Where to Find Carbon & Phosphorus

Learn the best ways to find Carbon, Condensed Carbon, and Phosphorus in No Man's Sky. Discover mining techniques and refining recipes for these essential resources.

Carbon, Condensed Carbon, and Phosphorus are vital resources in No Man's Sky, primarily used for recharging your Multi-Tool's Mining Laser and for various crafting and base-building recipes. This guide details the most efficient methods for acquiring them.

Carbon is most commonly found by mining flora such as trees and plants with your basic Mining Laser. It's an abundant resource available on nearly every planet.

Condensed Carbon is a more refined form of Carbon, offering more energy per unit when recharging equipment. It can be mined from Carbon Crystals, which are also found on most planets, but requires the Advanced Mining Laser upgrade for your Multi-Tool.

Phosphorus is primarily obtained by mining rocks on scorched planets. You can identify these planets by scanning from your starship. Once on the surface, use your Analysis Visor to inspect rocks for Phosphorus deposits.

Recharging the Mining Laser

To recharge your Mining Laser and its upgrades, access the quickslot menu (press the indicated button), navigate to the Mining Laser, and select the resource you wish to use. While regular Carbon has many uses, Condensed Carbon is more efficient for charging equipment.

Alternative Uses

Beyond recharging the Mining Laser, Carbon is extensively used in base building and decoration. Condensed Carbon and Phosphorus are used in various crafted products, tech upgrade modules, and some base parts, though Carbon has the widest range of applications.

Refining Recipes

These resources can also be obtained through refining:

Refine Carbon

• 1 Cactus Flesh → 2 Carbon
• 1 Gamma Root → 2 Carbon
• 1 Fungal Mould → 2 Carbon
• 1 Oxygen → 1 Carbon
• 1 Solanium → 2 Carbon
• 1 Star Bulb → 2 Carbon

Refine Condensed Carbon

• 2 Carbon → 1 Condensed Carbon
• 2 Carbon + 2 Oxygen → 5 Condensed Carbon
• 1 Faecium + 1 Mordite → 2 Condensed Carbon
• 1 Faecium + 2 Carbon → 2 Condensed Carbon
• 1 Cyto-Phosphate → 1 Condensed Carbon

Refine Phosphorus

• 2 Solanium + 1 Salt → 1 Phosphorus
• 2 Dioxite + 1 Ferrite Dust → 1 Phosphorus
• 2 Dioxite + 1 Pure Ferrite → 1 Phosphorus