Controls & panels

Getting around

These are the default keyboard and mouse bindings. Change them under Esc → Settings → Controls; the game’s prompts follow your bindings.

Use WASD or the arrow keys to move, Space to jump and F for your flashlight. The mouse wheel adjusts camera distance. With the tool holstered, hold the right mouse button for free look. E interacts with a nearby object; Tab opens your backpack regardless of what is nearby. When you are injured, U uses a Med-Gel from your backpack to heal part of your health.

If you get stuck, the Free the player item in the game menu (Esc) moves you to the nearest free spot.

Q — the multitool

Q draws or holsters the tool. Hold the right mouse button, point at a category or submode, then release to select it. Inside a category, a quick right-click cycles its submodes; 1–3 select them directly. The numbers do not switch between the main categories. With the tool drawn, the middle mouse button jumps to the next unlocked category.

• Mining: hold the left mouse button to dig; Pump collects liquids.
• Terrain: Cube places terrain, while Flatten locks a height on the first click and levels as you hold the left button. Analyze stone to unlock this category.
• Shoot: fire with the left button. Watch the tool’s energy; it regenerates when you stop firing.
• Structure: Build, Edit and Upgrade work on machines and buildings.

After loading, the tool stays holstered; the first Q restores the last saved mode, including after reconnecting.

Building, editing and upgrading

In Structure → Build, B opens the building picker. Select an unlocked building or recovered Basic machine. Left-click to place it; hold the left button on an unfinished construction site to complete it. R rotates structures that support rotation.

In Edit, click a structure to select it: R rotates, V starts a move and X dismantles it. During a move, click to place it; V or X cancels the move. Protected world objects cannot be dismantled. Upgrade requires holding the left button on a valid target and meeting its material and research requirements.

A move requires both the new spot and the machine’s original position to be within 22 m of you; an out-of-reach spot shows an orange ghost and the click explains that it is out of reach.

B lets you select a known building and preview its cost without materials; placement still requires them. In build mode, the wheel cycles through known buildings; in the open catalogue it scrolls the list.

Panels at a glance

Key	Panel or action
Tab	Backpack and carried items
C	Equipment, backpack and installed modules
L	MK2 storage registry
J	Expedition journal and production plan
P	Players, your colour and player icons
G	Power networks and history graphs
M	Surface map
H	Space map
I	Notification history
Enter	Chat
Esc	Close the active panel; otherwise open the game menu

Use E near a machine to open its controls. Power and map panels depend on proximity or satellite progression, as described in the linked guides.

Storage MK2 holds 20,000 items, supports custom names and accepts everything, only allowed items or everything except blocked items. Upgrade the original storage in place. L opens the crew’s shared MK2 stock registry across worlds; collect items at the storage itself. A flag marks a storage in the registry, on maps and above the building without opening a map. Intake filters do not restrict withdrawals or machine supply.

Trash rules can be enabled, disabled or deleted directly in the list. Set limits with a slider, exact number or preset; disabling a rule remembers its limit.

Pinned recipes have a separate overview at the top of the HUD. Analysers keep unsupported samples visible and mark them as unavailable for analysis. Backpack, equipment and storage registry panels share a frame and content scrolling.

P — players and colours

The player list shows names, colours, ping and the world each player occupies. Colours help identify crewmates in multiplayer; you can also change yours in solo play. New players receive the first free colour automatically, not a random one. The default first colour is white. Pick an available swatch from the nine-colour palette; occupied colours cannot be selected. Your saved colour is restored on reconnect if it is still free.

Turn off Player icons to hide distant astronaut markers. Nearby nameplates remain visible. This is your display preference; it does not hide you from other players.

For co-op, open Host a game and choose an existing world or a new game. With Steam running, enable Via Steam (invites), then invite friends through Esc → Invite friends…. Accept the invitation in Steam to connect automatically. Steam uses P2P and does not need the port or UPnP fields. Direct connections remain available: use the host’s local IP on LAN, or its public IP and port over the internet. Optional UPnP opens the port on compatible routers; otherwise the direct host needs manual forwarding. Connection details are in the host’s Esc menu.

J — tasks at your own pace

The journal follows shared milestones from recovering Basic machines to research, production and flight. It shows the current step and completed steps; the distress-signal chapter appears as you progress. The production plan lets you pin an unlocked recipe to your HUD.

Switch Tutorial off in the journal header to hide its guidance and expedition beacons. You can still explore and interact manually; progress is retained. Turn it back on with J. This preference persists across restarts and saves. The task card below the minimap also hides temporarily while another panel or chat owns the controls.