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Quick Answer

  • The Portable Refiner is your first refiner. Craft it from 1 Metal Plating and 30 Oxygen.
  • It runs on fuel: a full charge costs 100 Carbon or 34 Condensed Carbon.
  • The Portable Refiner can only process single-ingredient recipes (one input, one output).
  • Key early recipes: Ferrite Dust → Pure Ferrite, Carbon → Condensed Carbon, Cobalt → Ionised Cobalt.
  • Medium and Large Refiners unlock via the Space Anomaly, accept two or three inputs, and run off your base's power grid (no manual refueling needed).
  • Pin any recipe from the inventory or build menu to track required materials on your HUD.
  • Refining is one of the fastest ways to turn common junk into crafting-ready materials without spending Units.

Overview

Crafting and refining sit at the heart of No Man's Sky progression. Nearly every upgrade, base part, and advanced product you'll ever build starts with raw planetary resources, and most of those resources need to pass through a refiner before they become truly useful.

The game has two overlapping systems:

Crafting converts blueprints into items. Open your inventory, select an empty slot, and the crafting window shows every blueprint you own along with the materials required. Blueprints are never consumed. Once learned, you can craft that item as many times as you have resources for.

Refining converts one or more raw materials into different (usually more processed or more valuable) materials using a physical Refiner device. Unlike crafting, refining requires no blueprint for the output. You just load the inputs and hit start.

Both systems scale with you from the opening minutes through endgame factory building. This guide focuses on getting you started with the Portable Refiner and shows you which recipes to prioritize.

The Portable Refiner: Your First Piece of Equipment

How to Build It

The Portable Refiner blueprint is unlocked automatically during the early tutorial sequence, typically while you are still on your starting planet. To craft it, you need:

Ingredient Amount
Metal Plating 1
Oxygen 30

Metal Plating itself is crafted from Ferrite Dust, which you gather by mining rocks anywhere on any planet. Oxygen is found in red plants (look for bright red-leafed flora) and from mining Oxygen hotspots. Both materials are extremely common, so you should have your first refiner running within the first fifteen minutes of a new save.

To deploy it, open the Build Menu (hold the build key or button), locate the Portable Refiner under the Portable Technology section, and place it on any flat surface near you. It can be picked up and redeployed as many times as you like, making it genuinely portable. Carry it with you as you explore.

Fueling the Portable Refiner

The Portable Refiner needs fuel. A full fuel charge costs:

  • 100 Carbon (gathered from plants and trees with your Mining Beam), or
  • 34 Condensed Carbon (refined from Carbon. See the recipe table below)

Once fueled, it will run through multiple refinement cycles before needing a top-up. Medium and Large Refiners, built inside a base, run off your base power grid and never need manual refueling, a significant quality-of-life upgrade worth working toward early.

Portable Refiner Recipes

The Portable Refiner only accepts single-ingredient recipes: one type of material goes in, a different material comes out. This keeps it simple but also limits what it can produce.

Here are the most useful single-ingredient recipes for beginners:

Input Amount In Output Amount Out Why It Matters
Ferrite Dust 1 Pure Ferrite 1 Required for most base parts and many crafting recipes
Pure Ferrite 2 Magnetised Ferrite 1 Needed for advanced base building and technology
Carbon 2 Condensed Carbon 1 More efficient fuel; also used in many crafted items
Cobalt 2 Ionised Cobalt 1 Ionised Cobalt is required for Exosuit upgrades and base components
Copper 2 Chromatic Metal 1 Chromatic Metal is needed for nearly all technology upgrades
Cadmium 2 Chromatic Metal 1 Same as Copper — Cadmium found in red star systems
Emeril 2 Chromatic Metal 3 Better yield per unit than Copper or Cadmium
Indium 2 Chromatic Metal 4 Best Chromatic Metal yield; found in blue star systems
Salt 2 Chlorine 1 Chlorine is a solid early trade good
Di-hydrogen 30 Di-hydrogen Jelly 1 Compact form of Di-hydrogen for crafting and trading

Chromatic Metal tip: You will consume Chromatic Metal constantly throughout the game. Every technology upgrade requires it. If you have access to Emeril or Indium deposits, refining those gives you more Chromatic Metal per input than Copper. If you are still in the early game, Copper from yellow star systems is your easiest starting source. Check out our guide on how to get more inventory slots to make room for the stacks of Chromatic Metal you'll be producing.

Medium and Large Refiners

Once you reach the Space Anomaly, the rotating space station that appears after your first warp jump, you can unlock more powerful refiners using Salvaged Data.

Medium Refiner

  • Blueprint cost: 10 Salvaged Data (from the Construction Research Station on the Space Anomaly)
  • Build location: Must be placed inside an established base
  • Power: Runs off base power grid (no manual fueling)
  • Inputs: Accepts up to two different ingredients per recipe

The Medium Refiner opens up a huge range of new recipes, including many two-component conversions that are far more efficient than anything the Portable Refiner can do. For example, combining certain planetary resources with catalysts dramatically increases output quantities.

Large Refiner

  • Blueprint cost: 10 Salvaged Data (requires Medium Refiner blueprint first)
  • Build location: Inside a base
  • Power: Runs off base power grid
  • Inputs: Accepts up to three different ingredients per recipe

The Large Refiner is the endgame workhorse. It enables the most complex and valuable recipes in the game, including the multi-step chains needed for Stasis Devices and Fusion Igniters. Two of the most profitable crafted items in No Man's Sky.

If you want to build an efficient automated production pipeline, you'll eventually want multiple Large Refiners running in parallel inside your main base. Our base building guide covers how to lay that out.

Crafting Tips for Beginners

Pin Recipes to Your HUD

Any recipe or crafting target can be pinned from the inventory or build menu. Once pinned, the required materials appear in your Mission Log with step-by-step gathering guidance, and the items you need are highlighted in the environment. Only one recipe can be pinned at a time. Use it when you are actively hunting for a specific material.

Blueprints Are Permanent

Once you learn a blueprint, it stays with you forever and can never be consumed. You can craft the same item hundreds of times from a single blueprint. The only exception is one-time technology installations. After you install a technology upgrade into your Exosuit or ship, that blueprint slot disappears until you dismantle the upgrade.

Where to Get Blueprints

  • Tutorial missions: Core survival blueprints are handed out automatically in the opening hours.
  • Space Anomaly Construction Research Station: Use Salvaged Data (found at Buried Technology Modules) to buy base building and technology blueprints. See our Salvaged Data farming guide to stock up quickly.
  • Manufacturing Facilities and Operations Centres: Blast the sealed door, answer the terminal puzzle, and walk away with an advanced product blueprint. The full method is here.
  • Technology Merchants on Space Stations: Sell upgrade modules and some blueprints for Units.

Refining Is Free Processing

Raw materials you gather weigh the same in your inventory whether they are Ferrite Dust or Pure Ferrite. Always refine before you sell or use. The refined version is worth more at trade terminals and is directly usable in crafting without an extra step. This habit alone will save you considerable frustration in the first few hours.

Looking Up an Ingredient

Not sure what a material is for? The resources and items index lists sources and uses.

Full Recipe Tables

This page covers the method. For the complete input-and-output tables, see the refiner recipes reference.

FAQ

What is the easiest way to get Chromatic Metal early?

Mine Copper from yellow star system planets. Copper deposits are common and visible as yellowish outcroppings. Refine 2 Copper in the Portable Refiner to produce 1 Chromatic Metal. It is not the most efficient ratio in the game, but Copper is available from your first system. If you reach a system with Emeril or Indium later, switch to those for better yields.

Do I lose my refiner and its contents when I warp to another star system?

No. Portable Refiners placed in the world stay where you left them, but you can pick them up and they will appear in your inventory. Any materials loaded inside are returned to you when you pick it up. Medium and Large Refiners anchored in a base remain accessible from any teleporter in the galaxy.

Why won't my Portable Refiner accept two ingredients?

The Portable Refiner is limited to single-ingredient recipes by design. If a recipe requires two inputs, you need a Medium Refiner, which is built inside a base and unlocked with Salvaged Data from the Space Anomaly.

How do I get Salvaged Data to buy the Medium Refiner blueprint?

Use your Analysis Visor (scan mode) on planets to find Buried Technology Module signals. These underground containers each yield a small amount of Salvaged Data when excavated with the Terrain Manipulator. Gathering ten Salvaged Data earns you the Medium Refiner blueprint. Our Salvaged Data farming guide has the fastest methods.

Is refining the same as crafting?

They are related but distinct. Crafting uses a blueprint to combine materials into a product. It happens in your inventory or at a Fabricator. Refining converts one or more raw materials into different materials using a Refiner device. You cannot refine without deploying a Refiner, and you cannot craft without a blueprint and free inventory slot.

Can I run multiple Portable Refiners at the same time?

Yes. You can build and deploy as many Portable Refiners as you have inventory space for. Each one runs its own job independently. Early on this is a common trick for processing large batches of Carbon or Ferrite Dust quickly before you have access to a base with a Medium Refiner.

Key Takeaways

  • Build the Portable Refiner as early as possible. It needs 1 Metal Plating and 30 Oxygen and pays for itself within minutes.
  • Fuel it with Carbon or Condensed Carbon; refining Carbon into Condensed Carbon first is more efficient per charge.
  • Master the core single-ingredient conversions: Ferrite Dust → Pure Ferrite, Carbon → Condensed Carbon, Cobalt → Ionised Cobalt, and any stellar metal → Chromatic Metal.
  • Unlock the Medium Refiner from the Space Anomaly using 10 Salvaged Data. It removes fueling, opens two-ingredient recipes, and is a major quality-of-life step up.
  • The Large Refiner (also 10 Salvaged Data, requires Medium first) handles three-ingredient recipes and powers late-game crafting chains like Stasis Devices.
  • Pin recipes to your HUD to track gathering requirements without opening menus.
  • Refining raw materials before selling or crafting is always worth it. Refined materials are more valuable and more immediately usable than their raw inputs.