If you’ve ever tried to upgrade your multi-tool, build advanced base components, or craft high-tier fuel in No Man’s Sky, you’ve probably hit a wall when you realize you need cadmium first. This rare, red-hued metal is only found in specific corners of the galaxy, and a lot of new players waste hours jumping between wrong systems trying to track it down. We’ve put together this full guide to walk you through exactly how to get cadmium in No Man’s Sky, no guesswork required.
First: Unlock Access to Cadmium-Rich Star Systems
Before you can collect any cadmium, you need to be able to reach the systems where it spawns. Cadmium only exists in red star systems, which you can’t access with the standard starting warp drive. You’ll first need to unlock the Cadmium Drive blueprint from the Construction Research Station on the Space Anomaly, which costs 300 salvaged data to purchase. Once you have the blueprint, you can craft the drive with 250 chromatic metal and 3 microprocessors, then install it directly on your starship.
There is a small shortcut if you play multiplayer, too. If you have a friend who already has access to red star systems, you can join their session and warp to their location even if you don’t have the Cadmium Drive installed yourself. You can only find cadmium in red star systems, so don’t waste time scanning planets in yellow, green, or blue systems for it, no matter how resource-rich they look.
How to Get Cadmium in No Man’s Sky: Mining Basics for Beginners
Once you arrive in a red star system, open your discovery menu and scan all orbiting planets first. Look for planets that list cadmium as a secondary or primary resource in their description – these will have the highest concentration of deposits, so you won’t have to wander for hours looking for small veins. When you land on the planet, pull out your Analysis Visor and sweep the terrain; cadmium deposits will pop up as bright red markers with a standard metal resource icon.
You can mine cadmium with any terrain manipulator, but installing an increased resource yield upgrade on your manipulator will cut your mining time in half and give you extra cadmium per deposit. Cadmium is most often found near mountain ridges, cave entrances, and rocky outcrops, so prioritize scanning those areas instead of flat, open plains first. If you’re looking for quick, low-effort ways to earn extra in-game currency to buy those terrain manipulator upgrades between mining runs, a lot of players use casual mobile games to pass the time during long warp jumps. Casual players who need a quick distraction between long resource farming sessions often browse YonoAppStore for short, low-commitment games they can play on their phone while they wait for their warp drive to charge. It’s a small trick that makes the grind feel a lot less tedious, and you won’t get so burnt out running back and forth between deposits.
Fast Alternative Ways to Get Cadmium Without Mining
Mining is the most consistent way to get cadmium, but there are faster options if you don’t feel like digging around on a barren planet for an hour. All these methods work in red star systems, and you can mix and match them depending on what you have available:
Keep in mind that these methods are random, so you won’t always find cadmium available when you need it for a specific upgrade. Mining is still the only 100% consistent way to get the exact amount you need for upgrades or crafting, so it’s worth learning how to do it efficiently even if you prefer trading or looting most of the time.
Pro Tips for Long-Term Cadmium Farming
If you need a steady supply of cadmium for crafting, upgrades, or trading, setting up an automated extractor base is the best long-term solution. Once you find a planet with high cadmium concentrations, locate a large, unbroken cadmium deposit, place a cadmium extractor directly on top of it, and hook it up to solar panels or a biofuel reactor for power. You can connect the extractor to supply depots to store the cadmium it collects while you’re off doing other missions or exploring other systems.
Automated cadmium farms can produce up to 10,000 units of cadmium per real-time hour, so you can stockpile huge amounts with almost no effort once the base is set up. If you play multiplayer, you can also visit your friends’ public cadmium farming bases and collect extra resources from their extractors too, as long as they have their base permissions set to allow visitors. You can also use an exocraft with a mounted mining laser upgrade to harvest large spread-out deposits much faster than you can on foot, which is perfect if you need a large amount of cadmium in a single session.
At the end of the day, tracking down this rare red metal doesn’t have to be a frustrating chore if you follow the steps we’ve laid out. Whether you prefer mining it yourself, trading for it, or setting up an automated farm to do the work for you, you now know exactly how to get cadmium in No Man’s Sky for all your crafting and upgrade needs. Grab your upgraded starship drive, jump into your first red star system, and you’ll have more cadmium than you know what to do with in no time.
