Caught committing a crime in Starfield? Your bounty isn’t just a number-it’s a galactic red flag that turns every faction guard into a relentless hunter. But don’t despair: whether you’re strapped for credits or ready to serve time, there are clear paths to wipe the slate clean and keep exploring the stars unscathed. Here’s how to pay off your bounty and avoid becoming space’s most wanted.
The first time you’re arrested by the United Colonies, you’ll actually start a mission called “Deep Cover,” in which they blackmail you to go undercover for them. After you start this quest, getting arrested again after will yield the normal results, which we talk about below.
How do bounties work in Starfield?
In Starfield, bounties are assigned when you commit crimes such as stealing, attacking NPCs, or carrying contraband, but only if you are caught by the faction controlling the current solar system. Each faction, like the Freestar Collective or the United Colonies Vanguard, maintains its own separate bounty system, meaning a bounty with one faction does not affect your status with others. When you have a bounty, faction members will be hostile and attack you on sight, restricting your access to their controlled areas. You can view your bounty amount on the system map under the faction’s name. To remove a bounty, you can pay a fine to guards (losing any stolen items), serve jail time, or attempt to bribe the authorities if your negotiation skills are high enough. Alternatively, self-service bounty clearance boards in bars near spaceports allow you to pay off bounties while keeping your items, though this costs extra. If you refuse to cooperate or fail a bribe, guards will attack you, but holstering your weapon can sometimes end the confrontation. Bounties do not disappear over time and must be addressed to avoid constant hostility and travel restrictions within faction territories.
Bounties in Starfield work extremely similar to Skyrim bounties. If people see you pickpocketing or stealing, you will get a bounty added to your head for that region. If you get caught stealing one thing on Neon, you’ll get a 500 credit bounty for Neon. If you get caught stealing again, you’ll get another 500 credits added and so forth.
Smuggling out contraband, like Aurora, will also add a bounty to your head.
If you have a bounty, security from that planet will chase you down. However, you can pay a fine, choose to go to jail, or fight your way out. You cannot fast travel while guards are chasing you.
[Ed. note: We encountered an issue when we were mass pickpocketing people on planets and loads of security guards would appear. They’d follow us around but never actually start the “you’re under arrest!” prompt unless we interacted with them. Use this knowledge how you’d like, but we don’t think this is working as intended.]
How to pay off bounties
To pay off bounties in Starfield, you need to locate a Trackers Alliance Self-Service Bounty Clearance Kiosk, which can be found in major settlements near landing zones or bars. You must visit a kiosk in a faction’s territory where you do not have a bounty, as you cannot clear a bounty in the same airspace where you are wanted. Interacting with the kiosk allows you to pay off the bounty by investing credits, which clears your record but may cost more than paying a guard directly. Alternatively, if approached by a guard of the faction that placed the bounty, you can pay it off on the spot, though this will result in losing any stolen or contraband items in your inventory. Another option is to serve time in prison to clear the bounty, but this also confiscates stolen goods. Paying off bounties is advisable to avoid hostile encounters and faction attacks while traveling through the Settled Systems.
There are some kiosks that allow you to clear your bounty without talking to anyone, but it depends on the region in which you have that bounty. Based on our testing, you can only clear your bounty if you’re not currently in the area associated with the faction that has a bounty out for you.
For example, if you have a bounty with the Freestar Collective and you’re using the kiosk in Freestar Collective space, you can’t pay off your bounty. You’ll have to find one outside of Freestar Collective space.
There’s also a slight markup. Clearing a bounty of 500 credits cost us 550 credits, so it is a bit more expensive than just paying your fines.
Bounty kiosk locations
Bounty Clearance Kiosks in Starfield are self-service terminals where players can pay off their bounties to avoid arrest and item confiscation. These kiosks are scattered across various major settlements and space stations, often found near bars, mission boards, or spaceport areas. Key locations include the Viewport Bar in New Atlantis (Jemison, Alpha Centauri), the Broken Spear Bar in Cydonia on Mars (Sol system), the Hitching Post Bar in Akila City (Cheyenne system), and the Trident Luxury Lines Staryard orbiting Akila. Players must clear bounties in a faction’s territory different from where the bounty was incurred; for example, a United Colonies bounty must be cleared in Freestar Collective space. Additionally, players can build their own Bounty Clearance Kiosk at outposts, providing a convenient way to clear bounties in neutral space.
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These kiosks are typically located in bars, but you can find them in random outposts and smaller settlements, too – like HopeTown. You can find bounty kiosks in the following hub locations, but remember the rule about faction affiliations before charting your grav jump:
- Akila City (Freestar Collective): Hitching Post Bar
- Neon (Freestar Collective): Astral Lounge
- New Atlantis (United Colonies): Viewport Bar
- Cydonia (United Colonies): Broken Spear Bar
What happens when you get caught by guards in Starfield?
When you get caught by guards in Starfield, they will attempt to arrest you for your crime. You will then have options to resolve the situation: pay the bounty on the spot, serve jail time, or try to bribe the guards. Paying the bounty immediately will clear your record but causes you to lose any stolen items in your inventory. If you cannot or choose not to pay, you can opt to serve a jail sentence, which varies in length depending on the crime’s severity and results in loss of XP and stolen goods. Resisting arrest by fighting the guards is generally not advisable, as they are usually too powerful. If you serve jail time, you can attempt to escape, but the bounty remains active. Alternatively, if you avoid arrest, you can clear bounties later at self-service kiosks found in major settlements. Failing to clear bounties leads to hostility from faction members and guards, making travel and quests more difficult.
The easiest way to get out of this situation is to pay a fine (which is the cost of your bounty) and relinquish your stolen goods.
On Neon specifically, you can also bribe the guards to let you go, with the cost of the bribe being higher depending on your bounty. The initial cost to pay them off is 3,000 credits. Paying off the guards allows you to keep your stolen goods, but you cannot bribe guards on many other planets. (There may be more planets that allow for bribery, but we haven’t found any other ones at the time of publish.)
Even if you pay these amounts, you will still get teleported to jail, though you’ll be free to go once you get there.
You can also agree to serve jail time, which actually relinquishes all your stolen goods and deduct some XP. With the base bounty of 500 credits, we had to serve five days in jail and we lost 500 XP. At a 1,000 credit bounty, we had to serve seven days in jail and we lost 900 XP, so it’s safe to say that the higher your bounty, the more jail time you have to serve (and the more XP you lose). Your XP cannot go below zero and you will not lose levels.
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How can I clear my bounty without losing all my items in Starfield
To clear your bounty in Starfield without losing all your stolen items, the best method is to use a Self-Service Bounty Clearance Kiosk located in major cities across the galaxy, typically found near mission boards in bars, inns, or taverns. Paying your bounty at these kiosks lets you keep your stolen goods and avoid any XP loss, although you will have to pay a small fee.
Key points to remember:
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You cannot clear a bounty at a kiosk located in the faction space that has the bounty on you. For example, if you have a bounty in United Colonies space, you must travel to Freestar Collective or Crimson Fleet space to pay it off.
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Paying a bounty directly to faction security will cause you to lose stolen goods, so avoid this if you want to keep your items.
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Going to jail clears your bounty but results in XP loss and confiscation of stolen items, which you can attempt to retrieve from a locked storage box in jail.
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Locations of bounty clearance kiosks include places like The Broken Spear on Mars (United Colonies), Astral Lounge on Volii Alpha (Freestar Collective), and The Viewpoint on New Atlantis (United Colonies).
Using these kiosks is the safest way to clear your bounty while retaining your stolen items in Starfield.
How do I use a Self-Service Bounty Clearance Kiosk without losing my items
To use a Self-Service Bounty Clearance Kiosk in Starfield without losing your items, follow these steps:
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Locate a Self-Service Bounty Clearance Kiosk in a faction’s territory that is not the one where your bounty is active. For example, if you have a bounty in United Colonies space, you must find a kiosk in Freestar Collective or Crimson Fleet space, because local regulations prevent clearing bounties within the same faction territory.
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Interact with the kiosk, which will show a list of your bounties along with the cost to clear them. Select the bounty you want to pay off and pay the required credits plus a small usage fee.
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Paying your bounty this way clears it without any loss of stolen items or experience points, unlike paying security directly or going to jail, which results in losing stolen goods and XP.
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You can find these kiosks in civilian outposts, bars, and spaceport areas such as the Astral Lounge on Neon, the Broken Spear on Mars, and the Viewport in New Atlantis.
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For convenience, you can also build your own Self-Service Bounty Clearance Kiosk at one of your outposts using materials like Beryllium, Zero Wire, and Aluminum, allowing you to clear bounties anytime without travel.
This method is the safest way to clear bounties while retaining all your stolen items in Starfield.
