When I first started playing No Man’s Sky back in the Beyond update, I spent almost 10 hours grinding destroyed pirate ships looking for salvage modules, convinced that was the only way to get them. I had no idea there were far easier, lower-risk ways to stock up on this essential crafting material, which is used for everything from exosuit upgrade slots to high-tier ship modifications. If you’ve been struggling to stock up, learning how to get salvage modules no man's sky will cut down your grind time by hours every week, no matter what your playstyle is. You don’t need late-game gear or a fancy freighter to start farming them either, even brand new players can get a steady supply with a little know-how.
How to Get Salvage Modules in No Man’s Sky: The 3 Most Reliable Methods
I’ve tested every possible way to farm these modules across 300+ hours of play on both PC and console, and these three methods consistently give the highest return for the least amount of effort. They work for all game modes, including survival and permadeath, and don’t require any mods or glitches to pull off.
- Crashed freighter surface exploration: The best option for new players, no combat or high-level gear required
- Settlement construction and dispute rewards: Fully passive income for players who want to earn modules while doing other tasks
- Derelict freighter deep space runs: The highest yield per hour for mid to late game players who can handle mild combat
Step-by-Step Low-Level Salvage Module Farming for New Players
If you’re still figuring out how to get salvage modules in No Man’s Sky without risking your C-grade starter ship, this method is perfect for you. All you need is a working starship scanner and 10 to 15 minutes per crashed freighter. To start, warp to any uncharted system (they’re marked with a question mark on the galaxy map) and fly to the first planet you see. Open your starship scanner and look for a distress signal marker labeled “crashed freighter”. If you don’t see one right away, warp to another planet in the same system and scan again, most systems have at least one crashed freighter somewhere. Once you land near the wreckage, you’ll find dozens of small cargo pods scattered around the main crash site, within a 200 unit radius. Most of these pods don’t require any keys or codes to open, and 30% of them will have 1 to 2 salvage modules inside. You don’t have to fight sentinels either, as long as you avoid the high-security cargo pods marked with red lights. I once found 7 salvage modules from a single crashed freighter on a frozen planet, and I didn’t have to fire a single shot the whole time.
Passive and High-Yield Methods for Mid to Late Game Players
Once you have a base and a stable supply of units, you can start using far more efficient methods to get salvage modules without active grinding. The first option is claiming a settlement, which you can do by visiting a random settlement on any inhabited planet and paying the founding fee (usually around 1 million units, a trivial cost for mid-game players). Every time you complete a construction project or resolve a citizen dispute in your settlement, you have a 30% chance to earn 1 to 3 salvage modules as a thank you gift from residents. It’s fully passive, you just need to check in every hour or so when you’re doing other tasks, and you can easily earn 10+ modules a week without any extra work. If you want faster returns, derelict freighter runs are by far the fastest way to get salvage modules in No Man’s Sky. You’ll need a derelict freighter beacon, which you can buy from any space station anomaly detector merchant for 5 million units, or earn from completing high-level pirate bounties. Once you activate the beacon, fly to the derelict freighter marker and board it. You’ll find salvage modules in almost every cargo room, and the final reward chest near the bridge always has at least 4 modules, plus rare ship upgrade modules. You can even bring a friend in multiplayer to split the work, and you’ll both get the full reward haul.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Salvage Modules
I’ve made almost every possible mistake when farming these modules over the years, so you don’t have to. The first and biggest mistake is buying salvage modules from tech vendors on space stations. They charge 150 nanites per module, which is an enormous waste of resources you could be using to upgrade your multitool or exosuit. It’s always cheaper and faster to farm them yourself. Another common mistake is only checking the main hold of crashed freighters and ignoring the small scattered cargo pods. A lot of players run straight to the center of the wreck, open the main cargo chest, and leave, but 70% of the salvage modules at any crash site are in the small pods outside the main wreck. Take an extra 5 minutes to run the perimeter, and you’ll usually double your haul. Finally, never leave a derelict freighter without scanning every wall for hidden cargo compartments. A lot of the walls in derelicts have hidden storage behind them that you can only find with your exosuit scanner, and these compartments often have 2 to 3 salvage modules each. I once found 12 extra modules in hidden compartments on a single derelict run, doubling what I earned from the main cargo rooms. You also don’t need to fight every enemy you see inside derelicts, most of the tentacle creatures are slow, and you can easily run past them to save ammo and time.
At the end of the day, there’s no “right” way to farm these materials, and you can mix and match methods to fit your schedule. Once you know how to get salvage modules no man's sky, you’ll never have to put off upgrading your favorite ship or exosuit because you’re short on materials. I usually combine passive settlement rewards with one crashed freighter run a week and a single derelict run every two weeks, and I always have a stack of 40+ on hand for new upgrades or settlement construction projects. Don’t be afraid to test out different systems and planets to find your favorite farming spots, half the fun of No Man’s Sky is stumbling on a great resource spot that no one else has found yet.
