Ostranauts Controls — Keybinds, Flight and Docking
✔ Last checked: 2026-08-04
The keys that matter on day one: I for inventory, Tab for the PDA, G for the gas overlay, L for power view, WASD to thrust, Q/E to rotate the ship. All bindings below come from the official starting guide — where something isn’t officially documented, we say so instead of guessing.
Documented keybinds
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| I | Inventory (or click your portrait) |
| R | Rotate held item |
| Tab | PDA home / apps |
| G | Gas mixture + temperature overlay |
| L | Power Viz overlay (what’s powered, what isn’t) |
| W / A / S / D | RCS thrust (in flight) or pan map |
| Q / E | Rotate ship |
| 1–4 | Quick Action Bar hotkeys |
| 5 / 6 / 7 | QAB scroll up / reset / expand |
The two overlays are the secret handshake: G answers “why am I dizzy” (bad gas mix — see life support) and L answers “why is nothing working” (no power — see errors).
Flight and docking, the short course
Flying is Newtonian: thrust adds velocity, and only counter-thrust removes it. The NAV console readouts are your instruments — VREL (closing speed), VCRS (lateral drift), RNG (range), BRG (bearing), ETA, DELTA-V (total maneuvering budget) and PWR RESERVE.
Docking procedure per the official guide:
- Close to within ~5 km of the target.
- COMMS panel: request docking clearance — or “Initiate Uncontrolled Docking Procedure” for dead derelicts.
- Null your drift (VCRS toward zero), line up the rings visually.
- Approach gently — keep VREL modest on approach and shed nearly all of it before contact; the wiki’s getting-started advice is to be very slow at the moment of touch.
- When the clamp indicators turn green, toggle CLAMPS. Done.
Undocking from K-Leg in a fresh 1.0 game reliably pushes you out on the safe side — a v0.15.1.20 fix specifically to stop tutorial-phase collisions.
PDA apps worth learning early
Power Viz, Goals (objective tracker with location links), Install/Orders (task queues for you and crew), Roster (schedules, helmet and battery permissions), Socials, and Zones (cargo and barter areas). The beginner guide walks these in context.
FAQ
How do you dock in Ostranauts?
Get within about 5 km, request clearance via COMMS (or 'Initiate Uncontrolled Docking' on derelicts), align the docking rings with WASD thrust and Q/E rotation, keep closing speed gentle, and hit CLAMPS when the indicators go green.
How do I rotate items when building?
R rotates the held item, per the official starting guide. I opens inventory, and dragging between grids moves items.
Does Ostranauts have controller support?
Yes — gamepad and Steam Deck support arrived with the Fire in the Hold update (v0.15, April 2026).
What does VREL mean on the nav console?
Relative velocity to your target. VCRS is sideways drift, RNG is distance, BRG is bearing, DELTA-V is total remaining velocity change. Keep VREL low as you close or you're not docking, you're colliding.