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No Man's Sky

Where to Find Sodium & Sodium Nitrate

By
Scott Peers

This page details where you can find Sodium and Sodium Nitrate in No Man’s Sky. We’ll cover the best sources for each of these key materials and how to find them on planets. We’ll also cover their primary uses in recharging Hazard Protection modules for the Exosuit, and the Deflector Shield in Starships.

Icon Element Uses
NMS_Sodium.png Sodium Recharging the Hazard Protection on Exosuits, and the Deflector Shield on Starships
NMS_Sodium_Nitrate.png Sodium Nitrate A more efficient way to recharge the above modules

How to Find Sodium and Sodium Nitrate in No Man’s Sky

Scan for Sodium-rich plants

The main source for Sodium in No Man’s Sky is from Sodium-rich plants. You’ll find plenty of these on almost any planet, and the best way to identify them is by using the Scanner system built into the Exosuit. You can activate this at any time while exploring a planet by pressing C-Key on your keyboard. You’ll then see a number of different icons pop up around you, including those for Oxygen sources, Di-hydrogen sources, and Sodium sources. The Sodium icons are yellow, with “Na” to indicate the appropriate chemical element symbol. Once you reach one of the icons, you’ll find a type of flora which can be harvested by interacting with it.

Scan for Sodium Nitrate Crystal Minerals

You can find Sodium Nitrate in much the same way as regular Sodium, by scanning an area of a planet as you explore it. However, Sodium Nitrate is only found in crystal mineral form, rather than from a plant. It is much more rare than regular Sodium, so you may need to spend a fair bit of time searching for it. It will pop up with a yellow icon when you scan an area, with the chemical element symbol “Na+”. You will need the Advanced Mining Laser module for your Multi-Tool before you can extract Sodium Nitrate from the crystal minerals, so be sure to get the blueprint for this from the Space Anomaly if you don’t already have it.

Recharge the Hazard Protection Unit and Deflector Shield

The main use for Sodium and Sodium Nitrate is to recharge the Hazard Protection Unit on the Exosuit, and the Deflector Shield on a Starship. You can do this easily by accessing the quickslot menu (by pressing X-Key) as you roam a planet to charge the Hazard Protection, or from the equivalent menu while you’re inside a starship. Sodium Nitrate is much more efficient than Sodium in terms of charging both of these modules, so you should aim to have a decent stack of this whenever you go out exploring, especially if you’re visiting a planet with a hazardous atmosphere, or if there’s a significant risk of encountering hostile starships.

Other Sources of Sodium and Sodium Nitrate

You can find Sodium in some larger resource deposits on planets, or you can find both Sodium and Sodium Nitrate for sale from visiting pilots at space stations, or from any Galactic Trade Terminal, depending on what the local economy has to offer. Aside from these sources, you can also refine Sodium and Sodium Nitrate using the materials shown below.

Refine Sodium

Material 1 Material 2 Output
NMS_Marrow_Bulb.png1 Marrow Bulb N/A NMS_Sodium.png1 Sodium
NMS_Marrow_Bulb.png1 Marrow Bulb NMS_Carbon.png1 Carbon NMS_Sodium.png2 Sodium

Refine Sodium Nitrate

(1 of 4) You can scan the local area by pressing C to see what elements are in the area.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Hello Games
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, XB One, XB X|S
  • Guide Release
    27 April 2022
  • Last Updated
    11 January 2023
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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