How to Set Up Your First PI Planet

Setting up your first Planetary Industry (PI) planet in EVE Online can feel overwhelming at first, but the system becomes very straightforward once you understand the workflow. Your first planet should not aim for perfection or advanced production chains. Instead, it should focus on one goal: turning raw planetary resources (P0) into a simple, reliable income stream.

This guide walks you through a clean, beginner-friendly setup that avoids unnecessary complexity while still giving you a strong foundation for scaling into more advanced PI later.

Before You Start: What You Need

Before setting up your planet, make sure you have:

1. Planetary Industry Skills

At minimum:

Command Center Upgrades I–III
Interplanetary Consolidation I–III
Remote Sensing (optional but helpful)

You can start PI with very low skills, but higher levels give more power and flexibility.

2. A Suitable Planet

Open the Planetary Industry interface and look for:

High resource concentration (bright “hotspots” on scan)
Low competition systems (less important in NPC space)
Easy access to trade hubs or your corporation’s space

For beginners, good starting planet types include:

Barren planets (simple and stable)
Temperate planets (balanced resources)
Oceanic planets (easy P1 chains like Water / Proteins)

3. A Clear Goal

Your first planet should be one of these:

P0 → P1 extraction planet (recommended)
Simple factory planet (later stage)
Hybrid setup (not recommended for beginners)

Most new players should start with P0 to P1 extraction only.

Step 1 – Open the Planetary Industry Interface

Right-click your character portrait
Select Planetary Industry
Choose your planet from the list

You will now see a full planetary surface view with resource heatmaps.

Step 2 – Survey the Planet

Click Scan / Survey Mode.

You will see resource distribution maps showing where P0 materials are concentrated.

What you are looking for:

Bright, dense hotspots (highest yield)
Multiple overlapping resource areas if possible
A location that is easy to place extractors on

Tip: Don’t place extractors randomly. The hotspot matters more than anything else.

Step 3 – Place Your Command Center

Your Command Center is the base of your colony.

How to place it:

Click Build
Select Command Center
Place it anywhere on the planet (location does NOT matter much)

Important:

It does not need to be near your extractors
It only provides power/CPU limits

Step 4 – Place Your Extractor Control Unit (ECU)

The ECU is your main income generator.

How to set it up:

Click Build
Select Extractor Control Unit
Place it on or near a strong resource hotspot

Then:

Open the ECU
Select Install Program
Choose your resource type (e.g. Aqueous Liquids, Noble Metals)

Set Your Extraction Cycle

You must choose program length:

1–2 days = high efficiency (active players)
3–5 days = balanced
7–14 days = low maintenance (beginners)

For your first planet:

Use 3–5 day cycles for balance

Place Extraction Heads

Move extractor heads over the densest part of the hotspot
Spread them slightly to maximise coverage

More overlap = more yield.

Step 5 – Place a Storage or Launchpad

You need somewhere to store materials.

You have two options:

Option A – Launchpad (Recommended)

Acts as storage + import/export hub
Simplifies logistics
Best for beginners

Option B – Storage Facility

Pure storage only
Requires separate launch structure later

For your first planet:

Always use a Launchpad

Step 6 – Build a Basic Industry Facility

This is where P0 becomes P1.

Example setup:

If you are extracting Aqueous Liquids:

P0: Aqueous Liquids
P1: Water or Ionic Solutions (depending on chain)

How to place:

Click Build
Select Basic Industry Facility
Place near your Launchpad

Step 7 – Create Links Between Structures

Now you must connect everything.

Required links:

ECU → Launchpad
Launchpad → Industry Facility
Industry Facility → Launchpad

Tips:

Keep links as short as possible
Longer links = more CPU/power usage
Avoid unnecessary complexity early on

Step 8 – Set Up Routes

Routes define how materials move.

You need to configure:

1. ECU Output

Route P0 materials → Launchpad

2. Launchpad Input

Accept P0 materials

3. Industry Facility Input

Pull P0 from Launchpad

4. Industry Output

Send P1 products → Launchpad

Once set, your planet becomes fully automated.

Step 9 – Start Your Extraction Program

Go back to your ECU and press:

Submit Program

Your planet is now active.

It will:

Extract resources automatically
Process them into P1
Store them in your Launchpad

Step 10 – Export Your Products

Every few days:

Open Launchpad
Select products
Click Export

You can:

Haul them to market
Sell directly
Move them into higher-tier production chains

What Your First PI Planet Should Look Like

A simple beginner setup:

1 × Command Center
1 × Extractor Control Unit
1 × Launchpad
1 × Basic Industry Facility

That’s it.

No complexity. No multi-tier chains. No overbuilding.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Overbuilding too early

New players often try to build P3/P4 setups immediately. This reduces efficiency and causes confusion.

Poor extractor placement

If you are not on a hotspot, your income will be weak.

Long extractor cycles without checking

14-day cycles are convenient but inefficient for beginners.

Forgetting routing

If you don’t set routes correctly, nothing moves.

No export plan

PI is useless if materials stay stuck on the planet.

How Much Can Your First Planet Make?

A basic P0 → P1 planet typically generates:

Low skill: modest passive income
Medium skill: steady daily ISK
Optimised planet: strong early passive income stream

PI income scales heavily with:

Number of planets
Skill level
Resource quality
Attention to extractor efficiency

When to Upgrade Your Setup

Once you are comfortable, you can:

Upgrade 1 – Add More Planets

Interplanetary Consolidation increases total income dramatically.

Upgrade 2 – Specialise Planets

One resource per planet = better efficiency.

Upgrade 3 – Move Into P2 Production

Combine multiple P1 inputs into higher value goods.

Upgrade 4 – Build Factory Worlds

Import materials and produce advanced commodities.

Final Summary

Your first Planetary Industry planet should be simple, stable, and focused entirely on learning the system. A basic P0-to-P1 extraction setup teaches you how to scan resources, place extractors, manage routes, and export goods without overwhelming you with complexity.

Once you understand this foundation, PI becomes one of the most powerful passive income systems in EVE Online. From a single well-set-up planet, you can expand into multi-planet production chains that support fuel production, advanced manufacturing, and large-scale industrial operations.

Master the basics first, scale second—PI rewards efficiency, not complexity.