Port, Drag, and Payload Bay

[Jestersage]

May I inquire if a port generate drag when attached to either the ends of payload bay/ parts within payload bay?

[Laie]

Nothing inside a cargo bay (or fairing, for that matter) is supposed to generate any drag. This includes decouplers or docking ports that are attached to the inside nodes of a cargo bay.

In reality, this doesn't always work. It's usually fine when you first roll out the vessel, but once a cargo bay has been opened and closed again, the parts inside may generate drag. This doesn't always happen, but to me it happens quite often. I'm not aware of any method to make the game reconsider.

[Jestersage]

Fair enough. So I basically just have to consider if the extra mass of a shielded port outweight the benefit of the extra drag of an unshielded port in the PL Bay.