I remember when I first started playing No Man’s Sky years ago, I spent three hours flying around star systems looking for Cadmium to build my first hyperdrive, completely unaware I could just ask my friend who had a full storage container of it for help. The first question that popped into my head when I realized he could give me some was can you trade with other players in no man's sky, and back then the answer was messy, full of bugs and unwritten rules. After hundreds of hours playing with both close friends and random community members, I’ve tested every legitimate trading method, run into every common pitfall, and can break down exactly how to swap items safely and effectively.
Can You Trade With Other Players in No Man’s Sky: Official Rules & Allowed Actions
The short answer is yes, but the game doesn’t have a dedicated, formal trade UI like most MMOs or live service titles. Hello Games has intentionally built trading around existing in-game mechanics rather than adding a separate menu system, which means you’ll need to use a few simple workarounds to swap items with other players. All of these methods are fully allowed by the game’s terms of service, so you won’t risk a ban for using them.
Almost all in-game items can be traded, including raw resources, crafted products, upgrade modules, ships, multi-tools, and even freighters. The only exceptions are account-locked items that are tied to your personal progress or premium purchases, which we’ll cover in more detail later. Cross-platform trading is fully supported too, so you can swap items with players on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch as long as you’re in the same game lobby.
One key thing to note right off the bat: there is no official trade protection system. If you give an item to another player, there’s no way to reverse the transaction if they don’t hold up their end of the deal. That’s why following safety best practices is non-negotiable, especially if you’re trading with someone you don’t know.
Safe, Legitimate Ways to Trade Items With Other No Man’s Sky Players
Over the years, the No Man’s Sky community has settled on three widely used trading methods that minimize risk of lost or stolen items. All of these work for both small casual swaps with friends and high-value trades with strangers from community hubs:
- Drop and swap: The most common method for small resource stacks, where both players drop items from their inventory and pick up the ones the other left. This works best in private lobbies to avoid strangers snatching your goods mid-swap, and you should always make sure both players have agreed to the terms before anyone drops anything.
- Base storage container trading: For larger stacks or high-value items, place a storage container on a shared base, add your items, give the other player edit access, and have them take the items out before you remove access. This eliminates the risk of items disappearing mid-swap or being snatched by random passersby, and it’s the most secure method for trades involving more than 10,000 units worth of goods.
- Ship and multi-tool trading: To swap a ship or multi-tool, leave the item in a shared space (like your freighter hangar or a remote planet surface with no other players around) and have the other player interact with it to claim it. Note that you will not get your old ship or multi-tool back if you trade it this way, so only swap items you no longer want or have already made a backup of.
For trades involving units, the most common approach is to have the buyer drop the agreed-upon amount of units first, then have the seller drop or hand over the item. Units appear as physical pickups when dropped, so the seller can confirm the full amount is there before they give up their item. This method works for almost all small to medium value trades, and I’ve used it dozens of times without issue.
Common Trading Restrictions You Need to Know Before You Swap
Not every item in the game is eligible for trade, and there are a few hard limits you need to be aware of before you try to swap something with another player. Trying to trade restricted items will either result in the item disappearing or the other player being unable to pick it up, so save yourself the frustration by checking these rules first.
Quicksilver purchases are locked to your account permanently, so you can’t trade items like the Void Egg, custom base decorations, or exotic pets bought from the Anomaly store. Even if you drop a quicksilver item, other players won’t see it or be able to pick it up, so there’s no workaround for this restriction.
Nanites can’t be traded directly, but you can trade upgrade modules that you buy with nanites as long as they’re not installed on your gear. If you want to effectively swap nanites with another player, buy the upgrade modules they want first, then trade the modules to them. This is a common trick used by players to help new players get high-end upgrades faster.
Story-related exclusive items like the Atlas Pass v3, key story artifacts, or milestone rewards are tied to your personal progress, so even if you drop one, other players can’t pick it up. You also can’t trade frigate crews, base building parts you’ve unlocked via milestones, or your personal settlement, so don’t waste time trying to swap these items.
There’s also a limit to how many items you can drop at once: you can only drop up to 9999 of a single resource per drop, so for very large stacks (like 100,000 units of activated indium), you’ll need to make multiple drops to get the full amount to the other player. Stolen items (from raiding freighters or outposts) can be traded, but they won’t count for trade terminal milestones for the buyer, so it’s best to clean stolen items first by selling them to a trade terminal and buying them back if you want full value.
Pro Tips to Avoid Scams and Failed Trades
Even with the right methods, trading can go wrong if you don’t take basic precautions, especially when you’re swapping items with someone you’ve never played with before. I’ve seen dozens of new players get scammed out of rare S-class ships or thousands of units because they skipped these simple steps.
Always confirm the terms of the trade before you drop any items. Make sure both of you are clear on exactly what is being swapped, how much of each resource is included, and what the final exchange will look like. I’ve had people try to back out of trades halfway through because they claimed they “misheard” the terms, so sorting this out first saves everyone a headache.
If you’re trading with a stranger from a community group, ask for references from other group members first, or use a trusted middle man that both of you agree on. Most large No Man’s Sky community groups have dedicated trade moderators who will act as middle men for free to prevent scams, so don’t be afraid to ask for help if you’re trading something high value like a living ship or a fully upgraded freighter.
Test small trades first if you’re working with someone you don’t know. Swap 100 copper for 100 iron first to make sure they follow through on their end, before you trade something rare. This takes an extra 30 seconds, but it will save you from losing hours of hard work if the other person turns out to be a scammer. If you’re trading ships, make sure you have an empty slot in your ship inventory before you accept the trade, otherwise you’ll lose your current ship permanently with no way to recover it.
So what do you do if a trade goes wrong? Unfortunately, Hello Games doesn’t replace lost or stolen items from player trades, so you won’t be able to get your items back if you get scammed. That’s why taking these precautions is so important, and why most experienced players only trade with strangers in well-moderated community spaces with clear rules.
At the end of the day, if you’re asking can you trade with other players in no man's sky, the answer is a resounding yes, as long as you work within the game's existing systems and follow basic safety rules. Trading is one of the best parts of the game's multiplayer, it lets you help out new players who are short on resources, swap rare ships with your friends, and even build entire community economies around rare crafting materials. I've traded everything from stacks of activated indium to fully upgraded S-class explorers over the years, and as long as you take a few simple precautions, you won't run into any issues. Next time you're stuck for a specific resource, reach out to your friend list or the game's official community hubs, chances are someone has exactly what you need and is happy to swap for something you have extra of.
