Summary
As they set out on their spacefaring adventures,Starfieldplayers may find ships, board them, and get behind the wheel, only to be met with the message “You are not authorized to pilot this ship.” This message generally appears when players attempt to pilot ships other than their own. They may have a variety of reasons for doing so: maybe they just want to test out a specific module, orone ofStarfield’s ship decorations. Or maybe they’ve realized the profitable potential ofstealing and selling ships inStarfield.
But no matter why the “You are not authorized to pilot this ship” message appears, it’s inevitably frustrating. It’s a barrier to progress, and the brief popup alone doesn’t make clear how to get around it. That’s not even to mention that the message is more likely to appear onsome ofStarfield’s best ships- the high-class freighters and tricked-out fighters that players are most likely to desire. But as frustrating as it can be to run up against an unauthorized wall, there’s a fairly easy (if potentially time-consuming) way to get around one.
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Starfield Players Need The Appropriate Piloting Level For Ship Authorization
How Pilot Levels & Ship Class Work In Starfield
The most common reason for the “You are not authorized to pilot this ship” popup inStarfieldis that the player character’s Piloting level isn’t high enoughfor them to safely fly the ship they’re attempting to commandeer. Players can view their Piloting levels by opening the Data Menu (Tab on PC, Menu on Xbox) and navigating to the Skills screen in the upper-right corner of the wheel. Piloting can be found in the first tier of the Tech tab, the rightmost option on this menu, and the player can see how many levels they’ve gained in it by rolling over its icon.
Every ship inStarfieldhas an inherent class that matches up with a certain Piloting level. In essence, the player character must be at or above a certain level to gain authorization to fly certain ships. A ship’s class is determined by its reactor, the most vital component for space travel. Whenbuilding a ship inStarfield, players can only use parts at or below the level of the reactor module - so an A-class ship can only have A-class parts, a B-class ship can have A- or B-class parts, and so on.
The table below shows the various ship classes inStarfield, and how they line up with ship classes.There are four levels of the Piloting skill. While the first one can be taken at character creation or whenever the player levels up, there are more specific requirements for further ranks, which are also included in the table.
1
2
Destroy five ships
3
Destroy 15 ships
4
Destroy 30 ships
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In order to gain Piloting levels quickly, the player will need to destroy multiple enemy ships. This can be time-consuming when relying on random encounters, but there’s an easy way to grind Piloting levels accessible from very early in the game.Players who want to gain authorization for higher-class ships should head to the flight simulator in the MAST Building, located on Jemison. Even these simulated ships count towards increasing the player character’s Piloting level, and they can be fought without risking life or limb.
Other Potential Reasons Players Aren’t Authorized To Fly Starfield Ships
Troubleshooting Starfield’s “You Are Not Authorized” Message
Now, say a player has maxed out their Piloting rank, finds a cool ship out in space, and attempts to steal it, only to be met with a message that claims they’re still unauthorized. What gives? As it turns out,an insufficient Piloting rank isn’t the only reason a player might see the “You are not authorized to pilot this ship” popup. Thankfully, there are a couple of easy steps players can take to troubleshoot this message, and (hopefully) return to fly their desired ship freely.
First and foremost,in order to seize any non-player-owned ship inStarfield, its entire crew must be eliminated. A good way to seek out any stragglers is to enter stealth, then wander around the ship until the “Hidden” message turns to “Detected,” meaning there’s someone else nearby. But if the ship is on the surface of a planet, some crew members may not be on board. Players can roam the surrounding area to see if they notice anyone wearing the crew’s uniform. Simply waiting a few hours aboard the ship may also cause missing crew members to return.
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The only other reason a player might be told they’re not authorized to pilot a ship is if they haven’t progressed the story sufficiently to unlock free roam.In order to steal any ship, players must complete the first main story mission, “One Small Step,“by visiting the Lodge for the first time and agreeing to join Constellation. Believe it or not,Starfield’s open-world designmakes it entirely possible to explore much of the galaxy and rank up one’s Piloting level fully before even finishing this first quest.
Being told “You are not authorized to pilot this ship” can be frustrating, but thankfully, there’s usually a simple explanation for this popup. If nothing else, it’s a good incentive to level up the player character’s Piloting level as early as possible. Between the fun of flying them and the profitability of selling them, getting authorized to flyStarfield’s highest-class ships should be any player’s priority.
Starfield
Bethesda Game Studios presents Starfield - the first original IP from the studio in twenty-five-plus years. Set in the year 2310, the United Colonies and Freestar Collective are observing a shaky truce after a war set 20 years prior. The player will customize their character as a member of a space exploration team called Constellation while navigating The Settled Systems and the conflicts between the warring factions. According to Bethesda, players can explore over 100 systems and 1000 planets to find resources and build their ships, living out their own sci-fi journeys.
