Best Ways To Get Nanites In No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is an open-world space adventure where players can fly spaceships, travel through galaxies, fight pirates, and more. While they do this, they have many opportunities to earn money to upgrade their tools and weapons or buy resources. There are two currencies in the game: Units and Nanites.

Nanites are the rarer of the two and can be used to purchase special items like blueprints and upgrade modules for the Exosuit, Exocraft, and Multi-Tool. Collecting Nanites takes some time since players can’t get them from anywhere, but enjoying the best equipment is well worth it. Here are some ways players can earn Nanites in No Man’s Sky.

Updated on March 11, 2025, by Gerardo Molina: No Man’s Sky is one of the most complete and complex games of the last 15 years, as it features several procedurally generated planets and tons of possibilities for players to stay, entertain and explore. Throughout the game, players will come across various consumables that they can use for many purposes, and one of the most valuable are Nanites, which can often be hard to come by. Luckily, there are many different ways in which players can gain access to this consumable and use it for their various purposes. Whether it is by completing missions or exploring the vastness of space.

12

Farm Chewy Wires

This Consumable Can Be More Valuable Than It Seems

Chewy Wire is a consumable in No Man’s Sky and also a raw ingredient. It goes for around 3,200 Units and can be used for many purposes. It can be sourced by gathering from robotic creatures, such as Structurae and Mechanoceris, when they’ve been fed Ion batteries.

This ingredient can also be used for cooking in a Nutrient Processor. Some of the things that can be obtained from this are:

• Carbon Nanotubes
• Questionable Biscuits

Chewy Wires provide a 20% Energy Boost and also reward players with 5–10 Nanites when consumed. To farm this valuable component, players will be required to build a base and locate a planet with synthetic life forms. A great place to find these is in blue Uncharted Systems. Here’s a step-by-step process:

• First, players must build a base with a Base Teleport Module, an Automated Feeder, a source of power, and a Livestock Unit module.
• Then, they must fill the feeder with Creature Pellets made from Carbon.
• Periodically collecting Chewy Wires and restocking the pellets is key.

Every 20 minutes of clicking will give players around 9,000 Nanites, which is a considerable amount and can be of great use for various purposes.

11

Complete Nexus Missions

They Offer Various Rewards, Including Nanites

Although those who play No Man’s Sky solo also have a very rewarding experience, being able to collaborate with others through The Nexus is a most welcome addition to the game. It can be found inside the Space Anomaly and allows players to take on various missions that are, in most cases, both entertaining and very profitable. The Nexus allows for up to 8 players on console and up to 32 on PC to share the same multiplayer instance.

The Nexus offers many missions and, typically, the rewards for completing them include products, Units, Nanites, and Quicksilver, all of which are quite valuable. The notices on the Nexus boards are usually updated every 10 minutes, so if there are any missions that players don’t feel like doing, they simply have to wait a little while and return later. The good part about Nexus missions is that they don’t require more than one player to be completed. So players who like to take care of things on their own or don’t have friends to collaborate with at a specific time can still get the valuable rewards that the missions have to offer. Those looking for Quicksilver will want to keep an eye out for Quicksilver Missions, which reward players with 400 Quicksilver once a day.

10

Refine Residual Goop

Goop Is Space’s Gold

In No Man’s Sky, Residual Goop is described as a “pulsating, foul-smelling goop that builds up in poorly-maintained machinery”. And while that might trick players into thinking that the substance is worthless, it can actually be used to get Nanites. Now, this sounds easier than it actually is, as the Residual Goop must be processed several times before it can be turned into Nanites.

First, Residual Goop will be refined into Viscous Fluids, then into Living Smile, then, into Runaway Mould, and finally, into precious Nanites. Players can expect the Goop-to-Nanite ratio to be 5:1. Certainly not a swift process, but it’s well worth it.

9

Explore And Complete Derelict Freighters

A Bit Time-Consuming, But Well Worth It

As established before, space in No Man’s Sky is a nearly-infinite region with millions upon millions of possibilities. This means that, while exploring the Cosmos, players will likely run into Derelict Freighters more than a few times.

While the idea of exploring an abandoned ship in the middle of space is freightening (pun intended), it’s well worth the risk, as exploring abandoned freighters and completing them (as in discovering what happened to the crew) will more often than not yield valuable rewards, including the precious Nanites that every No Man’s Sky player passionately seeks and cherishes.

8

Refine Larval Cores

Larval Cores Refine to 50 Nanites Each

Players will find unique plants, animals, and more as they explore planets. Sometimes, they encounter rare phenomena and can collect special resources such as Larval Cores. Larval Cores are a Monstrous curiosity that drops when players destroy a Whispering Egg. Whispering Eggs are a rare spawn that appears near abandoned buildings or on invested planets. The Analysis Visor can be used to track them down.

Once players destroy a Whispering Egg, they can pick up its Larval Core. Destroying the Egg also triggers a swarm of Biological Horrors that will attack on sight. Players can fight them or run from them until the swarm subsides. Larval Cores can be transformed into Nanites using a Refiner. Collecting them is quite a lot of work, but it is a good way to get some Nanites if all else fails.

7

Salvage Starships

Starship Parts are Worth 30 to 1,300 Nanites

Starships are flying space vehicles and a crucial part of No Man’s Sky. Players start the game with a standard Starship, but they can also collect crashed Starships to repair and replace theirs with or scrap them and trade their parts for Nanites. Crashed Starships spawn randomly on planets and can be found in a few ways. Players can search the surface of a planet using an Exocraft or locate a crashed Starship more directly with a Transmission Tower or Planetary Charts.

Before players can turn a crashed Starship in for scrap, they must repair the damaged parts. Specifically, the Launch Thruster and the Pulse Engine are required for them to get into the air. Players can then fly the repaired Starship to a Space Station and salvage it at a Starship Outfitting Terminal in exchange for Nanites. Higher-tiered Starships are worth more Nanites, so players can earn them in bulk.

6

Upload All Discoveries

Every Discovery is Worth Different Amounts of Nanite Clusters

The quickest way to get Nanites is to upload all discoveries found on planets. Players can scan plants, minerals, and animals when they contact a new planet. Scanning only takes a few moments, but be wary of any hostile animals. The scanner is one of the visor settings, and players can access it easily. Once the subject is scanned, it will be saved as a discovery, and players will get some units depending on how common or rare it is.

If they want Nanites, players can upload them by following the below steps:

• Open the Options menu
• Go to the Discoveries tab
• Find where the visited star systems are listed
• Select the white arrow at the top of the list and “Upload All”

This will deposit Nanites; the more discoveries there are to upload, the more Nanites players earn.

5

Explore Buildings

Search Technology Inside Buildings for Nanite Clusters

Nanite Clusters can also be found in buildings such as Resource Depots, bunk buildings, and abandoned facilities. These are found on most planets, but looking at hospitable ones yields better results.

Players can scan for points of interest from the ground or sky once they enter a planet’s atmosphere. Abandoned facilities are the safest to search since Sentinels are less likely to appear. However, there are more likely to be Nanites inside Resource Depots and Outposts. Players can pick them up by downloading them from electronic systems inside the buildings.

4

Destroy Sentinels

Sentinels Drop Nanites and Materials for Nanites

Sentinels are drone beings that police many planets in the game. Planets that have them can be hostile or neutral depending on the galaxy but will attack players if they are perceived as a threat regardless. Whenever a Sentinel is taken down, there’s a chance it will drop Nanites. They may also drop items like a Hyaline Brain, which can be refined into 260 Nanites.

Players can attack Sentinels by shooting at them using their Exocraft or a ranged weapon. They are relatively easy to take out, but attacking one always calls in reinforcements. If players hide inside buildings until the Sentinels no longer sense them, they can take them out one by one and pick up their drops.

3

Completing Missions

Nanite Rewards Vary from Mission to Mission

Some missions will have Nanites as a reward upon completion. Missions can be picked up at any Space Station from the mission attendant. Space Stations aren’t typically that big, so finding the correct booth should be easy. The mission details, including the completion requirements and rewards, are listed.

Players can pick up as many missions at one time as they want. Missions fall into a few categories: Courier, Battle, Wildlife, and Photography. The higher level they are with the alien lifeforms who suggested, the more missions will be available. Players can keep track of their missions and turn them at a Space Station when they’re done, and they will get their Nanites.

2

Visit the Anomaly

NPCs Give Players Nanites for Information

Players can also visit the Space Anomaly for Nanites. The Space Anomaly is an online space station that can be summoned from any galaxy while in space. To summon the Anomaly, players must access the ship menu. This is also where the Autophage Questline leads.

There is a helpdesk on the lower level with an alien lifeform called Iteration: Helios. Players can talk to him whenever they visit and trade data information for Nanites. The Data will consist of new discoveries such as minerals, plants, animals, planets, and other resources.

The Space Anomaly is also home to another NPC named Iteration: Cronus. If players offer him a taste of their discoveries, he will give them his opinion on them. These things include Impule Beams and Iced Screams. It’s more often that he is left disappointed, but when he is fed something he likes, he will reward players with Nanites.

Players should also stop by the Iteration: Ares help desk on the same floor. Iteration: Ares is a traveler and collector NPC. Players can purchase upgrades from him or share their Milestone data and discoveries for Nanites. While at the Anomaly, players can purchase upgrade blueprints and other special items.

1

Refine Runaway Mould

5x Runaway Mould Refines to 1 Nanite

Players can refine Runaway Mould into Nanites using a Refiner. There are four types of refiners in No Man’s Sky, including portable, small, medium, and larger models. Players can insert fuel and materials into them to group and process them into more valuable materials. Runaway Mould is found in Curious Deposits found on planets.

Players can scan for Curious Deposits using their Analysis Visor. When they find it, they will see it on the planet’s surface and can harvest it using their Mining Laser. When they have an abundance of Runaway Mould, they can put it in a Refiner to turn it into Nanites.