If you’ve ever spawned into a new No Man’s Sky save and stared at your broken ship’s pulse engine error message, you know how frustrating it is to hit a wall right as you start your adventure. The most common missing component for that first repair is the hermetic seal, and tons of new players get stuck trying to track one down when they’re still learning the game’s basic systems. I’ve put over 300 hours into NMS across casual, survival, and permadeath runs, so I’ve tested every possible way to get hermetic seal in No Man’s Sky, even on the most harsh, resource-poor spawn planets. This guide will walk you through every method, plus common mistakes to skip so you can get off your starting planet faster.
How to Get Hermetic Seal in No Man’s Sky: 3 Fastest Methods for New Players
There are three reliable ways to get a hermetic seal no matter what type of planet you spawn on, and none of them require you to progress very far into the game’s story or unlock high-tier gear. You can pick the method that works best for your current situation, whether you have plenty of resources, spare units, or just want to explore your nearby area for loot. I usually stick to crafting on my first playthrough of a new update, but I’ve used the buying and looting methods plenty of times when I spawned on a brutal planet with almost no accessible resources.
All three methods work across every game mode, including survival and permadeath, so you don’t have to worry about adjusting your approach if you’re playing on a harder difficulty. The only difference is that resources are more scarce on higher difficulties, so you may want to prioritize buying or looting if you’re playing permadeath to avoid wasting life support running around looking for materials.
- Crafting: Zero cost, no travel required, but needs you to gather 2 separate resources and use a refiner
- Buying: Fastest if you have spare units, no resource gathering needed, but requires you to find a trader first
- Looting: Free, often comes with extra useful items, but has variable spawn rates and may attract sentinel attention
Step-by-Step Crafting Guide for Hermetic Seals
Crafting is the most reliable method if you don’t mind a little bit of resource gathering, and it’s completely free. The official recipe for a hermetic seal is 30 condensed carbon and 1 di-hydrogen jelly, both of which you can get within 10 minutes of spawning if you know where to look. You don’t need any special workbenches to craft it, either, you can make it directly in your personal inventory once you have all the required materials.
First, you’ll need to gather regular carbon, which you can get from almost any plant, tree, or organic flora on your starting planet. You’ll need 60 units of regular carbon to make 30 condensed carbon, so mine a few dozen small plants first to stock up. You can make condensed carbon with a portable refiner, which you get right at the start of the game as part of the initial tutorial steps. Just place the refiner on the ground, put the regular carbon in the input slot, and wait a few seconds for it to process.
Next, you’ll need to make di-hydrogen jelly, which requires 40 di-hydrogen crystals. Di-hydrogen crystals are easy to spot, they’re bright blue, spiky formations that usually spawn in clusters on flat, rocky terrain. You don’t need any special tool to mine them, your basic mining beam works fine. Once you have 40 di-hydrogen, you can craft di-hydrogen jelly directly in your inventory without a refiner, no extra steps needed. Make sure you don’t use your di-hydrogen to fuel your ship’s launch thruster first, save enough for the jelly before you top off your fuel tanks. If you do accidentally use too much, you can usually find more clusters within a two-minute walk of your ship.
Once you have both the condensed carbon and di-hydrogen jelly, just open your inventory, navigate to the crafting menu, select the hermetic seal, and you’re done. You can use it immediately to repair your pulse engine, or save it for later crafting projects if you already fixed your ship.
Alternative Ways to Source Hermetic Seals Without Crafting
But if you spawn on a planet with almost no di-hydrogen, or you’re playing on a higher difficulty where resource gathering is too risky, crafting might not be a viable option right away. That’s where these alternative methods come in, no resource gathering required. I used the buying method on my last permadeath run, where I spawned on a 90-degree toxic planet with almost no visible di-hydrogen, and I got off the planet in 15 minutes flat.
The easiest alternative is to buy one from a trader. Small planetary outposts almost always have a general goods trader inside, and 9 times out of 10 they’ll have at least one hermetic seal in stock for between 2,000 and 3,000 units. If you don’t have enough units, just loot the broken crates and storage containers around the outpost, they usually have scrap metal, salvage, and other small items you can sell right back to the trader for quick cash. If you sell extra salvage you find from broken crates near your spawn, you can easily afford one in 10 minutes or less. You can also buy them from space stations once you get off your planet, but that’s not helpful if you’re still stuck on the surface.
The other option is to loot one from abandoned cargo pods, damaged buildings, or crashed ship wrecks. You can find these points of interest by scanning the horizon with your analysis visor, they’ll show up as small icons marked “abandoned” or “damaged”. Most of these locations have no sentinel guards, so you can loot them safely without getting attacked. I’ve found hermetic seals in half of the crashed ship wrecks I’ve searched on starting planets, plus you usually get extra resources like wiring looms or carbon plates that you can use for other repairs. If you see a cargo pod drop from a passing freighter, that’s also a good spot to check, but make sure there are no sentinel drones nearby before you open it.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Hunting for Hermetic Seals
After helping dozens of new friends get through their first few hours of NMS, I’ve seen the same mistakes over and over again that slow people down when they’re looking for a hermetic seal. Avoid these errors, and you’ll cut your time on the starting planet in half, even if you’re playing on the hardest difficulty.
Many new players accidentally use all their condensed carbon to make carbon plates, leaving none left for the hermetic seal. Carbon plates are used for other ship repairs, but you can make them later once you have more carbon saved up. Always prioritize crafting the hermetic seal first before you make any other components for your ship. If you do run out of condensed carbon, just go mine a few more plants, it only takes a couple of minutes to restock.
Another common mistake is wandering too far from your ship looking for di-hydrogen. It’s easy to get distracted by cool creatures or rare resources, but if you stray more than 5 minutes from your ship, you risk running out of life support or hazard protection, especially on harsh planets. If you can’t find di-hydrogen within a few minutes of your spawn, just pull out your analysis visor and look for the nearest outpost icon, head there to buy a seal instead of trekking across the planet.
You also don’t need to fight sentinels to get a hermetic seal. A lot of new players see guarded cargo pods and think they have to take down the drones to get the loot, but that’s a huge waste of ammo and health early on. You don't need to fight sentinels to loot cargo pods, just look for the unmarked, abandoned ones that have no drones hovering nearby. You’ll find just as much good loot in those, with zero risk of getting attacked.
Getting off your starting planet is the first big milestone in any No Man’s Sky playthrough, and knowing how to get hermetic seal in No Man’s Sky is the key to clearing that hurdle without unnecessary stress. You don’t have to spend hours hunting for rare resources or fighting hostile sentinels to get one, either. Pick the method that fits your current spawn and resource stock, and you’ll be jumping to your first new star system before you know it. I still keep a few extra hermetic seals in my inventory on every playthrough, since they’re used for a ton of mid-game crafting recipes too, from advanced environmental protection gear to freighter upgrades.
