Does Stellaris Have A Co-op Mode? [how-to instructions]

By “Co-op” I mean a game mode mostly seen in FPS (first-person shooter) games, where each human player is represented on the screen by an avatar. In co-op games, the setup is done so that two or more players can play the game as a team and win together. Stellaris, though does not come with a co-op mode.

Since I like to play in co-op mode with friends, I researched. Here are my results:

Stellaris does not have a special mode for co-op, but there are ways to set up the game to play with your friends as a team. This is done by creating your own Multiplayer-server in the main menu and letting Stellaris know you want to spawn close to each other. This way, you can work as a federation and conquer the galaxy together.

In this post, we will go into how to exactly set up Stellaris so that you can play a co-op game with your friends.

All about Stellaris Multiplayer

So, we learned that we can set up Stellaris to let us play as a team in co-op. How is this done?

Can two or more people play one Empire in Stellaris?

It is not possible for two or more people to play one Empire in Stellaris. Each player can only play one empire, not more, and not half-an-empire.

So we need another way to play Stellaris in Co-op.

Easiest method for Co-op in Stellaris – tested method

1. The way to achieve this is to start a new Multiplayer game in Stellaris:

2. Give your new server a name and a password you share only with your friends, so only they can join you. Share these with your friends:

3. To play in co-op, you should make sure to pick compatible empires/ethics!

How to Spawn next to friends in Stellaris?

4. Finally, in-game settings, to ensure that you and your co-players are not spawning all over the galaxy, you scroll down and choose “Clustered Players”.

Now all of you will spawn within 3 to 10-star systems from each other. This way, finding each other takes only a few in-game years, not generations.

Also, using the in-game chat, you can easily communicate where exactly you spawned, so sending a science ship to lift the fog of war speeds up the process even more.

You should consider subscribing to the HexGrid Overlay. He created this nice mod – inspired by the classic Babylon 5 – making communicating map coordinates with your teammates much easier.

With this mod, you can give your friends an exact “address” of where you spawned on the map.

During my research, my attention was brought to an alternative method.

2. The Saved Single Player Game method

A very lovely Canadian sent me another- very smart – method to create a coop game.

1. You start a single-player game and choose an empire
2. Once the game started and you look at your home system, open the Console (on most keyboards the key between the TAB and Esc keys, showing ^°).
3. You see a blinking cursor: Type in “observe” (without the “”)
4. Now you see the galaxy from a bird’s view perspective, without any fog of war
5. Looking at the map, you and your friends choose an empire on that map
6. Save the game (give it a memorable name, it could be hard to find)
7. Close the game
8. Open Multiplayer in the Main menu
9. Click “Host Save Game”
10. Choose the saved game from the list
11. Give the server a name (or go with the default) and set a password – send the server name and password to your friends
12. In the game lobby, each Co-op player chooses his chosen empire

The disadvantage of this method is that you already have seen the full map, which might reduce the feeling of adventure a little.

Can Stellaris Co-op games be won by more than one empire?

Now, one caveat about co-op games: In the long run, there can only be one winning the game. So even if you play in co-op. So if you keep playing by the Stellaris default rules, to find a winner at the end you will have to fight each other.

How many players in Co-op and Multiplayer games?

Up to 32 players can join a Stellaris Multiplayer/Co-op-game.