If you’ve ever wandered up to a glowing locked crate on a desolate alien planet or tried to access a restricted space station terminal only to get a red denial message, you already know how essential it is to figure out how to get an atlas pass in no man's sky. I still remember my first 10 hours of gameplay hoarding navigation data and ignoring Atlas quests entirely, until I realized I was missing out on thousands of credits worth of rare resources and hidden lore entries. This guide breaks down every step to unlock all three tiers of the pass, no endless grinding required, so you can stop leaving valuable loot behind on every planet you visit.
Understanding the Three Atlas Pass Tiers and Their Uses
Before you start hunting for blueprints, it helps to know what each pass tier does, so you can prioritize which to unlock first based on your playstyle. Atlas Pass V1 is the most common and most useful for early-game players, as it unlocks standard locked crates on planetary surfaces, basic restricted doors in space station common areas, and low-security outpost terminals. Most of these caches hold nanites, rare crafting materials, or basic upgrade modules, so unlocking V1 first will give you an immediate boost to your progression.
Atlas Pass V2 is for mid-game players who spend a lot of time building colonies or exploring freighters. It opens mid-tier storage caches in planetary settlements, utility terminals on NPC freighters, and restricted storage rooms in space station industrial wings. You’ll find higher-value resources here, including rare building materials and mid-tier ship upgrade modules.
Atlas Pass V3 is the highest tier, and it unlocks every restricted area in the game. This includes ancient ruin vaults with hidden lore and S-class upgrade modules, restricted wings on capital ships, and high-security galactic trade crates that can hold millions of credits worth of rare goods. Best of all, higher tiers cover all lower ones, so once you have V3, you never need to carry V1 or V2 again.
How to Get an Atlas Pass in No Man’s Sky: Core Unlock Steps
There are two reliable ways to unlock all Atlas Pass blueprints, so you can pick the one that fits your playstyle. The fastest method is following the main Atlas Path quest, which triggers automatically after you make your first three interstellar warps. You’ll get a prompt to visit an Atlas station, and when you interact with the central Atlas interface, you’ll receive the V1 blueprint immediately.
As you progress through the Atlas Path milestones, you’ll unlock V2 and V3 blueprints automatically as you turn in required items to Atlas stations. You don’t have to commit to the Atlas Path ending to keep these blueprints, either. You can abandon the quest at any time after unlocking the recipes, and you’ll still be able to craft and use the passes for the rest of your playthrough.
If you prefer to ignore the main quest entirely and focus on free exploration, you can find all pass blueprints in secured manufacturing facilities on random planets. To find these, buy secure facility planetary charts from the cartographer on any space station, then use them to mark a facility location on your current planet. Solve the access puzzle at the facility door (usually a simple number or symbol matching challenge), and interact with the terminal inside to get a random blueprint. If you don’t already have the pass tiers unlocked, the terminal has a 70% chance of giving you a pass blueprint first, before other crafting recipes.
Fastest Ways to Farm Materials for All Atlas Pass Tiers
Once you have the blueprints, you only need to craft each pass once, since they never break or expire. The material requirements are low even for new players, but there are a few tricks to cut down on farming time if you’re in a hurry to unlock restricted areas. The full material list for each tier is below:
You don’t have to craft each tier in order, either. If you unlock the V3 blueprint first, you can craft it immediately without making V1 or V2, and it will work for all restricted areas. Many players who follow the free exploration route end up unlocking V3 first, just from raiding manufacturing facilities early on.
If you’re playing multiplayer, you can also ask a friend who already has the pass tiers to craft extra copies for you. Passes are tradeable, so you can get all three tiers within minutes of starting a new save if you have a more experienced friend to help out.
Common Atlas Pass Mistakes to Avoid
Even though the pass is a relatively simple upgrade, a lot of new players make avoidable mistakes that slow down their unlock or waste valuable resources. The biggest mistake I see is wasting dozens of navigation data on random planetary charts when they’re hunting for pass blueprints. Always buy secure facility-specific charts from the cartographer, as they have a far higher chance of leading you to a location with a pass blueprint than generic exploration charts.
Another common mistake is crafting multiple copies of the same pass tier. Since passes never degrade, you only need one copy of each tier you own, so don’t waste Antimatter or Hot Ice making spares. The only exception is if you plan to give extra copies to friends in multiplayer, but you can always craft those on demand when you need them.
Don’t sleep on low-tier V1 crates early on, either. A lot of new players assume the rewards aren’t worth the effort, but I’ve found multiple S-class multitool and ship upgrade modules in V1 crates on starting planets. These upgrades can cut your resource farming time in half, and save you hundreds of thousands of units you would have spent buying upgrades from vendors.
Finally, don’t worry if you accidentally abandon the Atlas Path quest before unlocking all pass tiers. You can reactivate the quest at any time by visiting a space station anomaly and talking to the Polo NPC, who will give you a new Atlas Path marker for free. There’s no way to permanently lock yourself out of getting the pass, no matter what choices you make in your playthrough.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to get an atlas pass in no man's sky is one of the most impactful early-game upgrades you can unlock, and it only takes a few hours of focused gameplay to get all three tiers if you follow the steps above. You don't have to follow the main quest if you prefer a more casual exploration playstyle, and the materials are accessible even for brand new players who haven't left their first star system yet. Next time you spot a glowing locked crate on your travels, you'll have the tool you need to crack it open and grab whatever rare rewards are waiting inside.
