Star Citizen beginner’s guide: Your first session, step by step

Step 1: Launch and log in

Open the RSI Launcher, sign in with your RSI email and password, and enter your two-step code if you’ve set one up. Select Star Citizen, make sure the channel is LIVE (not PTU, EPTU or Tech Preview), and click Launch Game. On the main menu, choose Universe, which is the Persistent Universe. Depending on the screen, it may carry either name. Arena Commander is a separate combat simulator, so skip it for now. The first time you enter the universe, the game opens the character creator.

Step 2: Choose your home location

Next you pick a home location, also called your Primary Residence. Think of it as your base. Your personal hangar and the gear you store are kept there, and contract rewards are delivered there. Choose carefully, because the choice stays locked until the next patch. Patches arrive every few weeks to every few months, and after each one the game asks you to choose again. The four Stanton cities are the standard picks for new players:

Our pick for first-timers: Area18. Getting from your apartment to the ship terminal takes one elevator, a short walk across a plaza and a single transit stop, and your first destination, Baijini Point, is in orbit around ArcCorp. Lorville is a close second. Leave Orison until you know how your PC performs.

You can also pick Levski or one of the People’s Service Stations (Alpha, Delta, Theta, Lambda) in Nyx, or Checkmate, Orbituary or Ruin Station in Pyro. RSI presents these as options for players who want more of a challenge and says Stanton is much safer for learning the ropes. They’re in frontier and lawless space, and the Pyro stations host the free-fire Contested Zones. See the safety section below.

Next, the game offers the New Player Experience tutorial. It’s a short guided mission that covers moving on foot, the mobiGlas, and basic flying. It’s the gentlest way to start, so take it if you can. If you say no, you appear in your Personal Hangar right beside a ship terminal. In that case, go straight to step 5.

Step 3: Wake up in your hab

If you took the tutorial, you wake up in a small apartment, called a hab. Press Y to get out of bed. Hold F and everything you can use glows. Point at it and click, or tap F when an on-screen prompt appears. The storage kiosk in the room holds your locally stored gear. Press I anywhere to see what you’re wearing and carrying. Your stored items, though, can only be reached at a kiosk, and they’re kept separately at each location. Press F1 to open the mobiGlas, where you’ll find contracts, maps, comms and your ships.

Step 4: From your hab to the spaceport

To leave your hab, walk to the door and tap F. Each route below says where to find the elevator. Elevators: hold F, point at the floor you want on the panel, and click. Transit: step into the car, wait for the doors, and check the line name before you ride. The routes below are condensed from RSI’s “Now Leaving” guides, published in mid-2025. Signs may have moved since, so if the in-game markers disagree, follow the markers.

AArea18

The elevator is across the corridor from the window. Ride it to Ground Floor and leave Adira Falls to the right. Follow the ArcCorp Plaza signs down a narrow alley lined with vending machines. Cross the plaza beneath the giant FIZZ hologram and head down into AC CityFlight. Keep right for the Spaceport trains. Riker is the next stop, and a sign on the far wall confirms it. Turn right, walk through Customs, and the ship terminals of Riker Memorial Spaceport are just ahead.

BLorville

The elevator is across from the window on the upper level of the commons. Ride it to Ground Floor and walk outside. Turn left at the dumpsters, climb the steps, and turn left again at the UEC shop. Metro Center is the big station on your left. Go down the stairs, turn right, then take the next two lefts to the Spaceport Line. Teasa Spaceport is one stop away. The lines loop, so don’t stay on. Walk left through Customs and up the stairs, and the ship terminals are at the top on your left.

CNew Babbage

The elevator is next to the smaller window in the corridor. Ride it down to ground level, step out of The Nest and head for the MT Metroloop sign. At the bottom of the stairs, go left for the Spaceport train and ride one stop. Take any lift up, pass the Security Checkpoint, and bear left, then right, up the stairs to the Departure Lounges. Turn left at the top. The ship terminals are on your right, with the hangar elevators around them.

DOrison

Turn right outside your door to find the elevators, and take one to Green Circle Lobby. Turn left and follow the EXIT signs to the side door that opens onto Cloudview. The shuttle station is ahead on your right. Ride the shuttle to Providence Platform, then take the lift on your right to August Dunlow Spaceport. Pass security into the Departure Lounges, and follow the Hangar signs past the shops to the terminals.

Step 5: Retrieve your ship

Already in your hangar? Use the terminal there, pick your ship and press Retrieve, and it appears in front of you. You can skip the elevator part.

Otherwise, find a ship terminal. Some spaceports signpost them as Vehicle Retrieval, and players call them ASOPs. StarCitizenHelp describes them as tall yellow kiosks. You’ll usually find them near the hangar elevators, just past Customs. Tap F on one and pick your ship from the list.

If the terminal offers Deliver, press it first to bring your ship to this spaceport. Then press Retrieve (some screens say Spawn) to send it to a hangar. A message in the top-right corner gives your hangar or pad number. If you miss it, check your mobiGlas. Note the number down, because you’ll pick it in the elevator. Take any of the hangar elevators near the terminals, since each one reaches every hangar. At home, your hangar is listed as Personal Hangar. Give the ship 30 to 60 seconds to appear, and stay off the landing area in the middle of the hangar until it has finished arriving.

• Ship listed as destroyed? Choose Claim and wait out the timer, or pay aUEC to shorten it, and the ship comes back. The FAQ below has more detail.
• Ship stored somewhere else? Choose Deliver at the terminal to have it brought here, then Retrieve it. Deliveries run on a timer that scales with the ship’s value, and you can pay aUEC to speed them up. Or travel to wherever the ship is parked.
• Away from home, or if your ship is too big for your personal hangar, you get a temporary or public hangar.

Step 6: Board, power up and take off

Walk up to the ship and hold F on the hull to find the way in. Depending on the ship, that’s a ramp, a ladder, a side door, or the cockpit itself. Sit in the pilot seat by holding F on the seat or tapping F at the prompt. Then hold F and choose Flight Ready, or press Right Alt + R. That one step gets the ship ready to fly. (U switches power on and off for everything. If you use it instead and the ship has power but won’t move, press I to switch the thrusters on.)

Ask for take-off clearance with Left Alt + N. Nothing happening? Open the Comms app on your mobiGlas: press F11, or press F1 and choose Comms. The spaceport is pinned to the top of your Friends list. Select it and request take-off. The hangar doors open once you’re cleared.

Don’t move until the doors have finished opening, and look up, because in some hangars the way out is through the roof. Hold Space to rise slowly off the floor. Once you’re clear, tap N to fold the landing gear away. Then fly out with W and steer with the mouse. Save boost (hold Left Shift) for open sky.

Once you’re out of the hangar, climb steadily and fly away from the tall buildings. If a no-fly zone warning appears on your HUD, turn out of the area at once. If you stay in it, your ship is impounded (confiscated), which is a hassle to sort out. Keep your speed low near pads and towers, because collisions hurt. When your HUD says you’ve left the armistice zone, weapons work again for everyone, including you. Point the nose at the sky and keep going. Your HUD shows your altitude, and when that readout disappears, you’ve left the atmosphere and reached space.

Step 7: Plot a route and quantum travel

Press F2 to open the starmap. Type the station listed for your city in step 2 into the map’s search field, or find it on the map and click it. Then choose Route to this Location. The route panel shows how much quantum fuel the trip needs, and a starter ship has plenty for this hop. Close the map and hold B to switch from SCM to NAV mode. Quantum is normally the active NAV option. If it isn’t, click the middle mouse button to cycle to it. Use the mouse to turn until the quantum marker sits in the middle of your view, then hold still. The drive takes about 5 to 15 seconds to calibrate, and your HUD shows QUANTUM READY when it’s done. Then press and hold the left mouse button until the jump starts.

Step 8: Request landing, find your hangar and power down

Keep flying toward the station until its marker reads about 5–7 km, then call it with Left Alt + N. A busy station may make you wait your turn. When it says yes, a new marker appears. Follow it to your hangar, pad or docking port. If the key gets no answer, use the same backup as at take-off: open Comms (F11) and pick the station’s Landing Services from the top of your Friends list. Slow right down (X brakes, Left Alt + mouse wheel caps your speed), lower the gear with N, and drift in. Press F4 (outside view) or hold Z (look around) to check you’re not about to hit the walls, then sink gently onto the middle of the pad with Left Ctrl.

Wait for the station to confirm your landing. Then switch the ship off (press U), hold Y to stand up, and use F on the door or ramp to get out. Head into the station by the hangar elevator, or by the walkway from your pad, and find a ship terminal (ASOP). Select your ship and choose Store Vehicle. Don’t leave the ship parked on an open pad. Staying too long counts as a parking violation, an offence that can get you penalised, and a ship left on a pad gets a warning and is then despawned.

Step 9: What next

• Your first contract: open the mobiGlas Contracts app. Some guides still call it the Contract Manager. Start with a small delivery job. These teach you your way around, as long as the package and the route suit your ship. Hauling jobs are a bigger step. The cargo comes up on a freight elevator, you need a tractor beam to move the crates into your ship, and the crates have to fit your hold. Leave those for your second or third run. Before you accept anything, open it and check the destination, the pay, and any warning about hostiles. Leave Mercenary and player-bounty contracts until you’re comfortable in a fight.
• Home vs. respawn: your home location is fixed until the next patch, but your respawn point isn’t. By default you respawn at the hospital in your home location. To respawn closer to where you’re working, visit any hospital or clinic and look for the screen at the foot of a medical bed, or a standalone regeneration terminal. Set that place as your respawn point there, and use the same screen later to switch back to home. If the spot you picked isn’t available when you die, you’re sent home instead.
• Buy a MedPen: a MedPen (Hemozal) is your first-aid kit in a syringe. One jab heals you, ends any bleeding, and gets you back on your feet if you’ve been knocked down. Most shops charge about 265 aUEC. Pharmacies sell them, as do the Kel-To shops at Riker Memorial, Teasa, August Dunlow and New Babbage’s spaceport, Cubby Blast in Area18, and many stations. Keep one or two on you. To use one, press 4 to open the consumables wheel and pick the MedPen, then follow the on-screen prompt to inject yourself. Right-click injects a teammate instead.
• Getting help: ask in global chat (press Enter). Most veterans are glad to answer a question. You can also try RSI’s Spectrum forums, Find a Guide on Spectrum (experienced players who volunteer to mentor newcomers), and the RSI Support knowledge base, where you can also file a ticket.