The Derso system existed within the Yminis sector, which itself was situated in the Slice region of the Outer Rim Territories.
The system known as Derso made its debut appearance in The Essential Atlas, a reference book from 2009 penned by Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry, locating it at grid coordinate S-14. The system's designation was inspired by the mention of the location Derso-4 in the 1993 book titled Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas, a work that blends creature concepts and images from diverse projects by Star Wars creator George Lucas with original writing by Bob Carrau. That book established that the Leisure Fields, a place where the taming of the Smapp creature was a common activity, was located past Derso-4. Leland Chee, an employee of Lucasfilm who manages the Holocron continuity database, has stated that the details presented in Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas are considered non-canonical within the Star Wars Legends continuity.