LIVE Available on the public NCM Online server.
Getting Started
This page takes you from seeing NCM Online — Motorsports in Night City in the OPEN//77 launcher to finishing your first race. It takes about ten minutes plus download time.
1. What you need
- Cyberpunk 2077 on PC, at the version OPEN//77 currently supports. OPEN//77 tells you if yours does not match.
- The OPEN//77 launcher. It installs and starts multiplayer Cyberpunk. See open2077.net.
- A keyboard and mouse, a controller, or a wheel. All three work. A wheel is optional; see Wheel & Rig Support.
- No manual mod installs. NCM's mods are delivered by the launcher (step 3).
Back up your saves first. OPEN//77 is a multiplayer layer over a single-player game. Copy your Cyberpunk save folder somewhere safe before your first session; it is good practice with any game mod.
2. Find NCM Online
Open the OPEN//77 launcher and look for NCM Online in the server list. It appears with the description Motorsports in Night City. Select it and choose to join.
3. Accept NCM's required mods
NCM needs some client-side mods: its own native plugins (physics and parts, rig input, broadcast presentation, the radio station and others) and well-known community loaders such as ArchiveXL, TweakXL and Codeware. The launcher downloads and installs them for you when you join.
Before anything installs, the launcher lists every package and says where it comes from. NCM's packages are supplied by the NCM Online server and marked as not reviewed by OPEN//77. Read the list and accept it to continue. The list changes over time, so the launcher may download updates on a later join.
The first launch can take a minute or two before the game window appears. If the game shows "press any key", press it.
4. What happens when you connect
You arrive in Night City. The first time, NCM grants you a starting balance of eddies (€$). On later joins you return to where you left.
Each session opens the HOW TO PLAY NCM panel. It shows the four steps below, the controls, tips and the latest patch notes. Press Esc or Continue to close it.
Alpha progression is temporary. Everything you earn, money, machines, parts and records, resets for NCM 1.0, and further resets can happen before then. Race Week also has its own reset rules; see Race Week.
5. Your first race in four steps
- Open NCM. Press F6 (or Start on a controller) for the NCM Menu, go to MARKET and buy a base car. Every listing is one specific machine; check the price against your balance.
- Get your car. In MACHINE INDEX (also F10), select a car you own and choose CALL VEHICLE. It appears in a clear space near you. Hold E near it to get in.
- Find a race. Open RACE GUIDE in the F6 menu. Each race shows its route, start time, weather, entry fee, payout and whether your car is eligible. Mark one Interested to track it and set your route there. That does not reserve a place.
- Go racing. Drive to the race's venue, enter at the venue, then join the grid. At the grid, F7 snaps you to your exact starting spot. When the lights go green, race.
Racing alone is fine. NPC racers fill empty grid places around start time. Some events are time trials against the clock.
6. Before your first race
- Entering costs the listed entry fee, charged when you enter. Practice and qualifying pay nothing; the race does.
- Arrive early. Qualifying or other sessions can start before the scheduled race start. Qualifying helps set grid order.
- Changed your mind? Use Withdraw at the venue before the race starts. Once it has started, Forfeit
(
/ncm.forfeit, asked twice) retires you and records a DNF. - Damage persists. Crashes cost condition, which costs money or work to put right. See Engineering.
- Watch your fuel. The level is under the odometer. See Fuel.
- Rain matters. Wet roads mean less grip and longer braking until they dry.
7. Controls that matter
| Control | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| NCM Menu (Race Guide, Market, Machine Index, Messages, Help...) | F6 | Start |
| Quick menu (Hub, Race graph, Call a race, Map, GPS) | hold B, aim, release | hold Start, aim, release |
| Engineering (service, parts, Workshop) | F9 | via the NCM Menu |
| Machine Index | F10 | via the NCM Menu |
| Live race graph while driving | F8 | — |
| Snap to your grid spot | F7 at the grid | — |
| Call a custom street race | F5 | via the quick menu |
| Scanner (discover machines) | Tab or Caps Lock | — |
| Close any NCM panel | Esc | Back |
Menus work without a mouse: arrow keys move focus, Enter selects. On a controller the D-pad navigates and Confirm selects. The full list is on Controls & Commands.
8. If something doesn't work
- Check Known Issues. It may be known, with a workaround.
- Report it from inside the game: F6 → HELP → report a problem. The report goes to the server with the context the page lists (for example which screen was open and the server build), so you need no other account.
- Or open an issue on GitHub. Never paste passwords, tokens or other private information into an issue.
Next: How to Play covers every system in more depth.