As players explore Starfield, they may find themselves committing illegal acts. Robbing starships, stealing valuables, attacking locals, or targeting city guards can lead to a bounty placed on the offender by the faction that controls the ship or settlement. Once a bounty is issued, pursuit begins across space and land, turning even simple missions into high-stakes challenges. This guide explains how to pay bounties and handle various Starfield penalties.
Starfield Guides
How the Starfield penal system works
If any character witnesses theft, assault on residents, illegal hacking, or piracy, the responsible faction assigns a bounty. With each new offense, the bounty grows. From that moment, orbiting planets in that faction’s galaxies becomes off-limits, and visiting settlements is restricted. Faction ships will pursue the player even outside their airspace.
The bounty value and jail severity depend on the region, reputation, and other factors beyond the crime’s intrinsic seriousness. Sometimes accomplices or bystanders report actions they witnessed, and a player can find themselves reported even for a single kill or a handful of ship robberies. Barrett, for example, might leave the squad and file a report when necessary.
Rewards are trackable on the star map by selecting a system and checking the top-right corner where they appear in red.
There are several ways to clear fines, including standard payments, bribes, and prison sentences. The following sections examine each method in detail.
Why are faction ships attacking me?
The simplest explanation is clear: a ship was robbed or destroyed in space. If the bounty is small, guards may not pursue in settlements, but once in space, a full-on pursuit begins.
Often there isn’t time to shake off pursuers. If a planet’s orbit contains more than a dozen ships, the player’s craft can be overwhelmed and crash quickly.
Even if a player believes no offense occurred, it’s likely a past action has been forgotten. Factions remember every misstep, and consequences linger as long as the player remains in their jurisdiction.
How to pay a bounty on your head
Key terminals are found in nearly every major settlement, offering a Self-service bounty clearance kiosk, sometimes called Trackers Alliance kiosks. They are typically dark devices with red stripes, located in places like bars, large venues, or shops. For instance, a terminal can be found in New Atlantis near the spaceport.
Interacting with these terminals reveals the current rewards and the amounts available for payment. The system lists every payable sum, allowing the player to settle the bounty in full or in part.
In addition, after illicit actions, players can trigger special tasks. If the United Colonies are involved, it may be impossible to pay the fine directly, yielding a message that legal remedies are not offered locally and urging contact with United Colonies authorities to resolve the issue.
During subsequent arrests, players may be faced with a choice: go to jail and pay the fine or cooperate with the United States Security Service to assist in dismantling the Crimson Fleet. This quest line will be explored in a separate guide.
Payment of the fine on the spot
If a witness sees a theft or damage, guards will close in and demand payment. Typically, fines are modest, but the player may be required to surrender stolen items marked in red in addition to the penalty.
Bribery
If parting with stolen goods isn’t appealing, offering a bribe is an option. The bribe amount multiplies, but the cost can be reduced by upgrading the Negotiation skill at least to level two. With further skill growth to level four, the bribe option may become free.
Not all guards are friendly. Upgrading Charisma helps too. If a guard refuses a bribe, they confiscate stolen items and raise the initial fine multiple times. If the bounty is over 10,000 credits, the player may find it impossible to pay off.
Serving a prison sentence
If a player is caught and neither paying nor bribing works, they must endure a period of solitary confinement. The player loses everything stolen and may lose some experience, but prison sentences in Starfield end after a short duration. There is also a chance to attempt an escape while in custody; returning items from the prison stash can be required, and the bounty on the head persists and may even rise.
Other guides
(VG Times) (cited content for in-game reference)