Your First Spawn: Hangars, Chat, and MobiGlas

New Player Guide

Your First Spawn: Hangars, Chat, and MobiGlas

You have bought a starter package, created your character, chosen your home location, and finally loaded into the Persistent Universe.

Welcome to the ‘verse.

You are probably standing somewhere unfamiliar, surrounded by metal walls, strange terminals, and the growing sense that the game has handed you a spaceship but not necessarily an instruction manual.

That is normal.

Your first spawn is not about doing everything at once. It is about getting your bearings.

In this guide, we will cover:

  • Where you have spawned
  • What your hangar is
  • How global chat works
  • How to access local storage
  • What your MobiGlas does
  • Which MobiGlas tabs matter early
  • What to check before leaving your starting area

By the end, you should understand the basic tools you will use constantly in Star Citizen.

Not everything.

Just enough to stop standing in your hangar wondering which button summons the fun.

Where Do You Spawn?

When you first enter the Persistent Universe, you will usually spawn at your chosen home location.

Depending on the current patch and setup, this may place you in your personal hangar or a related starting area.

Your home location is important because it is where your starting items, local inventory, and persistent home hangar are based.

Think of it as your first anchor point in the ‘verse.

You can travel elsewhere later. You can set your respawn somewhere else later. You can operate out of stations later.

But for now, this is home.

Try not to immediately sprint into anything lethal.

What Is Your Hangar?

Your hangar is where your ships are stored, retrieved, loaded, and managed.

At your primary residence, your hangar is usually persistent. That means it is your personal home hangar for the current patch.

Inside your hangar, you will usually find:

  • A ship retrieval terminal or hangar services terminal
  • Storage access
  • A freight elevator
  • Elevators to leave the hangar
  • Space for your ship
  • Various panels, terminals, and decorative bits that may or may not currently do anything useful

Your hangar size depends on the ships you own.

If you only have a small starter ship, your hangar will be small. If you own larger ships, your home hangar may be larger.

Do not worry too much about this early.

Small hangar, small ship, small problems.

Mostly.

Do Not Walk Into the Hangar Pit

When retrieving a ship, parts of the hangar floor may open or move.

This looks cool.

It is also an excellent way to die if you decide to wander over the opening like a curious space lemming.

If the floor opens, stay clear.

Wait for your ship to fully arrive before walking onto the pad.

The hangar is a workplace.

Unfortunately, it is also a workplace designed by people who apparently trust citizens not to fall into giant mechanical holes.

Do not reward their optimism.

Global Chat

When you spawn, you will usually see global chat on the left side of your screen.

Global chat connects you to other players on your current shard or server.

You can use it to:

  • Ask questions
  • Find groups
  • Warn people about bugs
  • Read absolute nonsense
  • Watch strangers argue about things that have no bearing on your immediate survival

To open chat, press:

Enter

To hide or show global chat, press:

F12

This is one of the most useful keys in the game.

Sometimes global chat is helpful.

Sometimes it is a haunted radio.

If it gets annoying, press F12 and enjoy the silence.

Party Chat

If you are grouped with other players, you can switch from global chat to party chat.

Party chat is useful when playing with friends, org mates, or anyone helping you learn the game.

For new players, joining up with someone experienced can make a huge difference.

Star Citizen is much easier when another player can say:

“Yeah, that elevator is cursed. Use the other one.”

This is ancient knowledge. Respect it.

Interacting With Things

The main interaction key in Star Citizen is usually:

F

You will use it constantly.

Use F to interact with:

  • Terminals
  • Doors
  • Elevators
  • Ship panels
  • Kiosks
  • Seats
  • Screens
  • Shop items
  • Buttons

If something looks usable, try looking at it and pressing or holding F.

Sometimes a prompt will appear. Sometimes it will not. Sometimes the thing is decorative. Sometimes the prompt appears only after you move your face two centimetres to the left.

Welcome to immersion.

Storage Access

Your starting location has local storage.

This is where items at that location are stored.

You can access it through storage kiosks or inventory terminals, depending on where you are.

Local storage is important because Star Citizen does not treat your inventory like a magical backpack that follows you everywhere.

If an item is stored at Area18, it is at Area18.

If you fly to another station, that item does not automatically come with you.

Early on, this means you should learn where your local storage is and how to access it.

You will use it to manage:

  • Armour
  • Weapons
  • Ammo
  • Med pens
  • Food and drink
  • Tools
  • Attachments
  • Loot
  • Random objects you picked up because they looked important

Local Inventory vs Carried Inventory

There are two basic inventory ideas to understand early:

Local Inventory

This is what is stored at your current location.

For example, items stored at your home city or station.

Carried Inventory

This is what your character is physically carrying.

That includes things equipped on your body, such as:

  • Armour
  • Backpack
  • Weapons
  • Ammo
  • Med pens
  • Multi-tool
  • Food and drink

If you leave your home city without gear equipped or carried, it stays behind.

This catches new players all the time.

Before leaving, check what you are actually wearing and carrying.

Do not be the citizen who buys a rifle, leaves it in local storage, flies across the system, and then arrives at a bunker armed with optimism.

Optimism has poor stopping power.

Opening Your MobiGlas

Your MobiGlas is one of the most important tools in Star Citizen.

Think of it as your in-universe personal device.

You will use it for:

  • Contracts
  • Maps
  • Comms
  • Health information
  • Reputation
  • Money transfers
  • Vehicle loadouts
  • Repair, refuel, and restock services
  • General navigation and management

To open your MobiGlas, press:

F1

or sometimes:

F2

depending on your keybinds and what screen you want to open.

You will use your MobiGlas constantly.

If Star Citizen had a “where is everything?” button, this would be it.

Mostly.

MobiGlas Home Screen

The home screen gives you a quick overview of your current situation.

It may show information such as:

  • Your current location
  • Your current system or planet
  • Your money
  • Crime stat
  • Gravity
  • Atmosphere
  • Temperature
  • Pressure
  • Radiation
  • Health information

This is useful because different locations have different environmental conditions.

Some places are safe to breathe.

Some are not.

Some have comfortable temperatures.

Some would very much like to cook or freeze you.

Before taking your helmet off somewhere unfamiliar, check your environment.

Your face is not rated for vacuum.

Health Information

Your MobiGlas can show basic health information.

This may include:

  • Overall health
  • Body temperature
  • Heart rate
  • Oxygen
  • Drug levels
  • Injury information

You do not need to master the full medical system immediately, but you should know where to check your status.

If something feels wrong, your health screen can help you understand what is happening.

For now, the beginner version is simple:

  • Carry med pens
  • Wear a helmet
  • Avoid getting shot
  • Avoid falling
  • Avoid testing whether a moon has breathable air by using your lungs

Science is important.

So is not dying.

Comms

The Comms tab is where you can manage communication and social interactions.

Depending on the current interface, you may be able to:

  • View global chat
  • See players on your current server
  • Manage friends
  • Invite players to party
  • Accept party invites
  • Send friend requests

This is useful if you are playing with other people.

It is also where you may start to realise that other players are the best and worst part of Star Citizen.

Sometimes they rescue you.

Sometimes they shoot you.

Sometimes they do both, in that order, and call it emergent gameplay.

Contracts

The Contracts tab is one of the most important tabs for new players.

This is where you find paid work.

Contracts are missions that can include:

  • Delivery
  • Cargo hauling
  • Mercenary work
  • Bounty hunting
  • Investigation
  • Salvage
  • Mining-related tasks
  • Other location-based jobs

As a new player, contracts give you structure.

Instead of asking, “What do I do now?” you can pick a contract and follow the markers.

Good beginner contract types often include:

  • Simple cargo hauling
  • Delivery missions
  • Low-level bounty contracts
  • Basic bunker missions
  • Investigation missions, depending on the patch

Always read the contract before accepting.

Check where it sends you, what it asks you to do, and whether your current ship and gear can handle it.

If a contract asks you to move cargo, check the box size.

If it sends you into combat, bring a weapon.

If it sounds suspiciously easy, assume the game is hiding something in the bushes.

Accepted and Tracked Contracts

After accepting a contract, you may need to track it.

Tracking a contract helps show mission markers on your HUD and map.

If you accept a mission and cannot see where to go, check whether it is tracked.

This is a common beginner issue.

The mission may not be broken.

You may simply not be tracking it.

Although, to be fair, it may also be broken.

Star Citizen enjoys keeping mystery alive.

Maps

The Map tab helps you find locations, plot routes, and understand where you are.

You will use maps for:

  • Finding planets
  • Finding stations
  • Plotting quantum routes
  • Locating mission destinations
  • Navigating cities, when the map behaves itself

The map can be powerful, but it can also be awkward.

You may need to zoom, rotate, click locations, and set routes.

If the map does not behave exactly how you expect, do not panic.

Everyone has fought the Star Citizen map at some point.

Some are still fighting it now.

Journal

The Journal can contain information about game systems, tutorials, and reference material.

It can be useful, but it is not always complete, current, or detailed enough for a new player.

Use it if you want, but do not rely on it as your only source of truth.

Community guides, SCANZ members, and practical experience will often be more useful.

The Journal is a notebook.

The community is the person leaning over your shoulder saying, “No, no, that button there.”

Reputation

Reputation tracks your standing with various organisations, companies, and mission providers.

As you complete contracts, your reputation can improve.

Better reputation may unlock:

  • More missions
  • Better-paying contracts
  • Higher difficulty work
  • Access to different opportunities

You do not need to understand the whole reputation system on day one.

Just know this:

Doing missions for a group can build reputation with that group.

Reputation is one of the ways Star Citizen rewards repeated activity over time.

Wallet

The Wallet tab lets you manage your credits.

Depending on the current interface, you may be able to transfer money to other players.

This is useful when:

  • Splitting mission payouts
  • Paying someone back
  • Sharing profits from group activities
  • Helping a new player get basic gear
  • Bribing your mate after accidentally ramming their ship

Not that anyone in SCANZ would ever do that.

Probably.

Repair, Refuel, and Restock

Your MobiGlas is also used for vehicle services when you are landed at a suitable location.

This can include:

  • Refuelling
  • Repairing damage
  • Restocking ammunition
  • Restocking missiles
  • Restocking quantum fuel, depending on system design and current patch behaviour

If you land at a station or spaceport and need services, open your MobiGlas and look for the vehicle services option.

A good habit is to repair, refuel, and restock whenever you are safely landed after a mission.

It is better to pay a small bill than discover mid-fight that your ship has no missiles, no fuel, and one wing held on by vibes.

Vehicle Loadout Manager

The Vehicle Loadout Manager lets you inspect and adjust your ships.

You may use it to manage:

  • Weapons
  • Shields
  • Power plants
  • Coolers
  • Quantum drives
  • Paints
  • Modules
  • Other ship components

As a brand-new player, you do not need to start changing everything immediately.

Your starter ship is fine as-is for learning the basics.

But it is worth knowing this tab exists.

Later, when you start upgrading components or experimenting with builds, this becomes much more important.

For now, resist the urge to pull your ship apart before you know how to land it.

One disaster at a time.

What Should You Do First?

When you first spawn, do this:

  1. Look around and get your bearings
  2. Press F12 if global chat is distracting
  3. Find your storage access
  4. Open your MobiGlas
  5. Check your current location
  6. Look at the Contracts tab
  7. Find the hangar services or fleet terminal
  8. Work out where the elevator exits are
  9. Do not retrieve your ship until you are ready
  10. Leave the hangar and head toward the city or spaceport when prepared

You do not need to rush.

Your first session can simply be learning where things are.

That is progress.

In Star Citizen, finding the tram without help is basically a coming-of-age ritual.

Common First Spawn Mistakes

Panicking Because You Do Not Know Where You Are

Normal.

Take a breath. Look for signs, terminals, elevators, and interaction prompts.

You are not stuck.

Probably.

Hiding Chat and Forgetting It Exists

F12 hides global chat.

If you later wonder why nobody is talking, press F12 again.

Leaving Without Equipping Gear

Buying gear is not enough.

You need to equip it or carry it.

Local storage is not your backpack.

Ignoring the MobiGlas

Your MobiGlas is central to the game.

If you are lost, check it.

If you need work, check Contracts.

If you need a route, check Maps.

If you need to understand your current situation, check the home screen.

Accepting Random Contracts Too Early

Some contracts are easier than others.

Do not blindly accept the first thing you see.

Read the details.

Check the location.

Check the task.

Check whether you need cargo space, weapons, or patience.

Some missions require all three.

Forgetting Where the Elevator Is

It happens.

Hangars, cities, and stations can feel like mazes at first.

Follow signs and landmarks.

Eventually, your brain will build a map.

Until then, wander with dignity.

SCANZ Recommendation

For your first spawn, keep it simple.

Do not immediately try to do combat, cargo, mining, salvage, and inter-system travel in one session.

Start by learning:

  • Where your hangar is
  • How to open your MobiGlas
  • How to access inventory
  • How to find contracts
  • How to leave the hangar area
  • How to get around your starting city

Once those basics make sense, the rest of the game becomes much easier to approach.

Star Citizen rewards curiosity, but it punishes rushing.

Especially near hangar doors.

Final Advice

Your first spawn is allowed to be slow.

You are learning the interface, the space, the controls, and the strange logic of a game that often expects you to know things it has not explained properly.

That does not mean you are bad at the game.

It means you are new.

Open your MobiGlas.

Read the signs.

Use storage carefully.

Hide global chat if it becomes cursed.

Ask questions when you get stuck.

And remember: every experienced pilot once stood in a hangar wondering how to leave.

Some of them still do.

Next Guide

Next: Fleet Manager and Ship Loadouts