Ostranauts crew guide
Hire specialists, set the orders, and fix the roster when nobody works.
Quick answers
- How do I hire crew?Negotiate with an NPC: salary, signing bonus, and death pay. Once they accept, they join as a full crew member.
- How do I give orders?PDA > Orders, pick the action, then let the crew run in automatic mode during Work shifts. The Tasks screen lists and cancels queued work.
- Why is my crew not working?Run the checklist: Work shift hours, a direct order, too many queued tasks, a stuck station, or an install order placed from the wrong ship.
- Can I control them directly?Yes. Switch with Caps Lock or left click during Work shifts.
More hands, more skills.
Larger ships run on more than one person.
Crew are NPC recruits, and their job is to cover what your captain cannot. The wiki is blunt about it: extra crew make larger ships, scavenging, and building run efficiently, and a specialist fills a skill gap in your character build.
You still control one character at a time. Switching to a crew member is Caps Lock by default, or left click on them.
A negotiation, not a menu.
Salary, signing bonus, and death pay.
Hiring is a negotiation. The NPC needs to be in a good mood state before they accept, so your social moves matter. Three numbers sit in every contract:
- Salary - their daily pay, usually $200-500. You can raise or lower it during the talk.
- Signing bonus - a one-time payment that starts at $0.
- Death pay - insurance held in trust. Quit or fired, it comes back to you. Died, it pays their nominees and stays gone. Typical range is $10,000-100,000.
Once the offer is accepted, the NPC joins as a full crew member.
The roster runs the ship.
Work, Free, and Sleep shifts decide what gets done.
Orders are created through the Orders button in the PDA, and the Tasks screen shows every queued task, whether it came from a manual order, an automatic action order, or a build order. Tasks can be cancelled there too. During a Work shift, crew on automatic behavior complete orders the same way your captain would; during Free and Sleep shifts they obey some instructions but skip actual work like repairs. The Roster screen in the PDA is where you check what each person is doing and why they might be ignoring you.
Work the checklist.
Most roster problems have a fix.
- Check the schedule. If the current hour is not a Work shift, they will not do jobs.
- Give a direct order again. Sometimes the order simply did not register.
- Cut the order list. Players report crew freezing when too many orders pile up; removing extras gets them moving.
- Place install orders from the right ship. Install orders must be placed from the same ship the work happens on.
- Unstick a crew member stuck at the station: undock with the captain, switch to the crew member, order travel or sleep, switch back, then redock.
- Keep the game patched. An October 2025 update fixed crew on other ships being unable to pick up items, and made prox and tracking alarms work for crew while the captain is elsewhere.
Common questions
Is crew worth the cost?
Usually yes once your ship and income can carry them. A specialist covers a skill gap, and a second pair of hands makes salvage runs faster. The wiki lists crew as the way to cover skills the player character may not have.
Can I fire crew?
Yes. Death pay is returned when a crew member is fired or quits, so the main cost is lost salary and the social hit.
Why is my crew not working?
Run the checklist: is the current hour a Work shift, did you issue a direct order, is the order list too long, is the install order placed from the right ship, and is the crew member stuck at a station? Details below.
Can I control crew directly?
Yes. Switch to a crew member with Caps Lock, or left click on them. During Work shifts they are fully controllable like the captain.
What is death pay?
An insurance payment held in trust. If the crew member quits or is fired it returns to you; if they die it pays out to their nominees and stays gone. Typical range is $10,000-100,000.
How do I queue tasks for my crew?
Use the Orders button in the PDA, choose the action, and let the crew run in automatic mode. The PDA Tasks screen lists every queued task, including manual orders, automatic action orders, and build orders, and tasks can be cancelled there. One order often queues prerequisites like fetching tools or components, so check Tasks when someone looks idle.
Why does my crew ignore queued orders?
Run the checklist: Work shift hours, a direct order, a stuck prerequisite in the Tasks list, and the order-list length. Players report crew freezing when too many orders pile up; removing extras and re-issuing the order gets them moving. Install orders must be placed from the same ship the work happens on.