If you’ve ever stood in front of a starship upgrade terminal halfway through building a hyperdrive range boost, or tried to craft a stack of hazard protection filters for a frozen planet expedition, you know how frustrating it is to run out of core resources mid-project. One of the most commonly overlooked but universally useful resources in the game is chlorine, and if you’re new to interstellar travel, you might not know how to get chlorine in No Man’s Sky reliably without wasting hours flying between random planets. I’ve spent hundreds of hours farming resources for base builds, trade runs, and community expeditions, and I’ve tested every method of collecting chlorine out there to find the fastest, lowest-effort options for every play style.
How to Get Chlorine in No Man’s Sky: 3 Basic Location Methods
The first thing you need to know is that chlorine doesn’t spawn on every type of planet, so you don’t want to waste your time scanning barren or scorched worlds for raw deposits. These are the three easiest places to find chlorine in its raw or convertible form without any advanced equipment:
- Water-rich ocean planets: Raw chlorine deposits spawn on the seabed of almost all deep ocean worlds, and you can scan for them with your terrain manipulator as soon as you land. You don’t even need a diving suit upgrade for shallow deposits close to shore.
- Salt deposits on arid/desert planets: If you don’t want to deal with underwater navigation, you can collect salt from vast desert flat deposits, then refine 2 units of salt into 1 unit of chlorine with a basic portable refiner.
- Atmospheric harvesting on gas giants: Once you have a freighter with atmospheric extractors installed, you can park it above any gas giant marked with a chlorine atmosphere signature and passively collect hundreds of units per hour without lifting a finger. It’s by far the most low-effort method for late-game players, as you don’t have to land or do any manual mining once your extractors are set up.
For new players who haven’t unlocked freighter upgrades yet, the desert planet salt method is by far the most accessible. I used this trick for my first 20 hours of play, and I could stock up 500 units of chlorine in less than 15 minutes on a large salt flat. Just make sure you bring extra fuel for your terrain manipulator, because salt deposits are usually very large and you can mine a full stack in one go if you don’t run out of power.
Advanced Passive Chlorine Farming for Long-Term Stockpiles
Once you have a base established and a few refiners unlocked, you can set up a passive chlorine farm that generates thousands of units a day without any manual mining. The trick relies on the refiner duplication glitch that’s confirmed safe for all game modes – no, it won’t get you banned, and Hello Games has left it in place for years because it’s seen as a quality of life feature for players who don’t want to spend all their time grinding resources.
To set it up, you’ll need at least 1 unit of chlorine, 1 unit of oxygen, and two large refiners connected to your base power grid. Put 1 chlorine and 2 oxygen in the first refiner, and you’ll get 6 units of chlorine back as the output. Move that output to the second refiner with another stack of oxygen, and you can multiply your stock exponentially in just a few hours. If you hook the refiners up to supply depots, you can leave the game running in the background while you do other things, and come back to thousands of units of chlorine ready to use.
But, keep in mind this method only works if your base is fully powered. I made the mistake of hooking my first farm up to only two solar panels, and I came back after a night away to find the power had cut out when the in-game sun set, and I only had 200 units instead of the 2,000 I was expecting. Add a few biofuel reactors or a wind turbine array to cover you during dark cycles, and you won’t run into this issue.
Smart Uses for Chlorine That Make Farming Worth the Effort
A lot of new players skip farming chlorine because they don’t realize how many core gameplay loops rely on it. It’s not just a random crafting material – it’s one of the most versatile resources in the entire game. If you’re still learning how to get chlorine in No Man’s Sky consistently, it’s a good idea to prioritize farming it before you head out on any long expeditions.
First, it’s required for almost all hazard protection upgrades for both your exosuit and your base. If you’re planning to explore extreme temperature, radiation, or toxic planets, you’ll need hundreds of units of chlorine to craft filters that let you stay on the surface for hours without taking damage. It’s also a key component for crafting warp cell stabilizers, which let you make longer hyperdrive jumps without using extra fuel.
If you’re more interested in trading than exploration, chlorine is also one of the most profitable resources to sell at space stations. A stack of 999 units of chlorine sells for almost 300,000 units at most galactic trade terminals, and you can get even higher prices if you sell to NPC pilots who are specifically looking for chemical resources. I once sold a full inventory of chlorine to a freighter pilot for 420,000 units, which was enough to buy my first S-class starship upgrade module. You can also use chlorine to craft a range of base building components, including glass panels, water filtration systems, and atmospheric regulators for enclosed base sections on uninhabitable planets.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Chlorine
I’ve made almost every mistake possible when it comes to farming chlorine over the years, so you don’t have to. These are the most common errors that waste hours of your time, and how to fix them.
First, don’t waste time mining raw chlorine on ocean planets unless you absolutely have to. The salt refining method is twice as fast, and you don’t have to deal with underwater predators or drain your diving suit oxygen supply while you mine. I’ve had to swim away from three separate abyssal horrors mid-mine, and I lost almost 200 units of chlorine each time I had to abandon my deposit.
Second, don’t forget to stock up on oxygen before you start a refiner duplication farm. You’ll need twice as much oxygen as chlorine to run the duplication recipe, so make sure you harvest a few stacks of oxygen from plant life on a lush planet before you get started. It’s also a good idea to set up a small oxygen harvester at your base next to your chlorine farm, so you don’t have to leave to restock.
Third, never sell your entire stock of chlorine, even if you get an amazing trade offer. I made this mistake early on when I was saving up for a new freighter, and I ended up stranded on a toxic planet a few days later with no chlorine to craft new hazard filters. I had to spend two hours searching for a desert planet to farm more salt just to get back to my base. Keep at least 200 units of chlorine in your exosuit inventory at all times, and you’ll never run into this problem.
You also want to make sure you don’t build your chlorine farm on a planet that has frequent storm events. Storms can knock out your base power for short periods, which will pause your refiner production until the storm passes. If you build your farm on a calm lush or desert planet with no extreme weather, you won’t have to worry about unexpected production pauses.
At the end of the day, whether you’re a new player just trying to craft your first hazard protection upgrade or a veteran player stockpiling resources for a cross-galaxy expedition, knowing how to get chlorine in No Man’s Sky reliably will save you hours of frustrating grinding. You don’t need fancy equipment to get started – even a new player with a portable refiner and a terrain manipulator can stock up enough chlorine for all their early game needs in less than 20 minutes. Try out the methods that fit your play style, and don’t be afraid to tweak them to work with the resources you have available near your current base.
