How to Manage a Planetary Settlement

Learn how to manage your planetary settlement in No Man's Sky, from constructing the Overseer's Office to improving key stats like Productivity, Happiness, and Population.

Alright, so you've just become the overseer of a new settlement in No Man's Sky! The very first thing you need to do is get the Overseer's Office up and running. This is where all the big decisions happen, thanks to the Administration Terminal inside, and it's your first taste of building stuff in the settlement. Most buildings have a few stages – foundations, maybe upper levels, a roof, and then the finishing touches. You'll need different materials for each stage, and the Construction Terminal will tell you exactly what's needed. Don't sweat it if you're missing something; you can usually trade with pilots at a Space Station for materials like Ionised Cobalt and Paraffinium.

To get the Overseer's Office built, you'll need:

• 210 Silicate Powder
• 5 Metal Platings
• 3 Microprocessors

After you drop off the materials for a construction phase, there's a short wait, usually around 90 seconds, before the next phase can start. Keep in mind, though, that for other buildings, you might be waiting anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half in real time between phases. So, it's a good idea to gather materials for those as soon as you know what they are.

Once the Overseer's Office is done, you'll have access to that Administration Terminal and a Base Teleport Module. This means you can warp directly to your settlement from any other teleporter in the galaxy! You'll also notice your settlement has a class, from C all the way up to S. You'll start with a C, but you can boost it up by building more structures and making your settlement more productive.

After you've picked a good spot and submitted your credentials to become overseer, it's time to get down to business.

Now, let's talk about those settlement stats: Population, Happiness, Productivity, Maintenance Cost, and Sentinel Alert Level. These numbers will go up or down based on the choices you make. Initially, your main job is building new structures. The settlers will actually suggest which buildings they want to construct, so you don't have total control over the order. You'll usually be presented with two options, and one will almost always boost Productivity. We highly recommend picking the Productivity option first to make sure your settlement is bringing in more than it costs to maintain, as quickly as possible.

As you build more and boost productivity, you'll see happiness levels start to climb. However, settler happiness is more directly influenced by the decisions you make regarding Citizen Requests, Citizen Disputes, New Arrivals, Policy Decisions, and Construction Opportunities. Sometimes, you'll face a choice with both good and bad outcomes – maybe more productivity but less happiness, or vice versa. While it's smart to focus on productivity early on to cover those maintenance costs, always try to choose options that boost citizen happiness when you can, as those opportunities are rarer.

When you're looking at construction options, you'll see how much productivity it adds and what percentage of your population supports it. Don't stress too much if the support is close (like 50% vs 42%). But if one option is way more popular, it's worth considering the happiness hit you might take if you go against the settlers' wishes. You might miss out on a bit more productivity, but it's often worth it to keep your settlers happy.

Keep building new structures and making choices that favor settler happiness, and you'll see both happiness and productivity grow. If you started with a settlement where productivity was just about covering maintenance costs, you'll soon be making a profit. Once you're in the green, your settlement will start producing specific items for you to collect daily. The type of item depends on the buildings you've put up, but they're usually valuable, and the amount you get will increase as your productivity goes up.