Part of the Exploration & Endgame series:

Exploration & Endgame Guide Hub: Start here.

Trading Guide: Buy Low, Sell High: Put a wealthy system to work.

Quick Answer

Every star system carries four labels that matter: star colour, economy type, wealth rating, and conflict level.
Star colour gates access. Yellow systems are open from the start; red, green, and blue systems each require the matching hyperdrive upgrade, and purple systems were added with Worlds Part II.
Star colour also decides the stellar metal you can mine there: Copper in yellow, Cadmium in red, Emeril in green, Indium in blue.
Economy type (mining, trading, manufacturing, scientific, and others) determines what a system sells cheaply and what it pays a premium for.
Wealth rating runs from poor up to Wealthy and Opulent. Richer systems mean better prices, better mission rewards, and better ships parked on the landing pads.
Conflict level is a separate scale covering how dangerous the system is, mostly expressed through pirate activity and combat opportunities.
Install the Economy Scanner and Conflict Scanner starship technologies to see those ratings on the galaxy map before you burn a Warp Cell.

Overview

The galaxy map looks like a blur of coloured dots until you learn to read it. Once you do, it becomes a filtered search tool. A system's label tells you whether you can reach it, what resource it hides, who lives there, how much money is in circulation, and whether pirates will jump you on arrival. Two cheap starship modules surface all of that from the map screen, so you can plan a trade route, an S-class ship hunt, or a combat farm without a single blind jump. Each rating gets its own table below, followed by the routines that use them.

Star Colour: What It Gates

Star colour is the first filter because it controls where your ship can physically go. The base Hyperdrive only reaches yellow stars. Each specialised drive unlocks a new colour and stacks on top of the previous ones, so an Indium Drive owner can visit yellow, red, green, and blue systems freely.

Star Colour	Drive Needed	Stellar Metal Available
Yellow (F/G-class)	Base Hyperdrive	Copper
Red (K/M-class)	Cadmium Drive	Cadmium
Green (E-class)	Emeril Drive	Emeril
Blue (B/O-class)	Indium Drive	Indium
Purple	Atlantid Drive	Rare and exotic finds; added in Worlds Part II

Stellar metals refine into Chromatic Metal, and the further down the list you go, the more Chromatic Metal you get per unit. That single fact makes blue systems the standard destination once you own an Indium Drive, since Indium refines at the best rate and Activated Indium sells for a lot on its own. Full crafting requirements and drive progression live in the Hyperdrive Upgrades & Warp Guide, and the refining chains are catalogued in the Resources & Items Index.

Purple systems sit behind the Atlantid Drive and later-game progression, holding unusual planets and rarer finds. They do add a fifth stellar metal, Quartzite, but it breaks the pattern of the earlier four: Cadmium, Emeril, and Indium each fund the next drive in the chain, whereas the Atlantid Drive is the last one, so Quartzite refines into Chromatic Metal instead of unlocking anything further. The unlock path, the questline that grants the drive, and what is actually worth visiting up there are covered in the Purple Systems & Atlantid Drive Guide.

The Three Ratings, Side by Side

Economy type, wealth, and conflict are independent of each other. A Wealthy system can be peaceful or a warzone; a mining system can be destitute or booming. Reading all three together is what turns the map into a targeting system.

Rating Type	What It Tells You	Why You Care
Economy type	The system's industry (mining, trading, manufacturing, scientific, and others)	Sets which trade goods are produced cheaply here and which are in demand
Wealth rating	How rich the system is, from poor through to Opulent and Wealthy	Higher wealth means better prices, richer mission board payouts, and higher-class ships on the pads
Conflict level	How dangerous the system is, from peaceful through to lawless	Predicts pirate frequency, combat missions, and freighter distress calls
System race	Which of the Gek, Korvax, or Vy'keen dominates	Determines the NPCs, mission board flavour, and which faction's standing you build
Star colour	Which drive is required, plus the stellar metal	Gates access and sets the mining payoff

Economy Types

Every system with a space station has an economy descriptor, shown as a category plus a flavour name. The category is what matters for trade. Each economy produces its own product line cheaply and pays above average for goods it does not make.

Economy Category	Typical Descriptors You Will See	Produces Cheaply	Pays Well For
Mining	Ore extraction, mineral prospecting	Raw metals and extracted ores	Technology and advanced components
Trading	Mercantile, commercial	Broad mixed stock, good general markets	Most categories; a solid selling stop
Manufacturing	Industrial, mass production	Manufactured components and parts	Raw materials and scientific goods
Scientific	Research, experimental	Research and science goods	Manufactured and industrial items
Technology	Advanced materials, high tech	Technology modules and components	Raw ores and mined material
Power Generation	Energy supply	Energy-related trade goods	Component and technology categories
Alchemical	Material fusion	Refined and fused materials	Technology and scientific goods
Pirate / Outlaw	Black market descriptors	Contraband and illegal cargo	Stolen and illicit goods

The rule holds without needing exact numbers: buy a category where it is made, sell it into a system that does not produce it. Station terminals show a percentage above or below galactic average for each good, so the map narrows the search and the terminal confirms the margin. The Trading Guide turns that into a repeatable loop.

Outlaw systems are the exception. They replace the standard station with a pirate-run version, drop the usual security, and open smuggling and contraband markets, as covered in the Piracy & Outlaw Systems Guide.

Wealth Ratings

Wealth sits alongside the economy descriptor and is effectively a three-band scale, each band using several flavour words.

Band	Example Descriptors	What Changes
Poor	Failing, declining, struggling, destitute, low supply	Thin station stock, weaker mission rewards, mostly C and B-class ships
Average	Balanced, adequate, developing, comfortable, sustainable	Middling prices and a mixed spread of ship classes
Wealthy	Prosperous, flourishing, affluent, advanced, Opulent, Wealthy, high supply	Deeper stock, larger payouts, and the best odds of A and S-class ships landing

Wealth is the single most useful filter for money-making. A wealthy system carries more units in circulation, so its buy and sell terminals move more stock, its mission board posts higher-value contracts, and the ships that cycle through its landing pads skew toward higher classes. If you are chasing income, see the How to Make Units Fast Hub.

Conflict Levels

Conflict is unrelated to wealth. It describes how contested the system's space is.

Band	Example Descriptors	What to Expect
Low	Peaceful, tranquil, harmonious, unthreatened	Quiet warps, few pirate interceptions, safe hauling
Medium	Balanced, wavering, unpredictable, cautious	Occasional pirate attacks, moderate combat mission availability
High	Dangerous, volatile, aggressive, lawless, warzone	Frequent pirate raids, more freighter distress calls, more combat contracts on the board

High conflict is a feature, not a warning, once your ship can fight. Pirates drop cargo, destroyed raiders leave salvage, and freighters under attack reward you for the rescue. Low conflict is what you want when you are ferrying a hold full of expensive trade goods and do not want to defend it.

System Races

One of the three main factions dominates most systems, and that shapes the NPCs at the station, the language plaques on the planets, and the missions on offer.

Race	Station Flavour	Common Focus
Gek	Traders and merchants	Commerce, trade goods, economy missions
Korvax	Scientists and machines	Research, technology, science-leaning contracts
Vy'keen	Warriors	Combat missions, weapon technology

Working a system repeatedly builds standing with its resident race, which unlocks better prices and gated blueprints. See the Faction Reputation & Standing Guide for how standing tiers pay off.

The Economy and Conflict Scanners

Both are starship technologies, installed in your ship's technology inventory. Once installed, their information appears on the galaxy map for systems you have not yet visited, and the map gains filtering options so you can hunt by rating instead of guessing.

Module	Reveals	Where It Fits
Economy Scanner	Economy type and wealth rating of systems on the galaxy map	Starship technology slot
Conflict Scanner	Conflict level of systems on the galaxy map	Starship technology slot

Blueprints are commonly sold at space station technology merchants, and the modules are cheap to build relative to what they save you. Install both, since running one without the other leaves half a picture. Then get in the habit of switching the map to its filtered view, picking the rating you are hunting for, and plotting a path through systems that match. Warp Cells are finite, and blind jumping wastes them.

Putting It to Work

Hunting an S-class ship

Set the galaxy map to show wealth, then find a cluster of Wealthy or Opulent systems in range. Wealthy systems put higher-class ships on station pads and trading post landing zones more often. Park at a trading post on a busy planet, wait for ships to cycle, and scan each arrival for class before speaking to the pilot. The full method, including the trading post loop, is in How to Get an S-Class Ship.

Building a trade loop

Find two or three wealthy systems close enough to reach on a single tank, with different economy types. Buy the goods each one produces cheaply, sell them into the neighbour that does not produce them, and repeat the circuit. Wealth raises the value of both ends of the trade, and short hops keep fuel costs down.

Farming combat

Filter for high conflict systems and fly the space lanes between station and planet. Pirate interceptions come faster, freighter attacks are more common, and Vy'keen-dominated high-conflict systems tend to stack combat contracts on the mission board. Bring shield upgrades before you commit.

Staying safe with cargo

The reverse of the above. When you are moving a hold of Activated Indium or stacked trade goods, route through low conflict systems even if it costs an extra jump.

FAQ

Do I need both scanners, or is one enough?

Both. The Economy Scanner covers economy type and wealth, while the Conflict Scanner covers danger. They occupy separate technology slots and answer separate questions, so running only one leaves you guessing about the other.

Does wealth affect the class of ships that spawn?

Yes. Wealthier systems produce higher-class ships more often on landing pads and at trading posts. It is a probability shift rather than a guarantee, so you still need to check several arrivals.

Can a system be both wealthy and high conflict?

Absolutely. The two ratings are independent. A wealthy warzone is excellent for combat farming with high-value mission rewards, provided your ship can survive the traffic.

Does star colour change the economy or wealth of a system?

No. Star colour gates access and determines the stellar metal available on the planets. Economy, wealth, and conflict are assigned separately, so blue systems can be poor and yellow systems can be Opulent.

Are outlaw systems just high conflict systems?

They are a distinct type. Outlaw systems have pirate-controlled stations, black market terminals, and different rules for scanning and security, rather than simply carrying a high conflict rating.

Key Takeaways

The four labels on a system stack into a single decision. Star colour tells you whether you can get there and what metal is waiting. Economy type tells you what to carry in and what to carry out. Wealth tells you how much the trip is worth and which ships will be on the pads. Conflict tells you what will be shooting at you while you do it.

Install both scanners early, because they convert the galaxy map from a list of destinations into a search filter. Chase wealthy systems for units and ships, chase high-conflict systems for combat rewards, and route valuable cargo through peaceful space. Every warp after that is a choice rather than a gamble.

No Man's Sky Star Systems Guide: Economy, Wealth & Conflict Levels Explained