The RUST Hot Air Balloon Command and Variables

The Hot Air Balloon, introduced on 11/1/2018 in The Hot Air Balloon Update, is the fourth aerial vehicle to be introduced to RUST and the first of them to be officially pilot-able by players.

Hot air balloons can be found spread across the map, defaulting to 1 per KM, in a similar nature to that of the minicopters, scrap transport helicopters, rowboats, and RHIBs. More specifically the hot air balloons are located in flat, open areas, such as beach inlets, grassy plains, and tundras.

The balloons will appear deflated and spread out on the ground. The attached basket stands upright, with an open doorway facing outward. In addition, the hot air balloon starts out with a total of 1500 health and will slowly decay over 180 minutes. This is the default decay period, but it is modifiable through server variables.

Inside the hot air balloon’s basket, which accommodates 4-5 players comfortably, there are a few critical items to take note of.

Engine & Fuel Storage

Located at the top of the basket, the engine can hold up to a full stack of 500 low-grade fuel at a time. Simply press the E button while looking up at the engine’s fuel storage to open the container. It’s important to note that while the engine is engaged, a large flame can be seen from far away distances, and even more so at night time.

Ignition Button

Located on the westerly side of the basket is a large red ignition button. When looking directly at it, a tooltip will display, reading as “Burn.” Use this button to inflate and deflate the hot air balloon.

While mid-flight, it is used in conjunction with the wind patterns to help steer the hot air balloon in the intended direction. Note that the ignition button will require constant attention, as it automatically disengages after about 30 seconds.

The button will appear depressed when it has been engaged and will rise back up when it’s disengaged. The engine and flame will cut off the moment this occurs. If you play with no in-game audio, this will be more important, as the flame can be a little difficult to monitor when you’re being shot at!

Loot Container

Located directly on the right side base of the hot air balloon’s basket, you will find a small loot container. This container has the appearance of a tanned leather satchel. It holds up to 12 items of any size to be stored inside.

Windsock & Flags

Located on the northern, western and eastern sides of the hot air balloon’s basket you will find three red and white wind flags. These are used for gauging the wind’s direction while in flight. In addition to this, there is a large red and white windsock that will be much easier to view, especially those players on the ground, and is also used for gauging the direction of the wind.

Hot Air Balloon Screenshots

Practical reasons for using the RUST Hot Air Balloon command and variables

Hot air balloons allow players to get an overview perspective of the map

Use as a location device, similar to a bat signal for players not in your party

Potential future for this becoming a vessel that can be used when transitioning to a different server

Spawn the hot air balloon into the game for custom events and mayhem

Adds additional interactions for players to use and be creative with

Admins using the hot air balloon can advertise unique aspects of their RUST servers, especially once modded

Provide an additional means for transportation in the game beyond running, walking, boating and swimming

Who can enter the RUST Hot Air Balloon command

The RUST hot air balloon command can be issued and configured on vanilla RUST servers by RUST admins and moderators only. Non-admin players on vanilla RUST servers cannot use the RUST hot air balloon command and variables but will be able to find the hot air balloons scattered across the map on vanilla servers.

RUST Hot Air Balloon Command

Use this command to manually spawn a hot air balloon.

When issuing this command, the initiating player must be above the ground and not clipped in a wall or geography

The mouse cursor must be pointed in the exact location of where the hot air balloon should spawn (Point above the water level)

The hot air balloon can be removed using the ent kill command

Note that this command does not work from RCON platforms and does require being logged into the game server.

Use the command below to spawn a single hot air balloon:

spawn hotairballoon

On success the console will display:

spawned hotairballoon[4082122] at (111.0, 0.1, 124.9)

Related Hot Air Balloon Variables