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When you first climb out of your lifepod at the start of Subnautica, you’ll notice two things – why people are scared of the ocean, and the massive ship, the Aurora, sticking out of it. After a bit of playing around in the Shallows, you’ll probably want to check out that very ship. You certainly should, as there’s a fair amount to be salvaged from the wreckage.
As you’ve probably guessed, it won’t be as simple as strolling in and snapping up anything that catches your eye. You’ll need a reliable way to get there, some basic equipment to make things easier, and a few tools to break through to the valuables. You’ll also need a few codes to get through certain locked doors. Though there’s a fair bit to do, I’ll be guiding you through everything, from the equipment you need, to the Subnautica Aurora codes. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
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Equipment needed to find the Aurora codes
Before you venture into the ship to look for the Aurora codes, you should first stock up on some equipment. The Aurora has seen better days, and you’ll need some gear to move about the ship properly. If you’re already suited up, feel free to skip this next section. If you need a hand with getting your inventory together, then I’ve got you covered.
Radiation Suit
The most important bit of gear you need is the Radiation Suit. Without it, you won’t get anywhere near the Aurora, let alone the Aurora codes. The recipe is pretty simple, needing only two fiber mesh and two lead. These materials will earn you three bits of gear; the Radiation Suit, Radiation Gloves, and Radiation Helmet. While you can switch out each piece of gear for another, you’ll need all three equipped to explore the Aurora safely. As a side note, the suit is no longer required once you repair the Aurora’s drive core, which I’ll get to later.
Laser Cutter
You’ll need the Laser Cutter to force your way into closed rooms in the Aurora, as well as other areas in Subnautica. It’s a little more expensive to make, with the recipe requiring two diamonds, one cave sulfur, one titanium, and a battery.
Propulsion Cannon
To easily acquire the Aurora codes, you’ll need a Propulsion Cannon to move about the interior properly. Given the Aurora’s unplanned landing, debris is scattered all about the interior and blocking some areas on the exterior. To build it, you’ll need a wiring kit, a battery, and one piece of titanium. If you have one, a Repulsion Cannon will also work perfectly, though it’s a little more expensive to build if you don’t have one already.
Repair Tool
The Repair Tool is the final mandatory tool you need before you can properly explore the Aurora. Unsurprisingly, it fixes things that are broken, and the Aurora has no short supply of those. To build it, you’ll need one piece of titanium, one silicon rubber, and one cave sulfur.
There are a few electronic locks you’ll need to fix, helping you navigate the Aurora’s insides easier and access those all-important Aurora codes. More importantly, you’ll need a Repair Tool to fix up the Aurora’s drive core, which is the source of the radiation leak. Ten damaged parts of the core need to be fixed, with a fair few being submerged. Once they’re fixed, the radiation will dissipate automatically, taking up to three in-game days depending on how soon you started repairs. Afterward, you can explore the Aurora and its surroundings without the Radiation Suit.
Exploring the Aurora
Once you’ve got the necessary equipment, you can start exploring the Aurora in its entirety. While not strictly necessary, you might want to bring some food, water, and medkits. You’ll probably be exploring the Aurora for a while, and the ship has become home to a few nasty critters. You should probably build a Seamoth, too – you’d hate to be caught floundering if there’s something fast and hungry nearby, wouldn’t you?
Once the Aurora melts down, which your PDA will notify you about, your exploration of the Aurora can begin. For the safest route inside the Aurora, stick close to the port side of the ship, and follow it to the partially submerged bow. You’ll be able to slip into an exposed and flooded deck area, with a ramp leading up and into the Aurora proper.
You’ll have a few different paths leading inside to explore, with a bunch of different compartments and rooms to check out. You should be thorough, as the inside of the ship contains not only the Aurora codes, but a load of other valuables too. You can find upgrade modules, Prawn Suit fragments, Cyclops fragments, collectibles, assorted items and resources, and lore items. That only includes the stuff that isn’t protected by the Aurora codes. Once you’ve snapped up all the goodies, it’s time to start looking for the Aurora codes.
Dangers of searching for the Aurora door codes
The first thing you’ll notice when you enter subnautica’s Aurora is just how dangerous the ship is. Not only will you have encountered the ship’s scaly bouncer, but you’ll be faced with a bunch of aggressive critters on board. To make matters worse, nearly the whole ship is aflame, and much of what isn’t is flooded or covered in obstacles. In short, the search for the Aurora door codes isn’t going to be easy.
The first two obvious dangers are the raging fires and the crab-like Cave Crawlers that scuttle about the deck. Both dangers are relatively easy to handle if you keep your wits about you. The fires can be extinguished with one of the many nearby fire extinguishers, or smothered with objects using the propulsion cannon. Plenty of fires can simply be avoided, too. As for the Cave Crawlers, a few slashes from your Survival Knife will do the trick, though be wary of any retaliatory strikes. While there are quite a few medpacks on the Aurora, it can still be easy to die if you get cornered by these critters.
The next danger is radiation. Though you have a Radiation Suit equipped, I hope, it would still be nice to stop the radiation from leaking out into the sea, and generally make your exploration easier. Thankfully, it is possible to do just this if you pay a visit to the Aurora’s Drive Room. Inside is a damaged nuclear reactor, which can be fixed with the Repair Tool to stop the radiation leak.
To make the repairs, you’ll need to hop into the water and find ten electrical faults, though you won’t be alone while doing this. The Drive Room is packed with Bleeders, which are little leech parasites that latch onto you and steadily drain your HP. You’ll need to whip out your knife and cut them off, or you’ll be another corpse in this scrap coffin before long.Be quick with your repairs, and you can avoid most of these Bleeders and continue with your search for the Aurora door codes.
With the radiation leak repaired and the Cave Crawlers dispatched, the only danger left that poses a real threat is falling debris. While searching for the Aurora door codes, the ship will periodically shudder, which can cause debris to rain down on you. If hit, it can do a chunk of damage, so watch your head. Once you’ve completed your search of the ship, you can head back to the relative safety of your seabase. Though do watch out for the nearby Reapers on your way out.
What do Subnautica’s Aurora codes unlock?
As you’ve explored the Aurora, you probably noticed a handful of locked doors in between stuffing your pockets with any not nailed down. Each of these doors has a keypad, which requires one of the five Aurora codes to be opened. If you’ve come to the Aurora late in the game, you probably have most if not all of these codes already. If not, then fair warning – both where to find these codes and some of what waits behind the doors is quite lore-heavy.
You can find most of the Aurora codes through exploring story areas, most of which are inside the Aurora itself, and one through the radio. If you get impatient and crack these doors open prematurely, expect a few spoilers to Subnautica’s story. With that warning out of the way, here are all of Subnautica’s Aurora codes:
- Cargo bay door code – 1454 – Code can be found on a PDA in the nearby hallway.
- Cabin 1 door code – 1869 – Code can be found in the Locker Room.
- Lab door code – 6483 – Code can be found in the Prawn Suit Bay.
- Robotics bay door code – 6666 – Code can be obtained from a PDA, but the room itself is ruined and inaccessible.
- Captain’s quarters door code – 2679 – Code will be received on the radio as part of the story. It’s best not to use this Aurora door code before you actually receive it.
The doors are pretty clearly signposted, so you won’t have any trouble knowing which go where. Once you’ve found each of the Aurora door codes and unlocked every room, you can consider the ship fully explored. Now all that’s left is to plumb the depths of planet 4546B. Good luck.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Does Aurora Take To Explode?
In Subnautica, as part of a desperate struggle to find resources to survive the remote ocean planet 4546B, you head for the crash-landed remains of the deep space vessel that brought you there, the Aurora.
However, thanks to the simulated day-night cycle, it’s a ticking clock scenario, and the ship will eventually explode. Now, seeing that Subnautica is an open-world title that refuses to hold your hand, you have to manage your time well in order to scavenge the Aurora before it blows.
Although players reported a shorter duration in the past, if you play the game now, you have between 7 and 9 in-game days to get your scavenging done, but what does that translate as in real time?
Well, a 24-hour in-game period lasts precisely 35 minutes, meaning the Aurora is going to detonate at roughly the 4-hour mark, which seems generous, but newcomers to the game might still struggle to fit a visit to the ship in their schedule, as the scale of the world is rather impressive.
What’s In The Void Subnautica?
Most of your gameplay in Subnautica will take place in The Crater, which is an enormous aquatic volcano. There’s plenty to explore here, as well as plenty of threats to survive. However, braver players might find themselves venturing to the outskirts of map, which is known as either The Void or The Crater Edge.
But what’s in The Void? It certainly sounds ominous, and rightly so! You see, there are no resources to gather in this area, making survival especially difficult. On top of that, there are Ghost Leviathans to survive, which are the second largest aggressive creatures in the game.
When you enter The Void, a Ghost Leviathan appears. If you stay for 30 seconds, a second appears, and then a third if you remain there for another 30 seconds on top of that. The Ghost Leviathans will chase after you until you leave, making navigating the already-dangerous Void even more difficult.
Is Subnautica Story Based?
Well, this is a tricky one to answer.
Yes, technically speaking, Subnautica is story and plot-driven, as you are the survivor of a spaceship that crashed on planet 4546B, as you try and find a way off of the planet, whilst also uncovering the mysteries of the planet that lurk in the depths, as you slowly realize that you are not the first intelligent life form to land here.
However, it is interesting that, despite the arguably dire situation that you are in, and likely want to be rescued, the game prioritizes exploring the giant oceans of the world.
While you will receive transmissions from your radio (once it is fixed) that tell you where you need to go next, those messages are often few and far between, giving you plenty of opportunity to build up your base, construct any equipment you need, and start to explore the depth of 4546B.
Does Subnautica Have Multiplayer?
Well, the short answer to that question is: No, Subnautica does not have multiplayer functionality on any version of the game that you purchase. So, you won’t be able to build the ideal underwater base with a friend, or journey to the inky-black depth with a partner.
This isn’t a mistake, either. The looming dread that the deep presents were always intended to be experienced as a single-player game, to increase that sense of isolation that being in those dark waters.
Outside of the more thematic loneliness that the game wants to instill in you, the resource management aspect of the game would also be massively affected by a second or third player joining the game or server.
And, perhaps most importantly, Subnautica is just not built for multiplayer in
The game devs behind Subnautica have said that it would take a complete rework of the engine to implement extra players.
