UI Reference
Menu Bar
The menu bar is fixed at the top of the screen.
Game Menu
| Item | Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Settings | Shift+D | Open the Settings window (display and audio options) |
| Logout | — | End your session and return to the login screen |
View Menu
| Item | Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Map View | M | Toggle between cockpit and map views |
| System Browser | B | Toggle the system browser tree |
| Orbit Diagram | I | Toggle the Orbit Diagram window |
| Ship Systems | U | Toggle the Ship Systems window |
| Ship Specs | Shift+U | Toggle the Ship Specs window |
| Target Dashboard | Shift+T | Toggle the Target Dashboard window |
| Chat | Shift+C | Toggle the Chat window |
| Automation | Shift+A | Toggle the Automation window |
| Tracers | T | Toggle tracer lines |
| Velocity Vector | V | Toggle velocity direction arrow |
| Angular Velocity | O | Toggle spin direction arrow |
| Wireframe | — | Toggle wireframe overlay on bodies |
| Orbital Path | N | Toggle orbital path and event markers |
| Body Markers | B | Toggle body name and distance labels |
| Crosshair | C | Toggle center crosshair |
| Audio | — | Toggle audio on/off |
Ship Menu
| Item | Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Attitude Hold | H | Stop rotation / disengage autopilot |
| Prograde | P | Orient toward velocity |
| Retrograde | Shift+P | Orient against velocity |
| Normal | J | Orient along orbit normal |
| Antinormal | Shift+J | Orient against orbit normal |
| Radial | K | Orient radial outward in orbital plane |
| Antiradial | Shift+K | Orient radial inward in orbital plane |
| Local Horizontal | L | Orient along horizon |
| Local Vertical | Shift+L | Orient toward/away from body center |
| Target | G | Orient toward selected target |
| Anti-Target | Shift+G | Orient away from selected target |
| Target Prograde | Y | Orient along relative velocity to target |
| Target Retrograde | Shift+Y | Orient against relative velocity to target |
| Spawn Location | R | Open the spawn location selector |
| Dock / Undock | F | Dock at nearest station (within 100 m) or undock |
Help Menu
| Item | Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Keyboard Controls | ? | Toggle the keyboard controls reference |
| About | — | Show service version information |
Floating Windows
All floating windows are draggable and can be repositioned on screen.
Orbit Diagram (I)
Displays your current orbital parameters relative to the nearest gravitationally dominant body. See the Gameplay Guide for details on each element.
Ship Systems (U)
A comprehensive dashboard with:
- Navball: Attitude indicator showing sky/ground horizon, pitch ladder, and orbital reference markers (prograde, retrograde, normal, antinormal, radial, antiradial). When a target is selected, target markers also appear (target direction, anti-target, target prograde, target retrograde).
- Fuel gauge: Vertical bar, color-coded — green (>50%), orange (20–50%), red (<20%)
- Thrust gauge: Current throttle level
- Readouts: Fuel %, remaining delta-v (m/s), burn time at current thrust, acceleration (m/s²), total mass (kg), thrust-to-weight ratio
- Rotation rates: Pitch, yaw, roll (°/s) with bidirectional bars
- Reaction wheel saturation: Per-axis bars — green (<50%), yellow (50–80%), red (≥80%)
- Attitude mode: Current autopilot mode label
- Altitude and speed: Height above surface, orbital speed
- Proximity alert: Nearest station within 50 km with name, distance, and closing rate
- Toggles: Navigation Lights, Headlight
Ship Specs (Shift+U)
Displays detailed specifications for your ship class, including dry mass, fuel capacity, thrust, specific impulse, delta-v budget, and other performance parameters.
Chat (Shift+C)
Multi-channel text chat with other players. Includes a channel selector dropdown (Global / Local / Direct) and message input.
- Global: Messages to all players (white,
[G]prefix) - Local: Messages to players at the same reference body (cyan,
[L]prefix) - Direct: Private messages to a specific player (yellow,
[D]prefix) — enter recipient name in the “To:” field
Maximum 256 characters per message. Stores the last 200 messages. When closed, an unread indicator (red dot) appears in the menu bar.
Automation (Shift+A)
Create and manage automation rules for your ship. Shows:
- Active maneuver: Current maneuver type, phase, reference body, ETA, and abort button
- Rule list: All rules sorted by priority, with enable/disable toggles and delete buttons
- Rule builder: Create new rules with name, mode (once/continuous), priority, conditions, and actions
See the Gameplay Guide for details on creating rules and available conditions/actions.
Target Dashboard (Shift+T)
Only appears when a target is selected (use X to cycle through ships, stations, and Lagrange points). Shows:
- 3D view: Real-time rendering of the target ship or station
- Distance: Current separation with auto-scaled units
- Relative velocity: Speed difference (m/s)
- Closing rate: Approach (+) or separation (−) speed (m/s)
- ETA: Estimated time to intercept if closing
Settings (Shift+D)
A tabbed settings window with Display and Audio options.
Display tab — checkboxes for all visual toggles:
| Toggle | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Tracers | T | Position history lines (last 10 minutes) |
| Velocity Vector | V | 3D arrow showing velocity direction, color-coded by speed |
| Angular Velocity | O | 3D arrow showing rotation axis, color-coded by spin rate |
| Wireframe | — | Wireframe overlay on celestial bodies |
| Orbital Path | N | Predicted orbit with Pe, Ap, AN, DN, ESC, IMPACT markers |
| Crosshair | C | Green center reticle |
Marker sub-toggles (under the B shortcut): Bodies, Ships, Stations, Lagrange Points, Jump Gates. Also shows the current camera zoom distance.
Audio tab — master audio toggle, burn alerts toggle, and volume slider.
Spawn Location Selector (R)
A hierarchical list of celestial bodies in solar system order. Each entry shows an indicator dot, the body name, and its default spawn orbit altitude. Click a body to spawn in orbit around it. Press Escape to close without spawning.
Keyboard Controls (?)
A reference card showing all keyboard shortcuts, organized by category. Opens in the bottom-left area by default.
About (Help > About)
Shows version numbers for all running services: web-client, api-gateway, physics, and tick-engine.
Status Bar
The status bar runs along the bottom-left of the cockpit view and is always visible.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Player name | Your username (cyan text) |
| Connection indicator | Colored dot — green (connected), yellow (reconnecting), red (disconnected) |
| Connection status | Text description of connection state |
| Latency | Round-trip time in milliseconds, color-coded: green (<100ms), yellow (100–300ms), red (>300ms) |
| Tick rate | Server tick frequency in Hz |
| Players online | Number of connected players |
| Game time | Current in-game time (UTC format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS) |
HUD Elements
Body Markers (B)
When enabled, each celestial body is labeled with:
- A cyan dot at the body’s screen position
- The body’s name
- Distance from your ship (using auto-scaled units)
- The reference body (the one you’re orbiting) is highlighted in cyan
Ship Markers (B)
Other players’ ships appear as:
- An orange dot at the ship’s screen position
- The player’s name
- Distance from your ship
Station Markers (B)
Space stations appear as:
- A cyan diamond at the station’s screen position
- The station name and distance
Proximity Warning
When you’re within 50 km of a space station, a red flashing warning appears showing the station name and distance.
Pause Overlay
When an admin pauses the game, a semi-transparent overlay displays GAME PAUSED in large white text at the center of the screen. The game world freezes until the admin resumes.
Map View
Press M to enter the map view, which provides a system-scale overview.
Camera Controls
- Mouse drag: Rotate the camera around the center
- Scroll wheel: Zoom in and out
- Click: Select a body, ship, or station
Visual Indicators
| Object | Indicator |
|---|---|
| Stars | Yellow dot |
| Rocky planets | Tan dot |
| Gas giants | Orange dot |
| Ice giants | Cyan dot |
| Moons | Gray dot |
| Your ship | Green triangle |
| Other ships | Orange triangle |
| Stations | Cyan diamond |
All objects show name labels. Orbital path lines are drawn for all bodies and ships.
Info Panel
When you select an object by clicking, the right-side info panel shows:
- Name and type
- Physical properties (mass, radius)
- Orbital elements
- Distances to other objects
System Browser (B)
Toggle a hierarchical tree showing all objects in the solar system, organized by parent body. Click any entry to select and focus on it.