Destinations

Destinations

Destinations control where PWAL sends loot after it decides an item is allowed to be looted.

Categories decide what can be looted.

Destinations decide where that loot goes.

Do not confuse the two.

If a category is turned off, destination settings do not matter for that category. PWAL will ignore it.

If looting is disabled, PWAL will ignore everything.

PWAL supports normal destination routing for configurable loot, forced routing for special items, and dedicated routing behavior for supported space salvage.

Supported Destinations

PWAL currently supports these destination types:

• Player
• PandaWorks Inventory
• Player Ship Cargo
• Lodge Safe
• The Void, where available

Each destination has a different purpose.

Not every loot source or item type can use every destination.

Some items are forced for safety, progression, or engine reasons.

Supported space salvage routes recovered space loot into Player Ship Cargo.

Player

The Player destination sends loot directly to the player inventory.

Some items always go to the player no matter what.

This is intentional.

Player-routed items usually include things the player should immediately receive, use, unlock, or keep direct control over.

Examples include:

• Credits
• Keycards
• Skill magazines
• Landmark books
• Collectibles
• Certain direct acquisition pickups
• Quest/progression items when detected by the game

These are not normal storage loot.

They belong to the player.

PandaWorks Inventory

PandaWorks Inventory is PWAL’s dedicated storage container.

It is useful for items you want collected but do not want dumped into your player inventory.

Good examples include:

• Junk
• Misc items
• Overflow loot
• Items you want stored but not carried

PandaWorks Inventory is the safe catch-all destination for normal storage loot.

If something goes to PandaWorks Inventory, do not expect it to appear in your player inventory.

That is the point.

Contraband is not currently routed to PandaWorks Inventory by default. Current contraband routing uses the Lodge Safe while scanner behavior is being reviewed.

Player Ship Cargo

Player Ship Cargo sends loot to the player’s active home ship cargo hold.

This is useful for resources, crafting materials, heavy storage, and supported space salvage.

Good candidates include:

• Inorganic resources
• Organic resources
• Manufactured resources
• Crafting materials
• Supported asteroid deposit loot
• Supported space cargo
• Supported destroyed hostile ship debris salvage

Ship Cargo requires a valid player home ship.

If the player does not have a valid home ship yet, ship cargo actions may fail safely or redirect depending on current framework behavior.

The panda cannot store things in a ship the game has not given you yet.

Space Salvage and Ship Cargo

Supported space salvage routes recovered loot into Player Ship Cargo.

Confirmed supported in version 1.1.2:

• Asteroid deposits
• Space cargo
• Destroyed hostile ship debris

Space salvage does not use normal ground-loot destination assumptions.

It is handled through its own isolated pipeline and is intended to feed the ship, not clutter the player inventory.

If you are testing asteroid deposits, space cargo, or hostile ship debris, check Player Ship Cargo first.

Do not assume recovered space salvage went to PandaWorks Inventory, Lodge Safe, or the player unless a specific feature or version says otherwise.

Space salvage does not mean PWAL can loot every floating object in space.

Some space objects are scenery, quest objects, activators, markers, or Bethesda nonsense wearing a rock costume.

Lodge Safe

The Lodge Safe is used as a supported storage destination.

It is available for categories that PWAL allows to be routed there.

Not every item belongs in the Lodge Safe.

If an item is forced to the player, it goes to the player.

The Lodge Safe is a good destination for:

• Collectibles, when supported by settings
• Rare items
• Display items
• Items you want to keep but not carry
• Contraband, under current routing behavior

Current PWAL behavior routes contraband to the Lodge Safe.

This is intentional for the current release while scanner behavior around PandaWorks Inventory is being reviewed.

If a category cannot be routed to the Lodge Safe, that usually means PWAL is protecting that category or handling it somewhere else.

The Void

The Void is a disposal-style destination.

Items sent to The Void are not stored normally.

Use this only for items you are comfortable destroying or disposing of.

If you send something to The Void, do not expect to get it back.

The Void eats. The Void does not run customer service.

Default Destination Behavior

PWAL has backend default routing behavior.

By default, normal configurable loot is safe and predictable.

Some categories can be changed by the player.

Some categories cannot.

Some loot sources may have their own intended routing behavior.

If a destination option is not exposed in the menu, that usually means the framework is handling it directly.

Not every backend rule needs to be player-facing.

Forced Destinations

Some item groups ignore normal destination settings.

This is intentional.

Certain items must go to specific destinations for safety, progression, or gameplay reasons.

Forced routing exists because some loot is not normal storage loot.

Some items unlock things.

Some items trigger player acquisition behavior.

Some items interact with scan systems.

Some items are tied to Bethesda’s cursed internal wires.

PWAL does not hand every one of those wires to the player.

That is how the machine catches fire.

Always Forced To Player

Some items always go directly to the player.

Examples include:

• Credits
• Keycards
• Skill magazines
• Landmark books
• Collectibles
• Certain activator-based pickups
• Quest/progression items when detected by the game

These are not normal storage loot.

They are direct acquisition items.

If PWAL sent these to random storage, it could break progression, confuse players, or make important pickups harder to track.

So they go to the player.

Do not report this as a destination bug.

It is working as intended.

Collectibles

Collectibles always go to the player.

PWAL may classify several old misc collectible groups under Collectibles, but the routing rule is simple:

Collectibles go to Player.

This prevents collectible pickups from disappearing into storage and making players think the mod ate them.

The panda does not get to hoard your action figures.

Contraband Routing

Contraband is special.

Starfield’s contraband scan system can cause problems if automated systems move contraband into the wrong place.

Current PWAL behavior routes contraband to the Lodge Safe.

This is intentional for the current release.

Contraband in the player inventory can get the player busted.

Contraband in normal ship cargo can also cause scan problems depending on shielded cargo and scan-jammer conditions.

PandaWorks Inventory is being reviewed because it became visible to the contraband scanner unexpectedly. Until that behavior is fully understood and corrected, Lodge Safe routing is the safer current behavior.

If you want to smuggle contraband, move it manually when you are ready.

PWAL is trying to avoid space jail stupidity.

Destination Menus

Destination menus let you choose where supported configurable categories should route.

Read the menu text.

If a category says it is routed to PandaWorks Inventory, that is where it goes.

If it says Player Ship Cargo, it goes to ship cargo if ship cargo is available.

If it says Lodge Safe, it goes to the Lodge Safe if Lodge Safe routing is available.

If it says Player, it goes to the player.

If you click through destination options too fast and choose the wrong one, PWAL will still obey.

The panda has no moral compass. It follows settings.

Why Some Categories Are Not Exposed

Some categories exist in backend routing but do not appear as normal player-configurable menu options.

That does not mean they are missing.

It means they are controlled by the framework for safety or consistency.

Examples include categories that must go to Player, Lodge Safe, PandaWorks Inventory, or Player Ship Cargo.

Some knobs should not be handed to people who will immediately turn them sideways and complain the machine screams.

If Loot Goes To The Wrong Place

Check:

• Is looting enabled?
• Is the category enabled?
• Did you set that category’s destination?
• Is the item actually in the category you think it is?
• Is the category forced to a specific destination?
• Is the destination available?
• Did the item get routed to PandaWorks Inventory, Ship Cargo, or Lodge Safe instead of Player?
• Is the loot from a supported space salvage source?
• If it is space salvage, did you check Player Ship Cargo?
• If it is contraband, did you check the Lodge Safe?

Most destination problems are settings problems.

PWAL sends loot where the routing rules tell it to send loot.

If Loot Is Missing

Check all possible destinations:

• Player inventory
• PandaWorks Inventory
• Player Ship Cargo
• Lodge Safe

If the missing loot came from supported space salvage, check Player Ship Cargo first.

Contraband should usually be checked in the Lodge Safe first unless you manually moved it somewhere else.

If The Void is enabled and you routed the item there, then it may be gone.

That is what disposal means.

Do not send things to The Void unless you mean it.

Ship Cargo Problems

If loot is routed to Player Ship Cargo and does not appear there, check:

• Do you have a valid home ship?
• Are you past the point where the game gives you ship access?
• Is the ship cargo reference available?
• Are you checking the correct ship?
• Did PWAL redirect the item somewhere safer?
• Is the loot from supported asteroid deposits, space cargo, or hostile ship debris?
• Is the related space salvage feature enabled, if separately configurable?

Ship cargo depends on game state.

Supported space salvage also depends on whether the target is actually a valid salvage source.

This is Starfield, not sorcery.

Although honestly, sometimes there is not much difference.

Space Salvage Problems

If supported space salvage does not appear in Player Ship Cargo, check:

• Looting is enabled.
• Space salvage support is included in the installed version/plugin.
• The related feature is enabled, if separately configurable.
• The target is actually a supported asteroid deposit, space cargo, or hostile ship debris.
• The player has a valid home ship.
• Ship cargo is available.
• You are checking the correct ship cargo.
• The object is not scenery, a quest object, an unsupported activator, or decorative space trash.

Space salvage uses a separate pipeline.

It is not the same thing as normal ground looting.

Do not troubleshoot space salvage like a normal loose item sitting on a table.

Lodge Safe Problems

If loot is routed to the Lodge Safe and does not appear there, check:

• Is Lodge Safe routing enabled?
• Is Lodge looting/storage allowed in settings?
• Are you checking the correct storage?
• Was the item forced somewhere else?
• Did you accidentally route that category to another destination?
• Is the missing item contraband?

Current contraband routing uses the Lodge Safe.

PandaWorks Inventory Problems

If loot is routed to PandaWorks Inventory, open PandaWorks Inventory through the terminal or Utility Device.

Do not expect PandaWorks Inventory loot to appear in your player inventory.

That is the whole point of a separate storage destination.

Contraband is not currently expected to appear in PandaWorks Inventory by default.

Summary

Destinations decide where configurable loot goes.

Categories decide what gets looted.

Forced rules override normal routing when needed.

Collectibles always go to the player.

Contraband currently routes to Lodge Safe.

Supported space salvage routes into Player Ship Cargo.

If loot is not where you expected, check your settings before assuming the mod broke.

The panda probably did exactly what it was told to do.

That is usually the problem.