Subnautica Stalker — Behavior, Stalker Teeth Farming and Survival Tips

The Stalker is Subnautica's kelp-forest predator: an aggressive, gharial-snouted fish with 300 HP that bites for 30 damage, steals shiny objects, and — most importantly — drops Stalker Teeth when it picks up Metal Salvage, which is the only way to get them. You need those teeth for Enameled Glass, which the Cyclops, Prawn Suit and Observatory all require. This guide covers Stalker behavior in detail, the fastest tooth-farming method, how to pacify them, and whether you can keep one as a pet.

Here's what you'll learn:

• Where Stalkers spawn and how aggressive they actually are
• The definitive Stalker Teeth farming method (and why killing them doesn't work)
• Every recipe that needs Stalker Teeth
• How to distract, pacify and safely farm in the Kelp Forest
• Whether hatched Stalkers make good pets

Official resources: Steam store page · Official Subnautica Wiki — Stalker · Official Subnautica Wiki — Stalker Teeth · IGN Subnautica page

What Is the Stalker?

The Stalker is a large, aggressive carnivore that populates the Kelp Forest and parts of the Crash Zone, and it will chase small, medium and shark-class fauna — including you. It's a relative of Below Zero's land-based Snow Stalker, and it's one of the oldest species on the planet according to its databank entry. With 300 HP and a 30-damage bite, a single Stalker is annoying rather than lethal, but a pack in a dark kelp thicket can be a real problem.

Per the official Subnautica Wiki — Stalker: "The Stalker is an aggressive Fauna species mostly found populating the Kelp Forest, and occasionally the Crash Zone... Stalkers are attracted to shiny objects such as Metal Salvage, Raw Ores and Camera Drones. They will swim towards these objects and pick them up."

Stalker Behavior: What You Need to Know

• Aggression: attacks the player and most fauna on sight; bites for 30 damage. It flees for a few seconds if you hit it with the knife.
• Shiny object obsession: Stalkers are drawn to Metal Salvage, raw ores (Copper, Gold, Silver, Nickel, Kyanite), Camera Drones, Reactor Rods, even Survival Knives and Oxygen Tanks. They grab the object and carry it to their "nest" — and they'll steal shiny things from other Stalkers' nests.
• Can't damage your vehicles: they chew on the Seamoth and Prawn Suit but are too small to hurt them (the Cyclops is likewise safe). Their real threat is to you, outside the vehicle.
• Docile at night: Stalkers swim slower and are docile after dark, though their aggression range stays the same — good for tooth farming.
• Pacification: feeding one any fish temporarily pacifies it for about a minute (it eats the fish instead of biting you). Grabbing a shiny object it was carrying has the same effect.
• Avoid Lifepod 5: they won't swim near your spawn point, so the shallows stay safe.
• Hatched Stalkers: Stalkers bred in an Alien Containment are passive toward the player — the aquarium-raised ones even behave curiously around you.

How to Get Stalker Teeth (the Only Method That Works)

Stalker Teeth drop when a Stalker picks up Metal Salvage (or other metal objects) — killing Stalkers never drops teeth. The official wiki is explicit: "The item can not be obtained by killing Stalkers." So the farm is:

1. Find a Kelp Forest with active Stalkers (drop a beacon at a pack you spot).
2. Drop 4–6 pieces of Metal Salvage on the seafloor near them — Salvage you've collected from the shallows works perfectly.
3. Swim back and wait (or circle at range). Each Stalker grabs a piece, and on pickup there's a chance it drops a tooth — teeth glint on the seafloor.
4. Collect the teeth, grab the Salvage back, and repeat. Bring a Scanner Room HUD Chip if you have one — the Scanner Room can scan for Stalker Teeth directly, which marks every dropped tooth with an on-screen circle.

A single farming session of 10–15 minutes usually nets 5–10 teeth — more than enough, because the current recipe only needs one tooth per Enameled Glass (the recipe used to cost more in earlier builds; the current Fabricator recipe is 1 Stalker Tooth + 1 Glass).

What Are Stalker Teeth Used For?

Stalker Teeth have exactly one crafting use in the current version: Enameled Glass (1 Stalker Tooth + 1 Glass at the Fabricator). Enameled Glass is then the bottleneck material for:

• Cyclops (3 Enameled Glass)
• Prawn Suit (1)
• Observatory (2)
• Seamoth upgrade modules (two modules take it)
• Multipurpose Room Glass Dome / Large Room Glass Dome (2 and 4 respectively)

So the chain is: Stalker Teeth → Enameled Glass → every vehicle and glass dome in the game. If you're stuck on the Cyclops build (covered in our Cyclops guide), the missing ingredient is almost always Stalker Teeth.

Stalker Farming and Safety Tips

• Farm at night. Docile Stalkers still grab Salvage and drop teeth, but they don't chase you between pickups.
• Feed them to buy time. Toss any small fish at a pursuing Stalker — it eats it and ignores you for ~a minute. A pocket full of Peepers (see our Peeper guide) is the cheapest peace offering.
• Use the Crash Zone packs only if desperate. Crash Zone Stalkers share water with Reaper Leviathans; the Kelp Forest farm is safe and identical in yield.
• Keep the Salvage. Metal Salvage is 4 Titanium when smelted — after farming, collect your drop pile back; it doubles as a Titanium source.
• Hatch your own. Two Stalker Eggs in an Alien Containment give you passive pet Stalkers that never attack you and can be released as guards around a base. Egg locations: mostly in the Kelp Forest and near the Aurora, scanning for "Stalker Egg" with the Scanner Room is the reliable find.

FAQ

Where do Stalkers live in Subnautica?

The Kelp Forest is their home biome, with populations also in the Crash Zone and its mesas. They occasionally chase prey into the Safe Shallows. Hatched ones live in your Alien Containment.

How do I get Stalker Teeth?

Drop Metal Salvage near Stalkers and let them pick it up — each pickup has a chance to drop a tooth. Killing Stalkers never drops teeth. Use the Scanner Room to scan for Stalker Teeth and speed up collection.

What are Stalker Teeth used for?

They make Enameled Glass (1 tooth + 1 Glass), which is required for the Cyclops, Prawn Suit, Observatory, two Seamoth modules and the glass domes. They're also +70 energy in a Bioreactor.

Are Stalkers dangerous?

Moderately. They bite for 30 damage and swarm in packs, but they can't damage vehicles, flee when hit, are docile at night, and can be pacified by feeding them fish. The real risk is being swarmed outside a vehicle.

Can you tame a Stalker?

Not directly — but Stalkers hatched from eggs in an Alien Containment are permanently passive toward you and act as harmless pets/guards around your base.

Related Guides

• Subnautica Cyclops Guide — Fragments, Build, Upgrades
• Subnautica Peeper — Catching, Cooking & Story Role
• Subnautica Multipurpose Room — Base Building Guide
• Subnautica Walkthrough — Full Story Progression

Last updated: August 13, 2026.