Space Engineers

Space Engineers

Developers
	Keen Software House
Engines
	VRAGE 2.0
Release dates
Windows	February 28, 2019
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Building, Sandbox, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Space flight
Art styles	Stylized
Themes	Sci-fi, Space
Series	Space Engineers

Space Engineers
Space Engineers	2019
Space Engineers 2	2025

Space Engineers is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person and third-person building, sandbox and vehicle combat game in the Space Engineers series.

General information

Developer forum

Official wiki

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Official website		Deluxe and Ultimate Edition also available.
GamersGate		Deluxe Edition also available.
		Deluxe Edition also available.
Green Man Gaming		Deluxe Edition also available.
Humble Store		Deluxe Edition also available.
Microsoft Store		Xbox Play Anywhere. Ultimate Edition also available.
Steam		Deluxe Edition and Ultimate Edition also available.

All versions require Steam DRM.

Version differences

The Deluxe Edition includes the orignal 2013 game build, a gold armor skin, concept art and soundtrack.

The Ultimate Edition includes all DLC, excluding the most recently released.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Deluxe
Decorative Pack
Style Pack
Economy Deluxe
Decorative Pack #2
Frostbite
Sparks of the Future
Wasteland
Warfare 1
Heavy Industry

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -skipintro command line argument[citation needed]

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\SpaceEngineers.cfg
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/244850/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Saves
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/244850/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Has option available but does not store any game data.[citation needed]
Xbox Cloud

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Slider with values between 40-140° (vertical).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Only available in DirectX 11.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA enabled by default. Change to Normal graphics preset to turn off AA. In DirectX 11, it is possible to switch off AntiAliasing in the Graphics Options menu.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS		At 120 FPS, the engine renders each frame twice (graphics engine is bound to physics engine (which runs at 60 ticks/s) with no working interpolation), so the real framerate is limited to 60. This also causes higher input lag and framerates below 60 to feel a lot less smooth. You can test this by using Cheat Engine to run the game at a lower speed.[citation needed]
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Render quality limited to presets (Normal, High, Extreme) in DirectX 9. In DirectX 11 it is possible to change various settings.

Input

In-game control settings.

In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Only one control layout and no button diagram.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

DirectInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Nintendo controllers

Other controller(s)

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sound and Music sliders.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Referred to as Mute when inactive.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

The localization for the game is community-driven. Further details can be found on the official site.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Hungarian
Italian
Norwegian
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		16	Use Nucleus Co-op.
LAN play		16
Online play		16	This may be increased on dedicated servers
Asynchronous multiplayer
Crossplay		Supported platforms: Xbox One Enabled as of update 197.1 (February 9, 2021).

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting		Dedicated Server software is in Tools in the installation folder.
Direct IP

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D, Z3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

Game won't start

logfile says: "could not load file or assembly 'steamsdk.dll' or one of its dependencies."
Install latest update for Visual C++ Redist 2012: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30679

Restart computer
After Steam installs the .NET Framework a restart is sometimes required.

Broken controls

Run as administrator
Go to the installation folder. Right-click on SpaceEngineers.exe and select Properties. Select the Compatibility tab and tick Run this program as administrator. Click Apply and then OK.

Music plays in main menu but not in-game

This only applies if you have Sound Blaster drivers.

Disable Sound Blaster enhancements
Right-click on the volume icon in your taskbar and select Playback devices. Select your primary playback device and click Properties. Select Sound Blaster and tick Disable Sound Blaster enhancements. Click Apply and then OK.

Steam overlay not functioning

For this game, the Steam overlay doesn't launch if Fraps is running.

Disable Fraps
Close the Fraps window. Launch the game. If you want to record, launch Fraps while the game is active.

Downloading mods has failed

While using only mod.io Mods.

Disable GDPRConsent
Close Game Go to configuration file(s) location. edit SpaceEngineers.cfg with Editor Search for "GDPRConsent" inside the file Set both lines that includes "GDPRConsent" from "true" to "false". Start your Game

If this works for you then you have to do it every time before you start Space Engineers.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c, 11	DirectX 9 has been officially dropped as of February 26, 2016. See Re-enable DirectX 9 / 32-bit support on how to open the latest DirectX 9 version of the game.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows			32-bit support has been officially dropped as of February 26, 2016. See Re-enable DirectX 9 / 32-bit support on how to open the latest 32-bit version of the game.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok Physics
Multiplayer	Steamworks, Epic Online Services	Epic Online Services are used to provide crossplay.

Re-enable DirectX 9 / 32-bit support

This version of the game is no longer being supported by the developers. All further updates will be made on the DirectX 11 / 64-bit version.

Switch to the legacy branch
Open the Steam client. Go to the Library section. Search for the Space Engineers entry, right click it and select Properties. In the Properties window, select the Betas tab and choose the dx9-32bit - compatibility branch for dx9 and 32 bit option from the dropdown menu. Close the window and launch the game.

System requirements

A 5 Mbit/s internet connection is recommended for multiplayer.

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5 3.0 GHz		Quad-core Intel Core i7 4.5 GHz
System memory (RAM)	8 GB		16 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	25 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 AMD Radeon R9 270X DirectX 11 compatible		Nvidia GeForce 1070 GTX AMD Radeon RX Vega 56

The performance depends on the complexity of your world and the configuration of your computer. Simple worlds run smoothly even on low-end computers, but a more complex world with rich object interactions could overload even high-end computers.