Finding Placed Lockboxes

Overview

Use this guide to help track down placed lockboxes and retrieve their contents.

Introduction to Lockboxes

In X Rebirth you can find various types of lockboxes and these contain a range of mostly useful loot.

These lockboxes come in three general types – Dynamic, Unique, and Placed.

Dynamic lockboxes are generated as you fly around and/or from generic missions that you can find on the Bulletin Board. These lockboxes can be found using the long range scan HUD mode and generate a ping in space when detected.

Unique lockboxes are pre-defined in the game files and contain some very useful items that cannot otherwise be obtained in the game. These lockboxes are usually hidden inside an object but are not embedded in that object.

Unique lockboxes can be found using the long range scan HUD mode and generate a golden ping when detected.

For more information on how to find the unique lockboxes visit the official Egosoft wiki:
https://www.egosoft.com:8444/confluence/display/XRWIKI/Unique+lockboxes

Placed lockboxes are pre-defined in the game files and contain a wide range of loot. Some of this loot is very useful, some not so much.

These lockboxes are typically embedded in station geometry and do not generate a ping when the long range scan HUD mode is used.

Locating placed lockboxes can therefore be quite difficult without the use of a guide to point you in the right direction.

This guide only contains further information on Placed lockboxes.

Placed Lockboxes – Overview

There are 247 placed lockboxes in X Rebirth and they are found throughout the various zones in the base game and in the two DLC’s.

Almost all of these are embedded in station geometry, including stations owned by permanently hostile factions.

The vast majority of the lockboxes are already covered in an excellent spreadsheet produced by Ezarkal with help from the community:
[link]

Compared to Ezarkal’s spreadsheet, which has 241 entries, this guide covers a combination of previously unknown lockboxes and lockboxes that were already known but for which information was not necessarily accurate or for which I had significant issues with obtaining the contents of.

Between Ezarkal’s spreadsheet and this guide you can therefore now find all 247 placed lockboxes.
For more information on how the missing lockboxes were found see the history section at the end of this guide.

If a lockbox is not mentioned in this guide then you will be able to find it using Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

If a lockbox is mentioned in this guide I have included complete information on how to locate it, even if the same lockbox also exists in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

I have personally located and obtained the contents of every placed lockbox in version 4.30 of X Rebirth, on very hard difficulty in an unmodified game (i.e. no extensions installed), using a combination of Ezarkal’s spreadsheet and the information I have compiled for this guide.

This guide contains information for the following placed lockboxes.

• 1 new lockbox in Albion -> Lookout Alpha.
• 1 new lockbox in Cold Star -> The Quarry.
• 1 new lockbox in Toride -> Koroni -> XZ Gamma.

• All 7 lockboxes in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

• 1 in Albion -> Far Out -> Exhaustless Mines.
• 1 in Albion -> Lookout Alpha -> Distant Fume.

Albion -> Lookout Alpha

This lockbox is located in Albion -> Lookout Alpha.

This lockbox is located in the very centre of the Lookout Alpha sector and is not in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

Note that because it is not attached to a station the lockbox coordinates are relative to the centre of the sector.

The most difficult part of finding this lockbox is being in the right location on the Y axis.

To start, use the jump drive to jump to the sector via the jump beacon in Wrecksville.
You should arrive pointing directly along the +Z axis with no pitch, yaw, or roll.

Using the arrow keys on the keyboard, or very precise horizontal movement otherwise (you want no movement on the Y axis), orient your ship in the direction of the Epsilon Lowlands zone by pointing along the +Z axis and then just a little towards the +X axis.
A few taps of the right arrow key usually achieves this and the result should be fairly close to the following images (if in doubt, point more in the direction of the +X axis):
(Click the images for larger versions)

Fly until you start to enter Empty Space zones. It seems that the Empty Space zones are generated in a consistent manner and generally at the third such zone you will be approaching the centre of the sector. The Empty Zone you are looking for should be almost vertically aligned with the Epsilon Lowlands zone as shown in the following images:
(Click the images for larger versions)

If the Empty Space zone has generated as expected the lockbox is at or very close to the centre of this zone, which is also the centre of the whole sector.

Turn your ship horizontally (i.e. without movement in the Y axis) until you are facing the centre of this Empty Zone and then fly towards the centre.

It shouldn’t take long for the lockbox to become visible, floating in space, even up to 9km away.
By approaching from this direction the lockbox is usually silhouetted by the nebula in the far distance, although sometimes it can be tricky to see as shown in the following images:
(Click the images for larger versions)

When you find the box the locks will usually be on the side facing away from you, waiting to be unlocked, fly around the lockbox until you find the locks as shown in the following images:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Congratulations, you’ve found one of the mystery centre of sector lockboxes!

Albion -> Lookout Alpha -> Distant Fume

This lockbox is located in Albion -> Lookout Alpha -> Distant Fume and is number 75 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

This lockbox presents players with a conundrum – it contains Rare Engine parts which can be used to get some really useful equipment early in the game however the lockbox has been placed in a position that makes it extremely difficult to unlock and is easiest to access once you have the equipment that the Rare Engine parts are needed for.

The problem is the lockbox is sitting partly inside an ad screen and the ad screen blocks your direct weapon fire from hitting the locks.
This can be observed by destroying the ad screen and watching how the seemingly hollow portions of the ad screen turn solid. It is recommended to save before doing this as unlocking the lockbox is much easier if the ad screen is not destroyed.

To access the locks you need to make use of a quirky feature of X Rebirth that lets you move your ship inside other objects.
You may have experienced this by accident when colliding with stations and ships only to find your ship bouncing all over the place before ending up inside whatever you hit.

Even if you get inside getting back out can be much harder however it is trivial if you have the jump drive and therefore whilst you can attempt to open this lockbox early in the game it is easier to do later once you’ve acquired the jump drive.

If you do take on the challenge of unlocking this lockbox it is recommended to save frequently, and in different slots, so that if you accidentally destroy the ad screen you can load an earlier save.
The locks can be destroyed one by one and their state is saved in a save game, so there is no need to rush or take unnecessary risks.

First locate the lockbox.
It is behind an ad screen and next to the info point for the Ion Cell Plant that the ad screen is attached to, use the following images to help locate it:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Looking at the first image just above you can see the four locks.

• The top-left lock is inside the ad screen but can only easily be reached from inside the Ion Cell Plant.
• The two locks on the right are inside the ad screen and can only easily be reached from inside the ad screen.
• The lower-left lock is outside.

Start by destroying the lower-left lock.
It is recommended to use the Mining Laser as, particularly for this lockbox, you do not want to damage anything other than the lock you are shooting.

Two of the locks can be reached from inside the ad screen.
To get inside the ad screen:

• Move your ship right in front of the locks (turn sideways and strafe to fit).
• Face the locks.
• Strafe to the side towards the ad screen. You can also turn towards the ad screen a little and accelerate a small amount.

After some bouncing around you will eventually get your ship inside however you need to get to the right compartment so that you have a clear line of fire as even inside the ad screen there invisible walls that block your shots.

You will know that you are in the right compartment if you can see the lock level with you on the Y axis.

When inside the screen you can change compartments by facing the lockbox and briefly strafing in the direction of the compartment you want to move to.

Example position for shooting the top lock:
(Click the image for a larger version)

Example position for shooting the bottom lock:
(Click the image for a larger version)

The last lock can be reached from inside the inside the Ion Cell Plant the ad screen is attached to.
Having exited the ad screen (e.g. by jump drive or more colliding with geometry) head back to the top (+Y) side of the lockbox and then strafe down so your ship is sitting just above the centre of the lockbox.

To get inside the Ion Cell Plant:

• Turn and directly face the Ion Cell Plant.
• Strafe, slowly accelerate, and make small directional changes as you move forwards and collide with the Ion Cell Plant.
• You want any bouncing of your ship to be up and down (+Y, -Y) and to be bouncing against the Ion Cell Plant.
• If you start bouncing between the Ion Cell Plant and the ad screen you often end up inside the ad screen instead.
• You may need several attempts at this as it seems to be harder than getting inside the ad screen.

Once inside the Ion Cell Plant you can shoot the lock.

Example position for shooting from inside the Ion Cell Plant:
(Click the image for a larger version)

After you shoot open the last lock the items inside can be pulled in with the Skunk’s cargo magnet even if you are inside a structure and the items are not.

Albion -> Far Out -> Exhaustless Mines

This lockbox is located in Albion -> Far Out -> Exhaustless Mines and is number 36 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

The lockbox is inside the Argnu Paradise module next to the Command Rely on the station and can be seen through a glass section of the module that is near the Command Relay, as shown in the following images:

(Click the images for larger versions)

The glass section of the module is unbreakable and to get to the lockbox you either need to somehow get inside the area it is sitting in, which seems to require creative use of the games collision mechanics and can be quite difficult, or you need to destroy the Argnu Paradise module, which is easy with a good plan and preparation.

Since the glass blocking you from reaching the lockbox is broken in the destroyed version of the Argnu Paradise module the destruction of the module seems to be the way Egosoft intended for the lockbox to be reached and its contents obtained.

Destroying the Argnu Paradise module is best done whilst you are in the Exhaustless Mines zone.

The lockbox is fragile and any indirect weapons fire, including explosions, in its vicinity will destroy the lockbox.

Whilst you may be able to destroy the module with the Skunk it is much easier to bring in a capital ship to help.

I used a Fulmekron and I found that it survived long enough to almost destroy the module before it engaged an emergency jump out due to damage from the station, after which I destroyed the last few % of the module using the Skunk’s guns.

To use a capital ship whilst minimising the risk that its weapons fire will hit in the vicinity of the lockbox, place the capital ship on the +X side of the station and just above the module on the +Y axis, as shown in the firing position images below:

(Click the images for larger versions)

Set the capital ship defence officer to fire at all enemies, make the station hostile (destroying an ad screen works well), and the capital ship should automatically start firing on the station.
I prefer not to give the capital ship any orders as this means it will stay in position.
You can order the capital ship to shoot specifically at the Argnu Paradise module however I found that this had little, if any, actual effect on what it fired at and the ship may decide to move.

If positioned correctly the capital ship’s weapons fire will hit away from the lockbox due to hitting the side of the module closest to the ship or due to hitting other parts of the station between the ship and the lockbox.

When the module is destroyed it may simply vanish or it may be replaced with the module in its destroyed state where the glass that normally stops you entering the area containing the lockbox is now broken.
In either case you can now fly to the lockbox, open it, and retrieve its contents.

The station will eventually repair the Argnu Paradise module so it is recommended to open the lockbox immediately.

Attacking the station will reduce your reputation with the Whole Foods faction.
Reputation is reduced in what appears to be timed intervals so you will lose more reputation the longer you take to destroy the module.

I found that starting with reputation at or above 16 was enough to still come out with a neutral reputation whilst using a single Fulmekron to help destroy the module.

It is therefore highly recommended to save before attempting to destroy the module and, if your final reputation is below neutral at the end, to load the save and gain more reputation before making another attempt.

Cold Star -> The Quarry

This lockbox is located in Cold Star -> The Quarry.

This lockbox is located in the very centre of The Quarry sector and is not in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

Note that because it is not attached to a station the lockbox coordinates are relative to the centre of the sector.

The lockbox is located not far in the +Z axis from Second Approach and is sitting just inside the edge of a hazardous cloud.
The lockbox and the items it drops are not affected by the hazardous cloud.

Even though this lockbox is in the centre of the sector it is not too difficult to find if you keep your ship generally aligned on the Y axis with stations in nearby zones, however is easier to find if you are careful to not move far in the +Y or -Y directions.

To start, use the jump drive to jump to the sector via the jump beacon in Point of Entry.
You should arrive pointing directly along the +Z axis with no pitch, yaw, or roll.

Using the arrow keys on the keyboard, or very precise horizontal movement otherwise (you want no movement on the Y axis), orient your ship towards, and then fly to, Continued Extraction.

After arriving at Continued Extraction fly to within a few kilometres of the stations there and then set your guidance to the Second Approach zone.

Orient your ship towards the guidance marker for Second Approach using, as before, the keyboard or very precise horizontal movement.

Fly towards Second Approach and you will soon encounter two hazardous clouds.
If you are approaching from the correct direction you will pass between these two clouds.
Your approach should look similar to the following images:
(Click the images for larger versions)

When you get close to the edge of the Second Approach zone you will be just starting to exit the passage between the two clouds.

Turn your ship to follow the cloud that is in the -X direction and keep following the edge of the cloud, even as it starts to turn back in the +Z direction.

It will not take long for the lockbox to be visible as the cloud silhouettes it excellently, although it can just look like one of the small rocks that are found in the cloud if you are flying too fast.
The following images demonstrate how easy the lockbox is to see even at 10km away:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Approach the lockbox and be aware that it is inside the cloud and the cloud will damage your ship as you enter it, so you may want to keep following the edge until you get closer.

However since the cloud does no damage when you are stationary your ship is not in any real danger as you open the lockbox and recover its contents.

The following images show the location of the lockbox:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Congratulations, you’ve found one of the mystery centre of sector lockboxes!

Toride -> Koroni -> XZ Gamma

This lockbox is located in Toride -> Koroni -> XZ Gamma.

This lockbox is located close to the Xenon controlled Asteroid I and is not in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

Note that because it is not attached to a station the lockbox coordinates are relative to the centre of the sector.

WARNING: The XZ Gamma zone is controlled by the Xenon and if they are hostile to you (which they usually are in an unmodified game) they will shoot you on sight.

Before you search for the lockbox it can be helpful to clear any hostile enemy ships in the area so they don’t disturb you.
You can do this personally or send a suitable capital ship in to help.
If you are going to be in the zone at the same time as a capital ship then try to keep it away from structures, including Asteroid I, as the lockbox can be destroyed by stray weapons fire even though it is floating out in space.

After you enter XZ Gamma you first have to locate XEN Asteroid I.
If you are having difficulty finding the right asteroid open the map and you should see up to four objects which, if you have not previously been close enough to identify them, will be marked as unidentified (“???”).
Clicking on these objects will zoom the map to them and show you where they are.

The Xenon Matrix is obvious as it is the only large station in the zone.

The asteroid you are looking for is the object nearest the Xenon Matrix in the -X direction.
The other two asteroids are:

• In the +X direction from the Xenon Matrix.
• Further away from the Xenon Matrix in the -X direction.

Travel to the +X, +Z side of, and in close proximity to, XEN Asteroid I.
There is one turret on the asteroid which can hit you so destroy that turret if needed.
Orient your ship in the -X direction and then a little in the -Z and -Y directions.

Relative to XEN Asteroid I, the lockbox is:

• Approximately 6km in the -X, -Z direction.
• Approximately 2km in the -Y direction.

This is shown in the following images, which also show the proximity to the asteroid and the destroyed turret:
(Click the images for larger versions)

It is easier to see the lockbox if you move below Asteroid I (e.g. when approximately level on the Y axis, strafe in the -Y direction), as the blue nebula will silhouette the lockbox nicely, as shown in the following images:
(Click the images for larger versions)

To get a better idea of the relative positioning of the lockbox and Asteroid I the following images show the lockbox location with Asteroid I and its destroyed turret in the background:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade – Overview

There are 7 lockboxes located in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

1 of these is on a weapons platform and the other 6 are on the Unidentifiable Station in the zone.

These lockboxes contain a range of interesting items including weapon mods, missiles, and Kyon parts.

WARNING: Constant Cascade is controlled by an Unidentifiable faction (the Kha’ak) which, in an unmodified game, are always hostile and will shoot you on sight.

Furthermore this faction uses high accuracy beam weapons which, particularly at higher difficulty levels, will quickly deal catastrophic damage to the Skunk irrespective of the shields used.

The zone contains one very large station, which has no weapons, and 11 weapon platforms that each has 6 turrets and 2 Force Field Projector Mk3’s.

The turrets on the weapon platforms have a bit of tracking delay so you can fly past a platform without much trouble however as soon as you slow or stop the turrets will lock on and open fire.

Therefore there are two main threats:

1. Hostile Ships.
2. The weapon platforms.

The hostile ships may initially appear easy as you may see only one entry on the map.
However that one ship is actually a cluster comprised of a number of smaller ships and as soon as you get near it, or shoot it, the cluster will split and suddenly you have a small swarm of ships firing at you.

The easiest way to clear the ships is to bring a capital ship in and have it sit away from the station and weapon platforms, then lead the hostile ships to it.

I suggest putting the capital ship on the -X side of the station as that side seems to be closest to the hidden travel pathways the AI uses to navigate through this sector and therefore your ship will arrive quicker and then go somewhere else quicker once you are finished.

Keep the capital ship away from the weapon platforms and the station as there is a lockbox on one of those platforms and stray fire may hit lockboxes on the station.

The weapon platforms are dangerous – the weapons are powerful, they have excellent coverage, and their Mk3 shields make it very difficult to face a fully operational platform head on with the Skunk’s guns.

As there are 11 weapon platforms all of the lockboxes are covered by at least one, and often two, so they will definitely disrupt your search.

However the platforms do not move and the station provides plenty of cover, allowing you to get fairly close (usually around 5km or so) and fire guided missiles from cover.

First you need to identify all the weapon platforms so that you can target surface elements easily.
The info point for each platform is in its centre (either the +Y or -Y direction) and the narrow shape of the platforms usually makes it easy to find the info point.

Also collect the lockbox on Weapon Platform VI (see its section for details) before you start shooting at weapon platforms so that you don’t destroy the lockbox by accident.

To destroy the turrets on a weapon platform I recommend using the Hellbuster.

Bring 100 or so Hellbuster’s, pick a platform, cycle through sub-components until you find a force field projector, and fire away.
If you can hit the force field projectors directly you’ll need 5 or 6 Hellbuster’s to destroy it and the Hellbuster’s large blast radius will take out most, if not all, of the other surface elements.

Any remaining surface elements can be destroyed by rushing the turret and blasting them with the Skunk’s guns.

You can also destroy the platform entirely if you want, though it takes more missiles.

Keep in mind that the turrets do repair and since there are 7 lockboxes in this zone it is possible that the platforms will start to come back online before you find all the lockboxes.
If this happens it tends to just be one or two turrets per platform and once you find the platforms they are on you can destroy them with the Skunk’s guns, or one or two Hellbuster’s, with ease.

In addition try not to leave the zone once you start as surface elements repair very rapidly if you are not in-zone with them and you’ll usually have to destroy them all again once you return.

You have the option of systematically disabling all weapon platforms or take them out one at a time after they shoot at you whilst you search for the lockboxes. I used the one-at-a-time method as personal preference.

Once you’ve got the threats under control you can go find those lockboxes!

Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade #1 – Weapon Platform VI

This lockbox is located in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

This lockbox is located on Weapon Platform VI and is not in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

In the game files this lockbox is not actually linked to the weapon platform and the coordinates are therefore relative to the centre of the sector.

This lockbox is in the centre of Weapon Platform VI and can easily be destroyed by accident if any weapons fire is directed at the weapon platform.

Therefore it is recommended to collect the contents of this lockbox before you disable the weapon platforms or look for the other lockboxes.

The lockbox also hides the information point for the platform so you can’t examine it until the box is destroyed and moved out of the way.
If you open the lockbox normally and collect its contents you will probably have to leave the zone, and possibly the sector, for a while until the empty lockbox is removed from the game.
It is not clear if destroying the lockbox after you have opened it will speed up this process.

The following images show where the lockbox is:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade #2

This lockbox is located in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

This lockbox is located on the Unidentifiable Station and is number 209 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.
However

The following images show where the lockbox is, including maps showing the XZ and XY axes:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade #3

This lockbox is located in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

This lockbox is located on the Unidentifiable Station and is not in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

However the images for number 207 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet may be the images of this lockbox as they have the same contents.

The other lockbox in this guide with the same content is Constant Cascade #6.

Note that I have verified, by checking the coordinates in the game files and the coordinates in-game when I took the screenshots, that the images in this section are for this specific lockbox.

In the game files this lockbox is not actually linked to the Unidentifiable Station and the coordinates are therefore relative to the centre of the sector.

The following images show where the lockbox is, including maps showing the XZ and XY axes:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade #4

This lockbox is located in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

This lockbox is located on the Unidentifiable Station and is not in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

However it is the lockbox shown in the images of number 208 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.
This is demonstrated by the notes for that entry stating that the lockbox dropped missiles instead of the stated low-grade weapon mods and the images in the spreadsheet showing the same location as the images, below, for this lockbox.

In the game files this lockbox is not actually linked to the Unidentifiable Station and the coordinates are therefore relative to the centre of the sector.

The following images show where the lockbox is, including maps showing the XZ and XY axes:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade #5

This lockbox is located in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

This lockbox is located on the Unidentifiable Station and is number 206 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

The following images show where the lockbox is, including maps showing the XZ and XY axes:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade #6

This lockbox is located in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

This lockbox is located on the Unidentifiable Station and is number 207 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

However the images for number 207 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet may not be the images of this lockbox, and may instead be images showing Constant Cascade #3 in this guide.

The following images show where the lockbox is, including maps showing the XZ and XY axes:
(Click the images for larger versions)

Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade #7

This lockbox is located in Toride -> Koroni -> Constant Cascade.

This lockbox is located on the Unidentifiable Station and is number 208 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.
The images for number 208 in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet are, however, of a different lockbox – the one in Constant Cascade #4 in this guide.

The following images show where the lockbox is, including maps showing the XZ and XY axes:
(Click the images for larger versions)

History – Identifying the missing lockboxes and tracking them down

This section is for those interested in how the missing lockboxes were discovered and the process used to find them.

In 2018 I decided to find all the placed lockboxes in my main X Rebirth save.

When I started searching for them I turned to the existing information that was available.

I found the Egosoft Wiki:
https://www.egosoft.com:8444/confluence/display/XRWIKI/Lockboxes+embedded+in+station+geometry

Then I found that an industrious member of the community, Ezarkal, had already located almost all the lockboxes listed on the wiki with the help of the community and had a thread on the Egosoft forums:
[link]

That thread, in turn, linked to Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

There were still some missing entries and I helped locate those, leading to all 241 being listed as found.

However I was still confused with some of the lockboxes in Constant Cascade.
In Ezarkal’s spreadsheet there were notes suggesting that at least one lockbox had dropped content different to that listed on the wiki.

I knew the loot from the lockboxes was not really random, particularly since these specific lockboxes had loot defined for them and were not set to have just generic rare lockbox loot.

I found that when you own X Rebirth on Steam you also get access to the official tools called “X Tools”. They can be found in the tools category of your Steam library.

Using these tools I extracted the CAT files in which the game data files are packed, found where the placed lockboxes were defined, and discovered something interesting.

There were 241 lockboxes listed in the Wiki and on Ezarkal’s spreadsheet, but there were 247 lockboxes defined in the game files.

Furthermore I found the lockbox that had been marked in Constant Cascade as dropping the wrong items and the lockbox containing the items that did drop, clearing up the confusion by proving that there were more lockboxes in Constant Cascade than listed in the wiki.

I was also surprised to find that two lockboxes appeared to be placed in the centre of two different sectors, and others appeared to be free-floating in space, creating a bit of a mystery as to why they were there and if they could be found.

Locating those boxes seemed to be difficult and I decided to take a break from searching and from X Rebirth in general.

In early 2021 I returned to X Rebirth, looked at my notes, and decided to solve the mystery and publish my results in the interest of giving something back to the community.

I reconciled all the data available to me and set out my objectives, which was to produce this guide to complement Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

I went back to the extracted game files and took a closer look at where the placed lockboxes are defined. These definitions are in files named “objectspawnpoints.xml” and there are three of these files – one in the base game, and one in each of the two DLC’s.

These are XML files that you can open in your favourite XML or text editor.

In these files each lockbox is defined in a “spawnpoint” element and it was simply by counting these that that, in 2018, I had discovered more lockboxes existed than were listed in the wiki and Ezarkal’s spreadsheet.

Locating the lockboxes not already known about turned out to be easy – they were the elements that did not have a “space” attribute.
Normally a placed lockbox is attached to a specific object (e.g. a station) and the game tracks this through the “space” attribute. When this attribute is set the lockbox coordinates become relative to the specified object which is why the X, Y, Z coordinate values are small even though the X Rebirth universe is quite large.

I believe it was because this “space” attribute was not set that the 6 missing lockboxes were accidentally left out of the list on the Egosoft wiki.

Because they have no space attribute set I determined, by examining the structure of the XML files further, that the coordinates for those lockboxes were, as I had suspected in 2018, now relative to the sector they were in.

Even though I suspected that some of these missing lockboxes were in Constant Cascade it was clear from the files that there was one that appeared to be somewhere else in Toride and two in entirely different sectors.

I tracked down the locations of the lockboxes by examining the “spawnpoint” elements defining other lockboxes around them (lockboxes are grouped by sector, and then typically by zone, in the game files) and the help of Roguey’s X Rebirth[roguey.co.uk] maps, which showed sector coordinates of zones, and the help of a Russian website X Rebirth Handbook[x3bc.do.am] (and Google Translate) that mapped the names of zones to their in-game macros used in the XML files.

Furthermore space is a big place and those coordinates could point to anywhere including deep space or even inside a station or other object – there was no guarantee they could even be reached.

I therefore turned to a basic helper extension I’d previously written for short range searching when I was tracking down the missing entries in Ezarkal’s spreadsheet in 2018.
After some extensive modifications the helper extension now worked at much longer ranges and provided information on exactly where I was in the sector and the roll, pitch, and yaw of the ship so I had a better idea of exactly where I was facing.

For the two lockboxes in the middle of Lookout Alpha and The Quarry, the files suggested they were quite literally in the centre of the sector and that is where they were found.
Producing instructions on how to reliably find the lockboxes without the helper extension was tricky however I eventually found a procedure for each that worked and, as with all lockboxes, I collected them on my main save by following my own directions, now in this guide, without the helper extension installed.

For the 4 lockboxes in Toride they were found in XZ Gamma and Constant Cascade.

As for why these 6 lockboxes are defined in the game files differently to the rest, I can only speculate.

The lockboxes in Constant Cascade are all on an actual object and for some reason they just didn’t get attached to those objects.

The lockbox in XZ Gamma may have originally been on another weaponised asteroid that was later removed, or perhaps it was supposed to be on Asteroid I, that asteroid was moved, and as the lockbox is not attached to the asteroid it stayed behind.

For the lockboxes in Lookout Alpha and The Quarry the coordinates are consistent with them being originally placed on an object but then that object was deleted from the game.
Ordinarily I would expect that when an object is deleted the lockbox would either also be deleted or the coordinates would recalculate so that the lockbox stays in the same place.
However for whatever reason the lockboxes remained in existence and their coordinates, now relative to the sector, put them in the centre of their respective sectors.

Overall whilst it took some time to locate the lockboxes I did succeed in finding all of them and therefore solved the mystery of the missing lockboxes.

Closing Statements

The placed lockboxes contain a wide range of loot and some of it is quite valuable.

By using the extremely useful spreadsheet produced by Ezarkal and combining it with the information in this guide I hope that you are able to find and obtain the loot in the placed lockboxes that interest you – be it rare engine parts, weapon mods, jump drive coolant, and/or vast quantities of more common goods.

– Deathifier