Subnautica Multipurpose Room — Recipe, Fragments and What You Can Build With It

The Multipurpose Room is Subnautica's standard base module: a large octagonal room built with the Habitat Builder for 6 Titanium, unlocked by scanning a single fragment found at any of the three Degasi seabases. It's the room you'll build your real base out of — the only module besides the Large Room that can hold the Alien Containment, Bioreactor, Nuclear Reactor and Water Filtration Machine. This guide covers the fragment locations, the build recipe, hull integrity, and the full list of what fits inside, on top of, and around it — including the Scanner Room, Bioreactor and Vehicle Upgrade Console that most players build right next to it.

Here's what you'll learn:

• Where the Multipurpose Room fragment spawns (all three Degasi bases)
• The exact recipe and hull integrity numbers
• What you can place inside, on the panels, and stacked above/below
• How to build a full base around it: Scanner Room, Bioreactor, Moonpool
• The base-building mistakes that cost hull integrity and sanity

Official resources: Steam store page · Official Subnautica Wiki — Multipurpose Room · Official Subnautica Wiki — Seabases · IGN Subnautica page

How to Get the Multipurpose Room

The blueprint needs one fragment, and all three spawn locations are Degasi bases you'll visit during the story:

Scan any one fragment and the blueprint is yours. Since you're required to visit all three Degasi bases for the story anyway, most players scan it by accident in the first 5–10 hours.

Per the official Subnautica Wiki — Multipurpose Room: "The Multipurpose Room is a large drum-shaped module with an octagonal interior... It is constructed with a Habitat Builder and can be placed on top of a Foundation or on its own, forming legs if it is close enough to terrain in the latter case."

Recipe and Hull Integrity

The cost is trivial — one Metal Salvage run covers several rooms. The real cost is structural: every room you add drops hull integrity by 1.25, and at 0 integrity the hull starts leaking and flooding. Balance rooms against Reinforcements (placeable on all eight side panels, each giving a +7 integrity bonus) and Foundations (+2 per foundation segment) as you expand. The demo-era base in our story walkthrough lists the typical early-base sizes.

What Fits Inside a Multipurpose Room

The Multipurpose Room's placement rules are specific, and knowing them saves you a rebuild:

Expanding: Compartments, Stacking and Adjacent Modules

• Corridors: I, T and X Compartments attach to the four cardinal side panels (not the diagonals); other base modules that auto-generate connections follow the same rule.
• Stacking: Multipurpose Rooms stack vertically; connect floors with ladders. A stacked Alien Containment spans multiple floors and grows fish faster the taller it is (height 2+ tanks let you breed leviathan-class eggs).
• Glass dome: the 2.0 update added the Multipurpose Room Glass Dome (2 Enameled Glass + 2 Titanium + 1 Lithium) — a skylight that also reduces hull integrity loss, and looks great over an Alien Containment.
• Windows: all eight panels accept windows, which give a small hull integrity penalty but make bases feel alive.

The Base Modules You'll Build Right Next to It

The Multipurpose Room is the hub of a working base, and three modules pair with it constantly:

• Scanner Room (5 Titanium + 2 Copper Ore + 1 Gold + 1 Table Coral Sample): scans resources within 300 m (500 m with 4 Range Upgrades), spawns Camera Drones and the HUD Chip. It's how you find Magnetite, Stalker Teeth and Ruby without swimming blind — details in our Magnetite guide.
• Bioreactor (3 Titanium + 1 Wiring Kit + 1 Lubricant): produces 1 energy per 1.2 seconds (50/min), stores up to 500. Feed it fish, Creepvine or anything organic — egg-hatched fish are the most efficient fuel. A Peeper in the reactor is worth +420 energy, making a small Alien Containment + Bioreactor loop the classic renewable base power.
• Vehicle Upgrade Console (3 Titanium + 1 Computer Chip + 1 Copper Wire): built inside the Moonpool, it's where Seamoth and Prawn upgrades (Depth Modules, Sonar, Perimeter Defense, Hull Reinforcement) are crafted and where you rename/recolor docked vehicles.

Common Multipurpose Room Mistakes

• Building the water filtration machine before the foundation: Water Filtration Machines on ground-floor panels drain the base's power constantly (0.85 energy per second, ~51 per minute — four solar panels or a dedicated Bioreactor keep one running nonstop). Put them in a dedicated power-conscious room or accept the draw.
• Forgetting reinforcements: a 4-room base with no reinforcements sits near 0 integrity at depth. Slap Reinforcements on outward-facing panels (each +7) or foundations under every room.
• Center ladder blocking the tank: the most-rebuilt mistake in the game. Decide the floor plan before placing ladders.
• Building a base at 300 m without depth-proofing: multipurpose rooms flood if hull integrity hits 0 at any depth. Depth itself doesn't matter — only integrity does — so a foundation + reinforcement ring is all you need, not a different room.

FAQ

How do I get the Multipurpose Room in Subnautica?

Scan one Multipurpose Room fragment from any of the three Degasi seabases: the Floating Island base, the Jellyshroom Cave base, or the Deep Grand Reef base. The blueprint unlocks with a single scan.

What is the Multipurpose Room used for?

It's the main living/building module of a Subnautica base — the only room (besides the Large Room) that fits the Alien Containment, Bioreactor, Nuclear Reactor and Water Filtration Machine. It's where you put your Fabricator, lockers, planters and beds.

How much does a Multipurpose Room cost?

6 Titanium, built with the Habitat Builder. It reduces hull integrity by 1.25 (shown as -1.3), which you offset with Reinforcements (+7 each) or Foundations (+2 each).

Where are the Multipurpose Room fragments?

Three Degasi bases: Floating Island (surface), Jellyshroom Cave (~250 m, under the Safe Shallows) and Deep Grand Reef (~450–500 m). One scan anywhere unlocks the blueprint.

Can you stack Multipurpose Rooms?

Yes — they stack vertically with ladders between floors, and a stacked Alien Containment spans the floors and grows fish faster. Keep the center clear of ladders if you want a reactor or tank inside.

Related Guides

• Subnautica Magnetite — Where to Find It
• Subnautica Stalker — Teeth Farming and Behavior
• Subnautica Walkthrough — Full Story Progression
• Subnautica Cyclops Guide — Fragments, Build, Upgrades

Last updated: August 13, 2026.