Resources

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Please help with verifying or updating older sections of this article. At least some were last verified for version 3.9.

This article is for the PC version of Stellaris only.

Resources

**Common resources**

 Minor artifacts

 Astral threads

In Stellaris, the economy is based on the production and consumption of resources and services either from a specific planet or throughout the empire. It relies primarily on  pops working  jobs to produce most resources, with mining or research stations built over space deposits as a secondary source. Certain buildings and other sources can produce resources as well.

Resources can vary from fairly common  food crops to very rare substances such as  dark matter and also abstract concepts such as  influence and  research.

There are two kinds of resources: Material and Abstract. In addition, certain empire capacities (e.g.  naval capacity) or planetary values (e.g.  amenities) are "produced" in a similar way to resources. If an empire's stored stockpile for a material resource drops to **0** with negative income, a Shortage situation begins.

## Resource storage capacity

All resources can be stockpiled. All empires have a 15,000 starting storage capacity for each material resource except  energy, which has a 50,000 starting storage capacity. An empire can build  *Resource Silos* buildings on colonies and  *Resource Silo* buildings on starbases to expand their storage capacity. In addition, when the Galactic Market is founded, all members of the  Galactic Community gain 10,000 storage capacity, and researching  **Mega-Engineering** adds 20,000 to an empire's storage capacity. When an empire's storage capacity for a resource is reached, any additional production of that resource is simply lost.

For abstract resources, only  influence has a maximum storage capacity: 1,000.  Unity and  research have unlimited storage capacity; stored research is automatically used when researching a technology or special project, for more see stored research.

## Material resources

Material resources are the primary means of developing an empire's infrastructure. Most construction – whether buildings, districts, ships, or other – requires at least one material resource. Additionally, material resources are used for most  upkeep, from  pops to ships to megastructures and more.

### Basic resources

Basic resources are directly gathered from space deposits or by  jobs from resource districts.

* Clear Blockers Cost
* Terraforming Cost
* Campaign Edicts Cost
* Various Upkeep
* Robotic Pop Upkeep
* Market purchases

2. Using **Construction Ships** to build **Mining Stations** around energy rich planets or stars.
  Minerals
* Buildings and Districts Cost
* Stations Cost
* Manufacturing Jobs Upkeep
* Lithoid Pop Upkeep

2. Using **Construction Ships** to build **Mining Stations** around mineral rich planets or asteroids.
  Food
* Biological Pop Upkeep
* Colony Ship Cost for Biological Empires

2. Building  Hydroponics Bays on starbases
3. Buying more on the **Market**.

### Advanced resources

Advanced resources are produced by  jobs which refine them from  minerals.

* Starbase and Ship Cost
* Ship Upkeep
* Megastructure Cost

2. Building  **Industrial Districts** on the surface of colonized planets.
* Gestalt Consciousness empires do not use consumer goods except for  Rogue Servitors
* Pops upkeep
* Various Specialist jobs upkeep
* Colony Ship Cost (Unless  Gestalt Consciousness)
* Distribute Luxury Goods decision

2. Building  **Industrial Districts** on the surface of colonized planets.
3. Buying more on the **Market**.

### Strategic resources

 Strategic resources are specialized resources required to both build and maintain advanced buildings and ship components. They are harder to obtain than the common basic and advanced resources and are therefore also much more highly valued. Strategic resources can be obtained by either extracting them from natural space or planetary deposits or manufacturing them synthetically. Natural strategic resource deposits are always visible but requires specific technologies to exploit. Synthetic versions are produced from  minerals, albeit at a steep price. All strategic resources can also be manufactured from Fallen Empires' Dimensional Fabricator buildings.

* Advanced plasma weapon components
* Advanced shield components
* Strategic resource edicts

 Advanced buildings cost and upkeep0
* Cyto-Revitalization Center
* Hall of Judgement
* Energy Nexus
* Advanced research buildings
* Hyper-Entertainment Forums
* Executive Retreat
* Organic Paradise
* Exotic Gas Refineries
* Gas Extraction Wells
* Nebula Refinery
* Gas giant deposits
* Toxic world deposits

* Advanced laser weapon components
* Advanced hull components
* Strategic resource edicts

 Advanced buildings cost and upkeep0
* Advanced consumer goods buildings
* Commerce Megaplexes
* Advanced housing buildings
* Advanced unity buildings
* Xeno-Outreach Agency
* Synthetic Crystal Plants
* Crystal Mines
* Ice asteroid deposits
* Frozen world deposits

* Advanced kinetic and missile weapon components
* Strategic resource edicts

 Advanced buildings cost and upkeep0
* Food Processing Centers
* Mineral Purification Hubs
* Advanced alloys buildings
* Fortress
* Chemical Plants
* Mote Harvesting Traps
* Asteroid deposits
* Molten world deposits

### Special resources

Special  strategic resources which cannot be manufactured by regular empires. Space and planetary deposits of these resources are much less common than even the regular strategic resources. Fallen Empires' Dimensional Fabricator buildings will produce these resources (except Nanites) when held by the fallen empire, but not when held by a regular empire.

* Psionic Shields component
* Sight Beyond Sight edict
* Zro Additives edict
* Zro Catalysis edict

* Toxic world deposits
* Gas giant anomalies

* Dark Matter Deflectors component
* Dark Matter Reactor component
* Dark Matter Thrusters component
* Star-Eater construction
* Aetherophasic Engine upgrade

* Black hole deposits
* Black Hole Observatory
* Star-Eaters

* Living Metal Mega-Construction edict

* Anomaly deposits
* Destroyed Contingency Sterilization Hubs
* Sentinels archaeology site
* Sold rarely by the caravaneers

* Nanite Repair System component
* Nanite Transmuter building upkeep
* Nanite Actuators edict

* L-Cluster celestial bodies
* Broken world in Scavenger Bot system

## Abstract resources

Abstract resources represent an empire's sociopolitical and technological capabilities.

* Building outposts
* Decisions that increase planet size
* Megastructures that improve movement
* Artificial planets
* Diplomatic pacts upkeep
* Modifying subject agreements
* Integrating subjects
* Unlocking Traditions
* Edicts cost and upkeep
* Planetary decisions cost
* Influencing elections
* Reforming the government
* Researching special projects
	+ 2. Using **Construction Ships** to build **Research Stations** around certain planets or stars.

* Research speed is based on monthly research production, multiplied by  Research Speed modifiers.
* Research can be stored by not working on any technology or special project.
* Stored research doubles the progress speed of technology and special projects until the storage is emptied.
* The amount of stored research can be checked by hovering over the research output.

## Trade value

*Main article: Trade*

Trade value is not strictly a resource; thus it cannot be stockpiled and instead is collected at the capital via trade routes and converted monthly into  energy credits,  consumer goods and / or  unity based on the empire's trade policy.  Gestalt Consciousness empires cannot and do not use trade value.

* Various jobs
* Galactic Stock Exchange building increases planetary overall trade value
* Celestial Body deposits (no stations required)
* Branch Office buildings