How to Join Friends in No Man’s Sky: A Comprehensive Guide

Joining your friends in the vast, procedurally generated universe of No Man’s Sky can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Whether you’re exploring alien planets, building bases, or embarking on epic missions, playing together elevates the game to a whole new level. So, how exactly do you connect with your fellow travelers? The answer isn’t as simple as one click, but with a bit of know-how, you’ll be exploring the stars together in no time.

The direct answer to “How do you join friends on No Man’s Sky?” is multi-faceted and requires a few steps. First, you need to add each other as friends within the game. This is distinct from your platform’s friend list (PSN, Xbox Live, Steam, etc.). Once you’ve added each other as in-game friends, the next step involves ensuring the correct network settings. These settings need to be properly configured to enable multiplayer connectivity. Following these initial steps, you can either join an existing session or invite friends to join yours, depending on your preference. Finally, patience is key; sometimes, it takes a moment for your friend’s session to appear in the multiplayer list. Let’s delve into each aspect for a smoother experience.

Setting the Stage: Adding Friends & Network Configuration

Adding Friends In-Game

To start playing together, you need to find and add your friends within No Man’s Sky. Here’s how:

1. Launch the Game: Begin by opening No Man’s Sky.
2. Access the Options Menu: Navigate to the game’s options menu. Usually, this is accessible through a cogwheel or settings icon in the top right of your screen.
3. Navigate to Network Settings: Look for a section labeled “Network” or “Multiplayer”.
4. Locate “View No Man’s Sky Friends List”: Within the network settings, you’ll find an option to “View No Man’s Sky Friends List”.
5. Add Friends: Here, you can either see your own No Man’s Sky friend code or enter another player’s code. Input your friend’s code to send them an invitation.
6. Accept the Invitation: Once you send an invitation, your friend will need to accept it through their own “No Man’s Sky Friends List”.
7. Confirmation: Once you’ve both accepted, you are officially in-game friends.

Configuring Network Settings

Correct network settings are essential for multiplayer to function. Here’s what to look for:

• Multiplayer: Enabled: Make sure that the “Multiplayer” setting is enabled. This usually is toggled On/Off within the Network settings menu.
• Can join group: Anyone: If you want your friend to see and join your session, ensure that the “Can join group” option is set to “Anyone”. If it’s set to “Invite only”, they will not see your session on the available multiplayer lists. This limits joining to explicitly invited friends.
• Crossplay: If you’re playing with friends on different platforms (e.g., PC and PlayStation), ensure that crossplay is enabled in the settings. This will allow players across various platforms to connect.

Joining Your Friend’s Session

After you’ve both added each other as friends and your network settings are in order, you can now join your friend’s session:

1. Restart the Game: It’s often beneficial to close and restart the game to ensure the friend requests and network settings are active.
2. Select Multiplayer: Upon launching, ensure that you are selecting the “Multiplayer” option from the initial menu. This is crucial, as selecting single-player will not allow you to join a multiplayer session.
3. Wait for your Friend: Have your friend start a new multiplayer session or continue their existing game in multiplayer.
4. View Sessions: In the multiplayer menu, you should see an option to join a session. Wait patiently. It sometimes takes a bit of time for the session to appear.
5. Select Your Friend’s Session: Once it appears in the list, select your friend’s session and join the game.
6. Load your Save: Select the save you want to load and you will be transported to your friend’s session.
7. Voila!: You should now be in the same instance, able to see, communicate, and play together.

In-Game Dynamics and Tips

Communication and Coordination

Once you’re connected, you can communicate with your friend via in-game voice or text chat. Coordinating your actions, planning base-building efforts, or tackling missions together is much more fun and efficient with good communication.

Sharing Resources

No Man’s Sky allows you to share resources, which can be helpful when someone needs a specific material or if you are working on a construction project together.

Exploring Together

The game supports exploring the universe together, with the ability to visit each other’s bases, planets, and systems. This opens up new possibilities for adventure and discovery.

Limited Co-op for Story

It’s important to note that while you can explore together, the main story missions are not designed for co-op. This means that both of you might need to complete certain steps individually, even if you are in the same party.

Instance Limits

While the game allows up to 32 players on PC and 16 on consoles in the same instance, you are not guaranteed to encounter other players randomly except in specific ‘civilization dense’ parts of the universe. Most likely, you’ll need to intentionally join friends to play together.

Persistence and Patience

Sometimes, things might not work perfectly. The session list might not update correctly, or you might experience temporary connection problems. Persistence and patience are essential, as usually, these issues can be resolved through re-tries and minor network setting tweaks.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Do I need PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold to play multiplayer?

Yes, PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold is required for actual online multiplayer activity, including interacting with other players and doing missions together. You can encounter other players’ discoveries and bases without it, but for co-op, it is necessary.

2. Can I play No Man’s Sky with friends on different platforms?

Yes, No Man’s Sky supports full crossplay. You can explore alongside others regardless of whether they’re on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, or Nintendo Switch.

3. Can I summon my friend to my location?

Yes, if you have a base with a teleporter and they have visited that base you can both then teleport to each others base if desired. If the base is not shared by being uploaded, it is only visible to you, or to players in the same instance. You can also warp directly to a friend by accessing the portal section within the cogwheel menu to the home base. From there your friend constellation will appear, from which you can select which friend to warp to.

4. Why can’t I see my friend’s session on the multiplayer list?

Ensure that both players have the correct “Can join group” setting (usually “Anyone”) set. Restarting the game and ensuring both players are connected to their respective platform’s online service can sometimes resolve this.

5. Can we do main story missions together?

No, story missions cannot be completed co-operatively. Players need to progress through the story individually, though you can do ancillary activities and explore together in the same instance.

6. Can I play co-op with a friend on a different save mode?

No, ensure you both have a save in the same mode. Ensure you both either have a save on Normal, Survival, Creative or Permadeath. You cannot join a different save game type.

7. What is a No Man’s Sky code and how do I use it?

Your No Man’s Sky code is like an in-game friend ID. You can find it in the Network settings. You give this code to your friends to allow them to send you friend invitations.

8. Is there PvP in No Man’s Sky?

Player vs. Player (PvP) is optional in No Man’s Sky. You can turn it off in your network settings. With it off, no other players can harm you.

9. Can we share a base?

You can upload your base so it can be seen by other players as long as its under the 3000 part limit. Bases that are not uploaded are only visible to the base owner, and to players that are in the same instance together with them.

10. How many players can be in a party?

You can form a party of 2 to 4 players to explore together.

11. Can I summon my companion for my friends to see?

Yes, your companions are visible to all players in your instance. They can interact with and even ride them.

12. Does playing with friends make the game easier?

Playing with friends can make certain tasks easier through resource sharing and coordination. However, the main story missions are not easier as they require each player to progress them individually.

13. Can I teleport to my friends base?

Yes. You can teleport to a base if you have visited it and it has an uploaded teleporter. Alternatively you can warp directly to your friend through the portal menu.

14. Can I see other players randomly without joining their session?

Yes, it is possible to encounter other players randomly in specific ‘civilisation dense’ parts of the universe. However, most interactions happen by actively joining someone’s session.

15. Why is it taking so long for my friend’s session to appear?

Sometimes it takes a little while for the session to show up on the list. Make sure you both have the correct network settings and have restarted the game after adding each other as friends. Patience is key.

By following these detailed steps and understanding these nuances, you’ll be able to easily join your friends in the vast, procedurally-generated universe of No Man’s Sky. Happy exploring, Travellers!