If you’ve ever found yourself stuck halfway through building a base upgrade, repairing your starship’s hyperdrive, or crafting a new multitool mod only to realize you’re out of copper, you know how frustrating this common resource gap can be for new and intermediate No Man’s Sky players alike. Copper is one of the most versatile early to mid-game materials, used for everything from wiring base electronics to completing NPC side missions, and it’s easy to burn through your stock faster than you expect. This guide breaks down exactly how to get copper in No Man’s Sky using methods we’ve tested across 120+ hours of playtime, so you can skip the aimless wandering and get back to exploring. We’ll cover everything from quick on-foot gathering to permanent low-effort farms that keep you stocked for months of play.
How to Get Copper in No Man’s Sky: Basic Ground Gathering for Beginners
If you’re still in the early stages of your playthrough and haven’t unlocked base building parts yet, simple ground gathering is the fastest way to get the copper you need. First, you’ll want to check the resource list for every planet in your current star system before you land. You can view this list by hovering over the planet in your starship’s scanner while you’re still in orbit, and copper will be clearly labeled if it’s present on the surface.
When you land, activate your multitool’s scan function, and copper deposits will pop up as brownish-orange scan icons on your HUD, usually clustered in open, rocky areas. You don’t need any special upgrades for your mining beam to harvest copper, though a tier 2 mining beam will make the process go twice as fast. Each large surface deposit will give you between 100 and 300 units of copper, which is enough for most small crafting projects.
You can also get small amounts of copper from breaking regular surface rocks, but it’s only 1-2 units per rock, so it’s not efficient if you need 100+ units. If you’re on a planet with extreme weather or hostile sentinels, stick to deposits that are within 300 units of your ship so you don’t get caught out without enough hazard protection or ammo.
Optimal Locations to Find Copper Without Wasting Fuel
You don’t have to warp across dozens of star systems to find rich copper deposits, if you know what signs to look for first. Yellow star systems have a 60% higher chance of having copper-rich planets than red, green, or blue systems, so if you’re just starting out and haven’t unlocked the cadmium, emeril, or indium drives, stick to yellow systems to save tritium.
Once you land on a copper-rich planet, prioritize searching areas with large exposed rock formations over dense forests, swamps, or deep ocean zones. Copper almost never spawns under thick vegetation or underwater, so you’ll waste far less time sticking to open, barren stretches of terrain. Abandoned outposts and crashed freighters often have small storage crates with 20-50 copper each, so if you pass one while exploring, it’s worth a quick stop to loot.
You can tell if a planet has high copper levels before you even land by looking for these key signs:
- Copper is listed as a primary or secondary resource in the planet's scan description from orbit
- The planet has a rocky, desert, or tundra biome with little to no heavy vegetation
- Your pre-landing scan notes high concentrations of metallic deposits on the surface
- You see orange-brown rock outcroppings visible from your ship as you descend
If you find a planet that checks all four boxes, you can usually find 3+ large copper deposits within 10 minutes of landing, so it’s worth dropping a beacon on the planet so you can come back later if you need more copper.
Set Up a Permanent Copper Farm for Unlimited Stock
Once you’ve unlocked basic base building parts, setting up an automated copper farm is the best way to make sure you never run out of copper again, even if you’re using hundreds of units a week for building and upgrades. The core of any automated copper farm is a mineral extractor, a base building part you unlock once you’ve built your first base computer and completed a handful of base building missions for the construction NPC.
To set up your farm, first find a large, high-yield copper deposit using your scanner. Place a base computer within 100 units of the deposit to claim the area, then place the mineral extractor directly on top of the deposit node. Connect your extractor to supply depots using electrical wiring and resource pipes, and make sure you power the entire setup with solar panels and batteries so it runs even when the planet is dark.
A single mineral extractor on a high-yield copper node will produce around 280 units of copper per in-game hour, even when you’re not on the planet. If you place two extractors on the same large deposit, you can double that output with almost no extra work. You don’t need to build a whole base around the farm, just the core parts, and you can leave it unattended for as long as you want. I’ve had my main copper farm running for 90 hours of playtime now, and I just stop by every couple of weeks to empty the supply depots, no extra work required.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Hunting for Copper
Even with a good strategy, it’s easy to make small mistakes that waste your time and resources when you’re looking for copper. First, don’t trade away all your copper at space stations or trade outposts for quick nanites or units, even if the offer seems good. Copper is used in 70% of early to mid-game upgrade recipes, and you’ll almost always need it sooner than you think. I made this mistake early on, trading 600 copper for 200 nanites, only to have to spend two hours hunting for more the next day when I wanted to upgrade my hyperdrive range.
Another common mistake is wasting tritium warping to random star systems without checking their resource list first. You can view all available resources for any star system right on the galaxy map before you warp, so there’s no reason to jump to a system that doesn’t have copper listed if that’s what you’re looking for. This small check can save you tons of fuel and time that you’d otherwise spend bouncing between empty systems.
Finally, don’t waste time digging for small, buried copper veins with your terrain manipulator. If the vein is less than 50 units, it’s usually not worth the time digging, you’re better off spending five more minutes looking for a large surface deposit that will give you 10x more copper for half the work. If you do find a large buried deposit, mark it with a beacon and come back later when you have a mineral extractor to farm it properly.
At the end of the day, learning how to get copper in No Man’s Sky doesn’t have to turn into a hours-long wild goose chase across random star systems. Start with simple ground gathering when you’re still building up your base building resources, mark any rich copper deposits you find with beacons, and set up a small automated farm as soon as you have the parts to build mineral extractors and supply depots. I still visit my first copper farm on a quiet frozen tundra planet every few weeks to restock, and it’s saved me dozens of hours of hunting that I’ve gotten to spend exploring uncharted systems instead. Once you have a steady supply of copper on hand, you’ll be able to take on almost any crafting, building, or upgrade project without hitting annoying resource roadblocks.
