EXO Cache

Tier
 Type

The **EXO Crate** is an item in Astroneer. It can be found and destroyed to obtain EXO Chips.

## Source

EXO Crates are found on every planet, in various biomes. Mainly they are found underground, as well as at least one surface biome, which differs per planet:

* Sylva: located in forests. They can be either in the middle of the trees or near the outer edges.
* Desolo: located on the smooth gray surface of the moon, above the yellow pits, often surrounded by smaller chunks of terrain. Due to the open nature of Desolo, these are likely the easiest to find.
* Calidor: located in the area around the bottom of elevated terrain, namely mountains and smaller hills.
* Vesania: located near the thinner type trees, most similar to Sylvia's trees, near medium elevation. Forests on hills bearing the thick type of trees will not spawn Exo Caches.
* Novus: located near thin trees. They are less common, as is medium elevation land, as Novus is filled with mountains and long, low pits.
* Glacio: located on the elevated large plains with periodic boulders placed on them. Rarely, they may be found in other elevated areas.
* Atrox: rarely located near the 'trees' consisting of a brown stem or trunk, a green bulb, and a white bulb at the top, both of which emit light. They are less likely to be located near these 'trees' in pits and valleys compared to more level terrain.

EXO Crates may be found using the Compass, which shows up as a green icon when in range of a crate. There is a range limitation on how far above or below a crate you can be before it will be displayed on the Compass.

## Uses

EXO Crate may be blown up with  Dynamite to obtain 1-3  EXO Chips. Alternatively, other player-induced explosions will also successfully release EXO Chips, such as intentionally detonating a Smelting Furnace next to the Crate by placing something volatile on it, such as Hydrogen or  Dynamite.

Blowing up an EXO Cache is required to complete the Cracking Codes mission.

## Notes

* EXO Crates provide five pieces of debris that players may shred into Scrap, either directly or by picking up and creating a Debris Bundle.
* It is possible to blow up multiple EXO Crates at once with a single piece of Dynamite by piling them up before. It may be prudent to place them in a shallow hole to prevent debris and EXO Chips from flying off from the force of the explosion.
* EXO Crates can be packed to medium size for easier transport.
* On some planets, EXO Crates can be broken without Dynamite, by baiting attacks from a Volatile Cataplant or Volatile Attactus as well as a boomalloon.

## Vehicle Data Recorder

A Vehicle Data Recorder is a unique EXO Crate located on certain planets. It is needed to advance missions in order to get the Hoverboard and the VTOL. Like ordinary EXO Crates, it has to be blown up, using  Dynamite or other methods.

In contrast to those, the Vehicle Data Recorder is surrounded by some space debris and a few pieces of  Dynamite and it shows up on the Compass as a blue circle with a pointed bottom like a lightbulb instead of a green circle. After blowing it up, the same symbol points to the corresponding MAT.

## Media

* EXO Crate with lights turned on
* The debris of an EXO Crate that has been exploded
* A Vehicle Data Recorder found on Desolo surrounded by debris