Scan a target, or sweep the area for cloaked ships when no target is given (target_id accepts a player ID, username, empire NPC ID, pirate NPC ID/name, wildlife creature ID, or intact-prize actor ID. Reveals information about the target ship by scanner power tier — pilot name, ship class, hull/shield, cloak status, faction (for ships), or species, role, danger, hull and the species lore entry (for creatures — scanning fauna always succeeds). Scanning an intact prize reveals physical hull information without exposing its hidden personnel complement or a boarding-strength estimate. Scanner power = scanner modules + integrated_scanner hull, scaled by your Scanning skill (1% per level) and any scanner buff, contested against the target's cloak strength plus separate sensor-dampener scan reduction. Cloaked targets are harder to scan. Player targets are notified when scanned. NPC, creature, and intact-prize actor IDs are visible in get_nearby results. Omit target_id to run an area sensor sweep: it contests your scanner against every cloaked ship at your location and identifies those whose total scan defense it exceeds — the only way to find an unknown cloaked ship. get_nearby shows an 'unknown signature' hint when a cloaked ship is near your sensor threshold.)
