Glossary - Star Citizen Terms & Abbreviations

AC- Arena Commander

Arena Commander is the virtual flight simulator inside of Star Citizen universe. It is another game mode in Star Citizen.

ADS - Aim Down Sights

Looking down the barrel of an fps weapon or item

AG - Auto Gimbal

Star Citizen's version of auto aim

Alpha

Alpha is the phase of development of Star Citizen when the game is not yet feature complete.

ALT - Altitude

The ship HUD will display ALT for Altitude.

AMA - Ask Me Anything

A general internet term, an opportunity for viewers to ask the person organizing the AMA any questions to be answered.

aUEC- Alpha UEC

The in game currency for the Star Citizen Alpha. Read more about the Star Citizen in-game Economy.

Avocado - Evocati Tester

The select NDA testers from the community are called Evocati - Avocados is a friendly play on the name.

Backer

A backer is a person who has spent any amount of cash in fresh funds (not store credit) directly on robertsspaceindustries.com on their account.

BDSSE - Best Damn Space Sim Ever

The term used to state the core objective of Star Citizen - to make the best damn space sim ever without compromising and taking as long as is needed to achieve this vision.

Beta

Beta is the development phase where the game is feature complete.

BMM

The Banu Merchantman - A capital class alien vessel that humans can own.

Buff

Buff refers to when a weapon, ship, vehicle, component or other item, receives an improvement in stats to make it perform better. The opposite of this is termed a Nerf or debuff.

Bug

A general computer science term for an error or flaw in the code making a feature in the game work incorrectly or not at all.

BUK - Battlefield Upgrade Kit

An outdated term used to refer to an upgrade kit that would be available for the Vanguard, allowing the ship to be quickly outfitted for different roles.

Buyback Token

Players who melt their pledges receive a periodic token that allows for the melted item to be purchased again. At the time of writing Buyback Tokens are issued once ever 3 months.

BVR - Beyond Visual Range

This acronym is used to describe combat that takes further than the eye can see.

CCU - Cross Chassis Upgrade

During the early phase of development of Star Citizen players can upgrade a ship hull to another for a fee. Read more about CCUs in Star Citizen.

CI / CIG - Cloud Imperium (Games)

The name of the company developing Star Citizen.

CrimeStat

The rating of how much criminal activity the player or NPC has on their active record. Measured between 0 and 5.

Concept Ship / Vehicle

A ship or vehicle that has been sold before it has been made flight ready.

Concierge

Any backer who contributes $1000 or more to directly funding Star Citizen's development is granted Concierge status. Concierge status grants better customer support and special offers not available to non-concierge players and backers.

EM - Electromagnetic

When referring to the ship's signature. EM emissions help determine from what distance the ship is detectable on enemy radar.

EPTU - Experimental PTU

An experimental version of Public Test Universe. See PTU definition.

ESP - Enhanced Stick Precision

Related to Star Citizen joystick targeting controls.

EVA - Extra Vehicular Activity

When moving in zero G this is referred to as EVA. Can also be used for activities outside of ships on planets without atmosphere.

Evo / Evocati

Star Citizen's best community testers. These testers are under NDA (non disclosure agreement) when they receive exclusive access to the very earliest versions of Star Citizen patches. The name comes from latin - Evocatus, which was a soldier in the Roman army who had served out his time and obtained an honorable discharge but who had re-enlisted at the request of a consul or other commander.

Flight Ready

When a ship or vehicle becomes ready to be tested / is playable. Flight Ready in-game is also used to turn the ship power and engines on.

FM - Flight Model

In Star Citizen, FM refers to the Flight Model. Read more about the Star Citizen Flight Model.

FOB - Forward Operating Base

A home away from home facility for strategically placed operations. A distant base to launch further missions from.

FOIP - Face Over IP

This technology inherits its name from VOIP (Face Over IP) - when the webcam is used to relate expressions, head turns, eye movement and lip motions in the Star Citizen universe.

IAE - Intergalactic Aerospace Expo

Held once a year, the IAE is an in game ship and vehicle expo. All dedicated Star Citizens attend this event from far and wide each year before the holiday season.

IC - Issue Council

The Issue Council is where bugs and other issues are reported by the Star Citizen community.

ICC - Imperial Cartography Center

This UEE government agency is best known for their Deep Space Scanning & AstroGraphical Stations that search for jump points, and for the elite Stellar Surveyors unit that assesses newly discovered systems. Further reading (official): https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/spectrum-dispatch/16661-Portfolio-Imperial-Cartography-Center

ICU - Intensive Care Unit

For some medical beds, players can set their preferred ICU which is a spawn point if the ship / bed is within range of the player's death.

IFCS - Intelligent Flight Control System

Star Citizen's flight system. Read all about it on the Flight System page.

IK - Inverse Kinematics

Inverse Kinematics is the ability for the player rig to detect and react to the environment. Watch this official video for further reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PryJ3CpHcXQ&t=1198s

IR - Infrared

When referring to the ship's signature. IR emissions help determine from what distance the ship is detectable on enemy radar.

ISC - Inside Star Citizen

A weekly show on youTube showcasing the game's development.

Lagrange Point

An area of space between planetary orbits that is devoid of gravity, thus making for an ideal location to place a space station or other point of interest.

Loaner

When a player owns a ship that is not flight-ready they will receive another ship of equivalent function as a loaner. Sometimes loaners are issued also when ships are missing some base functionality so that a player may take part in that activity.

LTI - Lifetime Insurance

A perk received for funding a concept ship / vehicle with fresh funds. Read more about LTI in Star Citizen.

LTI Token

An LTI Token is a purchased ship hull (usually cheap) that is going to be used to upgrade via Cross Chassis Upgrade (CCU) to make a more expensive ship with Lifetime Insurance.

LTP - Long Term Persistence

Star Citizen's database that stores players items, ships, and pretty much everything long term between play sessions.

LZ - Landing Zone

In Star Citizen, landing zones are dedicated places where ships can land.

MedPen / MediPen - Medical Pen

A medical syringe used to quickly restore some functionality to damaged players.

Melting

Process by which players can turn their digital packages and items into store credit.

Meta

A term in gaming that refers to the best possible loadout of a player, ship or vehicle.

MIA - Missing In Action

Inherited from the same military term.

MFD - Multi Function Display

Screens on ships and vehicles that can be changed to show different information and even change settings.

MG - MobiGlas

The wrist / forearm mounted augmented reality device in Star Citizen that players use for a wide variety of things.

MOTD - Message of the Day

MT - MicroTech

MicroTech is a a frozen planet in Stanton System that is home to mobiGlas and other technology.

o7 - Salute

This popular text emote icon represents a head with an arm up in the shape of a salute.

OM - Orbital Marker

Orbital markers are stationary navigation points located around a planet's orbit.

OP - Over Powered

When an item, ship or vehicle is too powerful, it is said to be OP.

OP - Original Poster

In Star Citizen forums, the first person to post on the thread or generally who starts the topic is an Original Poster, the content being the Original Post (also OP).

OxyPen - Oxygen Pen

An oxygen syringe that restores some amount of oxygen to the space suit.

P2W - Pay To Win

The term means paying to win. For example if one ship costs more than another ship and can never lose to it with player skill making little to no difference, it is said to be Pay 2 Win (P2W)

Padlock (Flight view)

Padlock allows you to keep visual track of your target independent of ship direction. To learn more about it watch Hybrid V Audio's video on Why Padlock is an awesome features you should be using.

PDC (Point Defense Cannon)

A type of Point Defense System (PDS) that is a cannon.

PDS (Point Defense System)

An automated defense system on your ship or vehicle that can automatically target and attack incoming missiles and or enemies. Point defense systems can be flak, cannons or interceptor missiles.

PES - Persistent Entity Streaming

Server technology that allows objects in Star Citizen to persist across sessions and servers. Game entities are streamed to the player seamlessly to generate a universe with the appearance of not having loading times. Essentially you can drop an object in a forest on a remote planet and go back and find it weeks later.

PIT - Personal Inner Thought

Star Citizen's interactive personal menu that can be used to do a variety of things from taking off a helmet to carrying out emotes.

Pledge

Items, ships or other, bought from the Pledge Store on RSI. Basically, what a supporter of Star Citizen receives in exchange for funding.

PO - Port Olisar

The first space station to exist in the playable Star Citizen universe.

POI - Point Of Interest

Locations that have things to do, scenic value or easter eggs are commonly referred to as a POI.

PTT - Push To Talk

For VOIP communications, when a button must be pressed in order for the player's voice comms to work.

PTU - Public Test Universe

A test version of the Persistent Universe. New patches will almost always go to PTU before they go live to the PU. The PTU, when active, runs in parallel with the PU. PTU is also referred to as Test Universe.

PU - Persistent Universe

The actual universe where Star Citizen takes place. The word Persistent is used because player actions have long term consequences. PU is also referred to as Live.

PVE - Player Versus Environment

Refers to combat between human players and artificial intelligence enemies in the game.

PVP - Player Versus Player

Refers to combat between human players.

QD - Quantum Drive

Quantum drives in Star Citizen are devices that allow ships to move at fractions of the speed of light to allow for fast travel in a system.

QED - Quantum Enforcement Device

A device that is capable of quantum snaring and quantum dampening. These devices interfere with ships abilities to quantum travel.

QF - Quantum Fuel

Quantum Fuel is used in Star Citizen to travel at a fraction of the speed of light. Generally 0.1c to 0.2c.

QOL - Quality Of Life

Refers to features or bug fixes that help with the general playability of the game. I.e. improving the quality of life when playing the game.

QT - Quantum Travel

The traveling of players within systems using Quantum Drives. Usually ships in quantum travel move at between 0.1 and 0.2 the speed of light.

R&R - Rest & Recovery

R&R Stations are space stations where players can rest & recover. Usually offering services such as ship refueling, shops and habs.

REC - Rental Equipment Credits

The currency used inside the Star Citizen simulator. Used to rent virtual equipment inside Star Citizen's simulation within the universe.

RSI - Roberts Space Industries

Both the name of an in-game ship manufacturer as well as the name of the Website (robertsspaceindustries.com) that is home to Star Citizen. From Chris Roberts.

S42 / SQ42 - Squadron 42

Squadron 42 is the single player game of Star Citizen.

Salt

In the Star Citizen community, this term applies to a feeling of anger or frustration. An angry backer is a salty backer.

SC - Star Citizen

SCU - Standard Cargo Unit

The universal measure of cargo storage and transport measurement. Read more about SCU and Cargo (Official).

SDF - Signed Distance Field

A Signed Distance Field is a data structure that for each point in a given space records how far the closest important thing is. Usually, a signed distance field only records one important thing, usually the distance to the outside of an object. Further reading: https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/cqvs8n/can_someone_explain_what_a_signed_distance_field

SHI - Standard Hull Insurance

Designating insurance that is not Lifetime Insurance.

SM - Star Marine

Star Marine is the first person combat simulation inside the Star Citizen universe. It is another game mode in Star Citizen.

SOCS / SSOCS - Server Side Object Container Streaming

A technology used to create a seamless universe without loading screens. Specifically, the Server side of OCS.

SPK - Security Post Kareah

An iconic location in Star Citizen alpha where players can fight NPCs and hack away their CrimeStat.

Store Credit

Real money purchases for vehicles, items and game packages and be melted into Store Credit at the value paid for the item before taxes. Store credit can be used for many things including upgrading the hull of a ship.

Subscriber

People who contribute via monthly payments to community content are called subscribers. Subscriber receive various perks monthly. All subscriber funds go towards community events. Subscriber funds do not contribute towards the development of Star Citizen.

Tonk - Tank

A play on the word Tank. Introduced with the Nova Tonk 🙂

TOW - Theaters of War

A combined arms game mode in the Star Citizen simulator.

TTK - Time To Kill

The time it takes (in hits or time) to kill a ship, vehicle or player. Something with a high TTK is referred to as a bullet-sponge.

TTD - Time To Disable

The time it takes (in hits or time) to disable a ship, vehicle or player.

T-Vel - Terminal Velocity

The terminal velocity that the ship can move through atmosphere. This can be slightly exceeded by using afterburner.

Star Citizen Glossary

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