If you’re a fan of Planet Zoo, there’s a good chance you’ve been looking at Steam Workshop designs or inspiration on Reddit and YouTube to make your habitats. You may have even heard of Planet Zoo’s null barrier, or seen it, but not really understood what it meant.
I personally love sinking hours into the game, creating inspired designs and natural habitats. The trouble is, how do you create a natural habitat in Planet Zoo with the existing habitat barriers?
May I present to you, the Planet Zoo null barrier (or null fence). It’s the best way to create a real-life looking habitat while keeping your animals in a designated area. Well, kind of, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
Creating Natural Barriers in Planet Zoo
The beauty of Planet Zoo’s barriers is that you can combine them with each other. For example, you can place a glass barrier down around the area your guests will view your animals, then adjust the type of barrier in other parts of your habitat.
My Pygmy Hippo habitat uses a collection of glass barriers and null barriers. The null barriers are covered by rocks and scenery so 1) the animals can’t escape, and 2) it looks more natural.
Place your barriers down to create your habitat first. Then you can cover barriers in all or specific parts of your habitat with rocks, nature items, and other scenery pieces.
A little trick I found that helps is that if you design a habitat you really like, save it as a blueprint. I uploaded my Planet Zoo Pygmy Hippo habitat to the Steam workshop. Now, I can use it in any of my zoos and create my own natural barriers in each of them.
How to Use Planet Zoo Null Barriers
My Fennec Fox habitat in Planet Zoo is a great example of how you can use null barriers. Here, I started with the buildings, then built my habitat around them.
To select the null barrier in Planet Zoo, simply open the barriers tab and select the barrier that says “null.
You’ll be able to see the outline of the null barrier when you place it down, even though it is invisible to animals and your guests.
Null barriers, like other barriers in Planet Zoo, can be adjusted in height, length, and curvature. You can also use the arrow tool on a barrier to highlight parts of the barrier you want to be null, and other parts you want to be wood/brick/glass/etc.
Can Animals Escape Null Barriers?
Null barriers in Planet Zoo can take a little getting used to, since they are invisible to guests and animals. So, while there is technically a barrier there to create a habitat, if you simply left your null barriers without any natural protection, your animals can escape.
That’s why I suggest placing your habitat, buildings, and other scenery items down before applying the null barrier.
Always make sure to cover up any areas where your null barriers are, and consider using other types of barriers where gaps could be an issue.
Here, I’ve used a combination of null and glass barriers in my Planet Zoo Fennec Fox habitat. If I hadn’t of used glass, the foxes could easily make their way out of the habitat by the sides of the habitat gate.
Tip: Once you’ve placed your null barriers down, you can highlight all of the barriers and use the move tool (depicted by the four arrows in a cross shape) to push or move the placement of your barriers in different directions.
As long as your animals can’t climb, slip, or walk over your natural scenery items, your natural habitat and null barriers combined will make a great-looking and secure habitat for them.
