[8] It is located at a distance of 4,580[2] light years from the Sun, about 210 ly (65 pc) above the galactic plane.

[7] NGC 6604 forms the densest part of the Ser OB2 association of co-moving stars.

[9] This cluster is fairly compact with a Trumpler class of I3p,[6] and is still undergoing star formation.

[6] The cluster has an estimated age of 6.5[1] million years and contains several massive stars of the OB type.

[6] One of these is the high mass triple star system HD 167971, which includes the over-contact eclipsing binary MY Ser.