I spent my first 20 hours of No Man's Sky grinding alone, hopping between dead planets to mine ferrite and fix my busted starship, before I realized half the game's best content is built for groups. If you're tired of fending off sentinels by yourself or want a hand taking down that pirate freighter you spotted last session, you're probably looking for how to find other players in No Man's Sky. I've tested every method over the last three years of playing, from random in-game matchmaking to community group calls, and these are the only approaches that work consistently, no matter what platform you play on.
How to Find Other Players in No Man's Sky Using In-Game Matchmaking Tools
The easiest place to start is with the game's built-in multiplayer tools, which you don't have to leave your session to access. First, ensure your game is set to "Online" mode in the network settings — if you accidentally left it on offline or solo mode, no other players will show up in your instance, even if they're in the exact same star system. You can also toggle PvP on or off here, depending on whether you want to engage in friendly combat or stick to PvE only.
Your main hub for random matchmaking is the Space Anomaly's Nexus terminal, which you unlock after completing the first few hours of the main story. The Nexus lists dozens of shared missions, from settlement defense runs to exotic resource hunting expeditions, that you can join instantly with a single click. Most players who join these missions are open to teaming up long-term if you play well together, so don't be shy to ask if they want to keep exploring after the mission ends. The only downside to this method is that you can't filter by playstyle, so you might end up paired with a permadeath player if you're on casual mode, but that's rare.
Find Players Via Shared Coordinates and Community Hubs
If you want more control over who you meet, you can head to pre-vetted community hotspots that players have shared online. Every location in No Man's Sky has a unique set of portal glyph coordinates that you can input into any portal in the galaxy to warp directly to that spot, no matter how far away it is from your current system. Thousands of players share these coordinates on social media and community forums, pointing to popular gathering spots that get hundreds of visitors every week.
Some of the most common player hotspots you can visit right now include:
- Community-built trade hubs with high-demand exotic ship and multitool spawns
- S-class freighter farming locations where groups grind for top-tier fleet ships
- Player-run event spaces for building contests, roleplay, and holiday gatherings
- Shared survival mode bases where veteran players leave free resources for new travelers
One important note: avoid landing on unmarked planets with PvP enabled unless you're prepared for unprompted combat. A small subset of players use shared coordinates to troll unsuspecting visitors, so stick to well-documented, community-moderated hubs if you're just looking to make friends. I once accidentally warped to a PvP hotspot looking for a rare ship and got blown up within 30 seconds of landing, so I learned this lesson the hard way.
Connect With Players Through Official and Fan Community Spaces
If you want to find players who match your exact playstyle, your best bet is to look outside the game in dedicated No Man's Sky communities. The official Hello Games Discord server has tens of thousands of active members, with separate channels for casual players, survival fans, permadeath runners, and even roleplay groups. You can post a quick note with your platform, playstyle, and what you're looking to do (for example, "PS5 casual player looking for people to build a shared base with") and you'll usually get a few responses within 10 minutes.
The r/NoMansSkyTheGame subreddit also has a weekly friend-finder thread, where hundreds of players post their cross-platform friend codes every week. No Man's Sky supports full crossplay across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, so you don't have to worry about platform limitations when adding friends. When posting in these spaces, be specific about what you want to do — if you just say "looking for friends" you'll get fewer responses than if you say "looking for a group to grind the latest expedition with".
You can also join platform-specific groups, like Steam communities or Xbox clubs, if you want to stick to players on the same hardware as you. I met my regular 3-person crew through a Discord building contest two years ago, and we still log on every weekend to explore new galaxies and work on our shared floating base.
Tips to Make Meeting Up With Other Players Smooth and Successful
Once you've found a player or group you want to meet up with, there are a few small steps you can take to avoid the common headaches that come with No Man's Sky's sometimes wonky multiplayer. First, enable "allow friend teleports" in your network settings so other people can warp directly to your location without having to input portal coordinates. This cuts down the time it takes to meet up from 10 minutes to 10 seconds, especially if you're in a remote part of the galaxy.
If you're having trouble syncing to the same instance as another player, both of you warp to the Space Anomaly first, then warp to your target location together. The Anomaly acts as a universal sync point, so it fixes 90% of multiplayer connection issues I've run into. You should also double check that you're both on the same game version — if one of you hasn't downloaded the latest update, you won't be able to see each other at all.
If you're inviting someone to your base, only give them edit permissions if you trust them. While most players are friendly, there are a small number of trolls who will destroy builds or steal resources from unprotected bases. You can adjust permission settings for each individual friend, so you can give edit access to your regular crew and keep it turned off for new people you meet.
No Man's Sky's seemingly endless galaxy feels a lot smaller and more fun when you're exploring it with other people. Whether you're looking for a one-time partner to take down a tough pirate crew or a long-term group to build a galaxy-spanning base with, knowing how to find other players in No Man's Sky opens up hundreds of hours of extra content you'd never get to experience playing alone. Don't be afraid to reach out to people in missions or community spaces — most players are just as happy to make a new friend as you are.
