If you’ve spent dozens of hours wandering No Man’s Sky’s endless procedurally generated planets alone, you’ve probably wondered if exploring that weird glowing mushroom biome or taking down a massive pirate freighter is more fun with friends. Learning how to play multiplayer in No Man’s Sky unlocks a whole new layer of the game that many new players miss, especially if you only picked it up after one of its many free content updates. I’ve spent over 300 hours in NMS, split almost evenly between solo and group play, and I’ve worked through every weird connection quirk and group activity you can think of. This guide walks you through every step of getting into a multiplayer lobby, plus tips to make your group runs way more fun and less frustrating.
How to Play Multiplayer in No Man's Sky: Step-by-Step for All Platforms
The first thing you need to know is that NMS supports full crossplay across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, no extra downloads or accounts required beyond your standard platform login. That means you can play with your friend on PS5 even if you’re on a budget laptop, no hoops to jump through for the most part. Before you try to connect to anyone, make sure all players have updated their game to the latest official version, as outdated builds can’t connect to newer lobbies, even if the update is a small bug fix patch.
To invite friends to your existing save, open the pause menu and navigate to the Network tab first. Toggle the “Multiplayer” setting to on, and make sure your lobby visibility is set to “Friends Only” or “Public” depending on who you want to join. Next, go to the Friends tab in the same menu, find the person you want to invite, and select “Send Invite to Session”. If they don’t get the in-game invite, you can also send an invite directly through your platform’s native friends list, which works far more reliably for most players.
If you want to join a random public lobby instead of playing with people you know, head to the main menu and select the Multiplayer option. You can filter lobbies by game mode (survival, creative, permadeath) and player count, so you can find a group that matches your play style. You don’t need a paid online subscription to play NMS multiplayer on PC, but console players will need their platform’s standard online service active to connect to other players. Also note that permadeath saves can only join other permadeath lobbies, so you won’t be able to jump into your friend’s casual survival save if you’re playing on a permadeath run.
Fun Multiplayer Activities to Try With Your Group
A lot of new players assume NMS multiplayer is just wandering around planets together, but there are tons of structured and casual activities you can do as a group to make your sessions feel purposeful. I’ve tried almost all of them with my regular NMS crew, and these are the ones we keep coming back to month after month:
- Co-op base building: Split up resource gathering jobs to build massive, elaborate bases in half the time you’d take solo, and add shared storage units so everyone in the group can access supplies whenever they need them.
- Pirate freighter raids: Coordinate attacks on large S-class freighters, with some players taking out escort ships and others targeting the freighter’s shield generators to get rare upgrade modules and huge unit payouts for the whole group.
- Expedition runs: Join up to tackle limited-time NMS Expeditions as a group, completing community challenges way faster to unlock exclusive rewards you can’t get in standard game modes.
- Exocraft racing: Build custom race tracks on flat or wild terrain, upgrade your exocrafts with speed boosts and jump jets, and compete for bragging rights across biomes with harsh weather or hostile fauna that adds extra chaos to the race.
None of these activities require any extra setup beyond being in the same lobby, and you can mix and match them depending on how your group is feeling that day. If you’re playing with brand new players, start with co-op base building first, since it’s low-pressure and gives everyone a clear, low-stakes goal to work toward. All resources you collect while in a multiplayer session stay with your personal save, so you never have to worry about losing progress if you leave the lobby early.
Common Multiplayer Connection Issues and Simple Fixes
Even if you follow every step correctly, you might run into connection issues, especially if you or a friend are playing on a spotty internet connection. I’ve dealt with every error code you can think of over the years, and 90% of them don’t require any fancy tech work to fix. The most common issue is not seeing a friend’s invite pop up in-game. The fix for that is almost always to have the host send the invite through their platform’s native friends list instead of the in-game menu, since the in-game invite system is notoriously buggy on older console versions.
If you load into a lobby but can’t see the other player or their base markers, head back to the Network tab in your pause menu first. Make sure “Cross-platform play” is toggled on, even if you’re playing with someone on the same platform as you. That’s a weird, little-documented quirk that’s caused more missed group runs than I can count, and it’s the first thing I check whenever someone in my group can’t see the rest of us.
If you’re still having issues, have all players restart their game and reset their internet router if possible. Avoid using public Wi-Fi for multiplayer runs, since the high ping will cause lag that makes it hard to sync base builds or fight enemies together. If you’re a PC player who uses mods, note that modded saves can’t join vanilla console lobbies, so you’ll need to disable all mods if you want to play with friends on PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch.
Easy Tips to Make Your Multiplayer Sessions Smoother
Once you’ve got your lobby up and running, there are a few small changes you can make to avoid frustration and get the most out of your group play. First, set clear goals before you load into the session. If half the group wants to build a base and the other half wants to raid freighters, you’ll end up splitting up and wasting time. I always ask my group what they want to do 10 minutes before we start playing, so we can all prep the right supplies and ships ahead of time.
Use a shared voice chat outside of the game. The in-game voice chat is notoriously low quality, and it cuts out constantly if you’re far away from the other player in-game. Use Discord, Xbox Party, or PS Party instead, so you can communicate even if you’re in different star systems working on separate parts of a group goal. Set up a shared base in a system with low sentinel activity and no extreme weather as your group’s home base, so you always have a safe spot to respawn, store supplies, and meet up if someone gets lost or dies mid-activity.
If you’re playing with new players, give them access to your extra ships and upgrade modules first. It’s way more fun for everyone if the new player can keep up with the group instead of getting one-shot by hostile fauna every five minutes. I usually give my new group members a stack of oxygen and sodium as soon as they join, so they don’t have to spend the first 20 minutes scavenging for basic survival supplies while the rest of us wait to start our activity.
At the end of the day, learning how to play multiplayer in No Man’s Sky turns a pretty great solo exploration game into one of the most flexible co-op experiences out there. You don’t have to stick to structured activities if you don’t want to: some of my favorite NMS memories are just wandering random planets with friends, laughing at the weird creature names we come up with and showing off the weird ships we found in random space stations. Don’t get discouraged if your first few sessions have a few connection kinks to work out. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder why you ever played solo.
