EVE New Citizens Q&A

Warp drives depend on certain properties of space-time. It is a frequent occurrence in the EVE universe that parts of space do not have the appropriate properties to support warp travel: these regions of space (smaller than a solar system, often smaller than a planet) are called "deadspace". The only way into these places is to use acceleration gates.

There are three basic types of space structure you will find which impact navigation: acceleration gates, star gates, and jump bridges. Acceleration gates are local space devices, while star gates and jump bridges are mechanisms for interstellar travel.

Acceleration gates exist only to propel your ship somewhere else in the local volume of space: their range is usually in the tens to hundreds of thousands of kilometres. All travel via acceleration gates will be within the local star system. Check your Star System map to see where you are in reference to the local star and other celestial bodies.

Stargates utilise wormholes to send your ship to another star system. Stargates are usually located at positions in space where a natural wormhole would form, and the device exists to tear that wormhole open, shove a spaceship through, and allow the wormhole to collapse in an orderly manner. Of course there are also unstable wormholes, but navigation through those requires advanced training (Astrometrics and associated science skills, player skill), patience, and courage.

Jump bridges are similar to stargates in that they will send you to another star system, but the mechanism they use is based on cynosural field technology.

Hope this helps!

You go ahead and jump headfirst into wormhole space with nothing but the gear you get from the tutorial missions and one hour trained in Astrometrics. Good luck

I purposefully left cyno beacons out since they are used as a jump target for jump capable ships: you can't interact with them in space as if they were an acceleration gate, star gate or jump bridge. Someone doing the tutorial missions isn't going to be encountering capital ship jumping or titan/black ops jump portals.

you just mentioned associated science skills and i thought you were i nice person xerc :(

was talking about the other guy who said about the science skills, he shouldn't play eve

Mara's response is accurate but here is another way of looking at it:

when you undock and look at your overview (list of ships planets etc and their distances) everything listed in KM is on your grid (nearby and rather close). Your grid is determined by where you are but is usually 300km in every direction (lots of exceptions here but none to worry about early on, and I'll leave better description of grids to someone else)

when you warp to a mission... it won't be listed on the overview, it it were anyone could find it, it is your mission only you can warp to it easily (but others CAN warp to you once you arrive invited or not)

Acceleration gates are simply an access point to a deadspace pocket which prevents you from warping there directly, the empires and pirates have helpfully erected them all over new eden to enable you to visit :P

stargates in their various forms will always change your star system (check upper left corner for system name)

as mentioned by others there are other structures and places, jump bridges and actual wormholes among them, but require more introduction.

Regarding warp acceleration gates - in game mechanics terms, is their function simply to break up your travel so that players or NPCs can "interact" while travelling? I.e. they prevent us from zipping back and forth from places with low ambush risk?

If I am warping somewhere and arrive at an acceleration gate, will that gate always move me in the right direction of travel?

The game mechanic purpose of acc gates are to break up deadspace areas into "rooms" like in a dungeon of other MMOs

The best way to think of Deadspace is like the dungeon of another MMO

an acceleration gate is the only "door" into the dungeon of deadspace (space that you cannot naturally warp into).

Each acceleration gate is another door. If you leave the deadspace pocket via warp you will have to go to the first acceleration gate and work your way through the deadspace complex (dungeon) again.


With the exception of deadspace pockets, your ship's warp drive allows you to arbitrarily warp to any object in a solar system. To get further you use jump gates. Don't worry about cynos and jump bridges 'n **** for now. that's for later.


if you watch star trek, then your normal engines are impulse, your warp drive is warp, and yeah it would take weeks to travel between the eve stars at warp speeds, so we have jump gates (wormholes).

As has been said it is basically different 'rooms' of the mission, don't forget though that other people are able to scan you down there and get in as well. Doing trial missions this most likely won't happen but just a heads up :-)

Some deadspaces have gates that go back, but normally you can't without warping out (the nearest celestial is under your system name if you need a quick exit)

The dungeon room analogy is a good one, but think of the gates are "jumps" down to a new area.