If you’ve spent dozens of hours hopping across star systems in No Man’s Sky, you’ve probably stumbled across a charming pre-built settlement full of alien locals, rare resource rewards, and fun side quests to complete. It’s easy to get attached to the first settlement you claim, but sooner or later you’ll find another spot with better weather, closer to rare mineral deposits, or home to a species you want to build reputation with. That’s when the question hits: how many settlements can you have in No Man’s Sky? I’ve spent over 300 hours testing settlement limits, testing workarounds, and optimizing my own network of outposts across 12 different star systems, so I’ll break down everything you need to know in this post.
How Many Settlements Can You Have in No Man’s Sky Per Save File?
The official hard cap for permanent settlements per unmodded save file is 9, a limit that was introduced and expanded over multiple Hello Games updates, starting from the original 3-slot cap in the Frontiers update. This limit applies across all platforms, including PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, with no differences between cross-play and single-player saves.
9 permanent settlements per save file is more than enough for most players, even those who log hundreds of hours of playtime. Each settlement counts as one entry in your owned bases list, but it does not take away a significant chunk of your total 450 custom base slots, so you don’t have to choose between building custom bases and claiming pre-made settlements.
Expedition-exclusive settlements don’t count towards your permanent cap, because they are tied to temporary expedition save files that get converted to standard saves once the expedition ends. Any settlements you claim during an expedition will carry over to your main save, but they will still only count towards the 9-slot limit if you choose to keep them after the expedition wraps up. You can abandon expedition settlements just like regular ones to free up slots for spots you find later.
Key Rules for Claiming and Abandoning Settlements
Claiming a settlement is as simple as paying the initial registration fee and completing the first batch of settler quests, but there are a few unwritten rules you should follow to avoid wasting your limited slots. If you try to claim a 10th settlement, the game will give you an immediate pop-up warning that you’ve hit your cap, and you’ll have to abandon one of your existing settlements to proceed with the new claim.
Before you claim any new settlement, run through this quick checklist to make sure it’s worth using a slot for:
- You have an empty settlement slot left in your save file (you can check your total claimed settlements in the "Owned Bases" tab of your build menu)
- The settlement has a positive happiness rating above 50% to avoid frequent debt and dispute quests that take time away from exploration
- The settlement is located near resources you use regularly, like activated indium or storm crystals, to cut down on farming travel time
- You have at least 1 million units saved to cover initial settlement debt if you claim a larger, more developed outpost
You don’t lose any resources or upgrades from a settlement when you abandon it, but you will lose access to its daily resource payouts and any unique quests tied to that specific group of settlers. If you’ve already completed all the quests for a settlement and you only keep it for its resource rewards, you can abandon it guilt-free if you find a better spot with higher payout rates.
Abandoning a settlement takes effect immediately, so you can claim a new one right after you give up your old spot, no cooldown period required. Just make sure you collect any pending resource payouts before you abandon it, because you won’t be able to access that inventory once you give up ownership.
Tips to Maximize Your Settlement Slots Without Mods
You don’t need to fill all 9 slots right away, and in many cases, having fewer high-quality settlements will give you better rewards than filling every slot with low-effort, low-happiness outposts. I only keep 3 active settlements myself, one near my main base, one for activated indium farming, and one in a lush system I visit when I want a break from toxic storm planets, and that’s more than enough for my casual playthroughs.
Settlements in systems with 3 or more stars have higher quality resource rewards and higher chance of rare trader visits, so prioritize those for your limited slots. I once claimed a settlement in a frozen 3-star system just because it had a cute pet species roaming the area, and it ended up being one of my most used spots because the daily payout was 500+ frozen crystals every 24 hours, which I sell for millions of units a month. You don’t have to only pick settlements for practical reasons, if a spot feels fun, it’s worth using a slot for it.
You can also work on raising the happiness of each settlement to 70% or higher to unlock double daily resource payouts. This is as simple as resolving disputes quickly, investing in production buildings instead of decorative ones, and keeping settlement debt below 100,000 units at all times. A single high-happiness 3-star settlement will give you more resources per week than 4 low-happiness 1-star settlements, so don’t rush to fill every slot just to hit the cap.
So if you play multiplayer, you can visit other players’ settlements and even help them complete quests, but you can’t claim their outposts as your own. Don’t waste time trying to take over a friend’s well-developed settlement, because the game will block the claim request automatically.
Can You Increase the Settlement Limit With Mods?
If you play No Man’s Sky on PC, there are a handful of community-made mods that remove the 9-settlement cap entirely, letting you claim as many outposts as you want across the galaxy. These mods work by editing the game’s base limit parameters, and many of them also add extra features like larger settlement sizes, more building slots for each outpost, and higher resource payout limits.
Mods that adjust settlement limits can break your save file if you uninstall them later, because the base game will not recognize any extra settlements you added beyond the official 9-slot cap, and those extra outposts will disappear permanently. You also can’t use these mods if you play online multiplayer or participate in official expeditions, because Hello Games will flag your save as modified and you might be locked out of cross-play features or expedition rewards.
That means these mods are only a good fit for players who exclusively play single-player offline, and who are comfortable troubleshooting mod conflicts and save backup processes. For 90% of players, the official 9-slot cap is more than enough, and you won’t miss out on any content by sticking to the unmodded limit.
At the end of the day, the answer to how many settlements you can have in No Man’s Sky is flexible enough for most play styles, whether you want one cozy home base or a sprawling network of resource-generating outposts across the galaxy. Don’t feel pressured to fill all 9 slots right away, take your time exploring to find spots that fit your unique play needs, and don’t be afraid to abandon a settlement if it stops serving you. If you’ve found any fun hidden settlement spots, feel free to drop your tips in the comments below.
