You've been warping for an hour. Your hyperdrive is fueled, your freighter is docked, and you’re staring at the Galactic Map in No Man's Sky like it’s a broken Magic Eye poster. You want those elusive Dissonant planets. You want the purple hue of an Atlantideum-rich world. But for some reason, the NMS can’t find purple system glitch—or what feels like a glitch—is keeping you stuck in boring yellow star territory. It’s frustrating.
Honestly, the map interface in this game is kind of a mess sometimes. It’s a beautiful mess, sure, but it doesn't always tell you what you need to know.
The "purple" everyone talks about usually refers to two distinct things. First, there are the actual Purple Star systems (which are technically colored differently on the map depending on your filters). Second, and more likely if you're playing the recent Interceptor or Echoes updates, you’re looking for Dissonant systems. These are marked with a specific "Dissonant" label in the system info box, and they are the only places you'll find Sentinel Interceptor ships and those weird, purple-glowing shards.
The Filter Problem Nobody Tells You About
Check your filters. Seriously. If you have your Galactic Map set to filter by "Economy" or "Conflict," the star colors change. A system that is naturally "purple" or "blue" might look red because it has a failing economy. It’s a common trip-up. You need to set your filter to "None" or "Default" to see the actual spectral class of the star.
Wait, there’s a catch.
In No Man's Sky, the stars aren't explicitly labeled "Purple" on the map. We have Yellow (Class F/G), Red (Class K/M), Green (Class E), and Blue (Class B/O). When people say they can’t find purple system locations, they are often looking for the purple nebula clouds surrounding a star or the purple "Dissonance Detected" tag. If you are looking for the actual star color, you're likely hunting for Blue stars, which often give off a violet-indigo vibe in certain regions of the Euclid galaxy.
👉 See also: Grand Theft Auto Games Timeline: Why the Chronology is a Beautiful Mess
Unlocking the Chromatic Requirements
You can't just fly anywhere. If you’re early in the game, your puny starter hyperdrive won't cut it. You need specific drives to reach non-yellow stars.
- Cadmium Drive: Gets you to Red stars.
- Emeril Drive: Gets you to Green stars.
- Indium Drive: This is the big one. It gets you to Blue (and "purple-ish") stars.
If you don't have the Indium Drive installed, the map might literally prevent you from selecting those distant, high-value systems. You’ll click, and nothing happens. It feels like the game is broken. It’s not. It’s just a gear check. You need to go to the Space Anomaly, visit the ship tech merchant, and buy the blueprints for the Indium Drive using Nanites. Once that's on your ship, the "purple" reaches of the galaxy finally open up.
The Dissonance Hunt
Most players today aren't actually looking for a purple star. They want the purple stuff.
Dissonant systems are a sub-type. When you hover over a star in the Galactic Map, look at the description. It usually says something like "Water" or "Data Unavailable." If it says Dissonant, you've hit the jackpot. These systems have a high chance of spawning corrupted Sentinels. This is where the game gets weird and purple.
If your NMS can’t find purple system search is specifically for these corrupted worlds, you need to stop looking at the star color and start reading the text pop-ups. They can appear in any star color, though they seem more frequent in high-conflict or wealthy systems.
✨ Don't miss: Among Us Spider-Man: Why Everyone Is Still Obsessed With These Mods
The "Empty" Galaxy Glitch
Sometimes, the map just stops rendering the icons. It’s a known bug that’s persisted through several patches, including the 2024 and 2025 stability updates. If you’re scrolling through the map and everything looks gray or washed out, your shaders might be struggling.
Try this: Back out of the map, land on a planet, save your game (hop in and out of your ship), and do a full restart. Not a "reload save," but a full "close the app and restart" deal. This forces the game to re-cache the Galactic Map data.
Finding the "True" Purple
There is a very specific type of planet that is purely purple. These are often "Mega-exotic" or "Lush" planets with violet grass. If you’re hunting for the aesthetic rather than the mechanics, you want to focus on E-class (Green) or B-class (Blue) systems.
Statistically, Lush galaxies like Eissentam have a much higher rate of purple-colored flora. If you’re still in Euclid (the starter galaxy) and you’re wondering why everything looks like a dusty lemon or a red rock, it’s because Euclid is balanced for "average" variety. To get to Eissentam, you either need to complete the "Atlas Path" or "The Purge" questlines, or find a friend who can give you a "taxi" ride there by inviting you to their session.
Why Some Systems Are Hidden
Are you in an Uncharted system? If there’s no space station, the map info is basically blank. You won't see "Dissonant" or "Economy" info because there’s no civilization there to report it.
🔗 Read more: Why the Among the Sleep Mom is Still Gaming's Most Uncomfortable Horror Twist
You need an Economy Scanner and a Conflict Scanner installed on your ship. Without these, the Galactic Map is like trying to use a GPS with no signal. You’re flying blind. Most veteran players consider these two techs mandatory. Once installed, you can filter the map by "Lifeform." If you see a system with no lifeform icon, it’s abandoned or uncharted. Purple stuff still exists there, but you’ll have to manually scan every planet once you warp in to find it.
Regional Variance
The galaxy is big. 18 quintillion planets big.
But it’s structured in "regions." Some regions are just... ugly. If you’ve spent the last twenty warps in a cluster of stars that all look the same, you might just be in a boring neighborhood. Try using a Black Hole. Speak to Polo on the Anomaly, get the coordinates for a Black Hole, and jump. This will throw you to a completely different quadrant of the galaxy where the procedural generation might favor different hues and system types.
Procedural Limits and Reality Checks
Let’s be real for a second. Sometimes, the game’s RNG (random number generation) just hates you. You could search for a "purple" system for two hours and find nothing but yellow suns and toxic green rocks.
There is no "secret button" to make purple systems appear, but you can tilt the odds. High-tier systems (3-star economies) have more diverse planetary generation. If you’re looking for those rare purple colors, stop visiting "Low Supply" or "Struggling" systems. They are procedurally programmed to be more "basic."
Actionable Steps to Fix Your Search
If you are still stuck and your NMS can’t find purple system issues are persisting, follow this exact workflow to reset your luck:
- Strip Your Filters: Open the Galactic Map and ensure "Expand" is toggled so you can see the full details. Set your filter to "None."
- Check Your Hardware: Ensure your ship has an Indium Drive. If you’re using a Freighter to warp, make sure its hyperdrive is upgraded with the Amplified Warp Shielding.
- Read the Text, Ignore the Glow: Forget looking for a purple-colored star. Look for the word Dissonant in the system summary pop-up.
- The Anomaly Shortcut: If you want a purple planet specifically, go to the "Teleporter" in the Space Anomaly. Look at the "Featured Bases." Often, players will list bases on "Purple Paradise" or "Dissonant Moons." You can warp there for free.
- Galaxy Hop: If Euclid is failing you, finish the main quest and choose the "Green" galaxy (Eissentam) at the end. The sheer volume of purple-tinted lush worlds there is significantly higher than in the starting galaxy.
Stop hunting the map aimlessly. Update your tech, clear your filters, and look for the specific labels that trigger the game's "purple" assets. The systems are there; you just need the right lenses to see them.