Part of the series:

No Man's Sky Beginner's Guide (2026): Start here for a full overview of your first hours.

How to Repair Your Ship & Leave the First Planet: The steps that come right before survival becomes critical.

No Man's Sky Early Game Checklist: What to Do First: Pair this guide with that checklist for your first session.

Quick Answer

Your Exosuit has two survival meters: Life Support (breathable air) and Hazard Protection (environmental shielding).
Life Support drains when you sprint or use the jetpack. Recharge it with Oxygen, Life Support Gel, or Dioxite.
Hazard Protection activates automatically on hostile planets and drains based on how extreme the environment is. Recharge it with Sodium, Sodium Nitrate, or Ion Batteries.
Both meters recharge automatically when you are inside a building, cave, starship, or space station. Seek shelter first before spending resources.
Use your Scanner (C on PC by default) to locate Oxygen-rich plants and Sodium deposits nearby.
Crafting Life Support Gel from Di-hydrogen Jelly and Carbon gives you a reliable backup recharge source.
Install upgrade modules (Thermic Layer, Coolant Network, Toxin Suppressor, Radiation Deflector) to extend how long your protection lasts before needing a recharge.

Overview

No Man's Sky drops you onto a planet where the atmosphere may be toxic, the temperature extreme, and breathable air far from guaranteed. Two systems built into your Exosuit keep you alive: the Life Support system and the Hazard Protection system. Understanding how each one works, and how to keep both topped up, is the single most important survival skill in your early hours.

Neither system is complicated once you know the rules, but running out of resources in the middle of a storm on a scorched planet with a nearly empty ship is among the most common ways new players die. This guide gives you a clear picture of both systems so that never happens to you.

Life Support: Breathable Air for Your Exosuit

What It Does

The Life Support system continuously filters and circulates breathable Oxygen through your Exosuit. Without it functioning, your character cannot survive on most planetary surfaces or in space. Think of it as the baseline requirement for existing outside of a pressurized environment.

What Drains It

Life Support only depletes when you are performing physically demanding actions:

Sprinting: moderate drain
Using the jetpack: higher drain rate while boosting

Simply walking, standing still, or being inside a vehicle, building, cave, or space station will not drain Life Support at all. This means that pacing yourself, walking instead of sprinting when resources are low, is a legitimate survival tactic.

How to Recharge Life Support

Recharge Item	How to Get It	Notes
Oxygen	Harvest red plants on any planet; use Scanner to locate	Primary source, found on all worlds
Life Support Gel	Craft from Di-hydrogen Jelly + Carbon	Great backup; Di-hydrogen is easy to find
Dioxite	Mined from crystals on cold planets	Alternative to Oxygen for recharging

To recharge, open your Exosuit inventory, hover over the Life Support technology, and select a compatible resource. You can also recharge quickly through the Quick Menu (X on PC by default) without fully opening your inventory.

Tip: Use your Analysis Visor to scan plants before harvesting them. Many plants carry bonus Oxygen alongside their primary resource. Harvesting these with the Mining Beam gives you a steady supply without needing to search specifically for red plants.

Hazard Protection: Shielding Against the Planet

What It Does

Hazard Protection is a separate system that automatically activates whenever you step onto a planet with extreme environmental conditions. It acts as a buffer between you and the planet's hostility. When it fully depletes, your shields begin taking damage, and after shields drop, your health follows.

The Four Hazard Types

No Man's Sky features four distinct hazard environments, each with its own dedicated upgrade module:

Hazard Type	Environment	Upgrade Technology
Extreme Cold	Frozen/icy planets	Thermic Layer
Extreme Heat	Scorched/volcanic planets	Coolant Network
Toxicity	Toxic/swamp planets	Toxin Suppressor
Radiation	Radioactive/nuclear planets	Radiation Deflector

The base protection meter drains at a rate proportional to how extreme the hazard is. A mildly cool planet drains it slowly; an extreme storm on a frozen world drains it rapidly. Storms dramatically accelerate drain rate, so finding shelter before a storm peaks is always the right call.

The speed at which Life Support and Hazard Protection deplete is controlled by your difficulty settings. No Man's Sky uses a fully customizable difficulty system, so drain rate depends on the setting you have chosen. Ranging from a relaxed pace to a significantly more punishing rate. Keep this in mind when choosing your game mode and difficulty settings.

How to Recharge Hazard Protection

Recharge Item	How to Get It	Notes
Sodium	Harvest yellow plants; use Scanner to locate	Found on all worlds
Sodium Nitrate	Refine Sodium or harvest from specific flora	More efficient per unit than raw Sodium
Ion Battery	Craft from Ferrite Dust + Cobalt	High recharge amount; good emergency item

Sodium Nitrate is significantly more efficient than raw Sodium. If you have a Portable Refiner, converting Sodium into Sodium Nitrate before a long surface run is worth the effort. See the No Man's Sky Crafting & Refining Basics guide for refiner setup tips.

The Free Recharge: Shelter

Both Life Support and Hazard Protection recharge automatically, for free, whenever you are:

Inside any building or structure
In a cave (even a shallow one)
Seated in your starship
On a Space Station

Getting into your ship costs nothing and fully restores both meters while you sit there. If you are low on resources, prioritizing a sprint to your ship or the nearest structure is almost always better than burning through consumables.

Upgrading Your Survival Systems

Once you have access to a Space Station's Technology Merchant, you can purchase upgrade modules that significantly extend how long each system lasts. These are installed in technology slots in your Exosuit.

Life Support Upgrades

Life Support Upgrade modules reduce the drain rate of Life Support during sprinting and jetpack use. Up to three upgrade modules of the same type can be installed, and adjacency bonuses apply when modules are placed next to each other and the base Life Support technology. This is worth planning out when you look at how to upgrade your Exosuit.

Underwater Breathing: Aeration Membrane

The Aeration Membrane is a dedicated underwater breathing technology (separate from the Life Support upgrade line) that extends how long you can remain submerged. It recharges passively by swimming near Candle Kelp plants underwater. Stacking multiple Aeration Membrane upgrades can substantially extend your underwater time.

Hazard Protection Upgrades

Each hazard type has its own dedicated upgrade line. These modules extend the duration before that specific type of protection depletes. You do not need all four unless you plan to explore multiple planet types regularly: in the early game, just pick up the module that matches the planet type you are currently on.

All upgrade modules can be bought with Nanites from Technology Merchants on Space Stations. They can also be found as rewards at Operations Centres, Damaged Machinery sites, and similar planetary structures. Check the Nanites farming guide if you need to build up your Nanite reserves quickly.

Underwater Survival

Underwater environments add a third dimension to survival. The Aeration Membrane handles oxygen while submerged, and this is a separate meter from the main Life Support bar. It recharges automatically when you surface or swim near Candle Kelp plants found underwater.

Toxic and irradiated planets that have oceans also drain the relevant Hazard Protection while you are underwater, so you are managing two meters simultaneously on those worlds. Plan accordingly and keep Sodium on hand.

FAQ

Why is my Hazard Protection draining even though the weather looks calm?

Some planets have persistent environmental hazards that are always active regardless of weather. Radiation on nuclear worlds and toxicity on toxic worlds never stop even between storms. Your Hazard Protection will always drain on those planet types the moment you step outside.

Can I recharge Life Support with Sodium or vice versa?

No. The two systems use different resource types. Life Support accepts Oxygen, Life Support Gel, and Dioxite. Hazard Protection accepts Sodium, Sodium Nitrate, and Ion Batteries. Keeping both resource types in your inventory is essential.

What is the fastest way to find Oxygen or Sodium when I am running low?

Open your Scanner (C on PC) while on foot. It will highlight the nearest Oxygen-rich plants and Sodium deposits on your HUD. Most planets have both within a short walking distance. If you are completely empty and far from resources, sprint to your ship. It is free and safe.

Does my Hazard Protection work in space?

Space has no temperature, radiation, or toxicity hazard in the same way planets do. Your Life Support is the primary concern in space or during planetary flight. Hazard Protection becomes relevant again the moment you land on a hostile world.

Is it worth crafting Life Support Gel instead of just collecting Oxygen?

Yes, especially if you are on a planet where Oxygen plants are sparse. Di-hydrogen (blue crystals) is extremely common on almost every world, making Life Support Gel a reliable fallback. It is also stackable, so you can carry a lot without using much inventory space compared to large stacks of raw Oxygen.

Do caves actually block environmental hazards?

Yes. Even a shallow cave entrance is enough to pause Hazard Protection drain and let it regenerate. Caves count as sheltered environments. This is particularly useful during storms. If you see a storm building, duck into the nearest cave entrance rather than fighting through it.

Key Takeaways

Life Support drains from sprinting and jetpacking: recharge with Oxygen, Life Support Gel, or Dioxite.
Hazard Protection drains from environmental exposure: recharge with Sodium, Sodium Nitrate, or Ion Batteries.
Both meters recover automatically and for free inside buildings, caves, your starship, or Space Stations. Always prioritize shelter over burning consumables.
Use the Scanner constantly to locate nearby Oxygen and Sodium deposits before you need them.
Storms dramatically increase Hazard Protection drain. Plan exploration around storm cycles or take shelter early.
Install upgrade modules (Thermic Layer, Coolant Network, Toxin Suppressor, Radiation Deflector, Life Support Upgrades) from Space Station Technology Merchants to extend survival duration significantly.
Sodium Nitrate is more efficient than raw Sodium; refining your supply before long surface runs is worthwhile.
Keeping a stack of Life Support Gel and Ion Batteries as emergency backups will save your life more than once.
Your drain rate depends on your chosen difficulty settings. Adjust these via the game modes and difficulty settings menu at any time.

No Man's Sky Survival Guide: Life Support, Hazard Protection, Oxygen & Sodium