All Planet Types In No Man’s Sky Explained

You’ll see many strange and wonderful things in your journey through No Man’s Sky, most of which will be seen on planets. These stellar bodies are home to countless flora and fauna, mineral resources, and sometimes, edible treats for your Nutrient Processor.

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While planets may seem to come in endless varieties, they can all be categorized into several major types. Whether you’re looking to set up camp on a paradise planet, or trying to mine the rare minerals found on Volcanic and Frozen planets, this guide will give you a tour of the many types of planets you’ll find in No Man’s Sky.

Updated February 18, 2025, by Sean Murray: With the arrival of the Worlds Part 2 update, we’ve got a new planetary biome to add to this guide! Take a wild ride on a Gas Giant, but don’t forget to bring your storm gear, because these planets aren’t exactly a friendly vacation destination.

General Planet Info In No Man’s Sky

Before we begin our planetary tour, Travelers should be aware of some general information. Every planet has a particular biome that falls into one of 11 categories. Every planet has wild terrain variations based on its biome, and every planet with an atmosphere will have its own weather pattern.

The main reason to visit planets is for resources. Different planets will have different mineral deposits that can be used for crafting, and the potential for harvestable agricultural substances.

Finally, planets can have varying Sentinel activity. Sentinel behavior can be low, with Sentinel drones only found guarding secure facilities; high, with Sentinels patrolling the planet’s surface; and aggressive, with frequent Sentinel patrols that attack Travelers on sight.

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No Man’s Sky Planetary Biomes

Planetary biomes can fall into 11 categories: Lush, Barren, Dead, Exotic, Mega Exotic, Scorched, Frozen, Toxic, Irradiated, Marsh, and Volcanic. It may not be obvious which category a planet falls into because each planet is described using different terminology. We’ll discuss each category and its descriptive terms below.

Lush Planets

Lush planets are without doubt the best planets you can find. They typically have abundant animal life, brilliantly colorful plant life, and mild oxygen atmospheres that won’t reduce your life support systems over time. Lush planets can have extreme weather (usually boiling rain), but they’ll never have the sort of extreme storms you’ll find on other planets.

While most Lush planets will remind players of Earth with a slightly different color palette, Lush planets can have some of the characteristics of Exotic and Mega Exotic planets, such as bioluminescent flora, unusual weather (such as random bubbles or rains of blood), and strange looking creatures.

Barren Planets

Unlike Lush planets, Barren planets are usually without abundant plant life, although they can have significant animal life. These planets are typically arid deserts, with rocky terrain devoid of covering flora. Barren planets likely have a breathable atmosphere, but temperatures can range dangerously low or high, depending on the planet.

Barren planets can also suffer from extreme weather, both in terms of high heat and very low temperatures. Extreme storms are also possible on these planets. Travelers are advised to have materials ready to restore depleted hazard protection systems when visiting these worlds.

Dead Planets

As the name suggests, Dead planets have no atmosphere and thus no flora or fauna. They’ll all have rocky, impact-marked surfaces comparable to our own Moon. Without an atmosphere, Travelers are required to bring Oxygen and/or Life Support Gels to walk across the surface for extended periods.

Dead planets are also known to have lower gravity than most other planets, allowing Travelers to jump higher and longer than they’d normally be able to. Also, without flora and fauna to protect, Dead planets are usually devoid of Sentinel activity. The most common resources found on Dead planets are metals and Rusted Metal.

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Exotic Planets

Exotioc biome planets are a little weird. They’ll have strange geography, bizarre creatures, and plants that seem utterly impossible. They can take on the atmosphere of any biome, but they’ll always have calm weather without any storms.

Although rare, Exotic biome planets can spawn as several different subtypes. These include planets where there are beams of light erupting from fissures in the ground to planets that appear as though they’re made of hexagonal metallic segments. You can even get Exotic planets covered in what appear to be ancient growth pods for some long-forgotten alien species.

Mega Exotic Planets

Despite their name, Mega Exotic Planets aren’t quite as strange as their Exotic counterparts. Mega Exotic planets have weather and atmospheres similar to Lush planets and terrain that can vary wildly and are defined by enormous plants and geological formations that set them apart from other planets.

The other strange thing about Mega Exotic planets is they’ll often have distinct color filters that make everything appear monochromatic. These colors can either be red, green, blue, or gray.

Scorched Planets

Scorched planets are similar to barren worlds but with less flora and fauna due to extreme temperatures reducing the quantity of water present. These planets suffer from high temperatures that can skyrocket during extreme weather, and extreme storms can become even hotter.

Scorched planets can also be crossed with Exotic or Mega Exotic biomes, but will always have the same common resources thanks to their extreme heat.

Frozen Planets

In contrast to Scorched planets, Frozen planets are cold. Real cold. Sometimes daytime temperatures can be in the positive Celsius range, but not often, and nighttime temperatures can drop well below freezing. Water can be found in abundance, but it’ll be frozen or very salty.

Extreme cold weather events are common on Frozen planets, and even without them, cold temperature hazard protection is recommended. Extreme cold storms, although rare, can be deadly. Like extreme heat storms, it’s recommended you remain indoors or in your spaceship, or with plenty of Ion Batteries or Sodium to restore your hazard protection.

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Toxic Planets

The atmospheres of Toxic planets are, as the name suggests, poisonous and unbreathable. Even if the temperatures of these planets fall within a comfortable range, you’ll always need to have your hazard protection system running just to breathe the air.

The biomes of Toxic planets are full of strange fungal growths and poisonous plants that will often attack Travelers. Worse, extreme toxic weather events can whip up those poisonous substances on the ground and in the air to sap your hazard protection even faster.

Iradiated Planets

Planets of this type are radioactive to the point of being detrimental to Travelers. Not necessarily detrimental to the life on these planets, which has somehow evolved to withstand the extreme radiation present in the soil and atmosphere. You, however, will need to have your hazard protection systems charged to survive on these planets for any length of time.

As with Toxic, Frozen, and Scorched planets, extreme weather is more common on these planets and can become quite dangerous.

Marsh Planets

Marsh biome planets vary more widely in presentation than their name would imply. Some planets are dingy, decrepit swamps, while others are more like tropical paradises with large, expansive oceans. All have abundant liquid water, with some planets covered in perpetual rain.

Unlike other planetary biomes, the resources found on Marsh planets are seemingly random, although Star Bulbs, Faecium, and Mordite come up slightly more often than most.

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Volcanic Planets

Volcanic planets are similar to Scorched planets, but they’re hotter, have even fewer plants and animals, and have erupting volcanoes dotting their surfaces. Flora, although present, are often little more than burnt twigs due to the planet’s intense volcanism.

While a Volcanic planet’s extreme heat can dissuade Travelers from visiting, they’re the only known planet type to contain Basalt, a necessary component of the Voltaic Amplifier.

Corrupted Planets

Corrupted planets are found within Dissonant Systems. These planets can have any biome type, but they’re covered in strange purple crystals. Additionally, the Sentinels that inhabit these planets have become corrupted by the purple crystals, causing some Sentinel Interceptors to crash.

Travelers should exercise caution when traveling to Corrupted worlds as the sentinels there are hostile, powerful, and unpredictable. Corrupted drones will summon waves of more dangerous Corrupted Sentinels, which will hunt Travelers even beyond a planet’s surface.

Gas Giants

Gas Giants are only found within Purple Star Systems. These enormous planets have a unique biome with no flora, no fauna, and endless severe storms battering the player with heat, radiation, or both. Thick fog prevents peering into the distance, and high gravity makes it difficult to use your jetpack for traversal.

Although no flora exists on Gas Giants, it’s possible to find Sentinels or Alien Horrors. The only common resources on Gas Giants are Activated Quartzite and Crystallised Helium, although common elements such as Sodium are also found, as well as Storm Crystals due to the constant storms.

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