How to Hail a Ship in Starfield

Starfield has many features regarding flying ships in the open space. While flying about, you can interact with ships you see flying around you in various ways (or with the ship Captain, at least) as if they were characters. That means you can hail, dock, or attack them. In this article, we’ll explain how you can hail a ship in Starfield.

How to Talk to a Ship Captain in Space in Starfield

Once you find the ship you want to hail, you need to get closer to it so that the hail option appears. Please note that you must aim directly at the ship you are trying to hail, so make sure you cycle through targets if necessary. The default keys for cycling targets while piloting a ship are E on PC and A on Xbox.

Also, the “Scanner” should be on (default keys are F on PC, LB on Xbox) so that hailing becomes possible. When you are set, you are ready to hail your first ship!

The default button you need to hold to hail a ship is:

• “E” on PC
• “A” on Xbox

You will see a quick “fill” animation around the hail button indicator, and once that’s filled, you can let go of the button.

There are situations in Starfield where another ship is trying to hail you. Usually, it will be law enforcement that is demanding to talk for this or that reason. In that scenario, you should just tap the hail button, and the conversation will begin. You will avoid participating in spaceship combat if you feel like you do not stand a chance in an all-out fight or are roleplaying as an honest, law-abiding citizen.

Also, there are some situations where you can’t hail a ship or the ship is not responding. One of the reasons this can happen is because it’s a scripted event or simply because it’s incommunicative.

If you want to know more about ships, check out how to upgrade your ship in Starfield and how to get more ship parts in Starfield.