How to Build Your First Base in Below Zero
The Habitat Builder needs 1 fragment, and 2 of its 5 fixed pins lie above sea level. A small first base (foundation, basic compartment, hatch, fabricator, two solar panels and a wall locker) comes to 26 items in raw materials, mostly Titanium.
- Builder fragment5 fixed pins2 above sea level
- First base26 itemsin raw materials
- Power sources4solar, bioreactor, thermal, nuclear
- Thermal pins78vents, fields, pools
Below Zero's builder is the tool every base starts from. I read this page from the recipe table, the fragment pins and the tooltips, so the "first base" is my choice of parts, not a requirement in the files.
On this page
The 5 steps at a glance
Step 1: Get the Habitat Builder
Habitat builder unlocks after you scan 1 fragment (2 s a scan). The map holds 5 fixed pins in 4 areas.
The story file also ties the builder to 23 base blueprints: when the Habitat Builder reaches you, a goal named OnPickupBuilder unlocks 23 of them, among them wall locker, ladder, hatch, vertical connector, reinforcement, window, basic compartment, foundation, i compartment and more. The game's description of the tool: "Fabricates habitat compartments and appliances from raw materials."
Habitat builder is crafted at the Fabricator from 1 Wiring kit, 1 Computer chip, 1 Battery. Counted down to raw materials that is 3 Copper ore, 2 Ribbon Plant, 2 Silver ore, 2 Table coral sample, 1 Gold. The game describes it as "Fabricates habitat compartments and appliances from raw materials."
| Area | Depth | On the map |
|---|---|---|
| Delta Island | 42 m above sea level | Open pin |
| Outpost Zero | 13 m above sea level | Open pin |
| Shallow Twisty Bridges | 128 m below sea level | Open pin |
| Thermal Spires | 149 m below sea level | Open pin |
| Delta Island | 286 m below sea level | Open pin |
Step 2: Pick the spot
Close to ore and away from placed predators. Best Base Locations ranks the areas by the materials in the spawn model; the files do not say where the builder allows a base.
Step 3: Build the shell
A small first base, my pick from the list the builder unlocks: one foundation, one basic compartment, one hatch, one fabricator, two solar panels and a wall locker. That is 13 Titanium, 7 Quartz, 4 Copper ore, 2 Lead.
| Part | Made of | What the game says |
|---|---|---|
 Foundation | 2 Titanium, 2 Lead | Reinforced habitat foundation. |
 Basic compartment | 2 Titanium | Basic tubular compartment. |
 Hatch | 1 Quartz, 1 Titanium | Provides an access point to the habitat. |
 Fabricator | 2 Titanium, 2 Copper ore, 2 Quartz | Basic survival fabricator. Atomically rearranges raw resources into useful objects. |
 Solar panel | 2 Quartz, 2 Titanium, 1 Copper ore | Powers habitat oxygen generation and other habitat modules. Converts available sunlight into low power electrical energy. |
 Wall locker | 2 Titanium | Small, wall-mounted storage solution. |
Step 4: Add power
Four sources are in the recipe table. Solar is made from 2 Quartz, 2 Titanium, 1 Copper ore; the thermal plant needs Magnetite and an Aerogel, and the thermal pins on the map are 78 steam vents, vent fields and thermal pools, not all of which a plant can use (the files do not say).
| Source | Made of (raw) | How it unlocks | What the game says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar panel | 2 Quartz, 2 Titanium, 1 Copper ore | scan the builder | Powers habitat oxygen generation and other habitat modules. Converts available sunlight into low power electrical energy. |
 Bioreactor | 3 Titanium, 2 Silver ore, 1 Creepvine seed cluster | scan, 5 s | Composts organic matter into electrical energy. |
 Thermal plant | 5 Titanium, 2 Magnetite, 1 Gel sack, 1 Ruby | 2 fragments, 8 fixed pins | Converts heat to energy at medium efficiency. |
 Nuclear reactor | 5 Titanium, 3 Lead, 2 Copper ore, 2 Lithium, 2 Silver ore, 2 Table coral sample, 1 Gold | 1 fragment, 2 fixed pins | Uses nuclear rods to generate energy. |
Step 5: Add a way in for vehicles
A Moonpool docks a vehicle. Its blueprint is in the vehicle overview.
Common mistakes
- Building before checking the materials nearby. Titanium is the biggest line.
- Expecting any thermal pin to work for a plant. The files do not say.
- Skipping power. The solar panel's description says it powers the habitat's oxygen.
About these numbers
Every number here is read from the game files of the Steam build of 12 Aug 2025. Fixed pins and recipes are exact. Spawn chances come from a model of the game's spawner tables and have not been checked in a running game. Anything the files do not hold is marked on the page.
78 thermal pins are the map's own count; no output figure for any power source is in the files.
Pages to keep open
Related pages
Sources
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