If you’ve ever spent 3 hours farming storm crystals just to lose half your inventory when a pirate ambush blows up your hauler, you know how frustrating resource grinding in No Man’s Sky can get. That’s why so many players look for how to duplicate items in No Man’s Sky, to cut down on tedious farming and spend more time exploring the 18 quintillion planets the game has to offer. I’ve spent dozens of hours testing every possible duplication method that doesn’t require mods or external tools, so you don’t have to waste time on tricks that got patched months ago. I should note first: I only recommend using these methods in single player, or with friends who agree you’re using exploits. Using them in public lobbies to grief or sell duplicated items for unfair profit can get you reported, and Hello Games has restricted accounts for exploit abuse in the past.
How to Duplicate Items in No Man’s Sky: The Ship Inventory Method
If you’ve been searching for a reliable way how to duplicate items in No Man’s Sky that works across all platforms, this is the method I recommend to all my friends. It works for PC, PS5, Xbox, and Switch, and has an almost 100% success rate if you follow the steps correctly. It only works for stackable items, so you can’t duplicate entire ships or multi-tools with this trick, but it’s perfect for rare resources, crafted products, and stackable upgrade modules. You’ll need at least two ships you can summon to the same location, plus a stack of at least 2 of the item you want to duplicate to make this work.
Let's walk through the steps: first, land both ships on a flat, unobstructed surface on any planet, and make sure you’re not in a sentinel-heavy area so you won’t get interrupted. Transfer the full stack of the item you want to duplicate to the cargo hold of your secondary ship, then get in the pilot seat of that ship. Immediately exit the ship, and open the ship’s inventory while you’re standing next to it. Transfer half the stack to your personal inventory, then quickly summon your primary ship and get in its pilot seat. When you load into the primary ship’s inventory, you’ll see the full stack still in the secondary ship’s hold, plus the half stack in your personal inventory.
Make sure you don’t save your game between transferring the half stack and entering your primary ship, or the glitch won’t work. The biggest upside of this method is it has almost no risk of crashing your game, and it’s never been a bannable offense in single player mode. The only downside is you can only duplicate stackable items, so it won’t work for unique gear.
Base Storage Duplication: For Non-Stackable Unique Items
If you want to duplicate unique, non-stackable items like S-class upgrade modules, exotic ship upgrades, or rare base building parts, the base storage method is your best bet. This is one of the only ways how to duplicate items in No Man’s Sky that works for non-stackable gear, so it’s a good one to keep in your back pocket. This method requires you to have a base with at least two storage containers built, and it works best if your base is far away from any trading posts or NPC spawns that could interrupt the process.
First, place the unique item you want to duplicate in the first storage container, then save your game manually by interacting with a save beacon. Next, pick up the storage container and place it in your personal inventory, then immediately place the second empty storage container in the exact same spot the first one was. Open the second storage container, and you’ll find the unique item is still inside, even though you have the first container in your inventory. This method only works if you don’t open your inventory between picking up the first container and placing the second one, so make sure you have the second container in your quick bar before you start.
I’ve used this method to duplicate S-class hyperdrive upgrades for all my ships, and it’s saved me dozens of hours of farming frigate missions to get rare upgrades. The only catch is this method doesn’t work on stackable items, so you’ll have to use the ship inventory method for resources and crafted goods.
Important Rules to Avoid Bans or Glitch Failures
A lot of players worry about getting banned for using duplication glitches, and while Hello Games rarely bans players for single player exploits, there are a few rules you should follow to stay safe and avoid losing your progress. Most of the horror stories you hear about players getting banned for using duplication glitches come from people who ignored these rules, not from people who use safe, tested methods in single player. Let's break down the most important ones in a simple list:
- Never use duplication glitches in public multiplayer lobbies, especially if you’re playing with random players. Duplicated items can break the in-game economy for other players, and reports from other players can lead to your account getting restricted.
- Always back up your save file before trying any duplication method, especially if you’re playing on PC. While the methods listed here are safe, rare glitches can occasionally corrupt inventory data if you do them wrong.
- Don’t duplicate and sell more than 10 million units worth of items at a single trading post. The game’s anti-exploit system flags unusually large sales, and it may reset your unit balance if you sell too many duplicated items at once.
- Never try to duplicate mission-critical items for the main story line, as this can break quest progression and leave you stuck unable to complete core story content.
I learned this last one the hard way a few years back, when I duplicated a story-related artifact to skip a fetch quest, and I ended up having to restart my entire playthrough because the quest wouldn’t trigger after that. Save yourself the headache and only use these methods for non-story, gameplay-related items. It’s also a good idea to avoid sharing duplicated items with random players, even if they ask for them, because you could get associated with exploit abuse if they report the item or use it to grief other players.
When to Use Duplication, and When to Grind Normally
A common misconception is that using duplication glitches ruins the fun of No Man’s Sky, but that’s not true for every player. For me, duplication is a tool to cut out the parts of the game I don’t enjoy, so I can spend more time on the parts I love. For example, I hate farming activated indium for hours to build a large base, so I’ll duplicate a small stack of it to get enough materials to build what I want. But I still grind for rare explorer ships and S-class multi-tools normally, because hunting for those is the part of the game I enjoy most.
If you’re a new player, I recommend not using any duplication methods for your first 20 hours of play, so you can get a feel for the game’s normal resource loop and understand what items are actually worth duplicating. If you jump straight to duplicating everything right when you start, you’ll likely get bored of the game very quickly, because there’s no sense of progression to keep you engaged. You’ll have every upgrade and every resource you could ever need within an hour, and there’s no challenge left to push you to explore new planets.
For more experienced players, duplication is a great way to test out crazy base builds, fully upgrade your fleet of ships, or prepare for long deep space exploration trips without spending 10 hours prepping resources. You don’t have to justify using these methods to anyone, as long as you’re not ruining the game for other people. That's the beauty of a sandbox game like No Man's Sky, you can play it however you want.
At the end of the day, learning how to duplicate items in No Man's Sky is all about making the game work for your playstyle, not against it. All the methods I shared here are tested and working for the current game version, and as long as you follow the safety rules I laid out, you won’t have to worry about losing progress or getting banned. Next time you’re tired of farming the same resource for the third time that week, give one of these methods a try, and spend more time exploring weird alien worlds, building crazy bases, or hunting for rare ships, whatever makes the game fun for you. Just remember to take it slow if you’re new, and don’t ruin the experience for other players in public lobbies.
