The Patrol Helicopter
The Patrol Helicopter, commonly known as Huey or just Heli, was the original Rust event and continues to be popular for the challenge and the potential for high-end loot.
Because of Huey's popularity and the fact he only visits every few hours, we have etiquette around how you can engage him.
The Heli Queue
You can fight the Heli without the worry of it being contested by joining the Heli Queue. This adds your name to a list of players waiting to take the Heli.
To find out who or how many players are in the queue use /heli who in chat. To see all available commands for the Heli Queue use /heli help.
Heli event etiquette
We have well established etiquette for taking the Patrol Helicopter on our PvE servers - this is for both your benefit and the benefit of other players.
How long do I have to take the Heli?
If you are first in the queue then the Heli is yours until it leaves the map or you concede defeat. You don't have to concede, but if you have lost the battle with no hope of recovering then it'd be nice to let someone else finish the job.
If you are picking up where someone has left off, maybe consider sharing some of the loot...?
If you take down someone elses Heli without waiting for them to concede, then you will forfeit the loot if that person complains.
How often can I join the queue?
You should not add yourself to the queue if someone in your team is already in the queue. You should not add yourself to the queue directly after taking the Heli, if the Heli Queue is still empty two hours after the last heli left, you may add yourself again.
Where can I take Heli from?
You can take Heli from any base you or your team have built, any monument, or out in the open using deployables or rocks for cover.
If you are using a monument please let other players know in chat.
If using a base, make sure it is not in a town or other built up area.
Can I go watch the show?
It takes alot of resources to take down the Heli and while spectators are welcome and generally unavoidable, please be respectful and keep your distance from the crash site.
Players/groups who have taken down the Heli are entitled to defend the crash site using force.
If you have taken down the Heli, please make any players who are getting too close aware of that in text chat, if they continue to stay and won't leave, kill them and notify a moderator.
Heli help
While the Heli can be misunderstood at times, it isn't a complete mystery. Get ahead of the curve with these helpful tips & tricks.
How do I know when Huey has arrived?
There are a few ways to know when the Patrol Helicopter is active on the island. The most convenient method, giving the earliest warning, is to simply set up a Pager to monitor 4760MHz. This will broadcast until the Heli has left the map or has been taken down.
How can I stop Huey targeting me?
Huey targets players with ranged weapons in the hotbar & players wearing more than two items of clothing or any armour. To avoid being shot at, simply remove any guns from your hotbar and all but two items of clothing and all armour from your body. Hazmat counts as one item of clothing.
Heli won't leave me alone!
If you have caught the attention of the Heli and would like it to leave you alone, you can simply disconnect from the server, go make a cup of tea/vodka and reconnect after a few minutes. This may be especially important if someone is waiting to fight the heli.
Agroing the Heli while someone is fighting it may result in you getting kicked, repeatedly agroing the Heli will get you banned.
I have a different Patrol Helicopter related question
If you have a question about Huey that isn't answered here, feel free to ask in the Discord.
Fighting the Heli
Watching the Patrol Helicopter get taken down is always entertaining, check out our Fighting the Heli playlist on YouTube.
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