If you’ve ever wandered a barren No Man’s Sky planet wondering how to unlock those fancy base building blueprints or exosuit upgrades you see other players using, you’re not alone. Buried technology is one of the most underrated, high-reward resources in the entire game, and it’s accessible to players within the first hour of gameplay. No late-game gear or expensive ship upgrades required to get started. This guide breaks down exactly how to get buried technology in No Man’s Sky, with tested tips I’ve used over 400+ hours of play to unlock every upgrade in the game without grinding missions for hours.
How to Get Buried Technology in No Man’s Sky: Required Gear First
You don’t need a fully kitted out exosuit or S-class multi-tool to start hunting for buried tech, but you do need two core tools you’ll unlock very early in the main quest line. First, your Analysis Visor, which you get during the opening tutorial when you first repair your multi-tool. Your Analysis Visor is the single most important tool for this task, as it highlights buried tech caches from up to 1000 meters away. Second, you’ll need the Terrain Manipulator attachment for your multi-tool, which unlocks shortly after you fix your ship for the first time. You can spot caches without it, but you won’t be able to dig through the dirt or rock to reach them.
If you have an exocraft, even the basic Roamer, it makes covering long distances on planets way faster, but it’s 100% optional. I’ve hunted hundreds of caches on foot just fine when I was still a new player with no extra vehicles. The only other thing I recommend bringing is a stack of sodium or oxygen for emergency hazard protection, especially if you’re exploring extreme weather planets.
Scan Planets and Locate Caches in Minutes
Before you land on any planet to hunt for buried tech, do a quick scan from your ship’s orbit first. Every planet has a stat for “buried technology” spawn rate, and you’ll see it listed in the scan results alongside weather and sentinel activity. Scan every planet from orbit first to filter out worlds with low buried tech spawn rates, so you don’t waste time wandering a planet that only has 2-3 caches total. Lush, desert, and frozen planets usually have the highest spawn rates, while barren and dead planets tend to have far fewer caches.
Once you land, activate your Analysis Visor and sweep the horizon. Buried tech caches show up as a small, chip-shaped white icon with a distance marker next to it. If you don’t see any right away, walk a few hundred meters in any direction and scan again. Caches spawn randomly, but they’re almost always clustered near points of interest like ancient ruins, abandoned outposts, or monoliths. If you spot one of those landmarks, stick around the immediate area. I once found 7 caches within a 150 meter radius of a small abandoned farm on a lush planet, which gave me enough modules to unlock all my base storage upgrades in one go.
Dig Up Caches Efficiently to Maximize Your Yield
Once you’ve marked a cache with a waypoint, head over to the marked location. When you get within 20 meters, you’ll see the signal strength on your visor start to pulse, and you can pull out your Terrain Manipulator to start digging. You don’t need to dig a giant, messy hole to reach the cache. Aim the manipulator directly at the spot the marker is hovering over, and dig straight down 1-3 meters in most cases. Shallow caches are the most common, and you’ll usually see the glowing silver pod pop up after just a few seconds of digging.
Each buried technology pod gives you 1-3 Buried Technology Modules, the unique currency used to unlock dozens of exclusive upgrades and blueprints you can’t buy anywhere else. These modules can be redeemed at any Construction Research Unit, either on your base or at the Space Anomaly. The most popular rewards you can unlock with these modules include:
- Rare base building blueprints for automated farming units, large storage silos, and decorative building parts
- Exosuit upgrade schematics for extra hazard protection, increased inventory slots, and faster sprint speed
- Multi-tool enhancements that boost mining speed, increase scan range, and add extra damage for combat
- Exclusive ship customization parts and freighter upgrade blueprints that cost twice as much if you buy them with units
If you dig up a cache and only get 1 module, don’t get frustrated. The drop rate is random, but you’ll usually average 2 modules per cache if you’re hunting on a high-spawn-rate planet. You can also sometimes find extra modules tucked inside abandoned buildings near cache clusters, so it’s worth popping into any nearby structures while you’re exploring.
Common Mistakes That Waste Your Time and Resources
Hunting for buried tech is pretty straightforward, but there are a few common mistakes new players make that turn a quick, rewarding activity into a frustrating grind. First, don’t chase caches that are too far away on extreme weather or high-sentinel planets. If you’re on a planet where toxic rain hits every 2 minutes or sentinels attack on sight, wandering 1km away from your ship is a surefire way to run out of hazard protection or get ambushed before you get back. Never chase a buried tech cache that’s more than 500 meters away on an extreme weather planet without a fully upgraded hazard suit and plenty of survival resources.
Second, don’t waste your units buying cache locations from NPCs. A lot of outpost NPCs will offer to mark a buried tech site for 15,000 to 25,000 units, which is a total ripoff. You don’t need to pay for buried tech locations from NPCs, your Analysis Visor will find you 3-4 caches in 10 minutes for free. Save your units for ship upgrades or exosuit slot expansions instead. Third, don’t forget to mark high-yield planets when you find them. If you land on a planet that has dozens of buried tech caches, low sentinel activity, and mild weather, add a custom tag to it in your navigation menu. Mark high-yield buried tech planets with a custom tag so you can return whenever you need more modules without having to search for a new world. I still have 3 of these planets saved from my first 20 hours of play, and I go back to them every time I start a new base or need to unlock a new set of upgrades.
Buried technology is one of the most accessible, high-reward activities in No Man’s Sky, and it’s perfect for players of all skill levels. You don’t need to grind story missions, trade rare resources, or fight dangerous pirates to get your hands on the best upgrades in the game. Once you get the hang of how to get buried technology in No Man's Sky, you’ll be able to unlock all the base building, exosuit, and multi-tool upgrades you want in a fraction of the time it takes other players. Next time you land on a new planet, take 10 minutes to sweep the area with your visor and dig up a couple of caches. You’ll be shocked how quickly the modules add up, and you’ll never have to grind for units to buy expensive blueprints again.
