Livery

Planets of Sol bobblehead livery

Livery refers to ship cosmetics and can be changed via the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Currently ships can be equipped with decals, paintjobs, dashboard ornaments, external kits, weapon colours, name plates, and thrust colours. Paintjobs are also available for ship-launched fighters and SRV. These items do not alter ship performance in any way, although certain bobbleheads and Ship Kit pieces may partially obscure a pilot's view.

Currently, generic NPCs will not use Livery options at all. Police forces and some specific ships such as Rescue Ships will use their own set paint and decals, but many of these are NPC-only, and they will never use Ship Kits.

There are no in-game options for users to create their own custom paintjobs, decals, etc, nor are there any third-party tools for this. Except certain decals, all items must be purchased at the Official Store; the Outfitting menu provides direct links to the store. Prices vary, and reduced sale prices are occasionally offered and announced in the newsletter. Combo packs are available for most items.

New items are typically added to the Frontier Store every Friday.

Decals

Decals are icons and logos that can be placed on 3 pre-determined spots on a ship (front, left, and right). A different decal can be placed in each spot. The decal colours automatically vary to suit the ship's paintjob.

Only the Pilots Federation rank decals and the Powerplay decals are freely available to all players. The remainder either must be purchased at the Official Store or are limited-access as described below.

Pilots Federation ranks

The Pilots Federation decals are earned through gameplay. There are three types: Combat, Trade, and Exploration. As a CMDR achieves a higher rank in one of the three fields, they will earn the corresponding decal. There are a total of 8 decals per field (there are no decals for the beginner rank in each).

Combat Elite decal

Trade Elite decal

Explorer Elite decal

Community Goal Decals

Beginning on March 29, 2018, exclusive decals were implemented as a reward for participation in select Community Goals. Community Goals featuring decals as a reward are planned to take place once per month. Some CGs will be competitive in nature and only give the decal to players who back the winning side, while cooperative CGs will offer the decal to everyone who contributes above a certain threshold. Higher reward tiers offer additional colors of the decal. Typically, the Top 75% rewards the standard version of the decal, Top 50% rewards a bronze decal, Top 25% rewards a silver decal, and Top 10% rewards a gold decal. Two "Emissive" variants of the Combat Zone Decal were offered as rewards for the Top 1% players in combat CGs held the week of July 19, 2018.

Decals can be offered more than once; for example, the Bounty Hunting Decal was first made available in a bounty hunting CG in Vadimo held the week of April 26, 2018, but returned as a reward for a bounty hunting CG in Pleiades Sector IR-W d1-55 held the week of June 21, 2018.

Combat Zone Decal

Bounty Hunting Decal

Rare Commodities Decal "Billionaires Treasure Hunts"

Colonia Decal "Colonial Migration"

Salvage Decal

Mining Decal

Federal Emissive Combat Zone Decal

Imperial Emissive Combat Zone Decal

Official Store

The following decals are available for purchase at the Official Store.

Cobra MkII Onionhead Livery Pack

The Onionhead paintjob for the Cobra Mk III is bundled with 3 decals that may be used on any ship type: "Oh" and 2 smiley faces. This bundle is currently priced at £3 ($4.00).

Commercial Decal Packs

Four generic decal packs, each containing three decals and available for £1 ($1.75)

Creepy Emissive Decal Pack

A Halloween-themed pack containing six luminescent decals and available for £1 ($1.75).

Powerplay Decal Pack

The Powerplay Decal Pack is available for free on the Frontier Store. It contains 11 decals representing each of the 11 Powers.

Skull Decal Packs

Two skull-themed decal packs, each containing three decals and available for £1 ($1.75).

Xeno Ally

The Xeno Ally Decal Pack contains six decals for £2 ($3.00).

Xeno Hunter

The Xeno Hunter Decal Pack contains six decals for £2 ($3.00).

Kickstarter Backer Rewards

The following decals were offered as backer rewards during the Kickstarter campaign.

Ringed Planet

Provided to all players who ordered a Kickstarter tier of £5 or above (allows access to Founders World).

Skull 3

Provided to "day one" Kickstarter backers. It was also made available later on the Official Store to all players that purchased the Mercenary Edition of Elite: Dangerous (this skull is not to be confused with the large skulls that are part of the Pirate Faction paintjobs).

Founding Members of the Elite

Golden Elite Pilots symbol with the word FOUNDER across the centre. Available only to Kickstarter pledgees who pledged 150 GBP or above.

Upgrade Decals

For Kickstarter backers who pledged a tier of at least £30, any of these additional 10 upgrade decals were available for £5 each. They include a skull with mohawk, a bird of prey, a tiger, a scorpion, a fist, a bat, a skull with chemical mask, a moon, a shark, and a snake (cobra).

Promotional Events

These decals were obtained by redemption of special promotional codes distributed during certain major events.

PAX Prime

A 4-pointed star given to players who filled out this on-line form during or following the 2016 PAX South gaming festival.

EGX "X"

A large bold "X" given to players who redeemed a promotional code from the 2015 EGX gaming trade show.

Lavescon "phoenix"

A flaming bird given to players who redeemed a promotional code from Lavecon 2015 or 2016.

Gamescon bullseye

A bullseye icon given to players who who redeemed a promotional code from Gameson 2015.

Elite Community

The Elite Community decal features a handshake in a triangle with wings, and was given to players who attended Elite:Meet 2015.

2.3.10 Beta CG

An exclusive decal was given to all PC players who purchased access to the 2.3.10 beta and completed the available Community Goal in June 2017.

Dangerous Games factions

Players who supported a player faction(s) in the Dangerous Games have access to that faction's decal. The player factions are:

• Adle's Armada
• Alliance Elite Diplomatic Corps (uses the insignia of the Alliance)
• Blackbird Squadron
• Border Coalition
• EG Pilots
• GalCop
• Interstellar Communist Union
• Social Eliu Progressive Party
• United German Commanders
• Wolves of Jonai

Other player groups

Decals have been granted by Frontier Developments to other groups of players:

Distant Worlds Expedition 3302 participants

Fuel Rats

The Canonn Interstellar Research Group

Wolves of Jonai

Paintjobs

A paintjob can only be applied to the specific ship, SRV, or ship-launched fighter for which it was created and thus cannot be equipped on any other type. If the painted ship is destroyed the player can re-apply it to the replacement ship any time they are docked at a station with an "Outfitting" facility.

Paint degrades by wear over time, which can be seen in the external camera view. If a new paintjob is applied to the ship, the wear remains. Paint wear can only be removed by specifically repairing the paint in the ship maintenance facility at a station (Station Services > Advanced Maintenance > Repair > Paintwork). Note the "repair all" option does not repair paint wear.

Prices currently range $1.75 to $4 for single paintjobs, and $3 to $12 for packs of multiple paintjobs. Generally higher-priced paintjobs and packs are more stylized, and some paint packs are bundled with other store items.

Limited edition paintjobs

Some paintjobs are made available only during limited-time offers, such as holiday sales or special events

Black Friday/Midnight Black

Black Friday paintjobs (also called "Midnight Black") were given as a free bonus to all users who pre-ordered the Horizons season pass, had Horizons beta access, or owned the lifetime expansion pass before December 1, 2015. This amounted to 29 total paintjobs, one for each ship available at the time.

Black Friday paintjobs have since been made available for individual purchase annually on Black Friday. As of Black Friday 2017, all ships have a Black Friday paintjob except the Alliance Chieftain, Dolphin and Type-10 Defender.

Chrome

• 2016 Festive Countdown
  • Adder
  • Asp Scout
  • Cobra MkIV
  • Federal Corvette
  • Federal Gunship
  • Hauler
  • Imperial Cutter
  • Sidewinder MkI

• Free Reward for "Festive Appeal" CG participation (Dec. 29, 2016 - Jan. 5, 2017)
  • Eagle MkII

• Other event or individual limited-time sale
  • Anaconda
  • Fer-de-Lance
  • Viper MkIII
  • Vulture

Chromed

A redesign of the Chrome series. Players who owned any Chrome paintjobs were given the respective Chromed variants as a free bonus.

• 2017 Festive Countdown
  • Anaconda
  • Ascendant Flight Suit
  • Asp Explorer
  • Cobra MkIII
  • Fer-de-Lance
  • Keelback
  • Python
  • SRV
  • Type-10 Defender
  • Vulture

• February 2018 Sale
  • Diamondback Explorer
  • Federal Corvette
  • Imperial Cutter
  • Sidewinder MkI

Exclusive Giveaways

• Frontier Expo 2017
  • Asp Explorer
  • Flight Suit

• EGX 2015
  • Cobra MkIII

• Gamescom 2015
  • Asp Explorer
  • Asp Scout
  • Cobra MkIII
  • Vulture

• Lavecon 2015
  • Asp Explorer
  • Asp Scout
  • Cobra MkIII
  • Vulture

• PAX 2015
  • Vulture

• PAX South 2016
  • Eagle MkII

• PC Gamer February 2016 Issue
  • Cobra MkIII

• SpecialEffect 2017 24-Hour Charity Livestream Auction
  • Anaconda
  • Sidewinder MkI
  • Type-9 Heavy

• Beyond 3.1 Content Showcase Livestream
  • Krait MkII

• PCGamesN July 2018 Giveaway
  • Cobra MkIII

Festive Paint Packs

Festive Paint Packs are made available every December for the Asp Explorer, Cobra MkIII, and Sidewinder MkI. Each pack contains six paintjobs.

Gold

• Elite Dangerous Launch Day Sale
  • Cobra MkIII

• Free to all players who purchased Horizons before February 5, 2016
  • Asp Explorer

• Winning Prize for Nvidia GeForce Elite Dangerous Sweepstakes
  • Viper MkIII

• Other event or individual limited-time sale
  • Anaconda
  • Sidewinder MkI

Golden

A redesign of the Gold series. Players who owned any Gold paintjobs were given the respective Golden variants as a free bonus.

• August 2017 Eclipse Sale
  • Anaconda
  • Asp Scout
  • Ascendant Flight Suit
  • Cobra MkIII
  • Dolphin
  • Federal Corvette
  • Imperial Courier
  • Imperial Cutter
  • Python
  • SRV

• 2017 Festive Countdown
  • Diamondback Explorer
  • Fer-de-Lance
  • Type-6 Transporter
  • Viper MkIV
  • Vulture

• February 2018 Sale
  • Anaconda
  • Asp Explorer
  • Cobra MkIII
  • Python
  • SRV
  • Type-10 Defender

Horizons Pack

The Horizons Pack was included for free with all pre-orders of Elite Dangerous: Horizons. It included the exclusive Desert, Lunar, and Polar paintjobs for the Cobra MkIII.

Mercenary Edition Pack

The Mercenary Edition Pack was a paintjob pack given only to purchasers of the Elite Dangerous Premium Beta. It included exclusive paintjobs for the Cobra MkIII, Sidewinder MkI, and Viper MkIII.

Wireframe

• Elite 35th Anniversary Sale
  • Cobra MkIII

• 2016 Festive Countdown
  • Anaconda
  • Asp Explorer
  • Fer-de-Lance
  • Python
  • Viper MkIII

Wireframe Gold

• 2017 Festive Countdown
  • Anaconda
  • Asp Explorer
  • Cobra MkIII
  • Asp Explorer
  • Sidewinder MkI

Dashboard Ornaments / "Bobbleheads"

Dash ornaments are small objects placed on the cockpit dashboard and wobble as the ship moves. Current offerings include "bobblehead" figures, miniature ships, and number / letter characters. Up to 10 can be placed on the dashboard at once, but no duplicates. Prices currently range from $4 to $8.

Ship Kits

Ship kits are cosmetic modifications that alter the exterior appearance of a ship, such as fins, winglets, fenders, etc. Each kit has multiple pieces (currently 12 to 16) that can be added in multiple combinations to create a variety of individual looks. Prices currently range from $10 to $12. There are two types of ship kits: standard and raider-themed.

Ship Kits are currently available for the following ships:

• Alliance Chieftain (Standard)
• Anaconda (Standard, Raider)
• Asp Explorer (Standard, Raider)
• Cobra MkIII (Standard, Raider)
• Diamondback Explorer (Standard)
• Eagle MkII (Standard)
• Federal Corvette (Standard, Raider)
• Fer-de-Lance (Standard)
• Imperial Cutter (Standard, Raider)
• Keelback (Standard)
• Krait MkII (Standard, Raider)
• Python (Standard, Raider)
• Sidewinder MkI (Standard)
• Type-6 Transporter (Standard)
• Type-10 Defender (Standard)
• Viper MkIII (Standard, Raider)
• Vulture (Standard, Raider)

Weapon Colours

Weapon colour sets change a ship's weapons fire from the default colours. Each set is a single colour and changes all weapons on the ship to that colour. Combining multiple colours on a ship is not possible. Prices are currently $1.75 per colour set.

Name Plates

As of The Commanders v2.3 update, users can specify names and ID numbers for their ships. To make these appear on the ship's hull, stylized plates must be purchased from the Official Store. Plate packs include 9 plates (3 designs in 3 shades each) and are currently $3. Plates can be used on any ship the player owns.

Plates with ship names can be placed in 2 positions on the forward hull. Plates with ship ID numbers can be placed in 2 positions on the aft hull, as well as in place of the 2 ship name positions on the forward hull (4 positions total).

Engine Thruster Colours

Introduced the same week as the v2.3.10 update, colours can be purchased for the engine thrusters and their contrails. Each colour can be used on any ship the player owns (including ship-launched fighters, but not the SRV). Prices are currently $1.75 per colour.

COVAS

Introduced in Beyond Chapter One (3.0), users can now choose between multiple COVAS ship/SRV voice options. Two COVAS voices, Verity and Victor, are included as default options. Additional voices can be purchased from the Frontier Store for $7 USD each.

Videos

Raider Ship Kit - Cobra Mk III Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous - 2.3 - Fer-de-Lance Ship Kit!!!

Elite Dangerous Creepy Emissive Decals (many ships)

Gallery

Planets of Sol bobblehead livery