The Hot Zone is the small circle inside the Control Zone where every player counts twice and earns double cash. It wanders on its own, parks at a map drill tower for 180 seconds when a team enters that tower’s code, and follows a FOB Drill Rig while the rig runs. The rig is the only structure a team can build that changes where the match is fought.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Menu cost | 1,351 ‡ (planners: 1,801 full-build) |
| Hammer | Large; Support 8 places, anyone finishes |
| Placement | Control Zone only |
| Fuel | 1,200 minimum per activation, tank holds 6,000 |
| Runtime per pallet | ≈ 220 s on 1,800 Fuel |
| Payout | $2,500 per activation |
| Cooldown | 5–10 min ‡ (10–20 in older sources); rigs do not share cooldowns |
| Per base | up to 4 |
| Durability | 2,500 HP, ≈ 2 C4 |
| Size | 4.5 × 6 m footprint, 21.8 m mast |
Activation is blocked while a rival team’s rig is already pulling. Three rigs with staggered cooldowns keep the pull continuous; the drill rig guide has the schedule and the fuel math, and the Team Drill Rig Fortress is the finished base around it.
The cost of the pull is visibility: the mast is visible from everywhere and every enemy mortar, Stingray and helicopter knows where the zone is going. Box each rig separately (module), build the defences before the first activation and keep two Fuel pallets ahead of consumption.
build-drill-rigmodule-drill-rig-boxteam-drill-rig-fortressdrill-rig-guide
Sources: mein-mmo-drill · allthings-cluster · wardogs-zone-db · s1-changelog · fobplans-research