If you’ve spent even an hour playing No Man’s Sky, you’ve probably run into a wall where you need metal plating to repair your damaged starship, build your first base shelter, or craft a basic upgrade for your multi-tool. It’s one of the first core resources new players struggle to source, especially if they’re still learning how the game’s crafting system works. I remember my first playthrough, I wasted almost three hours wandering a frozen toxic planet looking for a specific item to make it, before I realized the process was way simpler than I thought. This guide breaks down every reliable method for how to get metal plating in No Man’s Sky, plus tips to farm it in bulk and avoid common beginner mistakes.
How to Get Metal Plating in No Man’s Sky via Crafting (Most Common Method)
Crafting is by far the most consistent and low-cost way to get metal plating, and the best part is you don’t need to unlock any special blueprints to make it. The recipe is available from the second you spawn on your first starting planet, and you can craft it directly in your personal inventory without a dedicated workstation. The only material you need is 50 units of Ferrite Dust, one of the most abundant resources in the entire game.
To get Ferrite Dust, all you have to do is mine any standard rock formation on the surface of almost every planet, or use your terrain manipulator to dig into rocky ground. You can also get it by breaking apart small pebbles scattered across planet surfaces as you walk, if you don’t want to pull out your multi-tool every two minutes. You don’t need any advanced blueprints to craft metal plating, so you can make it the second you gather enough Ferrite Dust, no extra steps required.
This method is perfect for early game players who don’t have a lot of units or access to space stations yet. Even if you’re further into the game, crafting is still the best option if you need large quantities of metal plating for big base builds or freighter upgrades, since Ferrite Dust is so easy to farm for free.
Alternative Ways to Source Metal Plating Without Crafting
If you’re in a pinch and don’t have time to mine Ferrite Dust, there are a handful of other ways to get metal plating without crafting it. These methods are less consistent, but they’re great if you only need one or two pieces to finish a repair or complete a mission. The most reliable non-crafting methods include:
- Loot it from damaged cargo pods, abandoned buildings, and destroyed sentinel drones scattered across every planet type
- Purchase it from space station trade terminals or visiting NPC pilots for around 2,500 units per piece, depending on system economy
- Earn it as a reward for completing early-game explorer guild missions or helping stranded NPCs on planet surfaces
Each of these methods has its own pros and cons. Looting is completely free, but you can’t control how much you find, so it’s not a good option if you need 20+ pieces for a base build. Buying it is instant, but it’s a huge waste of units early on when you’re saving up for your first ship upgrade or freighter. Looting cargo pods is the best zero-effort method if you’re just missing 1-2 pieces for a build, so make a habit of opening every pod you pass when you’re exploring a planet’s surface.
You can also occasionally find metal plating in the cargo holds of crashed freighters or abandoned starships, but these spawns are rare enough that you shouldn’t rely on them for regular supply runs.
Best Practices for Farming Metal Plating in Bulk
Once you get to the point where you’re building large bases, upgrading multiple starships, or expanding your freighter fleet, you’re going to need hundreds of pieces of metal plating on hand. Mining Ferrite Dust one rock at a time will get tedious fast, so there are a few tricks you can use to cut down farming time and get all the metal plating you need in a fraction of the time.
First, find a planet with no extreme weather or hostile sentinel activity, and with lots of large, exposed rock formations. You don’t want to have to stop every two minutes to recharge your hazard protection or run away from attacking sentinels while you’re mining. Equip your multi-tool with a mining beam upgrade if you have one, add a mining bonus upgrade to your multi-tool to cut down farming time by up to 40%, and bring extra carbon to recharge your mining beam as you go.
If you plan to farm metal plating regularly, set up a small base near a high-density Ferrite deposit and install a mineral extractor. The extractor will farm Ferrite Dust passively while you’re off exploring other systems, so you can come back to hundreds or thousands of units of dust ready to turn into metal plating whenever you need it. Store extra Ferrite Dust or pre-crafted metal plating in your freighter inventory, so you can access it no matter what system you’re in.
If you have extra refined Ferrite sitting around from other crafting projects, you can convert it back to Ferrite Dust in a refiner if you’re in a pinch, but it’s usually better to save refined Ferrite for more advanced crafting recipes that can’t use regular dust.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Getting Metal Plating
Most new players make a handful of avoidable mistakes when they first start sourcing metal plating, and these can waste hours of time or valuable resources. The first common mistake is wasting your limited early-game Ferrite Dust on unnecessary crafts, like extra terrain manipulator charges or decorative base items, before you’ve made enough metal plating to repair your starship and build a permanent shelter. Always prioritize metal plating for essential repairs and upgrades first.
Another big mistake is buying metal plating from trade terminals when you can mine enough Ferrite Dust to make the same amount in just a couple of minutes for free. It’s tempting to spend a few thousand units to skip mining, but those units are way better spent on ship upgrades or blueprints early on. Never trade rare resources like activated indium for metal plating, it’s a massive waste of high-value materials that you could sell for hundreds of thousands of units instead.
A lot of new players also forget that they can craft metal plating directly in their personal inventory, so they’ll travel all the way back to their base just to make a couple of pieces for a repair. You can craft metal plating mid-exploration if you run out for a repair, no need to travel all the way back to your base, as long as you have enough Ferrite Dust on you. Get in the habit of keeping a stack of 10-20 pieces in your personal inventory at all times, so you never get stuck stranded without the parts you need to fix your ship or build a shelter during a storm.
At the end of the day, knowing how to get metal plating in No Man’s Sky is one of the most basic but essential skills you’ll learn in the game, and it will save you so much frustration as you progress. Whether you’re a brand new player just fixing your first crashed starship or a veteran building a massive base across multiple planets, these methods will help you get all the metal plating you need quickly and easily. I still keep a stack of 20 metal plating in my personal inventory at all times, even after 300+ hours of play, and it’s saved me from being stranded on hostile planets more times than I can count. Test out the different methods to see what works best for your playstyle, and don’t be afraid to stock up on extra Ferrite Dust whenever you have the chance.
