Axum Bacterial Culture is the rarest resource you'll encounter in Subnautica 2, and the game does everything it can to make collecting it miserable. There are only 5 pieces in the entire world, none of them respawn, and the only place to find them sits in a leviathan-patrolled cave at nearly 450 meters depth. Get it wrong and you could lose pieces permanently to a known harvesting bug. This guide covers exactly where to go, how to get there safely, and how to avoid wasting what little you find.
What is Axum Bacterial Culture used for?
Axum Bacterial Culture is the key ingredient for building a Metal Farm, a base structure that passively generates ores like titanium, gold, and celestine at regular intervals. It is "not reproducible in standard Fabricators" — meaning there is no way to make more once you have collected all five pieces from the world. Each culture piece combines with one Mangalloy Ingot in the Habitat Builder to produce one Metal Farm, so you can build a maximum of 5 Metal Farms per playthrough.
The Metal Farm blueprint is found by scanning the pillar-like alien structures in the same cavern where you collect the cultures, so plan to do both in a single trip.
Metal Farm crafting recipe
Before you go: what do you need?
This location sits at roughly 450 meters depth, which exceeds the Tadpole submarine's default dive limit. You must install the Tadpole Depth Module Mk. 1 before attempting this run. Without it, your submarine will be crushed before you reach the target area.
Also bring a Repair Tool for your Tadpole and some healing items. The cave is populated with aggressive deep-sea fish that will attack you if you exit the submarine, and a Collector Leviathan patrols the broader area. A second Collector Leviathan also patrols at shallower depth above the Root Canyon Biome, so avoid ascending too high once you arrive.
Before leaving your base, open the character menu and enable all landmark signals. This makes the Angel Comb and Alien Ruins much easier to spot during navigation.
For players still building up their resource stockpile, our guides on finding copper and getting atacamite will help you gather the materials needed for the Tadpole upgrade and Mangalloy Ingots before making this trip.
Where to find Axum Bacterial Culture in Subnautica 2
All Axum Bacterial Cultures are located in the Root Canyon Biome, specifically inside the glowing yellow-green pools in the Metal Farms cavern. The area sits east of the Alien Ruins and Angel Comb. The cavern places approximately 870 meters northeast of the Alien Ruins Research Base at around 450 meters depth.
Step-by-step route
- Starting from the Alien Ruins Research Base, head east and drop off the ledge, descending as you go.
- Continue east over the alien structure on the sea floor until you spot a large purple tube structure resembling a crab leg.
- Follow the purple tube toward the Angel Comb, the massive alien structure with purple roots below it, located approximately 520 meters east of the Alien Ruins.
- From the Angel Comb, travel northeast down a narrow ravine following another purple tube.
- You will reach an area with green-glowing pools and pillar-like alien structures around the perimeter. Those pillars are the scannable Metal Farm blueprints.
A Collector Leviathan patrols between the Graveyard and Observatory Biomes on the way to Root Canyon. Check for its presence before proceeding, and listen for the boss music cue. Do not ascend too high once inside Root Canyon — a second Collector Leviathan patrols the upper depth of that area.
Root Canyon toxic pool location
Where exactly are the 5 cultures?
All pieces are found in and around the yellow pools inside the cavern:
These are the only 5 pieces in the game as of the current Early Access build, and they do not respawn.
How do you harvest Axum Bacterial Culture safely?
Each culture is protected by a loose outer shell that must be broken before you can collect it. This is where players run into trouble.
Instead, use a light tool such as the Flashlight or the Scanner to carefully crack the shell. These tools break the casing without the destruction risk associated with the Multitool.
Use Scanner, not Multitool
What do you craft with Axum Bacterial Culture?
The Metal Farm is currently the only recipe that requires Axum Bacterial Culture. Here is what you need to build one:
The Metal Farm is built using the Habitat Builder and can be placed anywhere on a surface. It requires a significant power supply to function, so place Metal Farms near a reliable power source. The structure produces ores at set intervals depending on which metal it is configured to farm.
Mangalloy Ingots require both Troilite and Atacamite, which are also found in the same general area as the cultures. Grab them on the same dive to avoid making multiple trips into leviathan territory. If you need help tracking down other materials for your base setup, our guides on where to find quartz and where to find creature enamel cover two other resources you will need before long.
For a full breakdown of every resource, vehicle upgrade, and crafting recipe in the game, the Subnautica 2 guides collection has everything organized by category.