The 30 Best Mods for No Man's Sky

When No Man’s Sky first came out, it wasn’t a total disaster — but it definitely wasn’t what people had hoped for. To their credit, the developers didn’t walk away. They kept at it, and over the years the game has become something genuinely worth exploring.

But there’s always room for improvement — and that’s where the modding community steps in. I’ve put together a list of my favorite mods that make the game more interesting, more beautiful, and just... better. Some fix tiny annoyances, some add visual depth, and some simply make the whole experience feel smoother

8 Mods That Make Space Prettier

Sometimes the game looks incredible. Sometimes it looks... kinda unfinished. These mods fix that. The clouds look like actual weather, the rings aren’t just gray smudges, the water moves like water. Planets feel different from each other. Nothing flashy — just small changes that make space feel like somewhere you want to be, not just something you fly through.

Dud’s Sky – Colors

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Again, after countless hours traversing the galaxy, the visual palette of planets and skies can start to feel monotonous. This mod breathes new life into the cosmos by introducing a vast array of custom colors and visual effects. From vibrant sunsets to eerie, void-like night skies, each environment becomes a unique visual experience, rekindling the excitement of exploration.

The mod is modular, allowing you to select specific visual enhancements to suit their preferences. It's compatible with the latest game versions and integrates smoothly without requiring a new save. For those seeking to revitalize their journey through the stars with fresh and diverse visuals, this mod offers a compelling enhancement.

HD Space Planet Clouds 

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Some planets just don’t feel alive until you’re right there in the atmosphere — but this mod changes that the moment you drop out of pulse. It upgrades the clouds you see from space, replacing the flat, blurry haze with crisp, detailed formations that actually feel like weather systems swirling below. It’s a small thing on paper, but when you’re cruising past a ringed planet and its atmosphere glows with layered storm fronts, it suddenly feels like the place is breathing.

It doesn’t mess with clouds on the ground, and it doesn’t need to — all the magic happens before you ever break through the stratosphere. If you weren’t the kind of player to linger in orbit before, this mod might change that. And if you already love soaking in cinematic views from your cockpit, this one makes the whole galaxy feel just a bit more alive.

Crescent Worlds

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Sometimes, the planets in No Man's Sky can feel a bit too perfect, always fully illuminated and lacking the dramatic shading that gives celestial bodies depth. This mod brings back the crescent lighting seen in pre-release trailers, where planets display a more realistic interplay of light and shadow. The result is a more immersive and visually striking experience as you approach and observe planets from space.

Additionally, the mod addresses how planetary rings are rendered. Instead of appearing unnaturally overlaid on the sky, rings now blend more naturally, their visibility influenced by both their brightness and the planet's sky brightness. It's a subtle change, but one that enhances the overall realism and beauty of the game's visuals.

Black Space

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Space in No Man’s Sky often feels more like a neon screensaver than the cold, vast void it should be. This mod strips away the colorful haze, replacing it with deep black space and white suns. There's also a version that keeps colored nebulae if you prefer a bit of cosmic flair. For those who want to push the minimalism further, optional add-ons remove stars, space dust, plasma, and even bloom effects.

It completely changes the vibe of the game and creates an entirely different atmosphere. For a moment, it feels like you’ve drifted into Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey — silent, haunting, and beautiful in a way that’s hard to describe until you see it yourself.

ArghWater

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Sometimes, the oceans in the game feel more like static backdrops than dynamic environments. This mod changes that by enhancing wave dynamics, reflections, and foam behavior. The water now responds to light and motion in a more realistic manner, making every shoreline and underwater dive more immersive.

While it might not seem like a massive overhaul at first glance, for someone who's spent the last few years living by the sea, the difference is palpable. The enhanced water dynamics and visuals resonate deeply, making planetary exploration feel more authentic and engaging. It's a subtle change, but one that significantly enriches the overall experience.

Let It Snow

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Who says you can’t celebrate Christmas in No Man’s Sky? This mod gives snowy planets an actual winter vibe — not just a white texture, but proper snowflakes falling slowly around you. It swaps the default snow effect for delicate crystals, increases the amount, slows it down, and makes the whole thing feel like a peaceful, frozen postcard. All that’s missing is the ability to build a snowman next to your starship.

Whether you’re roleplaying a lone traveler stuck on an icy world or just want to take a festive screenshot with your favorite multitool, this mod adds the kind of cozy chill that the galaxy usually forgets.

Unified Warps

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If you've ever been jolted by the intense flashing lights during warp sequences in No Man's Sky, this mod offers a more subdued experience. It unifies the visual effects across all warp types—be it black holes, portals, ship jumps, or teleporters—by darkening the overall warp visuals and reducing the brightness of light flares. This results in a more consistent and less overwhelming transition between locations. 

The mod provides four visual variants: with or without speed lines, and with or without stars. Only one variant should be used at a time to ensure proper functionality. While it doesn't alter gameplay mechanics, the visual refinement can make warp travel feel more immersive and less visually taxing.

Analogue - Exosuit Voice Overhau

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The original exosuit voice can feel like your ship assistant got replaced by a smoke alarm — loud, clipped, and not exactly pleasant to listen to for 50+ hours. This mod swaps that out for a warmer, smoother AI voice that actually sounds like it wants to help you, not scold you. It's still synthetic, but in that "calm sci-fi companion" kind of way — less "military training sim," more "hey, I’ve got your back."

It doesn’t change what the voice says, just how it sounds,  but honestly, that’s enough. Notifications feel softer, status updates don’t jolt you, and the whole game feels just a bit more atmospheric. Oh, and yeah, let’s be honest — this voice is just way more sexy.

10 Mods That Make the Game Less Annoying

These are the mods that make the game less annoying. No more holding buttons forever. No more walking like your boots are full of glue. No more pop-ups in the middle of a nice view. Scanning is faster, movement is faster, text appears instantly. Playing feels better not because something changed — but because nothing gets in the way anymore.

JJ's Better Ships

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Spending hours at a trading post, watching a parade of underwhelming C-class ships, can be disheartening. This mod addresses that by removing C-class ships from the game, ensuring that only S, A, and B classes populate the universe. Now, every landing pad holds the potential for a top-tier find, making each encounter more rewarding.

It doesn’t change how ships look or how they behave — it just raises the baseline. You’re still scanning the skies, still watching what lands, still getting that little dopamine hit when something cool touches down. But now it happens way more often, and that tiny shift makes exploring star systems feel just a bit more exciting again.

Only S Class

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If JJ’s Better Ships is for those who still enjoy a bit of randomness in their upgrades, this mod is for the ones who are done waiting altogether. It scraps the lottery system entirely — every ship, multitool, freighter, or frigate you come across is top-tier, no exceptions. There’s no more hovering around trading posts, no scanning fleets for that one perfect score. You show up, and everything’s already the best.

Sure, it removes the thrill of the hunt, but that’s kind of the point. It’s for players who’ve done the grind, know exactly what they want, and would rather spend their time building bases, exploring, or pushing storylines forward than staring at space traffic. Sometimes you don’t want to roll the dice — you just want to fly.

Fast Actions

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In No Man's Sky, many actions—like interacting with objects, entering your ship, or gathering resources—require holding down a button for a second or so. Over time, these small delays can accumulate, making the gameplay feel sluggish. This mod addresses that by reducing or eliminating these hold times, allowing for more immediate interactions.

The mod offers two versions: "instant actions," which removes delays almost entirely, and "fast actions," which strikes a balance between the original timings and instant responses. By streamlining these interactions, the mod enhances the overall fluidity of the game, making exploration and multitasking more seamless.

Hide or Fade Notifications

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Sometimes it feels like the UI is trying a little too hard to keep you "informed" — flashing mission updates, weather warnings, icons popping up just when you're taking in a view. This mod lets you either tone it all down or make it disappear entirely. You can choose to fade the notifications so they quietly sit in the background, or go fully minimalist and hide them altogether for a clean, uninterrupted screen.

It doesn’t let you pick which messages to keep, but honestly, once they’re gone, you probably won’t miss them. The gameplay stays exactly the same — you're just not being nudged and reminded every five seconds. If you want the world to speak louder than the interface, this one’s for you.

Faster Movement Speed

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The default movement speed in the game is… slow. Not just "taking in the scenery" slow — more like "didn’t realize I hit the stick" slow. This mod kicks things up across the board: walking, sprinting, even low-gravity drifting gets noticeably faster. It doesn’t break the game or turn you into The Flash, but it makes getting around feel a lot less like a chore and a lot more like an actual journey.

And the best part? It still feels balanced. You’re not skipping entire biomes in one hop — you’re just not crawling through them anymore. Perfect for players who want to explore more and wait less, especially when the next shiny point of interest is just over that next hill (and another... and another...).

Faster Scanning

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The scanner in game may feel slow. Like, unnecessarily slow. You press the button, and then just sort of stand there awkwardly while your visor does its little dance. This mod fixes that in the most satisfying way — scans either take one second or become completely instant, depending on which version you pick. It also lets you ditch that weird cooldown between scans, so you can just keep rolling.

It’s a tiny change that makes everything else feel faster. Tagging minerals, finding points of interest, getting your bearings — it all flows better when you’re not pausing every ten seconds to wait on your own gear. If you love exploring but hate being throttled by animation timers, this one quietly makes the game feel smarter.

Instant Text Display 

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I use Instant Text Display because the vanilla lines are way too slow. Nothing fancy here — the mod just makes text appear instantly when you're talking to aliens or using terminals, instead of crawling letter by letter like it's building suspense for no reason.

And if that's still not fast enough, you can hold the left mouse button (or A on an Xbox controller) to skip through even quicker. It doesn’t change anything else, just saves time and keeps the game moving. Clean, simple, effective.

Auto Scanner Plus 

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Exploration in the base game can feel a bit empty — you wander for a while before stumbling onto something interesting. This mod automatically scans a wide array of planetary structures and objects within a certain range, including abandoned buildings, crashed ships, monoliths, and more. It transforms exploration by making it more efficient and rewarding, as you no longer need to manually search for points of interest.

It doesn’t change the core gameplay, but enchance the scanners and markers and makes exploration worth it again.

No Man's Connect - Online Location Manager

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There’s that one frozen planet with the triple moons and purple skies you swore you’d come back to — but now it’s lost somewhere in the galaxy, buried under a hundred other systems. This mod makes sure that never happens again. It automatically logs the locations you visit, lets you name and tag them, and keeps everything organized in a neat online map tied to your save. You can even add notes, screenshots, and track your own galactic trail like a personal exploration diary.

For PC players, it goes further — with tools to instantly teleport to saved places, back up bases, or jump to locations shared by other players. It’s not a cheat, just a way to finally keep track of the chaos. If your save is full of moments you wish you could revisit, this mod makes the universe feel connected — and yours.

Natural Steering

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Why does steering an exocraft in No Man’s Sky feel like you’re piloting it with your face? That’s because, by default, moving your mouse literally turns the vehicle — which makes zero sense if you’re used to, well, pretty much any other PC game. Honestly, NMS kind of feels like it was meant to be played with a gamepad anyway — but still, would’ve been nice if basic keyboard driving worked properly on mouse and keyboard too. And turns out, the game does have normal WASD-style steering... it’s just hidden.

This mod flips that invisible switch and finally separates camera movement from vehicle controls. Now you can drive forward while freely looking around, just like you would in a ship — or in a game that respects basic steering logic.

Better Everything: 6 Mods That Make No Man’s Sky Just... Better

It’s not a trend, it’s a lifestyle. These six mods all start with the word "Better," and after using them, it’s hard not to agree. Better planets, better loot, better explosions, better rings, better UI moments — it’s like the modders were politely fixing things Hello Games never got around to.

They don’t overhaul the game or change how it works. They just improve what’s already there. Small changes that make exploration smoother, the world more alive, and the grind feel a little more worth it. If you still love the game but wish it flowed nicer and looked cleaner — this is a great way to quietly upgrade the experience.

Better Planet Generation

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Ever landed on a new planet only to feel like you've seen it before? After spending dozens of hours exploring, planets can start to feel repetitive, i know. Lush worlds blending together, barren ones offering little surprise. This mod revitalizes planetary exploration by overhauling the generation system, introducing a vast array of terrains and features. From grass-covered plains to volcanic wastelands, each world offers a unique landscape that rekindles the thrill of discovery.

The mod integrates seamlessly with your current game, requiring no new save or complex setup. However, for optimal results, it's recommended to install it while in a space station, anomaly, or freighter to prevent any terrain anomalies.

Better Rewards

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The problem with some of the rewards in this game is that they feel like a polite shrug. You dig up ancient ruins, brave a storm, decode some alien riddle — and then get handed two units and a slightly sarcastic "well done." This mod fixes that by cranking the numbers up to where they actually feel worth it. Rewards from missions, interactions, word learning, buried caches — all of it gets a generous boost.

It’s not about breaking balance or getting rich quick. It’s about making the stuff you already do feel like it matters. You’re still playing the same game, you’re just not constantly asking "...that’s it?" every time a mission completes. 

Better Asteroid Explosions

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Blasting asteroids in the vanilla game kind of feels like popping balloons — quick flash, puff of smoke, and that's it. This mod gives those space rocks some real punch. Now when you fire into a dense cluster, you get proper debris scattering in every direction, big chunks tumbling away, and explosions that actually look like you hit something solid. Special and larger asteroids even get their own distinct effects, so not everything blows up the same way anymore.

Beyond the visual improvements, the mod introduces a subtle yet impactful change: debris from destroyed asteroids can now physically collide with other asteroids, adding a layer of realism to space interactions. Optional add-ons are available to further customize the experience, such as increasing asteroid draw distance or making asteroid collisions more damaging.

Better Pulse Drive Aim

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You’re aiming just past a planet — maybe skimming its rings or diving toward a custom marker — and suddenly your ship snaps into a pulse lock with a random building halfway across the surface. That’s because the game uses invisible "target zones" around objects, and they’re way bigger than they need to be. This mod shrinks those zones, so your pulse drive only locks on when you’re really pointing at something.

It’s one of those little frustrations you didn’t realize was bugging you until it’s gone — and suddenly pulse travel feels smooth, manual, and intentional. Great if you like landing somewhere specific instead of playing chicken with a planetary icon every time you hit the throttle.

Better Frigate View

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The game’s default camera when checking out a frigate up close is… not ideal. It sits way too close, chopping off the front of the ship and — even worse — sometimes hiding one of the perks off-screen. This mod fixes that with a simple tweak: it pulls the camera back just a bit so you can see the whole frigate and every stat it comes with.

It doesn’t add any bells or whistles — it just makes the view clean and complete like it probably should’ve been in the first place. Simple but clean.

Better Colorful Planet Rings

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This is just straight-up pretty. The default planet rings in the game are fine — but kind of samey, kind of pale. This mod swaps in new color palettes that make them actually pop. I love flying past planets with vivid turquoise bands, soft lilac halos, deep rust-red curves — rings that look like they belong in a sci-fi artbook instead of a procedural shrug.

There are eight palettes to pick from, and none of them feel over-the-top or fake. They just bring life and variety to something you see constantly but probably stopped noticing. 

My Favorite Exosolar Mods (a.k.a. the Stuff That Makes NMS Feel Right)

Exosolar, along with a few collaborators, has made over 25 mods for No Man’s Sky, and honestly, most of them are just quietly brilliant. They don’t overhaul the whole game or scream for attention — they just make things feel better. More alive, more interesting, more like the game you want it to be. 

I’ve tried a bunch of them, but these six are the ones I keep coming back to. They make exploration smoother, planets weirder (in a good way), and the whole experience more rewarding without breaking the flow. If you’re looking to refresh your next playthrough, this is a pretty great place to start.

Exosolar's Beyond Base Building

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You know that moment when you’re building a base and you hit that wall — not literal, but the "sorry, can’t place that here" kind of wall? This mod basically tears that down. It gives you access to almost a thousand building pieces — decorative stuff, functional structures, all the bits you usually don’t even realize exist because they’re hidden behind progression. You still need to unlock the blueprints the normal way, which keeps things feeling earned, but once you do, it’s like getting a full creative toolkit instead of just a starter set.

And the freedom is wild, you can build above water, underwater, even on your freighter, though some bits like the base computer and industrial parts have their limits. Most pieces let you mess with size and color (though scaling can mess with snapping, so it’s a bit chaotic in a fun way). There’s no artificial cap on how many things you can place, except the stuff the game hard-codes — like extractors and terminals. So, if you’re dreams up insane builds or just wants to make a slick hideout that doesn’t look like a prefab dump, this one’s a must. Oh, and yeah, it works in online too. No weird crashes, no compatibility nightmares. Just pure build freedom.

Exosolar's Grass Fix

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Ever touched down on a planet expecting a lush paradise, only to find grass that looks like it gave up halfway through growing? This mod transforms those underwhelming fields into rich, velvet-like meadows, especially on Lush planets. It enhances grass density and ensures it grows even on slopes, making the terrain feel more alive and immersive. It's like the planet decided to roll out a green carpet just for your arrival.

While the visual upgrade is impressive, there are a few considerations. The mod re-randomizes flora species and positions, so some plant placements will change. Also, it's not compatible with certain biome-altering mods like Redmas's Fantasy or WoodyMontana's Better Planet Generation. 

Exosolar's Expanse

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Ever felt that space in No Man’s Sky starts to look the same after a while? This mod changes that by introducing 768 unique combinations of space backgrounds, star colors, brightness levels, and nebula hues. Each solar system becomes a distinct visual experience, making exploration feel fresh and unpredictable.

For those who prefer a minimalist aesthetic, there's a "Black Edition" that removes nebulae and space clouds, leaving only the dark void, distant stars, and a lone sun. It's a simple yet impactful way to revitalize the game's atmosphere and rekindle the sense of wonder during interstellar travel.

Exosolar's Deadzone III - Revenge of the Deadzone

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Dead planets in No Man’s Sky are usually exactly that — dead. Bare landscapes, same color palettes, nothing but some rocks and a bit of dust blowing around. This mod completely flips that script. It overhauls the dead biome with fresh textures, unique object placement, and surprising terrain combos that make these worlds feel eerie, beautiful, and totally worth landing on.

It’s not trying to turn dead planets into lush ones — they’re still harsh and lifeless, but now they’ve got character. One planet might look like a dried-up alien seabed, another like the burned-out ruins of something ancient. If you usually skip over these systems, this mod gives you a reason to start checking them twice.

Exosolar's Dead Wreckoning

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This mod adds alien ruins, structures, and crashed freighters to dead planets — the ones that usually have nothing but dust and rocks. That’s it, and that’s exactly why it’s great.

Used together with Deadzone III, which makes those same dead worlds look way cooler and more diverse, it turns these throwaway planets into actual destinations. What used to be empty is now full of weird stuff to find — and that combo works insanely well.

Exosolar's Abyss

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This mod replaces the game's limited set of ocean colors with over 1,000 new possibilities. Instead of the same few shades, you might now encounter seas in deep indigo, pale jade, or even unexpected hues. The mod ensures a wide range of colors, from subtle to vibrant, enhancing the visual diversity of aquatic environments. While some combinations might be unconventional, they are designed to maintain visual appeal.

These are the mods that stuck with me — not because they’re flashy or game-breaking, but because they make No Man’s Sky feel the way I always wanted it to. A little smoother, a little weirder, a lot more alive. Some I install on every new save without thinking. Others just surprised me in the best way.

That’s my list — now I’m curious about yours. What mods do you swear by? What makes the game better for you?

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