Can you land anywhere in Starfield?

A pair of worn leather benches placed in the vast desert landscape of Starfield, with billowing smoke in the background.


A pair of worn leather benches placed in the vast desert landscape of Starfield, with billowing smoke in the background.
November 9, 2023: We've updated our Starfield guide about whether or not you can land anywhere.

Can you land anywhere in Starfield? With the ability to soar through the stars like Han Solo, some questions need to be answered regarding the levels of freedom Bethesda’s sci-fi adventure will allow. Given that’s how we’ve always seen space travel depicted on screens, it’s fair to wonder if it’s possible here.

With well over 1,000 planets to discover across various star systems, there’s reason to believe game engine complications and code limitations could forbid you from landing your starship wherever you please in Starfield. Also, in a sense, spinning around a spherical planet looking for a specific parking spot sounds like a nightmare. But we’ve seen how this works : here’s the deal.

Additionally, for more on the game, be sure to check out the confirmed Starfield download size, plus our release time countdown. Or take a look at our Starfield hub for all of our content on Bethesda's space explorer!

Can you land anywhere in Starfield?

As far as the Starfield Direct suggested, yes: you can land anywhere in Starfield. So there’s no need to do multiple passes around a planet, burning up your fuel. And as we would come to learn from our playthrough, the Starfield Direct suggestion was pretty on point.

But one thing to note is the navigation menu. On top of displaying the brief details of nearby planets, a “Set landing point” button prompt is visible along the bottom. This indicates a single button press to set a waypoint on a planet for you to aim your ship toward.

While you can't land just anywhere on a planet, the restrictions on this are very rational so we won't kick up a stink about it. If we're looking for a spot to park our vehicle, it has to be somewhere that can support the weight. So naturally, setting a landing course in the middle of an ocean will, naturally, not make a load of sense.

Starfield concept art showing a starship landing outside of a city.
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Is it worth trying to dock everywhere and anywhere?

There’s always the chance that landing anywhere in Starfield will come at a slight cost. After all, not every ship is built the same, and some might be able to land in areas smaller, larger, or more rugged than others. So for the most part, however, it doesn’t seem like you’ll have to aim for a hyper-specific point to land at in Starfield. Not unless you’re going to a space station, at least.

But there you have it, that's everything we know about landing your spacecraft anywhere in Starfield. But do you need to know how to board an enemy ship? We can show you. We’ve also detailed how to buy more ships in Starfield if you need a new ride. Additionally, for community tales, people have already figured out how many sandwiches a spaceship is worth, and even which ships come with a rage-quit button for reasons we’re not quite sure of.

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