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Field Manual · Signal Reading

The environment is always talking. Learn to listen.

D-scan mechanics are trainable. Interpreting what D-scan tells you is experience. This guide bridges the two — translating specific signals like combat probes, a Sabre, or an Orca at a gate into what they likely mean and what your response should be. This guide is new — please send feedback if something is off or missing.

D-scan signals Local signals Behavior signals Practice D-scan
Field rule: the question is never "is this ship dangerous?" The question is "what is this ship doing here, and why now?" Context makes the same ship a threat or background noise.

D-scan signal interpretation

What specific things on D-scan actually mean. The same ship can be irrelevant or lethal depending on its class, context, and what else is with it.

Combat scanner probes

What it means Someone is actively scanning for ships. They can pinpoint your exact location in space — including off-gate safespots and anomalies — and warp to you. They may be looking for you specifically or doing a general system sweep.
What to do If you're doing something vulnerable (ratting, mining, running a site) — pause and assess. If there's a hostile in local alongside the probes, treat it as a direct threat. Move to a safe, cloak, or dock until you know who's scanning and why.
Check localParse your scan

Interdictor (Sabre, Heretic, Flycatcher, Eris)

What it means A dictor near a gate or wormhole is almost certainly setting up or maintaining a bubble camp. Its entire purpose is to prevent you warping. If it's on D-scan near your exit, there's likely a fleet with it that isn't showing yet.
What to do Do not jump toward a gate with a dictor nearby without more information. D-scan the gate at close range. Check local. If you must transit, consider warping to the gate at range to see the situation before committing.
Bubble mechanics

Recon ship (Falcon, Arazu, Pilgrim, Rapier)

What it means Combat recons (visible on D-scan) being seen means they want to be seen — or made a mistake. Covert recons don't appear on D-scan at all. A Falcon or Curse visible in system likely has friends off D-scan who are about to engage something.
What to do Treat visible recons as bait or a sprung trap. If you're already engaged and a recon appears on D-scan, break off if you can — it's bringing EWAR that will likely end the fight in the enemy's favor.
EWAR ships reference

Covert ops frigate (Helios, Cheetah, Buzzard, Anathema)

What it means A cov ops frigate is almost certainly scanning. In wormhole space, a visible cov ops means you're already being probed — they'd normally be cloaked. In k-space, they're probing down signatures or mapping routes. Rarely a direct threat, but marks a pilot with intent.
What to do Monitor their presence. If they disappear, they either left or cloaked — the latter is more likely. If they're in a wormhole, they may be scouting for a fleet.

Logistics ship (Scimitar, Basilisk, Guardian, Oneiros)

What it means A logistics ship present means there's a fleet — or the fleet is forming nearby. A solo logi is useless. If you're considering engaging a combat ship and a logi appears on D-scan, the fight profile just changed completely: that ship is now nearly unkillable without alpha or multiple DPS.
What to do If you're in a fight and logi lands, reassess. Can you kill the DPS ship before reps land? If not, disengage. If you're about to engage, note the logi as primary or pass on the fight.

Orca or Freighter near a gate

What it means Usually innocent hauling activity. But in lowsec or null, an Orca loitering near a gate (not moving through) might be bait — Orcas can fit significant tank and their presence draws attention. Or it might be a corp mate moving ships.
What to do Check who's in it via Local Intel. How long has it been sitting there? An Orca sitting on a gate for 20 minutes while a neutral is in local is suspicious. A freighter transiting through is not.
Character Intel
D-scan is a moment-in-time snapshot. Ships appearing and disappearing is as informative as what's present. Local signals →

Local signal interpretation

Local is the most information-dense tool in EVE. Not because of what people say — but because of who appears, how many, how old their accounts are, and what they don't say.

Multiple unknowns enter local simultaneously

What it means A fleet just jumped into system from a common entry point. They're traveling together. This is not a coincidence — it's an organized movement and the most reliable advance warning of a fleet presence.
What to do Stop what you're doing. Align to a safe destination. Use Local Intel to check who they are before deciding to engage or evade. If there are 8+ unknowns, assume fleet.
Paste local names

One unknown — young character, no corp history

What it means New characters are often alts — scouts, spies, or tackle pilots who don't want their main exposed. A character with no corp history or very recent creation flying a suspect or bait ship is almost certainly an experienced player's alt.
What to do Don't dismiss young characters as inexperienced. A 3-day-old character in a fast tackler could be a 10-year veteran using an alt. Check their corp and the corp's zkillboard before engaging.
Character Intel

Unknown goes silent — no response in local

What it means Most hostile pilots don't announce themselves in local. A neutral who enters and says nothing is either transiting, scouting silently, or actively hunting. The absence of communication tells you nothing — treat silence as neutral-to-threatening, not safe.
What to do Continue on alert. Watch D-scan. If combat probes appear shortly after the unknown enters, they're hunting. If they leave local without incident, they were probably just passing through.

"GF" in local after a kill

What it means A cultural convention — "good fight" acknowledges the engagement even in loss. Saying GF in local after dying or winning is EVE etiquette, not mockery. If the winner says GF, it's usually genuine. If the loser says it, even more so.
What to do Say it back. Check if they're willing to talk — killmail context can become an interesting conversation. Some of the best fleet connections come from strangers who had a good fight.
In wormholes there is no local — you're flying blind. Every ship you see on D-scan could have been there for an hour. Behavior signals →

Behavior signals

What a ship does is often more informative than what it is. Experienced pilots read behavior, not just ship types.

Ship sitting stationary on a gate

What it means Bait, or the anchor of a camp. A ship sitting on a gate in lowsec or null is waiting for something to jump into range. Whether it's a solo baiter or the tip of a fleet depends on who's in local and what else is on D-scan.

Ship warps off immediately when you enter system

What it means Usually a scout or a ratting ship that doesn't want a fight. Could also be a bait ship that just logged the contact for their fleet. Either way, they saw you and reacted — which means they're paying attention.

Ship follows you through multiple systems

What it means"> You're being scouted. A pilot who appears in local one system after you, then the next, is either following you or on the same route by coincidence (check after 3 systems). If they're on the same gate each time, you're being escorted to an ambush.
What to do Change your route. Jump to a random system, then continue. If they follow, you have a hunter. Consider docking until they move on or logging off at a safespot.

Expensive ship running content in a dangerous system

What it means Either very experienced (they know they can handle the risk), or bait (they're in a ship that can survive until backup arrives). A Marauder in a lowsec anomaly that doesn't panic when you enter local is one of these two things. Check their killboard before engaging — if they never die, they know what they're doing.
Character IntelShip Matchup

Quick decision tree — what to do right now

Someone entered local

  • Are they neutral or hostile? → Local Intel
  • How many entered? One = scout or solo. Multiple = fleet.
  • Do combat probes appear? → Stop what you're doing, align
  • Are they in the same corp as a recent kill? → Likely revenge fleet
  • Did they warp to your celestial immediately? → They had intel on you
Local Intel Corp Intel

Something appeared on D-scan

  • What is the ship class? Tackle frigate = hunter. Logi = fleet nearby.
  • Are there combat probes with it? → You're being scanned
  • Is it a dictor near a gate? → Don't jump blind
  • Is it a cloaky? → It may be watching you right now
  • Did it appear and immediately disappear? → Likely scouting
D-scan Parser Practice D-scan
🛡️ Survive first

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