Fauna
The term Fauna includes all non-humanoid animals. The term is also used when describing creatures of a particular world or ecosystem. Compare with flora which is similarly used to describe plants.
See Classification for descriptions of the different kinds of fauna existing in the NMS universe.
See Archetype for a list of planetary archetypes, which determines each world's selection of creatures.
See the Universal Fauna Records for listings of all extraordinary fauna documented on NMS Disco.
Genders
Biological creatures in the No Man's Sky universe can be one of 16 genders. Robotic creatures can be one of 9 different genders. The game code refers to them as the creature's sex.
All species of each class have two distinct genders, although aquatic and flying fauna always have one gender which is encountered much more frequently.
The following sequence is taken from the game data.
| Sequence | Sex | Sex (Robot) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Male | Electronic |
| 2. | Female | Virtual |
| 3. | Exotic | Uninitialised |
| 4. | Unknown | Unmeasurable |
| 5. | Indeterminate | Circular |
| 6. | Asymmetric | Non-boolean |
| 7. | Non-uniform | Mutable |
| 8. | Symmetric | Asynchronous |
| 9. | Rational | Non-Euclidean |
| 10. | Vectorised | |
| 11. | Prime | |
| 12. | Alpha | |
| 13. | Radical | |
| 14. | Asymptotic | |
| 15. | Orthogonal | |
| 16. | None |
Age
Creatures can be found having one of ten different ages. Individuals of the same species can be found having a variety of different ages.
The following sequence is taken from the game data.
| Sequence | Age |
|---|---|
| 1. | Infant |
| 2. | Young |
| 3. | Juvenile |
| 4. | Adult |
| 5. | Mature |
| 6. | Elderly |
| 7. | Indeterminate |
| 8. | Constant |
| 9. | Fluctuating |
| 10. | Perpetual |
Diets
Fauna can have one of several different dietary classifications. Terrestrial, flying, and underground species can be herbivores, omnivores, or carnivores. Aquatic species are divided into two dietary classifications, predatory and nonpredatory.
The following sequence is taken from the game data.
| Sequence | Herbivore | Omnivore | Carnivore | FishDiet | PredFishDiet | Robot | Sandworm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Vegetation | Scavenged scraps | Carnivorous | Marine snow | Other fish | Pure Silicon | Unpleasant liquid |
| 2. | Foliage | Insects and grubs | Meat-eater | Chemosynthesis | Cannibalism | Siphoned Data | Lost starships |
| 3. | Small trees | Worms | Hypnotises prey | Vented minerals | Marine eggs | Nanite Clusters | Many Sentinels |
| 4. | Rotting fruit | Anything | Crunches bones | Plankton | Turtles | Recycled Heat | Rubble |
| 5. | Fresh leaves | Faeces | Blood-drinker | Seaweed | Shellfish | Cosmic Rays | Minerals |
| 6. | Plant roots | Birds | Liquidised organs | Deepwater algae | Drifting carcasses | Decaying Atoms | Magma |
| 7. | Digs for tubers | Scavenged remains | Extracts bone marrow | Small crustaceans | Bones | Random | Mostly Sand |
| 8. | Grass | Partially-digested meat | Organs | Rotten wood | Hunts squid | Interlopers | Other gargantuans |
| 9. | Foraged nuts | Eggs | Raw meat | Decayed plant life | Brined organs | Horrific Eggs | |
| 10. | Collects seeds | Steals from others | Flesh-eater | Marine detritus | Salinated flesh | Layers of teeth | |
| 11. | Nibbles at shoots | Venom Urchins | Hypercarnivore | Algal particulates | Brains | Freighter components | |
| 12. | Tall grasses | Foraged leftovers | Brain matter | Coral | Blood | Planetary beacon | |
| 13. | Cave marrow | Small animals | Sinew | Living sponges | Gelatinous chunks | Consumed waypoints | |
| 14. | Mordite roots | Old bones | Fresh meat | Deepwater spores | Wasteflesh | Entire trade outpost | |
| 15. | Faecium* | Mordite | Corpses | Nibbles at moss | Several Gek | ||
| 16. | Mostly rocks | Putrefied meat | Hydrothermal minerals | Sentinal Walkers | |||
| 17. | Di-hydrogen crystals | Cannibal | Water filtration | ||||
| 18. | Processes dirt | Offal | Drifting plants | ||||
| 19. | Oxide elements | Removed hearts | Silicates | ||||
| 20. | Absorbed nutrients | Small animals | High in calcium | ||||
| 21. | %BIOME_PLANT% | Other carnivores | Water vines | ||||
| 22. | %BIOME_PLANT% | Large mammals | Kelp sacs | ||||
| 23. | %BIOME_PLANT% | Flesh chunks | Nutritious water weeds | ||||
| 24. | %BIOME_PLANT% | Meat chunks | |||||
| 25. | %BIOME_PLANT% | Coagulated blood | |||||
| 26. | %BIOME_PLANT% | %BIOME_MEAT% | |||||
| 27. | NipNip buds | %BIOME_MEAT% | |||||
| 28. | Gravitino balls | %BIOME_MEAT% | |||||
| 29. | Stinging leaves | ||||||
| 30. | Algae | ||||||
| 31. | Flowers | ||||||
| 32. | Petals | ||||||
| 33. | Nectar | ||||||
| 34. | Pollen |
Note: Herbivore 15 has two alternatives. Alt1 is Coprite and Alt2 is Well-Matured Dung.
Height and Weight
Fauna can all be measured by their height and weight. Height measures how tall a species is in meters (m), while Weight measures how heavy they are in kilograms (kg).
Most species can be found having a range of both height and weight, with up to three different possible measurements for each, as each of their two genders and their entry in the Discoveries tab will each usually be different.
Megafauna
The term Megafauna is used by players to describe larger species. Megafauna can be easily identified as the ground will shake as they walk nearby. Only ground species can grow large enough to be considered megafauna.
Creature Tiers
Each class has a different range for possible creature size. Tiers are a way to standardize all species to each other for determining how rare a particular creature's size may be. Tier 1 creatures are species which are the largest/smallest examples of their classes and are the rarest. Lower tiers are each much more common. See Creature Tier for more information.
Ecosystems
Fauna can be found in one of four ecosystems. Each species is linked to a single ecosystem and will only travel between them on accident. Viewing a creature's entry in the Discoveries tab will list which ecosystem they belong to.
- Ground - Terrestrial species are the most varied, including cows, deer, cats, rodents, spiders, and beetles. Low hovering species are also considered part of this ecosystem, including floating spiders, floating cows, and butterflies. All worlds with life will have ground species. While not considered fauna as they are not alive, sentinels spawn in the ground ecosystem and are able to cross into others as they explore.
- Flying - Aerial species include birds, flying lizards, and flying snakes. All worlds with fauna will have at least a couple of flying species present.
- Underwater - Aquatic species include fish, predatory fish, jellyfish, crabs, swimming cows, and swimming rodents. Only worlds labeled as Water Worlds will have aquatic species present.
- Underground - Subterranean species are limited to cave spiders, blobs, and rodents. While considered to be the same class as their aboveground counterparts, those found underground are limited to smaller sizes. Underground species are not present on every world and seem limited to those with extensive cavern networks.
Diurnal/Nocturnal/Cathemeral Activity
Diurnal species are those primarily active during the day, Nocturnal species are those which are primarily active during the night, and Cathemeral species are those equally active at all hours of the day. In the No Man's Sky universe, the vast majority of creatures are diurnal, with most much less active during the night, if at all. Cathemeral activity is the next most common. Few species are nocturnal, with most that are being predatory. The only fully nocturnal species are found on prehistoric themed worlds, specifically the passive cats and some of the trexes found there.
Flying creatures are mostly diurnal with a few species being cathemeral; while a few are mildly active at night, none are considered nocturnal. All underwater and underground species are cathemeral.
Behaviour
Creature Behaviour, referred to as Temperament in the game code, determines how species interact with each other and players. Terrestrial fauna can be in one of four general behaviour categories: Predator, Player Predator, Prey or Passive. Birds, butterflies, fish, and fish predators all have their own unique behavior categories.
The following sequence is taken from the game data.
| Sequence | Predator | Player Predator | Prey | Passive | Bird | Fish | Fish Predator | Butterfly | Robot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Careful hunter | Dangerous | Watchful | Long-distance migration | Flighty | Instinctive | Smells blood | Transcendent | 01100001 01101110 01100111 01110010 01111001 (angry) |
| 2. | Patient hunter | Wildly aggressive | Nervous | Nomadic | Collects shiny objects | Desperate | Silent stalker | Self-aware | 01110011 01100001 01100100 (sad) |
| 3. | Cautious | Vicious | Skittish | Remembers faces | Builds large nests | Food-seeking | Never sleeps | Desperate | 01100001 01101100 01101111 01101110 01100101 (alone) |
| 4. | Impulsive | Cruel | Timid | Submissive | Easily scared | Mate-seeking | Aggressive | Food-seeking | 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 (help) |
| 5. | Reckless | Hyperviolent | Shy | Highly intelligent | Migratory | Ever-moving | Hostile | Mate-seeking | 01100110 01110010 01101001 01100101 01101110 01100100 (friend) |
| 6. | Aggressive | Excited by violence | Highly observant | Passive | Highly observant | Never sleeps | Ambush predation | Flighty | 01110111 01100001 01101001 01110100 (wait) |
| 7. | Unafraid | Angry | Slow grazer | Docile | Easily startled | Melancholy | Shoots neurotoxic spines | Skittish | 01101000 01110101 01101110 01110100 (hunt) |
| 8. | Cold-blooded | Easily enraged | Tends plants | Unafraid | Very cautious | Lonely | Strikes from below | Hungry | 01101011 01101001 01101100 01101100 (kill) |
| 9. | Does not fear death | Warlike | Seeks company | Wise | Sings at dusk | Observant | Pack hunter | Afraid | 01100110 01100001 01101001 01101100 (fail) |
| 10. | Intelligent | Apex predator | Wary | Prudent | Wise | Easily scared | Lone predator | Instinctive | |
| 11. | Calm | Easily startled | Far-sighted | Long-sighted | Migratory | Angry | |||
| 12. | Enjoys the hunt | Vigilant | Always foraging | Ever-moving | Drifts on currents | Threatening | |||
| 13. | Bold | Inattentive | Methodical | Cautious | Deep-diving | ||||
| 14. | Stalks prey for days | Constantly moving | Friendly | Intelligent | Seeks cold | ||||
| 15. | Unpredictable | Hasty | Cheerful | Unpredictable | Seeks warmth | ||||
| 16. | Fidgety | Gentle | Bioelectric Defenses | ||||||
| 17. | Anxious | Peaceful | Can inflate quickly | ||||||
| 18. | Lost | ||||||||
| 19. | Haunted by unheard sound | ||||||||
| 20. | Uses sonar | ||||||||
| 21. | Effectively blind | ||||||||
| 22. | Pressure sensitive | ||||||||
| 23. | Photophobic | ||||||||
| 24. | Only sees up | ||||||||
| 25. | Chromatophoric | ||||||||
| 26. | Forms schools | ||||||||
| 27. | Frequent shoaling |
Divergent Species
Divergent Species are a type of species in No Man's Sky which, when scanned, do not count towards the total number of species discovered on a planet. These creatures are believed to be a glitch of the original scanned fauna, creating a variant version of the original species. They will have the same statistics and appearance as the species it originated from, only differing in their preferred bait and species name. Viewing opposing genders via visor or in the Discoveries tab may give the illusion of one having a different height, weight, or appearance, but the same genders of each variant will match. In rare circumstances, one may have a slightly different coloration or head ornamentation. It is currently unknown what triggers one to appear, although exploring in multiplayer groups seems to increase their frequency.
Example Fauna
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Adding new fauna discoveries
New fauna discoveries can be added using the Creature Form.
Additional information
- The gender and age sequences were extracted from the 2.44 version of NMS_LOC1_ENGLISH.MBIN game file by pc player Ertosi.
- The diet and temperament sequences were extracted from the 2.44 version of NMS_LOC4_ENGLISH.MBIN game file by pc player Ertosi.
- The robotic gender, diet, and behavior sequences were extracted from the 3.00 version of NMS_LOC6_ENGLISH.MBIN game file by pc player Ertosi, and was first added to NMS with the Origins update.
- The Sandworm diet sequence was extracted from the 3.00 version of NMS_LOC6_ENGLISH.MBIN file by pc player Ertosi, and was first added to NMS with the Origins update.
- The most fauna slots a world could theoretically have would be 19 (950
). To score that high, a world would need the Busy Ground Theme which has 8 ground creatures, a full Underground ecosystem with all 3 possible spawns, a full Underwater ecosystem which passed the 50% chance to include a Prionace species, and the Busy Air Theme which is the only Flying ecosystem which has a chance for 3 aerial species.
