When I first started playing No Man's Sky, I spent three infuriating hours hopping between barren planets looking for copper to fix my broken launch thruster. I had no clue what signs to look for, and kept landing on worlds that had zero of the resource I desperately needed. If you’ve ever stared at your crafting menu wondering how to find copper in No Man's Sky without wasting half your play session flying between random rocks, you’re in the right place. These are the same tips I use now to stockpile thousands of units of copper in under 20 minutes, no fancy upgrades required to get started.
Scan System Planets First to Spot Copper Deposits Before Landing
The biggest mistake new players make is landing on a random planet and wandering around hoping to stumble on copper. You can cut out 90% of that wasted effort by checking a planet’s resource list before you even touch down. When you’re in your starship looking at the system map, hover over each planet to pull up its details panel. Look for the "Copper" tag listed under a planet's core resources to confirm it exists there before you warp or fly over.
Copper only spawns on planets with non-barren atmospheres, so you can skip dead, airless worlds entirely to save fuel. If you’ve upgraded your starship’s scanner, you’ll also be able to see how abundant copper is on the planet, from “rare” to “abundant”. I always prioritize abundant copper planets if I’m farming for a big build, since deposits are closer together and easier to find. But even if a planet only has rare copper, it’s still worth landing if you just need a small amount for a quick repair.
How to Find Copper in No Man's Sky On-Planet With Your Handheld Scanner
Once you land on a confirmed copper-rich planet, pull out your multi-tool’s terrain scanner to start hunting. You don’t have to wander aimlessly; the scanner will mark all nearby resource deposits for you. Copper shows up as a bright teal icon on your handheld scanner, so you can spot it from hundreds of units away even if it’s hidden behind hills or buried under dirt.
When you’re scanning, prioritize these markers in order to save time:
Upgrade your scanner's range module as soon as you can to cover twice as much ground with each scan. If you have a roaming exocraft, use its built-in scanner instead—it has a 3x larger range than your handheld tool, so you can drive across the planet and find deposits in a fraction of the time. I keep a Roamer exocraft parked on my go-to copper farming planet, and I can find four full deposits in 10 minutes flat with it.
Farm Copper Efficiently Without Wasting Resources
Finding copper is only half the battle; you want to mine as much as possible without wasting multi-tool durability or triggering unwanted Sentinel attacks. First, use a multi-tool with a high-power mining laser if you have one. Upgraded mining lasers cut through deposit rock 2x faster, and often drop extra bonus copper units as you mine. You don’t need a fully upgraded laser to get good results, even a single B-grade mining upgrade will make a huge difference.
If you find a large copper deposit, don’t just mine the part that’s sticking out of the ground. Most large deposits extend 10-20 units below the surface, so dig down a little with your terrain manipulator to expose the full deposit before you start mining. You’ll get 2-3x more copper per deposit this way, instead of leaving most of it buried under the dirt.
If you plan to farm copper regularly, place a mineral extractor directly on top of a large copper deposit and hook it up to a supply depot. Once it’s set up, it will automatically mine copper for you 24/7, even when you’re off exploring other planets. I have three extractors running on an abundant copper planet near my main base, and I can collect 5,000+ units of copper every time I swing by, no mining required. Just make sure the planet you set up on doesn’t have aggressive Sentinels, or they’ll attack your extractors when you’re gone.
Alternative Ways to Get Copper If You Can’t Find a Deposit
Sometimes you’ll jump into a new system and none of the planets have copper, and you don’t have enough warp fuel to go look for another system. That’s when these alternative methods come in handy, especially if you only need a small amount of copper for a repair or craft.
The fastest option is to buy copper from space station or settlement trade terminals. It’s a little pricy, usually running for 30-40 units per piece, but it’s worth it if you’re stuck and can’t find any deposits. You can also break down salvage technology and old tech modules you find in abandoned buildings or wrecked starships for a chance to get copper as a byproduct. I’ve gotten up to 80 units of copper from breaking down a single damaged navigation module before, which was enough to fix my launch thruster and get off a dead planet.
If you have a portable refiner, you can also craft copper from other resources if you have extra. The standard recipe uses 2 units of ferrite dust and 1 unit of oxygen to make 1 unit of copper, which is perfect if you’re stuck on a barren planet with lots of rock and no copper deposits. It’s not efficient for bulk farming, but it’s a lifesaver when you’re in a pinch.
Copper is one of the most versatile resources in the game, used for everything from launch thruster repairs to base wiring and advanced technology upgrades. Knowing how to find copper in No Man's Sky cuts out so much of the frustrating guesswork that comes with early-game exploration, and lets you focus on the parts of the game you actually enjoy. Next time you’re running low, skip the random planet hopping, use these tips, and you’ll have more copper than you know what to do with in no time.
