How to get Phosphorus in No Man’s Sky

Get your Terrain Manipulator ready, Interloper.

New creature type in No Mans Sky 5.0 update.
Image via Hello Games

Phosphorous is one of many resources needed in No Man’s Sky for crafting, and it’s not too difficult to harvest it in bulk once you know where to look.

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You can typically find Phosphorous on Scorched or High-Temperature planets, but not every solar system has one of these celestial bodies.

How to find and harvest Phosphorous in NMS

Here’s a step-by-step guide for how to harvest Phosphorus in NMS.

  1. Locate a planet with Phosphorous as one of its core resources.
    • If you have my luck (or lack of it), this step might require you to travel to different planetary systems before you can find a planet with Phosphorous. When you arrive in a new solar system, you’ll want to scan each planet in the system by pressing LS on controller or C on keyboard.
    • After conducting a scan with your cursor on a planet, its list of resources will appear, as well as its name and biome type.
  2. Fly to the planet with Phosphorous and pick a random spot to land.
  3. Open up your Analysis Visor by holding LT on controller or F on keyboard.
  4. Look for a diamond-shaped symbol with an X over it, as shown in the second image in the gallery below. If it’s a Phosphorous deposit, it will say so next to the symbol.
  5. Approach the Phosphorous deposit with your Terrain Manipulator set to “Mine” and hold RT on controller or left-click on your mouse.

After following all of these steps, the Phosphorous will appear in your inventory, and you’ll be able to begin crafting with it if you have the recipe unlocked.

All Phosphorous crafting recipes in NMS

From Exosuit and Starship upgrades to base-benefitting technology, Phosphorous is a required ingredient in many different recipes. Here are just some of the few recipes you’ll need Phosphorous for in NMS, as well as where you can unlock the blueprint for each recipe:

Item NameRequired IngredientsWhere to Unlock Recipe
Airburst Engine150 Chromatic Metal
150 Phosphorous
150 Oxygen
Iteration: Selene (Exosuit Research) on the Anomaly
Coolant Network150 Phosphorous
60 Silver
75 Copper
Iteration: Selene (Exosuit Research) on the Anomaly
Hazard Protection Unit1 Metal Plating
20 Ionized Cobalt
50 Phosphorous
Construction Research Station (Technology Modules) on the Anomaly
Impact Igniter200 Phosphorous
4 Hermetic Seal
1 Wiring Loom
Iteration: Eos (Multi-Tool Research) on the Anomaly
Infra-Knife Accelerator200 Phosphorous
2 Wiring Loom
Iteration: Hyperion (Starship Research) on the Anomaly
Magno-Gold50 Phosphorous
50 Ionized Cobalt
Synthesis Laboratory on the Anomaly
Megawatt Heater80 Phosphorous
50 Uranium
1 Wiring Loom
Iteration: Perses (Exocraft Research) on the Anomaly
Noise Box2 Metal Plating
2 Ion Battery
40 Phosphorous
Construction Research Station (Technology Modules) on the Anomaly
Solar Vine50 Solanium
25 Phosphorous
Random Blueprint
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Rachel Samples
Managing Editor. In 2018, Rachel graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s in Rhetoric and Writing and first entered the esports industry in the same year. Her favorite games include indies, deckbuilders, and the entire Mass Effect franchise. Need any calibrations?