Community Goals Operations Guide

A Community Goal is a time-limited, server-wide cooperative event where every commander in the galaxy can contribute toward one shared objective sponsored by an in-fiction faction or megacorporation. They were the headline feature of game update 1.1 back in 2015 and have run continuously ever since — typically one to two active at any time, usually starting on a Thursday and running for roughly a week (occasionally up to four weeks, or ending early if the community blows through every target).

Mechanically, a CG is a giant shared mission. The sponsoring faction asks the playerbase to deliver something — combat bounty vouchers, combat bonds, trade commodities, mined ore, ferried passengers, exploration or exobiology data — toward a single galaxy-scale counter. Crucially, a CG is simultaneously cooperative and competitive: everyone pushes the same counter up together, but you are also individually ranked against every other participant for a share of the reward pool.

The fiction is not decoration. CG outcomes genuinely reshape the lived galaxy. Past goals have built brand-new starports, megaships and surface settlements, upgraded outposts into full starports, expanded station services, and decided the victor of system-level conflicts. The very first CG ever run constructed the Orbis starport Unity in the New Yembo system — a structure still in the galaxy today.

CGs are widely regarded as the most legitimate "get-rich" loop in the game, but the credits are only one of five reasons to run them.

The appeal is the stacking: a CG lets you do the activity you already enjoy, get paid above-market money for it, and bank reputation toward a superpower rank — three rewards from one run.

Everyone, at every stage. A brand-new commander in a stock Sidewinder can meaningfully contribute to a bounty-hunting CG and bank a six-figure reward; a fully-engineered fleet owner can dominate a Top-10 leaderboard. Because rewards scale relative to the community, you are never priced out — you simply earn a bracket appropriate to the effort you put in.

CGs are an especially good fit if you:

• Want structured objectives rather than open-ended sandbox grinding — the game hands you a destination and a task.
• Enjoy a specific role (combat, hauling, ferrying, mining) and want it to pay better than usual.
• Are working toward superpower rank and want reputation gains bundled with activity you'd do anyway.
• Like the idea of your individual play moving a galaxy-wide needle alongside thousands of others.

If you keep a few role-specialised hulls in the hangar — something for combat, a hauler, a miner, a passenger ship, a multirole — you are already equipped for any CG type that appears, and just pick the right ship for the live goal rather than scrambling to fit one.

Every CG is scored on two independent axes. Understanding both is the whole game.

Axis 1 — The Global Completion Tier

The community as a whole fills a progress bar through a series of tiers, usually Tier 1 through Tier 10 (Frontier sometimes extends to Tier 11 if T10 falls early, or pulls the ceiling down to end a goal on schedule). Each tier the playerbase unlocks raises the size of the entire reward pool. A CG that only reaches T3 pays everyone far less than the same CG completed to T10. This is the cooperative half: every commander's contribution helps drag the whole bar upward, benefiting all participants.

Axis 2 — Your Individual Percentile Bracket

Within that pool, your slice is determined by where your personal contribution ranks against every other participant. The brackets are fixed percentile bands — your reward jumps each time you climb into a higher one:

You are paid the minimum pool figure at Top 100% and the maximum at Top 10%, with the Top 10 Commanders receiving the single largest payout — a prestige tier worth chasing if you commit hard to one goal.

Claiming Your Reward

Rewards are not paid instantly. When the CG ends, you collect at the host station, ideally within two weeks. Earned credits auto-deposit to your balance if you forget; other rewards (modules, decals, etc.) remain available for pickup at the host station essentially indefinitely. There is no penalty for collecting late — but get the special modules before you forget which goal they came from.

All CGs share the two-axis structure above; they differ only in what you deliver. These are the recurring categories.

Combat CGs — two flavours

Combat CGs come in two distinct flavours that are easy to confuse:

• Bounty-hunting CGs ask for bounty vouchers: kill wanted ships (at Resource Extraction Sites, Nav Beacons, etc.) and hand the vouchers in. This is the classic "telethon" combat CG.
• Conflict-Zone CGs ask for combat bonds: pick a side in a Conflict Zone and destroy the enemy faction's ships. Bonds and bounties are separate currencies — make sure you're earning the one the CG actually wants.

Both types reward assisted kills (you only need to land meaningful damage before the kill registers), which makes RES "tag-and-move" tactics viable even in a modest ship.

This is the full loop, from "I've never done one" to "reward in the bank." Do it once and it's second nature.

1. Find the active goals

   Check what's running before you fly anywhere. Three reliable sources: the in-game Galaxy Map (active CG systems show a distinctive gold marker), the official Elite Dangerous Community Goals page, and — best of all — the INARA Community Goals tracker, which shows live global progress, your own contribution, and estimated bracket boundaries.

2. Read the brief

   Each CG has a GalNet write-up stating the exact deliverable, the sponsoring faction, the host station, and any constraints (e.g. "bounties for Faction X"). Decide whether the activity, location, and reward justify the trip. A 20,000 Ly goal paying a few million is rarely worth it; a goal a few jumps from the Bubble usually is.

3. Sign up — from anywhere

   You can register from any station's Mission Board → Community Goals tab without flying there first. Open the goal and select Sign Up. This is mandatory and the most-skipped step. Until you sign up, nothing counts.

4. Pick the right hull

   Match the ship to the deliverable using the table in Section 05 — a combat fit for bounty/bond goals, a hauler for trade, a passenger ship for ferry goals, a mining ship for mineral goals, an explorer for data goals. Fit a cargo rack if it's a trade/mining CG and confirm the right module set before you leave the dock.

5. Travel to the host system

   Signing up is remote, but contributing is local. You must physically be in the CG system, earning/delivering for the sponsoring faction, for it to register. For combat goals, the qualifying RES / Conflict Zone is in or immediately around the host system.

6. Do the work & bank often

   Earn the deliverable, then hand it in at the host station's relevant Contact (bounty/bond voucher office, Commodities market, passenger lounge, etc.). Bank frequently — uncashed bounty vouchers are lost if your ship is destroyed before you redeem them. Track progress live on the Transactions tab of your left HUD panel.

7. Monitor your bracket

   Watch INARA and the in-game CG screen to see which percentile you're in and how far the next bracket is. Decide whether "one more run" is worth it (Section 07). Remember your standing can erode as others contribute.

8. Collect your reward

   When the goal ends, return to the host station and claim at the CG board / Contacts. Grab any special modules or cosmetics in person; credits will auto-deposit if you don't.

The "one more run" calculation

The core decision in every CG is whether the next batch of effort crosses a bracket boundary. Because bracket jumps are worth far more than linear contribution, knowing you're 20 tonnes / one bounty stack short of Top 25% changes everything. INARA and dedicated CG threshold calculators estimate these boundaries from community-submitted data and tell you how many more runs a bracket costs. Use them; don't grind blind.

Time the endgame

Brackets are relative and most heavily contested in the final 24 hours, when committed players dump their stockpiles. Two viable approaches: contribute steadily and accept some bracket drift, or — if chasing Top 10% / Top 10 — hold a reserve and push hard near the close to leapfrog people who finished early.

Stack and double-dip

On combat CGs you can run a kill-mission for the same faction and earn the CG vouchers from the same kills — collecting mission reward and CG credit simultaneously. On trade CGs, source the commodity in bulk where it's cheapest and confirm the CG station's buy price; the inflated CG demand often makes the haul profitable on its own before the reward even lands.

Juggle concurrent goals

When two CGs of the same type run at once (or two phases of one campaign), check whether one shares a system or commodity with the other. Stacking compatible goals doubles your reward for the same activity. When they conflict (opposing PowerPlay campaigns), pick the side that matches your long-term allegiance.

Every CG type runs the same two-axis scoring; only the deliverable changes. Below is the on-the-ground workflow for each role. Find your activity, fly the loop, bank often.

Combat

The most consistently available type — there is almost always a combat CG running. It comes in two flavours: bounties and combat bonds are separate currencies handed in at different contacts, so confirm which the goal wants.

1. Bounty CG — find a RES

   Sign up, fly to the CG system, locate a HIGH or LOW Resource Extraction Site (avoid Hazardous unless you want the heat — they're unpoliced).

2. Fit a Kill Warrant Scanner

   It raises bounty values and, critically, lets you reliably accrue vouchers for the faction the CG actually wants in multi-faction systems.

3. Tag wanted targets

   Follow the system security ships (green contacts) and engage whatever they're attacking. Assisted kills pay you the full bounty, so even chipping in damage before the police finish a kill counts. Redeem vouchers at the bounty contact.

4. Conflict-Zone CG — pick a side

   If the goal wants combat bonds, drop into a Conflict Zone in/near the CG system and, in the side-selection tab, choose the faction the CG is sponsoring.

5. Destroy & redeem bonds

   Kill the opposing faction's ships for bonds, then redeem them at the combat-bond contact (not the bounty office). Bank to the CG station before your hold of vouchers gets dangerous, then repeat.

Trading

Trade CGs ask for a specific commodity delivered to the host station's market — often the most profitable type on its own, before the reward even lands.

1. Sign up

   Register the goal at any Mission Board → Community Goals tab and note the exact demanded commodity and host station.

2. Buy the commodity cheaply

   Source the demanded commodity in bulk where it's cheapest — a high-supply producer system a few jumps out is ideal.

3. Haul to the CG host station

   Fly the loaded hauler to the host system. Bigger holds mean fewer trips and a better contribution rate.

4. Sell / deliver to the sponsor

   Sell at the host station's Commodities market to the sponsoring faction. Each sale credits the CG and banks the profit. Bank often, then run the loop again.

Exploration

Exploration CGs are less frequent than the others, but they reward data you may already be carrying back from the black.

1. Sign up

   Register the goal and confirm exactly what data it wants — cartographic scans, or specific exploration/system data.

2. Scan / gather the requested data

   Honk and detail-scan the requested bodies or systems; build up a cargo of unsold cartographic data.

3. Return to the host system

   Fly back to the CG host system with your data un-sold (selling it elsewhere won't count toward the goal).

4. Sell at Universal Cartographics

   Hand the data in at Universal Cartographics in the host station, which credits the CG. Bank, then head back out for more.

Mining

Mining CGs ask for a demanded mineral or metal sold raw to the host market — fit a refinery and as much cargo as you can.

1. Sign up

   Register the goal and note the demanded mineral/metal and the host station.

2. Mine the demanded material

   Fly a mining ship (refinery + cargo racks) to a ring carrying the target material and extract until your hold is full.

3. Sell to the CG host market

   Return to the host station and sell the raw mined commodity to the sponsoring faction's Commodities market — that sale credits the CG.

4. Bank & repeat

   Bank the proceeds, then run the mining loop again until you've hit the bracket you want.

Passenger

Passenger CGs ask you to ferry tourists or evacuees in a cabin-fitted ship to a destination and deliver them there.

1. Sign up

   Register the goal and confirm the passenger type (tourist or evacuation) and the destination.

2. Load the requested passengers

   In a passenger ship (economy or first-class cabins as required), pick up the requested passengers from the passenger lounge at the origin.

3. Ferry to the destination

   Fly the loaded ship to the CG destination, keeping shields/heat sinks handy if it's an evacuation from a hot station.

4. Deliver & bank

   Drop the passengers at the destination's passenger contact, which credits the CG. Bank, then collect the next batch.

Reputation in Elite Dangerous is unified: completing a CG for a minor faction raises your standing with that faction and with its parent superpower. Pick a CG whose host faction matches the superpower you're building, and the reputation lands on top of the credits. How that reputation pays off depends on which superpower you're working toward.

Federation

CG work for Federation-aligned sponsors banks Federal reputation, which fills the Federal Navy rank bar. Reputation alone doesn't promote you — each rank is still hand-finished with a named "Federal Navy" promotion mission that appears once the bar is full. Endgame: Rear Admiral unlocks the Federal Corvette; the climb also grants the Sol permit and the Federal Gunship / Dropship / Assault Ship line along the way.

Empire

Empire-aligned CGs bank Imperial reputation toward Imperial Navy rank (the ladder of noble titles), again finished with an "Imperial Navy" promotion mission per rank. Endgame: Duke unlocks the Imperial Cutter; Baron the Imperial Clipper; Squire the Achenar permit.

Alliance

The Alliance runs no navy and no rank ladder, so its Lakon ships (Chieftain, Challenger, Crusader, Type-10) need no rank — any pilot can buy them outright. Alliance CGs therefore build plain faction / Alliance reputation (useful toward the Alioth permit and standing), not a rank.

Run this every time.

1. Check INARA / official page for active goals.

2. Read the brief — deliverable, faction, host system, distance, reward.

3. Sign up at the Mission Board → Community Goals tab.

4. Pick the matching hull; fit cargo if it's trade/mining.

5. Fly to the host system (signup is remote, earning is local).

6. Earn the right currency for the right faction (KWS on for combat).

7. Hand in at the host station; bank often.

8. Watch your bracket; push the final hours if chasing Top 10%/Top 10.

9. Collect rewards — grab special modules in person.