Star Trek Online Dilithium Exchange: Buy and Sell Zen

How Does the Dilithium Exchange Work?

The Star Trek Online dilithium exchange lets you trade Refined Dilithium for Zen or sell Zen for Refined Dilithium. That gives you a way to earn currency for Zen Store purchases through gameplay or turn Zen into funds for Dilithium spending. Trades depend on matching player offers, so an order can fill immediately, fill partially, or remain open.

The distinction between Dilithium Ore and Refined Dilithium matters here. Gameplay activities award Ore, which must be refined before you can spend it on the exchange.

Prices are expressed as Dilithium per Zen. A lower rate means buying Zen costs less Dilithium; a higher rate means selling Zen earns more Dilithium.

Order setting	Limit
Dilithium per Zen	25–500
Zen per offer	1–5,000
Active offers	Up to five per account

These limits define what you can submit. The offers available in the market determine whether your trade can actually happen.

Official page: Star Trek Online (playstartrekonline.com)

Where to Open the Exchange

You can reach the exchange through several parts of the interface:

• Open the downward-arrow menu beside the minimap and select Dilithium Exchange.
• Open your inventory’s Assets tab and use the exchange button.
• Browse the Dilithium Store and select Buy Dilithium.

Once inside, choose the tab for the currency you want to trade. Buy ZEN spends Refined Dilithium; Sell ZEN spends Zen.

Keep an eye on the Exchange Balance area. Currency held there is separate from the balances displayed for your character and account.

How to Buy Zen With Dilithium

Use Buy ZEN when you want to convert your Refined Dilithium into premium currency.

1. Select the Buy ZEN tab.
2. Review the displayed offers to sell Zen.
3. Enter the amount of Zen you want and your offered Dilithium per ZEN rate.
4. Check the automatically calculated Total Dilithium to sell.
5. Select Submit Offer To Buy.
6. Withdraw the Zen from your Exchange Balance when it becomes available.

For example, an offer for 100 Zen at 500 Dilithium per Zen requires 50,000 Refined Dilithium. That is an example calculation, not a live market quote.

The full Dilithium amount is deducted when you submit the offer, even if it does not fill immediately. If the order executes at a lower price, the unused Dilithium is returned.

Zen acquired through the exchange is bound to Star Trek Online. Plan to spend it within STO.

How to Sell Zen for Refined Dilithium

Use Sell ZEN when you want Dilithium for purchases or other in-game spending.

Image: Steam / Cryptic Studios

1. Select the Sell ZEN tab.
2. Review the displayed offers to buy Zen.
3. Enter the amount of Zen to sell and the Dilithium you want per Zen.
4. Review Total Dilithium to buy.
5. Select Submit Offer To Sell.
6. Withdraw the resulting Refined Dilithium when the trade fills.

Your offered Zen leaves your available balance immediately upon submission. An offer that matches available demand can execute; otherwise, some or all of it stays open.

Placing Zen on the exchange permanently binds that Zen to STO. Canceling the offer does not reverse that binding.

If canceled Zen is sitting in your Exchange Balance, manually withdraw it before using it in another sell offer.

Why an Order Is Pending—and How to Cancel It

An open offer needs a matching trade from another player. Your chosen price and the amount available at that price determine whether the order fills completely, partially, or waits.

Check your outstanding offers before submitting another order. A reduced available currency balance can reflect funds committed to an open offer.

To cancel an offer:

1. Select it in the outstanding-offers area.
2. Click Cancel Offer.
3. Check your Exchange Balance for the remaining currency.
4. Withdraw the available funds if you want them back in your character or account balance.

Canceling returns the unspent portion of an offer. Any completed portion has already been traded.

For planned Zen purchases, leave time for your order to fill. A submitted offer is not a promise that the currency will arrive before a sale ends.

Transferring Refined Dilithium Between Characters

The exchange also allows Refined Dilithium to move between characters on the same account through an unfilled buy offer.

1. On the character holding the Dilithium, open Buy ZEN.
2. Set a rate below the currently listed selling offers and submit your order.
3. Switch to the character that should receive the Dilithium.
4. Open the exchange and cancel the still-unfilled offer.
5. Withdraw the returned Dilithium from the Exchange Balance.

This carries a trading risk: if another player fills the offer before you cancel it, that portion of your Dilithium buys Zen instead.

Check the receiving character’s balance before withdrawing. The Refined Dilithium cap is 10 million, and withdrawing an amount that exceeds it can lose the excess.