How to Add Friends in Star Citizen (2026)

Star Citizen uses your RSI handle — the username you chose when you created your account — as your in-game identity. To add someone, you need their handle or you need to be standing next to them in the world.

Method 1 — Add via the RSI website

This works even when the game is not running. Head to robertsspaceindustries.com and open SpectrumSpectrumThe official RSI community forum at robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum. Ground zero for bug reports, org recruiting, and the occasional flame war., the official RSI forum and social platform.

1. Sign in and open Spectrum.
2. Click the search icon and type your friend's exact handle.
3. Open their profile from the results.
4. Click Add Friend.
5. They accept the request from Spectrum or in-game. Done.

Pending requests live under your avatar menu → Settings → Friends. You can cancel an outgoing request from there too.

Method 2 — Add from the main menu

Launch Star Citizen but do not click Enter Universe yet. On the right side of the main menu you will see a Friends panel.

1. Click the + Add Friend button at the top of the panel.
2. Type the player's handle and confirm.
3. The request goes out the same way as a Spectrum request.

Method 3 — Add in-game via mobiGlasmobiGlasYour character's wrist-mounted computer. It opens missions, manages inventory, summons ships, and handles in-game messages. Press F1.

Once you are inside the Persistent UniversePUPersistent Universe — the live, always-online Star Citizen world where most players spend their time. Your characters, ships, and credits live here., you can send a request without leaving the game.

1. Press F11 to open the Commlink (or F1 for mobiGlas → Commlink app).
2. Select Global Chat from the sidebar.
3. Click the Members tab on the right — it lists everyone in the channel right now.
4. Click on a player's name and choose Send Friend Request.

Method 4 — Add via the Inner ThoughtInner ThoughtThe contextual interaction system — hold F to see the actions available on whatever you're looking at. Sit, pick up, repair, board. wheel

If someone is standing right next to you in the world, you do not even need their handle.

1. Walk up so the other player is within a few metres of you.
2. Hold F to open the Inner Thought interaction wheel.
3. Aim at them and select Add Contact.
4. The request goes out the normal way from there.

Accepting an incoming request

Requests appear in three places — accept from whichever is easiest:

• Spectrum: avatar menu → Settings → Friends → Accept.
• Main menu: the Friends panel shows pending requests above your accepted contacts.
• In-game: press F11 → Contacts tab → pending requests at the top.

Playing together once you are friends

Adding someone as a friend and playing in the same server are two separate steps. Star Citizen splits players across multiple server shards — think of each shard as its own copy of the universe running in parallel. Being friends does not automatically put you in the same one.

To get on the same shard, form a party before anyone enters the universe. Press F11, right-click your friend's name in the Contacts tab, and choose Invite to Party. Once they accept, the party leader clicks Enter Universe and the game routes everyone to the same shard automatically.

See the Party Management guide for the full walk-through including quantum linking and multi-crew ships.

Troubleshooting: friends list looks empty

This is almost always a display issue — your friends are still on the server, the client just failed to load them. Try these steps in order:

1. Check Spectrum first. If your friends show up there, the data is intact. The in-game display is just out of sync.
2. Close and reopen the Commlink. Press F11 to close, wait five seconds, press F11 again. Often enough on its own.
3. Relog. Quit to the main menu, then to desktop, then re-launch. The contacts list refreshes on session start.
4. Clear your USER folder. Exit the game and rename or delete %LOCALAPPDATA%\Star Citizen\LIVE\USER. The launcher rebuilds it. Your account, characters, and friends list are stored server-side — they are not in that folder.

Clearing the USER folder wipes local keybinds and HUD layouts. Export your keybindings first if you have custom ones.

Friend shows offline when they are online

Online presence updates on a delay. If you know out-of-band (Discord, text) that your friend is in the game, send the party invite anyway — invites are delivered even when the status indicator says offline.