Where to Find Lithium in Subnautica: Biomes and Depth
Lithium is deep and rolled fresh in every new game. The model expects about 1,226 spawns, and Mushroom Forest holds the most (451), then Mountains (191) and Dunes (145). Half of all the chance lies deeper than 240 m.
- Most spawnsMushroom Forestabout 451 of 1,226, 133 to 223 m
- Shallowest of the main areasMushroom Forest133 to 223 m, about 451 spawns
- Depth240 mhalf the chance is deeper; 90% is deeper than 138 m
- Used in17 recipesUltra High Capacity Tank needs 4
Lithium is rolled fresh in every new game, so there is no fixed pin to give you. This page ranks the areas by how much lithium the game's spawner tables expect there, adds the shale outcrops the game's own PDA names as a lithium source, and says how deep each one is.
Where lithium is most likely
The 4 areas with the most expected lithium, with 76% of the world's chance between them. Each picture is our map render with the lithium chance painted on it and the area's strongest cell marked.
- 451expected spawns
Mushroom Forest
37% of the world's chance, 133 to 223 m deep
Most spawns
- About 451 of the 1,226 lithium spawns the model expects per game.
- Half of the chance here lies deeper than 179 m; the range that holds 80% of it is 133 to 223 m.
- 17,929 spawn slots in this area can hold lithium.
- 191expected spawns
Mountains
16% of the world's chance, the surface to 370 m deep
- About 191 of the 1,226 lithium spawns the model expects per game.
- Half of the chance here lies deeper than 280 m; the range that holds 80% of it is the surface to 370 m.
- 2,450 spawn slots in this area can hold lithium.
- 145expected spawns
Dunes
12% of the world's chance, 242 to 390 m deep
- About 145 of the 1,226 lithium spawns the model expects per game.
- Half of the chance here lies deeper than 336 m; the range that holds 80% of it is 242 to 390 m.
- 1,739 spawn slots in this area can hold lithium.
- 142expected spawns
Bulb Zone
12% of the world's chance, 200 to 416 m deep
- About 142 of the 1,226 lithium spawns the model expects per game.
- Half of the chance here lies deeper than 256 m; the range that holds 80% of it is 200 to 416 m.
- 9,968 spawn slots in this area can hold lithium.
11 more areas hold the other 24%; they are in the folded table at the end.
Taking lithium and what it makes
- 12%in large deposits
Mining
Taking lithium out of the ground
12%in large deposits- 12% of the expected lithium is a large deposit, which the game keeps as a separate object from loose pieces. The Prawn suit drill arm's own text reads "Enables the mining of large resource deposits."
- The drill arm is made from 5 Titanium, 1 Lithium, 4 Diamond at the Vehicle upgrade console.
- The PDA entry for shale outcrops ends "Assessment: Gold, lithium and diamond source", so breaking shale is a second route. The model puts about 3,449 shale outcrops in a world, most in Mountains (662), Blood Kelp Zone (506), Bulb Zone (328). What a broken outcrop drops is not in the data we read.
- 17recipes
Craft
What lithium makes
17recipes- 17 recipes in the game's crafting table use lithium; the table below lists the heaviest users.
- Ultra High Capacity Tank: 1 High Capacity O₂ Tank, 4 Lithium, made at the Modification station.
- Cyclops Decoy Tube Upgrade: 3 Titanium, 2 Lithium, 1 Aerogel, made at the Cyclops fabricator.
Before you go
- Top three: Mushroom Forest (451), Mountains (191), Dunes (145). Together that is 64% of the chance.
- It is deep. 90% of the lithium chance lies below 138 m, so plan oxygen, a depth module or a vehicle before you go.
- Two routes. Loose and drillable lithium (the numbers on this page) and shale outcrops, which the PDA names as a source of gold, lithium and diamond.
- Mushroom Forest is the shallowest of the main areas (133 to 223 m).
The spawns are a model, not checked in a running game, and they are rolled again for every new game: a bright cell here can be empty in your save.
What lithium is used for
17 recipes use lithium. The 10 that need the most of it are below; every recipe is in the folded table at the end.
| Item | Lithium needed | Made at | Other ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra High Capacity Tank | 4 | Modification station | 1 High Capacity O₂ Tank |
| Cyclops Decoy Tube Upgrade | 2 | Cyclops fabricator | 3 Titanium, 1 Aerogel |
| Large room glass dome | 2 | not named in the recipe table | 4 Enameled glass, 4 Titanium |
| Plasteel ingot | 2 | Fabricator | 1 Titanium ingot |
| Prawn suit depth module MK2 | 2 | Modification station | 1 Prawn suit depth module MK1, 5 Titanium, 3 Kyanite |
| Hull reinforcement | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 3 Titanium, 4 Diamond |
| Lithium ion battery | 1 | Modification station | 1 Battery |
| Multipurpose room glass dome | 1 | not named in the recipe table | 2 Enameled glass, 2 Titanium |
| Prawn suit drill arm | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 5 Titanium, 4 Diamond |
| Prawn suit grappling arm | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 1 Advanced wiring kit, 1 Benzene, 5 Titanium |
All data
Show tablesHide
Lithium by area, every recipe and how the chance is worked out.
How the chance is worked out
Lithium is not placed by hand. For every spawn slot in the world the game rolls once at the start of a new game, picking from the list of things that slot's area allows. We read those lists and the slots from the game files and add up, for lithium, the chance of every slot. "Expected spawns" is that sum: the average over many new games, not the count in yours.
That makes this page a set of odds. A cell the map paints bright is where slots that can hold lithium are packed closest, not a promise of a find. Nobody has checked the model against a running game, so the area order is more reliable than any single number.
All 17 recipes that use lithium
Every recipe in the game's crafting table that lists lithium as an ingredient.
| Item | Lithium needed | Made at | Other ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra High Capacity Tank | 4 | Modification station | 1 High Capacity O₂ Tank |
| Cyclops Decoy Tube Upgrade | 2 | Cyclops fabricator | 3 Titanium, 1 Aerogel |
| Large room glass dome | 2 | not named in the recipe table | 4 Enameled glass, 4 Titanium |
| Plasteel ingot | 2 | Fabricator | 1 Titanium ingot |
| Prawn suit depth module MK2 | 2 | Modification station | 1 Prawn suit depth module MK1, 5 Titanium, 3 Kyanite |
| Hull reinforcement | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 3 Titanium, 4 Diamond |
| Lithium ion battery | 1 | Modification station | 1 Battery |
| Multipurpose room glass dome | 1 | not named in the recipe table | 2 Enameled glass, 2 Titanium |
| Prawn suit drill arm | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 5 Titanium, 4 Diamond |
| Prawn suit grappling arm | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 1 Advanced wiring kit, 1 Benzene, 5 Titanium |
| Prawn suit jump jet upgrade | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 2 Nickel ore, 3 Crystalline sulfur, 5 Titanium |
| Prawn suit propulsion cannon | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 1 Computer chip, 5 Titanium, 2 Magnetite |
| Prawn suit torpedo arm | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 5 Titanium, 1 Aerogel |
| Reinforcement | 1 | Habitat Builder | 3 Titanium |
| Seamoth torpedo system | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 3 Titanium, 1 Aerogel |
| Storage module | 1 | Vehicle upgrade console | 3 Titanium |
| Ultra glide fins | 1 | Modification station | 1 Fins, 2 Silicone rubber, 1 Titanium |
Lithium by area
Every area where the spawn tables allow lithium, most expected spawns first. Depth is metres below sea level: the shallow end and the deep end of the range that holds 80% of the area's chance.
| Area | Expected spawns | Share of the world | Depth range | Spawn slots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mushroom Forest | 451 | 37% | 133 to 223 m | 17,929 |
| Mountains | 191 | 16% | the surface to 370 m | 2,450 |
| Dunes | 145 | 12% | 242 to 390 m | 1,739 |
| Bulb Zone | 142 | 12% | 200 to 416 m | 9,968 |
| Crag Field | 69 | 6% | 168 to 422 m | 15,895 |
| Bones Field | 36 | 3% | 692 to 795 m | 1,811 |
| Ghost Tree | 28 | 2% | 632 to 661 m | 563 |
| Underwater Islands | 27 | 2% | 217 to 343 m | 1,424 |
| Sea Treader Path | 26 | 2% | 265 to 322 m | 798 |
| Sparse Reef | 25 | 2% | 119 to 304 m | 2,309 |
| Lost River Corridor | 25 | 2% | 604 to 764 m | 234 |
| Inactive Lava Zone | 22 | 2% | 1,262 to 1,378 m | 1,771 |
| Jellyshroom Caves | 18 | 1% | 224 to 284 m | 604 |
| Tree Cove | 12 | 1% | 929 to 1,015 m | 374 |
| Lost River Junction | 8 | 1% | 820 to 856 m | 97 |
Common mistakes
- Going for the Mountains first. They are second (191 spawns) and deeper (the surface to 370 m) than Mushroom Forest (451, 133 to 223 m).
- Expecting lithium in the shallows. 90% of the chance lies below 138 m.
- Treating Mushroom Forest as the only place. It holds 37% of the chance, and Mountains and the areas after it hold the rest.
About these numbers
Every fixed place on this page is read from the game files of the Steam build 20241558 (3 October 2025). Anything that is rolled again for each new game, such as ore, is a chance model built from the game's spawner tables. It has not been checked in a running game, so treat it as odds, not as a map of what you will find.
The lithium chance is the map's "Lithium" layer: 1,226 expected spawns across 15 areas.
Pages to keep open
Related pages
Sources
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