You just stumbled on an S-class multi-tool upgrade you’ve been chasing for weeks, but your nanite balance is sitting at 200, and you need 3,500 to buy it. If that’s ever been you, you’ve probably asked yourself how do i get nanites in No Man's Sky fast, without wasting hours grinding boring, repetitive tasks. I’ve put over 400 hours into the game across three different saves, so I’ve tested every possible method of nanite farming in No Man's Sky, from early-game friendly tricks to late-game mass farming runs that net you 10,000+ nanites an hour. This guide skips the broken glitches that get patched out every update, and only covers methods that work consistently no matter what platform you play on.
How Do I Get Nanites in No Man's Sky for Early-Game Players?
If you’re just starting out and don’t have a high-end ship, upgraded scanners, or a freighter, you don’t have to stress about slow nanite gains. The best methods for new players rely on basic mechanics you already have access to from the first hour of gameplay. First, scanning all flora and fauna you come across on new planets. Every new creature you scan gives 500 nanites when you upload the discovery to the server, new plants give 250, and fully scanning all fauna on a planet gives an extra 2,500 nanite bonus. I once spent 45 minutes exploring a lush forest planet and walked away with 7,000 nanites just from scanning, no extra work required.
Second, sell discarded upgrade modules you find in planetary crates, crashed ships, and minor points of interest. You’ll mostly find C and B class modules early on, which sell for 200 and 500 nanites respectively. You won’t need most of these low-tier upgrades until you have a more established loadout, so selling them is an easy way to pad your balance fast. Just don’t sell S-class modules if you get lucky enough to find one early, they’re way harder to track down than the nanites you’ll get for selling them.
Mid-Game Nanite Farming Methods That Require Minimal Effort
Once you have a basic freighter and a few upgraded scanners, you can move to more efficient methods that give higher returns for less time invested. If you’re still asking how do i get nanites in No Man's Sky without running around scanning every bug you see, derelict freighters are your best bet. First, run derelict freighter missions whenever you can. You can get free derelict freighter coordinates from NPCs at space stations, or buy them for a small amount of navigation data. Each run takes 15-20 minutes, and you’ll earn 2,000 to 5,000 nanites just from looting the interior, plus extra upgrade modules you can sell for even more.
Another great mid-game method is refining tainted metal you collect from killing pirates or looting destroyed freighter convoys. 1 unit of tainted metal refines into 5 nanites, so a full stack of 999 tainted metal gives you almost 5,000 nanites with almost no extra work. I usually keep a stack of tainted metal in my freighter inventory for when I need a quick nanite top up, instead of planning a full farming run. It’s perfect for when you find a surprise upgrade you want to buy right away.
Late-Game Mass Nanite Farming for Players Who Want Thousands Per Hour
If you’ve already beaten the main story and have access to a fully upgraded freighter and exocraft, you can scale your farming to get way more nanites in less time. If you want to farm nanites in No Man's Sky in bulk, these methods will get you way more return for your time. First, farming and selling runaway mould you find on toxic or irradiated planets. Runaway mould spawns in large glowing clusters, and each unit sells for 20 nanites. A full stack of 9999 runaway mould gives you almost 200,000 nanites, which is enough to buy almost any upgrade you want. Use an exocraft with a scanner upgrade to locate clusters fast, you can cover 10x more ground than you can on foot.
There are a few extra small tricks you can use to boost your late-game nanite gains even more, with barely any extra effort:
- Always carry a stack of navigation data to trade for planetary charts that point to points of interest with high nanite rewards
- Complete weekly community missions, which often give 10,000+ nanites as a reward for 10 minutes of simple work
- Sell surplus S-class upgrades you get from frigate expeditions, these can net 3,500 nanites each with no extra effort on your part
Don’t waste time on glitch methods that promise millions of nanites in 10 minutes, almost all of them get patched within a month, and you risk corrupting your save if you mess up the steps. The legitimate methods are consistent, and you won’t lose all your progress just for chasing a quick nanite gain.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Nanites
A lot of players waste hours on low-effort methods that don’t give enough return for their time, so it’s worth pointing out what to skip to make your farming as efficient as possible. First, don’t waste nanites on low-tier upgrade modules that you’re just going to replace in a few hours. It’s better to save up for A or S class upgrades instead of wasting 500 nanites on a C-class module that gives +2% damage. You’ll end up spending far more nanites replacing cheap upgrades than you would just waiting for a better one.
Second, don’t sell rare items like ancient artifact plates or alien relics for nanites. You can get way more units for them at trade terminals, and units are way easier to farm than nanites. Save those rare items for when you need to buy a new ship or freighter, not for small nanite gains. Another mistake I see all the time is skipping scanning creatures you come across while exploring. Even if you’re in a hurry to get to a mission marker, taking 10 seconds to scan a new creature gives you 500 nanites for almost no effort, and it adds up really fast. I used to skip scanning all the time when I first started playing, and I realized I was missing out on tens of thousands of nanites over my first 100 hours of play.
At the end of the day, there's no "best" answer to how do i get nanites in No Man's Sky, the right method depends on how far you are in the game and what you enjoy doing. If you love exploring, scanning fauna and flora is the perfect low-stress way to build up your balance. If you prefer combat, farming tainted metal from pirates will feel way less like a chore than running around a planet scanning plants. No matter what method you pick, you'll never have to pass up that S-class upgrade you've been wanting again if you keep these tips in mind.
