S2 Subnautica 2 Wiki

Co-op Guide

Subnautica 2 is the first game in the series with co-op. Up to 4 players, all online, all working from one shared world — with shared storage and shared scan logs by default. Here is how to keep that world from collapsing into chaos in hour two.

Co-op divers exploring an underwater canyon together

Suggested roles

Roles are not enforced by the game. These are just the divisions that worked best in the original's modded co-op and similar survival games.

🏗️
Builder
Plans base placement, runs power and storage. Usually stays close to base.
🔭
Explorer
Pushes into new biomes, scans creatures, marks signal beacons for the group.
⛏️
Gatherer
Resource flow runs through them. Knows what the builder is short on this hour.

For a 4-player group, the fourth seat is usually a second explorer or a dedicated vehicle operator (Seamoth/Cyclops-equivalent driver).

Choose your dive buddies carefully

Co-op storage is shared by default. Every locker, fabricator output, and base container is accessible to everyone in the world. Only the items on your personal character are private. Unknown Worlds has said non-shared inventories are on the roadmap, but at launch you should treat the base like a community fridge — label things, agree on a "do not touch" container if you need one.

On the positive side, Data Entries are also shared. The moment one player scans a creature, resource, or wreck, every player in the world learns the recipe. This bypasses the duplicate-scan tax that haunted older co-op mods.

Tips for smoother sessions

  • ▸Pick a base location together before anyone runs off. Moving a half-built base costs an entire session.
  • ▸Keep one shared list of what the group needs. Otherwise three people come back with copper and nobody has titanium.
  • ▸Designate a navigator before deeper dives. One person calls direction, others mine and scan.
  • ▸Use the Collector Leviathan distraction play: one player pulls aggro, another with a Tadpole picks them up at a pre-agreed beacon.
  • ▸One player carries backup batteries, med packs, and an emergency air tank. Saves a death every session.
  • ▸Voice chat helps more than you think. Creature encounters move fast, and typing while drowning is not a viable strategy.
Crew submersible surfacing near a base, a shared push to deeper waters
Move as a team
Pick a navigator before anyone leaves the base.
Co-op base concept with vehicle bay and shared upgrade modules
Shared upgrades
Vehicle and tool goals stay visible to the whole group.
Deeper role notes, base templates, and creature-by-creature group tactics land after we put real time into the Early Access build.