How Do You Take Down the Patrol Helicopter?
The Patrol Helicopter's body has 10,000 HP, but that's not the number that matters. It has two destructible weak points — the main rotor (900 HP) and the tail rotor (500 HP) — and destroying both crashes it regardless of how much body HP is left.
| Component | HP |
|---|---|
| Main Rotor target this | 900 |
| Tail Rotor target this | 500 |
| Body (full destroy, not required) | 10,000 |
Get its attention with a ranged weapon — an L96 with HV ammo is the standard pull — and it'll break off its patrol path and come at you. From there, focus damage on the rotors, not the body: an entire clip into the fuselage barely dents that 10,000 HP pool, while a fraction of that damage on either rotor ends the fight outright.
A base with Vertical Metal Embrasures and a bed nearby is worth setting up before you pull it — you'll want to respawn fast if it kills you, and the heli's rockets and incendiary rockets can still reach you through gaps the embrasures don't cover, so don't treat them as full cover.
When it goes down, the wreck and loot crates burn for a while — you can't put the fire out with water, and the crash site shows as a debris field on the map, so expect company if you wait around for it to extinguish.
Patrol Helicopter Loot
A downed heli drops 4 Helicopter Crates. They land on fire and you can't rush them — water won't put them out, and the crash site is marked as a debris field on every player's map. So the burn time is really a countdown on how long you have to hold the site against whoever saw the smoke.
Once the wreck itself cools you can mine the body for high quality metal, metal fragments and charcoal — worth doing, and frequently forgotten by people who grab the crates and leave.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much HP does the Patrol Helicopter have in Rust?expand_more
The body has 10,000 HP, but you don't need to burn through that. It has two weak points — the main rotor (900 HP) and the tail rotor (500 HP) — and destroying both brings the heli down regardless of the body's remaining HP. That's the real number that matters.
How many homing missiles for the Patrol Helicopter?expand_more
There's no reliable fixed number — the NPC-piloted heli fires flares that counter homing missiles, so a missile volley isn't a consistent kill method the way it is against a stationary structure. Sustained rifle fire or rockets aimed at the rotors is the dependable approach; we're not publishing a missile count since it isn't a stable one.
Is it better to shoot the body or the rotors?expand_more
The rotors. 900 + 500 HP (main + tail) is far less than the 10,000 HP body, and destroying both rotors crashes the heli outright — you never need to touch the body's HP pool at all.
What loot does the Patrol Helicopter drop?expand_more
It drops 4 Helicopter Crates. The headline pulls are the M249 (10% per crate) and Timed Explosive Charges (25%), on top of large amounts of 5.56 ammo and rockets — including MLRS rockets, homing missiles and incendiaries. The crates burn for a few minutes before you can open them, and the wreck body can be mined for high quality metal, metal fragments and charcoal once it cools.
How long does the Patrol Helicopter last in Rust?expand_more
It spawns as an event every 2-4 hours and patrols the radtowns before leaving the island on its own. Once you engage it, it'll break off and come after you — but if you stop shooting and it loses track of you for about 30 seconds, it gives up and leaves rather than sticking around indefinitely.
HP values, crate count and loot table sourced from wiki.rustclash.com (verified live 2026-07). We didn't publish a homing-missile count — the flare-countermeasure mechanic means there isn't a stable one to report — and we don't give a rockets-to-kill figure either, because rotor damage multipliers aren't published anywhere we can verify. Crate percentages are per crate, not per heli.