How to Customize Your Ship - Sea of Thieves Guide - IGN (2024)

Customizing your ship in Sea of Thieves is one of the most satisfying things to do in-game. When you first load into the game, your ship won't look too special at all. It'll have traditional brown wood and white sails. But the more you play the game, the more customizations you'll have access to.

This guide will detail everything you'll need to know about customizing your ship, with details on how to unlock more items, how to change the interior, how to change the exterior, and much more.

Are you looking for something more specific? Click the links to jump ahead.

• What Does Ship Customization Do in Sea of Thieves
• How to Change the Exterior of Your Ship
• How to Change the Interior of Your Ship
• How to Put Trinkets on Your Ship

What Does Ship Customization Do in Sea of Thieves

Just like changing your clothes or weapons in Sea of Thieves, customizing your ship doesn't give you any advantage over anyone. It's more of making a fashion statement or showing off to other players that you have something they don't.

Besides, who doesn't want to have the best-looking ship in Sea of Thieves? Especially when you're boarding another person's ship and instinctively compare it to yours. So even though it doesn't give any advantage, that doesn't mean you shouldn't strive to have the best-looking ship out there!

How to Change the Exterior of Your Ship

To change your ship's exterior, you must be next to the Ship Customisation Chest. This chest can be found right next to the Shipwright's Shop.

It's important to mention that if your ship is too far from the chest, you won't be able to change your ship's exterior.

As soon as you open the chest, and you should see two tabs, select the Ship Customisations.

Now you'll be able to see everything you own for your ship.

But if you don't have anything, you'll need to purchase a few Ship Customisations. The only way to do this is by purchasing them from the Shipwright's Shop vendor.

Talk to the vendor and select Ship Customisations. Once you're there, you'll see everything you can buy and what you can unlock.

Certain items may be locked, and the only way to unlock them is by either being at a higher level with the respective trading company or by unlocking a specific commendation.

How to Change the Interior of Your Ship

To change the interior of your ship, you'll need to be a Sea of Thieves Captain first. Once you're a captain, head to the Ship Customisation Chest again, but this time look under the Ship Decorations menu, and just like changing the exterior, if you're too far from the chest, you won't be able to change how it looks.

You'll need to earn class first if you don't have anything unlocked.

Now that you have enough classes in specific categories, ship decorations will be purchasable for you. To spend them, you'll need to revisit the Shipwright Shop and talk to the vendor. You'll need to browse the stock and select the Ship Decoration tab.

Once you're there, you'll see all sorts of decorations you can buy for your ship, and you'll notice that some of them are exclusive to the four-man ship (Galleon). So make sure you don't accidentally purchase a Captain's Chair if you own a Sloop or a Brigantine because you won't be able to get your gold back.

But prioritize certain milestones over others if you want a specific item, such as a bed, table, rug, etc. Because if you don't, you'll end up obtaining more class for another company and won't have access to what you wanted in the first place.

How to Put Trinkets on Your Ship

You'll need to be a captain to put trinkets on your ship. But unlike Ship Customisations or Ship Decorations, you don't need to be near the chest to change them. When you're on your ship, go to the lower decks. Once you're there, look for shelves or walk alongside the wall. You'll soon see a prompt that says Place Trinket.

Once you press it, you'll be taken to a menu with all of your Ornaments and trophies. All you need to do now is select whichever one feels like suits your ship's ascetic best.

You can always purchase more trinkets by visiting the Shipwright's Shop. You'll need to select the Browse Stock, then scroll to the left until you see Ship Trinkets.

Once you're there, you'll see that you can buy trophies and ornaments. The only way to purchase trophies is by having a high enough class in a specific category. But if you want to purchase ornaments, you can do so at any time, as long as you have enough gold.