You’re staring at the Fabricator. You need High Capacity O₂ Tanks. You need a Wiring Kit. You need a Habitat Builder. And for every single one of those things, you need silver. It’s the ultimate early-game bottleneck in Subnautica, and honestly, it’s frustrating. You spend an hour smashing every limestone outcrop in the Safe Shallows only to end up with a locker full of copper and titanium while your inventory remains depressingly silver-free.
That’s because you’re looking in the wrong rocks.
Silver isn't in limestone. It’s in Sandstone Outcrops. If you’re hanging out in the starting area and expecting silver to just fall into your lap, you’re going to be swimming in circles until your batteries die. You have to leave the comfort of the shallows. You have to go deeper, where the things with big teeth live.
Why the Kelp Forest is Your Best Friend (And Worst Enemy)
The absolute easiest place to start finding silver in Subnautica is the Kelp Forest. You know the place—green vines, creepy Stalkers trying to steal your camera drones, and lots of murky water.
Look at the grassy pillars and the rocky walls. Sandstone outcrops are smoother and a bit more brownish than the lumpy gray limestone ones. In the Kelp Forest, these outcrops usually hide in the darker corners or along the sides of the vertical stone columns. Most players miss them because they’re too busy dodging Stalkers. Don't do that. Just keep a Seaglide ready and keep your eyes peeled for those smooth, tan-colored rocks.
But here is the catch. Sandstone is a gamble. When you break one, you have a roughly 50% chance of getting Silver Ore and a 50% chance of getting Gold. It’s a literal coin flip. Sometimes the game decides to give you four gold nuggets in a row when all you want is one piece of silver to finish your Compass. It feels like the game is trolling you. It probably is.
The Grassy Plateaus: The Motherlode
If the Kelp Forest isn't giving up the goods, you need to head to the Grassy Plateaus. This is the biome with the vast fields of red seagrass and the Reefbacks floating overhead. It’s one of the best spots in the entire game for resource farming.
Look for the large stone pillars and the deep trenches that cut through the seabed. The vertical walls of these trenches are usually covered in sandstone. This is where you can find silver in Subnautica in actual bulk. Because the area is so wide open, it's much easier to spot the outcrops from a distance than it is in the cramped, leafy Kelp Forest.
Watch out for Sand Sharks, though. They’re loud and annoying, but they’re mostly bark. If you have a Seaglide, you can literally circles around them. There are also Biters in some parts of the Plateaus. They’re small, but they’re mean. Just keep moving. The real prize here is the sheer volume of sandstone. If you clear out one of the major trenches, you’ll usually come away with at least 4 to 6 pieces of silver.
Don't Ignore the Caves
Every biome has a "sub-biome"—the caves. If you’re in the Grassy Plateaus and you see a hole in the ground leading into a darker cavern system, go inside. These caves are often packed with sandstone. Just be careful with your oxygen. It’s incredibly easy to get disoriented in Subnautica’s cave systems and drown just feet away from the exit.
The Mushroom Forest is another solid option. It’s relatively safe—no major predators besides the occasional stray boneshark from the neighboring biomes. The sandstone outcrops here are often tucked around the base of the massive tree-like mushrooms or on the cliff faces bordering the zone. It’s a bit more spread out, but it’s a peaceful farm.
Finding Silver in Subnautica via Large Deposits
Eventually, breaking individual rocks becomes a waste of time. You’re going to need a lot of silver for the late-game base building and PRAWN suit upgrades. This is when you stop looking for outcrops and start looking for Large Resource Deposits.
These are the big, chunky boulders that you can't break with your hand. You need the PRAWN Suit with a Drill Arm to harvest these. Once you have that setup, silver stops being a problem forever.
You can find large silver deposits in:
- The Lost River: This is a late-game area, very deep (usually 600+ meters), but it is absolutely loaded with silver. Look near the blue brine pools.
- The Dunes: High risk, high reward. There are Reapers here. Lots of them. But if you’re brave (or have a death wish), the silver deposits are massive.
- Underwater Islands: Look on the sides of the floating islands and on the seafloor beneath them.
The Scanner Room Hack
If you are tired of swimming around aimlessly, build a Scanner Room. This is the single best piece of advice for anyone struggling to find silver in Subnautica.
Build a small outpost in the Grassy Plateaus. Power it with a solar panel. Pop in a Scanner Room and search for "Sandstone Outcrop." If you have the HUD Chip upgrade, the game will literally put a little orange circle on your screen showing you exactly where every single piece of sandstone is. It feels like cheating, but after your tenth hour of searching for a single silver ore, you won’t care about "immersion" anymore. You just want your Wiring Kit.
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Important Details People Miss
Silver isn't just for electronics. You’ll need it for Ion Batteries later on, and you’ll need it for the Medical Kit Fabricator. A lot of players over-craft early on. They make three or four spare High Capacity tanks and then realize they have no silver left for the Habitat Builder.
Don't be that person.
Prioritize your tools first. The Compass and the Habitat Builder are your top priorities. Once you have those, you can start worrying about the fancier stuff. Also, remember that the Sea Treader’s Path is a hidden gem. As the Sea Treaders walk, they kick up the ground and reveal outcrops. It’s a renewable source of resources, which is rare in this game.
Actionable Next Steps for Silver Hunting:
- Craft a Seaglide immediately: You cannot farm silver efficiently if you are swimming at base speed.
- Head to the Grassy Plateaus: Look for the red grass. Scan the vertical cliff faces for smooth, brownish rocks.
- Save your gold: You will get a lot of gold while looking for silver. Don’t throw it away, but don’t let it clog your inventory while you’re on a silver run.
- Build a Scanner Room: Locate it near a border between the Kelp Forest and the Grassy Plateaus for maximum coverage.
- Get the PRAWN Drill Arm: This transitions you from "scavenging" to "mining." Check the Wrecks in the Underwater Islands or the Blood Kelp Trench for the fragments.
Once you have a steady supply of silver, the game opens up. You stop surviving and start thriving. Just watch your oxygen, keep your knife sharp, and stop looking in the limestone. It's not there. It never was.
Check your PDA for the blueprint requirements before you head out so you know exactly how many slots in your inventory you need to clear. Happy diving.