Point Nemo Door Puzzle & the Submersible Controller
The one Point Nemo artifact locked behind a door. Solve the three-hint door puzzle, drop through, and it sits under the gate and to the right — next to a chest of money.
▶ TL;DR
The Submersible Controller is the only Point Nemo artifact you cannot just swim up to — it lives behind the Point Nemo puzzle door (the game files it as the 'Puzzle Gate'). Getting it is a two-part job: first solve the door puzzle, which asks you to find three visual hint signs out in the sea and then press the door's three switches — left, middle, right — in the order and positions your hints show. The catch every player hits is that there is no fixed code: the hint positions and the correct order are randomised per save, so a friend's answer will not work for you. Once the door opens, the Submersible Controller sits just under the gate and slightly to the right, beside a chest of money. This page teaches the method (not a fake password), warns you about the launch-window Puzzle Gate reset bug and how it was patched, and tells you exactly what is behind the door.
◈ There is no shareable code
The Point Nemo door puzzle is randomised per save. Both the position of the sea hints and the correct switch order change from playthrough to playthrough — the walkthrough author calls it “unique to your playthrough sadly.”Any guide that hands you a fixed “left-right-middle” answer is quoting their random layout, not yours. Below is the method that works for every save.
◇ How to solve the door puzzle
Find the Point Nemo door — it is a locked gate, not a normal alcove.
Somewhere in the Point Nemo map is a sealed door set into broken structure, with three switches on it arranged left, middle and right. You cannot force it. Note where it is, because you will be swimming back and forth between it and the sea hints, and you want to return here fast once you have all three clues.
Swim the area and find THREE visual hint signs.
Scattered around Point Nemo's waters are three hint signs. Each one shows the door's three-switch pattern with a single white dot lit in one position — left, middle, or right. These signs are not in the same spot for every player, so you have to explore and keep your eyes open. Do not guess the door after finding only one or two — you need all three.
Record each white-dot position in the ORDER you found the hints.
This is the whole puzzle. Write down (or screenshot) each hint as left, middle, or right, in the sequence you discovered them. For example one player's run resolved to middle, then left, then left — but that was that player's random layout, not a universal code. Yours will almost certainly differ.
Return to the door and press the switches in that exact order.
The door has three switches laid out left / middle / right. Press them to match your recorded hints: if hint 1 was left, your first press is the left switch; if hint 2 was middle, second press is middle; and so on. Get the full sequence right and the gate opens.
If it doesn't open, leave the area and come back to reset — then re-check your hints.
A wrong press does not soft-lock you. Swim out of the Point Nemo area (or reselect Point Nemo from the GPS) to reset the puzzle state, then re-enter the sequence. Do not just keep mashing random switches — recheck that you have all three hints and their order correct first.
Drop through the open gate and grab the Submersible Controller under it, to the right.
Once the door is open, the Submersible Controller sits directly under the gate and slightly to the right, next to a chest of money. Hook the artifact and the chest on the same drop. Because of the launch-window reset bug (see warnings), the safest habit is to open the door and grab everything behind it in the same dive rather than leaving and coming back.
★ What’s behind the door
Once the gate opens, drop through. The Submersible Controller sits under the gate and slightly to the right, right next to a chest of money. Both first-party wikis agree on the placement: wiki.gg lists it as “under the puzzle door and to the right,” and Fandom as “directly below the entrance to the area locked behind the symbol puzzle.” Grab both on the same drop — it’s easy to scoop the coin and swim off without noticing the artifact tucked beside it.
- The artifact
- Counts toward Point Nemo 100% collectibles — the only artifact in the world gated behind the door puzzle.
- The money chest
- A coin reward that sits beside the Controller. It is not the artifact and does not count toward completion — but there is no reason to leave it.
- Endgame impact
- Required alongside the other Point Nemo artifacts for full Stage 4 completion.
⚠ The Puzzle Gate reset bug (and its fix)
If you opened the door once and then found it locked again on every later dive, you were not doing anything wrong — that was a real game bug, not a puzzle you re-failed. Glass Gecko Games describe it in their own patch notes: “Fixed an issue where the Puzzle Gate in Point Nemo would remain permanently shut every dive after the one where it was unlocked.”
It was patched in the 1.0.1 hotfix on 28 May 2026, so the first fix is simply to update the game. If for any reason you cannot update, the reliable workaround is to open the door and collect the Submersible Controller and the money chest in the same dive you unlock it — don’t resurface and expect the gate to still be open next time.
Separate from the door itself, some players also report reloading Point Nemo from the GPS between dives to refresh area state when deep collectibles or the boss fish fail to spawn. That is a general respawn habit, not part of the door puzzle.
✦ Tips
- There is no shareable password. Any guide or comment that gives you a fixed 'left-right-middle' answer is wrong for your save — the hint positions and order are randomised per playthrough, so only your own three sea hints tell you the sequence.
- Screenshot each hint sign the moment you find it. Point Nemo is large and it is easy to lose track of whether the second hint was middle or right by the time you have found the third.
- The door puzzle is a pattern-memory puzzle, not a physics puzzle — do not waste time hunting for a movable block or a pressure plate. Only the white-dot positions matter.
⚠ Warnings
- KNOWN BUG (patched): on the launch build, the Point Nemo Puzzle Gate could 'remain permanently shut every dive after the one where it was unlocked' — you opened it once, then it stayed locked forever on later dives. Glass Gecko fixed this in the 1.0.1 hotfix (28 May 2026). If you are on an old build, update the game; if you cannot, the workaround is to open the door and collect the Submersible Controller and the money chest in the SAME dive you unlock it.
- Solve the door puzzle before your final Apophis 99942 attempt, not after. The legendary-fish fight can snap your line and end your run — you do not want a bad Apophis pull costing you a door run you already set up.
- Do not confuse the door's money chest with the Submersible Controller. The chest gives coin; the Controller is the artifact that counts toward Point Nemo completion. Grab both — they are right next to each other under the gate.
⌕ Common Questions
What is the code for the Point Nemo door?
I opened the door once but now it's locked again every time I dive.
The door opened but I only see a money chest — where's the artifact?
Should I do the door before or after catching Apophis 99942?
✎ What Players Are Asking
Real questions from Steam Community discussions, archived as they appeared.
“Base door puzzle solution (unique to your playthrough sadly). Artifact (Submersible Controller) + chest with money.”
Why this matters: The walkthrough author confirms two things most competitor pages leave out: the door solution is random per save ('unique to your playthrough'), and behind it are BOTH the Submersible Controller artifact and a money chest.
“If you press the wrong switch, you can reset by leaving the area and coming back.”
Why this matters: Multiple guides independently confirm the reset-by-leaving behaviour, and that hint locations and order 'vary from player to player'.
Play Scale the Depths
Cleaning up Point Nemo for 100%? Jump back into the game and run the door before your final Apophis attempt.
⌬ Related Secrets
Why a game controller is piloting a deep-sea submersible
The artifact's own in-game description leans into the joke: 'This handheld game controller was once used to operate a deep-sea submersible. It's unclear why something this low-tech was chosen to pilot a vehicle thousands of metres below the surface of the ocean.' It is not as absurd as it sounds. Real crewed submersibles have genuinely been steered with off-the-shelf game controllers — the most famous example is OceanGate's Titan, which used a modified wireless gamepad for maneuvering, and the U.S. Navy has trialled Xbox-style controllers for periscope control on Virginia-class submarines because recruits already know the layout. Parking that gag at Point Nemo — the most remote spot in any ocean, where the nearest humans are usually astronauts on the ISS passing overhead — is Glass Gecko Games winking at how the deepest, most serious machines on Earth are sometimes driven with a toy.
✚ Sources
- Submersible Controller — Scale the Depths Wiki (wiki.gg)— First-party wiki: artifact is 'under the puzzle door and to the right'; in-game description text
- Submersible Controller — Scale the Depths Wiki (Fandom)— Cross-check: 'directly below the entrance to the area locked behind the symbol puzzle'
- How to Open the Puzzle Door at Point Nemo— Three-hint white-dot mechanic; random per player; reset by leaving the area
- Point Nemo 100% Guide & Door Puzzle— Door is not a block/pressure-plate puzzle; 'your clue order matters'; door + money chest + Submersible Controller on the route
- Scale the Depths 1.0.1 Hotfix (official patch notes)— Official confirmation of the Puzzle Gate reset bug and its fix (28 May 2026)
- Point Nemo 100% Walkthrough — ALL Secrets— Door solution 'unique to your playthrough'; reward is 'Submersible Controller + chest with money'
- Steam Community Discussions — Scale the Depths— Player demand signal + reports of reloading Point Nemo to refresh area state