Depth Levels

HUD depth indicator

Depth is one of the main HUD indicators and is central to navigating the Seamoth, Cyclops, and PRAWN Suit in Subnautica.

Depth also has an impact on Seabases: Hull Integrity is affected by adding a multiplier to base modules with a negative integrity. Solar Panels become less effective in deeper waters, as well.

Depth is currently only measured underwater - if the player's position is above sea level, the indicator will still show as 0 meters.

Around 3000 meters the world "ends" and gives way to the void.

Stages

There are currently three stages of depth. The indicator will change color if it passes to another stage. Each stage affects the Cyclops in different ways.

When the Cyclops goes past 450 meters, the computer system will warn the player that they are leaving the safe zone. When the Cyclops goes past 500 meters, the computer system will warn the player that hull damage is imminent. The player then has a few seconds to turn back before the Cyclops starts to spring leaks. The player then has to turn back, as attempts to repair the damage past the 500-meter-mark will be futile.

The safe zone of the Seamoth is 180 meters, and the crush depth is 200 meters. However, this can be increased by placing a Pressure Compensator MK1 in the upgrades.

It is possible to increase the Cyclops' maximum depth using Upgrades.

Currently, the player can go to greater depths than the cyclops without taking damage. However, the player depletes oxygen faster as they go deeper. For example, referring to the graph below, in the 'white' zone (0m-99m) the player will lose 1 oxygen every second. In the 'yellow' zone, the player loses 2 oxygen every second (100-199), and in red, the player loses 3 oxygen every second (200+).

Depth	Indicator color	Effect
0-449 meters	White	None; the Cyclops will not take any damage
450-499 meters	Yellow	Past safe zone; Cyclops will take damage on impact
500+ meters	Red	Hull integrity compromised; Cyclops will slowly start to spring more and more leaks
~3000 meters	Red	Maximum depth of beta build. Biomes all end around this point.

Future Plans

In the future, Depth will be important to watch, as going up too quickly will hurt the player.

Speculation

As Depth has many effects outside the Subnautica universe, it might well be that it will affect more things in future builds, such as for example the player's health or usage of Oxygen.

Gallery

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  Depth HUD indicator at the surface shows zero meters

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  Cyclops: Even inside the vehicle shows HUD indicator

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  The HUD indicator shows yellow color when the player is between 100 and 200 meters.

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  The HUD indicator shows red color when the player is deeper than 200 meters.

Trivia

• If the player swims past 500m in depth, they will start breathing faster, to reflect the pressure making it harder for them to breath properly at this depth. This happens even with the Rebreather equipped, but doesn't affect oxygen usage (Assuming the Rebreather is equipped).