Time warp
Time warp is the acceleration of the game's simulation speed used to shorten the real time spent waiting for actions, such as coasting to a target or rotating a vessel, to take place. By default, the simulation speed can be increased and decreased with the . and , keys, respectively, and can be set to real-time speed at any time by pressing /. The simulation speed is displayed in the game time UI widget.
Overview
The following speeds are available: 0.1× (slow motion), 1× (default), 2×, 4x, 10x, 30x, 120x, 600x, 1200x, 3600x, 14400x, 86400x, 604800x, 2592000x, and 7776000x. The speed can be changed via the key binds or from the Universe > Speed drop down menu. The simulation can be set to any speed regardless of proximity to any celestial body. Nullifying or changing the warp speed is instantaneous. The simulation can be paused by pressing , once after selecting the 0.1x time warp option. Using . or selecting a time warp option will resume the simulation.
Vessel rotation is preserved during changes to simulation speed. Vessels engines and RCS thrusters can be fully manually controlled at up 30x speed. Above 30x speed engines cannot be started (engines already started at 30x or below continue to fire if the speed is increased past 30x and can be shut down) and can only be throttled down and not up. Additionally, RCS thrusters can not be manually controlled above 30x speed but can be used via the autopilot settings.
Time comparisons
This table compares the length of time in-game condensed to one second real time at warp speeds above 1x.
| Warp speed | In-game time equal to one second real time |
|---|---|
| 2x | 2 seconds |
| 4x | 4 seconds |
| 10x | 10 seconds |
| 30x | 30 seconds |
| 120x | 2 minutes |
| 600x | 10 minutes |
| 1200x | 20 minutes |
| 3600x | 1 hour |
| 14400x | 4 hours |
| 86400x | 1 day |
| 604800x | 7 days |
| 2592000x | 30 days |
| 7776000x | 90 days |