Subnautica Achievements — Full List of 17 and How to Get Them

Subnautica has 17 Steam achievements, and nearly all of them unlock naturally if you just follow the story — the game is not an achievement-hunter's nightmare. Two are handed to you in the first minute (dive, build a habitat), nine are story checkpoints, and the remaining six ask for a little extra effort: building every vehicle, repairing the Aurora, and finishing the rocket. This guide lists all 17 in unlock order with the exact trigger for each, marks the ones that need planning, and explains the two rules that catch people out — console commands disable achievements for a save, and modded saves are flagged as modified.

Here's what you'll learn:

• Every achievement with its exact unlock condition and difficulty
• The story-checkpoint order so you know what's coming
• The achievements that are easy to miss
• How console commands and mods affect achievements
• How to reset your achievements (and why you shouldn't)

Official resources: Steam store page · Official Subnautica Wiki — Achievements · IGN Subnautica page · Wikipedia — Subnautica

The Full Achievement List (In Unlock Order)

Difficulty follows the official wiki's color coding: green = easy, yellow = medium, red = hard.

Per the official Subnautica Wiki: "Achievements are a feature of Subnautica. There are 17 achievements in the game."

The Story Checkpoints (Achievements 3–15 Are Mostly Free)

If you play the main story to the end, you will earn 13 of the 17 achievements without deviating. The chain:

1. Extinction Event Avoided — repair the Aurora (the gear list is in our Aurora codes guide).
2. Seaside Living / Follow the Degasi / Seamonsters — the three Degasi bases; the Jellyshroom one is under the Grassy Plateaus, the Floating Island one is mid-game, and the Deep Grand Reef one is covered in our Grand Reef guide.
3. Ancient Technologies — the Mountain Island's Quarantine Enforcement Platform.
4. 40-foot Sub For One — build the Cyclops (full fragment and upgrade guide here).
5. Follow the Lost River → Thermal Activity → Fourteen Thousand Leagues — the deep progression; the full route to the Primary Containment Facility is in our PCF guide.
6. Optimal Health — the ending sequence (hatching enzymes and the Sea Emperor's eggs are all in that same guide).
7. Leave Only Time Capsules — build and deploy a Time Capsule at the rocket platform.
8. Go Among the Stars — launch the rocket.

The Two Achievements That Need Planning

"Man's Best Friend" is the one you can permanently miss: the Cuddlefish only comes from five hidden eggs (Dunes Sinkhole, both Mushroom Forest cave systems, the Lost River Laboratory Cache, and the Deep Grand Reef Degasi base — full hatching mechanics are in our Alien Containment guide). Find one early, drop it in an Alien Containment, and release the hatchling — that's the achievement.

Leave Only Time Capsules is trivial if you know it exists: a Time Capsule is crafted at the Neptune Launch Platform, and the game prompts you near the ending. The only way to miss it is to launch without crafting one.

How Console Commands and Mods Affect Achievements

Two rules bite people constantly:

• Console commands disable achievements for that save — permanently, unless you quit without saving after using them. If you use the debug menu to cheat past a section, the save is flagged. This includes harmless-looking commands, so treat the console as "achievements off" for the session.
• Modded saves are marked "modified" and don't earn Steam achievements on that save — but your account isn't penalized, and an unmodified save earns them normally. This is per-save, not per-account, and it's covered in detail in our Subnautica mods guide.

Per the official Subnautica Wiki: "If the console is opened and Console Commands are used, Achievements will be permanently disabled for the save, unless the player quits the game without saving."

Can you reset them? Yes — the console command ResetAchievements wipes your Steam achievements, but the wiki warns it cannot be undone. There's no practical reason to do it except starting a fresh 100% run.

FAQ

How many achievements does Subnautica have?

17 on Steam/PC. Below Zero is a separate game with its own (larger) achievement list.

What is the hardest achievement in Subnautica?

The wiki rates the deep-story chain hardest: Follow the Lost River, Thermal Activity, Fourteen Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Optimal Health and Go Among the Stars are all red-tier because they require the full depth-module and rocket progression. None are skill-gated, just long.

Do mods disable achievements in Subnautica?

A modded save is marked "modified" and won't earn Steam achievements on that save, but your account is fine and unmodified saves earn them normally. Console commands permanently disable achievements for the save unless you quit without saving.

How do I get the Go Among the Stars achievement?

Build and launch the Neptune Escape Rocket. That requires the blueprint from the Aurora's captain's quarters (code 2679) and materials including the Ion Power Cell — the route is in our Aurora codes guide.

Can I reset my Subnautica achievements?

Yes — the console command ResetAchievements resets them, but it's irreversible, so there's rarely a reason to use it.

Related Guides

• Subnautica Primary Containment Facility Guide — Route and Hatching Enzymes
• Subnautica Alien Containment Guide — Breeding and Hatching
• Subnautica Aurora Codes — Every Door Code and How to Get Them
• Subnautica Mods Guide — Best Mods and How to Install
• Subnautica Grand Reef Guide — Depth, Resources and Dangers

Last updated: August 13, 2026.