Star Citizen Contested Zones: Locations, Compboards and Rewards

Pyro’s contested zones put valuable equipment behind armed opposition, locked doors and routes that other players can enter. Checkmate, Orbituary and Ruin Station each contain part of a larger prize: seven different compboards that unlock an Executive Hangar and the chance to claim a ship in-game.

You can visit for equipment without committing to that whole chain. Collecting every board is a longer undertaking across several locations, with more opportunities to lose what you have already recovered. Decide whether you are learning a route, bringing out loot or assembling a complete set before loading your ship.

Where are Star Citizen’s contested zones?

The three main station zones are at Checkmate, near Monox; Orbituary, above Bloom; and Ruin Station, near Terminus. Ruin’s combat area is known as the Ghost Arena.

CIG introduced the zones with Alpha 4.0 as dangerous areas beyond the protection of the stations’ more controlled spaces. Crossing into one changes the nature of a station visit: NPC opposition and other players can both stand between you and the exit. Entering with a party does not reserve the zone for that party.

A cleared room need not remain clear. Players can arrive behind you, wait at a valuable door or contest the route out. Solo entry is possible, but the full board collection favours a group able to cover movement, help an injured member and carry supplies. More people also mean more equipment to recover and more coordination at narrow entrances.

Keycards, fuses and the route through

There is no single key that opens the entire activity. The community-maintained Executive Hangars guide distinguishes fuse doors, coloured access cards and Ruin’s named keys. A fuse powers its associated door mechanism; a keycard grants the corresponding access. Having one does not replace the other.

Red Supervisor cards come from the smaller sites PYAM-SUPVISR-3-4 and PYAM-SUPVISR-3-5, reached through the PYR3-L4 and PYR3-L5 areas. Blue Security cards are found within Checkmate and Orbituary. At Ruin, Crypt, Wasteland and Last Resort cards belong to its separate route towards the Vault.

Keep track of the actual card names, rather than asking a friend whether they have “the key”. Before a player moves away with a card or fuse, check who still needs the door it serves. One person can handle access while another watches the approach.

Timed access adds another constraint. Ruin’s Vault has limited opening windows. Waiting beside a door exposes you to anyone else using that route, so consider where you can observe it without crowding the entrance. Community maps and timers can help with planning, but they cannot establish that a particular corridor is safe.

What to bring, and what to leave behind

Bring armour, a weapon you can control, compatible ammunition and medical supplies. A medical device offers more information than treating every injury with another medpen. A backpack gives recovered access items somewhere to go, while a multitool with a tractor attachment helps with movable loot. Check that everyone has their equipment on them before leaving the ship.

For a first visit, ordinary equipment you can replace is a sensible choice. Rare armour adds to the cost of a failed attempt without removing the need to recognise threats and find the exit. Leave unrelated valuables behind; every additional object carried into the zone becomes another thing to retrieve after a death or disconnect.

Agree how the group will identify one another in combat. Confirm a target before firing, keep movement calls brief and avoid assuming that anyone approaching from the station entrance is friendly. When someone is injured, check the surrounding threat before sending the whole group to the same body.

Carry enough supplies for the intended route, but leave room for its rewards. If most backpacks are full before the important access item appears, the group will have to discard something or make another journey. Recovering a useful item and leaving is a valid outcome; there is no need to remain until every container has been searched.

The seven-compboard collection

For the Executive Hangar, duplicates do not substitute for a missing number. SCANZ’s July 2026 community guide gives this distribution:

Record both the number and its carrier as each board is collected. “We have three boards” can conceal a duplicate, and a complete list is little help if one item is on a player who has already left.

There is a trade-off in how the set is carried. One person carrying everything makes handover easy but puts the whole collection at risk together. Dividing it reduces the amount held by any one player, although the group must still reunite every required board at the final door. Choose deliberately rather than allowing valuable items to accumulate on whoever happens to loot first.

A board collection is not a standard contract payout. Obtaining the last missing number still leaves transport, the hangar opening and extraction to complete. Allow time for those stages when deciding whether to continue to another station.

Opening an Executive Hangar and claiming the reward

The final destination is the Executive Hangar site at PYAM-EXHANG-0-1. Bring the complete set to the available hangar and inspect its indicator lights before inserting boards. The community Obsidian Squad timer describes an opening state with at least one green light and no red lights; red indicates charging. Its calculated schedule can drift after a patch or restart, so the in-game lights take precedence.

The seven boards go into the corresponding holders. Wait for the correct opening state before inserting the boards. Once access is available, the crew still needs to move inside, deal with any opposition and get the reward out.

Completion can grant one player an in-game reward ship. It does not create an RSI account pledge, and each crew member does not receive their own ship for attending. Agree who will claim it before committing the collected boards. Other equipment may also be recovered, but the available loot and ship pool can change between updates.

Leave promptly after claiming. SCANZ describes a short extraction period after retrieval. The opening schedule and the time left to depart are different constraints; neither should be treated as a guaranteed grace period. Follow the hangar’s actual state and warnings, and have the crew ready to depart instead of starting a fresh search of the interior. Neither the reward nor the equipment carried out is protected from the usual risks of travel and alpha progression resets.

When a printer or timer appears stuck

CIG’s Alpha 4.10.2 known-issues page lists keycard-printer timers stuck at 00:00. A zero on the display therefore does not prove that the printer is ready. Check the current support entry before treating the delay as normal or reorganising the entire run around it.

If access fails, distinguish a missing item, a closed timing window and a malfunctioning object. Note the location and what the door or printer actually shows. A restart or relog can interrupt the group and put carried equipment at risk; do not assume it preserves your position or restores lost items. Character Repair is not a routine solution to a contested-zone door.

Transport for the crew and recovered equipment

A purchase is optional. Use an existing ship or arrange transport with the group, then choose carrying capacity around what you intend to bring home. Moving a few people and backpacks is a different requirement from extracting bulky equipment.

The Cutlass Black has a rear ramp and a larger hold than compact starters, making it a practical option for equipment transport. It has no medical bed, and its cargo space offers no protection against interception. The fleet-planning guide can help a group decide whether one shared transport already meets the need.