Barotrauma: How to Activate a Beacon Station

As you explore the alien ocean in Barotrauma, you will eventually come across structures known as Beacon Stations. As the name implies, these structures serve as a beacon by transmitting sonar signals to outposts and even other submarines.

However, these are abandoned structures, meaning you won’t be able to use them right away. Instead, you need to activate them first. We’ll find out how you can do that in this guide.

How to Activate a Beacon Station in Barotrauma

By activating a beacon station, you can increase the chance of natural formations turning into outposts by around 20%. In order to activate one, you need to repair it in this exact order:

1. Walls
2. Wiring
3. Mechanical/electrical repairs
4. Reactor power
5. Enable sonar

Of course, before you can start any repairs, you should first get inside the beacon station. You can usually find the wall that leads inside at the top portion of the station. Here, you’ll need to use a plasma cutter to cut a hole through the wall and then seal the hole using a welding tool.

As soon as you get inside the station, the next step is to look for the hatch as well as the button right next to it. Interact with the button and drag the two blue wires into your hotbar. After that, drag the blue wire from your hotbar into the button and connect it to the Signal_Out slot.

Then, interact with the hatch and connect the blue wire to the Toggle_State slot. Next, interact with the button in order to open the hatch. Get inside the hatch and look for the three junction boxes inside the station.

But before that, make sure to place the fuel rod into the reactor first. Then, what you need to do next is connect the reactor and the three junction boxes to each other.

If there’s still no power after putting on the fuel rod, then you need to drag the yellow wire in the reactor and connect it to the Power_Out slot. Next, connect it to one of the junction boxes and then connect that junction box to another junction box, and so on.

Draining the Station

Once power is on, the next step is to check both the small and big pumps to drain water inside the station. Make sure they have power, and then set the pumping speed to -100%. Same as the other devices, make sure to connect them to a nearby junction box.

Make sure to connect the station terminal to a nearby junction box as well. While waiting for the water to completely drain, you can repair any damages inside the station using your wrench and screwdriver.

During this point, make sure you don’t leave the station while the water is draining. In some cases, this can cause the machines to fail even after activating the beacon station.

As soon as the water is completely drained, go back to the station terminal and interact with it. Simply click on the lever in order to activate the beacon.