use normal pod trade-in and ship purchase.