Income by action
These tables are built from our own in-game screenshots and cross-checked with community guides. We add to them after every play session.
In short
Section titled “In short”- The zone multiplies everything. A kill in the Control Zone pays $1,500 instead of $300 outside, a revive $800 instead of $400. The Hot Zone doubles it again. Since Season 2 an assault rifle kill in the Control Zone pays $2,000.
- Just standing in the zone pays: $160 a tick in the Control Zone and $320 in the Hot Zone — about $26,000 and $52,000 an hour. The Season 2 patch notes didn’t change ticks.
- Base logistics and spotting payouts are lower in Season 2. A pallet delivery pays $1,250 instead of $2,500, but each pallet in a row adds +$250. Spotting was cut by about 30%. More in Money-making strategies.
The zone multiplies payouts
Section titled “The zone multiplies payouts”| Action | Outside the zone | Control Zone | Hot Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kill | $300 ¹ | $1,500 | $3,000 ¹ |
| Assault rifle kill | — | $2,000 ² | — |
| Revive | $400 | $800 | $1,600 ¹ |
| Presence, per tick | — | $160 | $320 |
Bold — confirmed by our screenshots (Season 1). ¹ — Season 1 community data: a base kill is $300 ($350 for a headshot), ×5 in the Control Zone, ×10 in the Hot Zone. Our screenshot ($1,500 for a kill in the Control Zone) confirms this. ² — 0.2.0 patch notes: a kill with an assault archetype weapon $1,500 → $2,000. Values outside the zone and in the Hot Zone weren’t published.
How a kill payout is calculated
Section titled “How a kill payout is calculated”The game files contain reward tables, extracted and published by wardogs.zone. Our screenshots match them, so here’s the formula. The formula below is Season 1. In Season 2 an assault rifle kill pays $2,000 instead of $1,500; Bulkhead didn’t say how that fits into the formula.
- Base: $300, or $350 for a headshot.
- Streak: each kill since your last death adds +$50 to the base, up to +$250.
- Zone: half the base is multiplied by where you are, half by where the victim is. Outside the zone ×1, Control Zone ×5, Hot Zone ×10.
- Situation: a revenge kill ×2, ending an enemy streak ×1.5. If the victim gets revived, 1% of the payout is left.
- Repeats: each further kill on the same player pays 24% less.
- Server: according to wardogs.zone, every payout scales with the player count. Full rate from 60 players, nothing below 10.
| You | Victim | Regular kill | Headshot |
|---|---|---|---|
| outside | outside | $300 | $350 |
| Control Zone | Control Zone | $1,500 | $1,750 |
| Control Zone | Hot Zone | $2,250 | $2,625 |
| Hot Zone | Hot Zone | $3,000 | $3,500 |
Bold amounts are ones we saw in our own screenshots.
Payouts by action
Section titled “Payouts by action”Infantry
Section titled “Infantry”| Action | Where | Payout | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kill (confirmed) | in the Control Zone | +$1,500–$2,625 and 250 XP | 3 |
| Assault rifle kill | in the Control Zone | +$2,000 | patch notes |
| Kill assist | in the Control Zone | +$490–$743 and 200 XP | 2 |
| Kill | outside the zone | +$300 | community |
| Kill | in the Hot Zone | +$3,000 | community |
| Reviving a teammate | outside the zone | +$400 | 1 |
| Reviving a teammate | in the Control Zone | +$800 | 2 |
| Reviving a teammate | in the Hot Zone | +$1,600 | community |
| Defibrillator revive | outside / zone / Hot Zone | +$600 / $1,200 / $2,400 | community |
| Spotting a soldier (Season 1) | anywhere | +$100 and 25 XP | 1 |
| Spotting a vehicle (Season 1) | anywhere | $125–1,500 by vehicle type; spawn APC +$1,000 | 2 |
| Refreshing a mark (Season 1) | anywhere | half a spot: infantry $50, then $25; MH-6 $125, Ural $250 | 5 |
| Spotted target killed (Season 1) | by the target’s zone: outside / Control / Hot | +$400 / $800 / $1,600 and 75–150 XP | 6 |
| Control Zone presence | per tick | +$160 | 10+ |
| Hot Zone presence | per tick | +$320 | 1 |
- A tick pays roughly every 22 seconds (community data). Everyone in the zone gets it — even a pilot flying over it.
- Kills pay different amounts: we’ve seen $1,500, $2,250 and $2,625. The game’s reward tables explain it (see above): $2,250 is $300 × 7.5 when you’re in the Control Zone and the enemy is in the Hot Zone, and $2,625 is the same with a headshot ($350 × 7.5). Kill assists depend on your damage share, hence $490 and $743.
- Each consecutive Hot Zone tick adds another +$50, up to +$500 on top — the game’s reward tables confirm it. The longer you hold the Hot Zone, the more each tick is worth.
- One revive paid +$900 in the Control Zone. The game tables have a separate +$100 bonus for reviving someone “on the objective” — most likely that’s the extra $100.
- The game tables put a tick at $200 in the Control Zone and $400 in the Hot Zone, but every screenshot we have shows $160 and $320. It looks like ticks were cut by 20% after launch — we trust the screenshots.
- Spotting in Season 2 pays about 30% less than in Season 1 and scales with the target’s value: expensive vehicles, structures and crates pay more. Bulkhead didn’t publish the exact table. If another enemy faction destroys a target you spotted, you get 25% of the reward instead of 50%.
Vehicles: transport
Section titled “Vehicles: transport”| Action | Vehicle | Where | Payout | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tactical drop (ground passenger) | ground vehicle | — | +$350 (was $500) | patch notes |
| Tactical drop (ground passenger), Season 1 | Kodiak [M249] car | in the Hot Zone | +$2,000 | 1 |
| Tactical drop (air passenger) | helicopter | — | +$100 and 25 XP (was $150 and 50 XP) | patch notes |
| Passenger survived | MH-6 and Z20 Lakota helicopters | in the Control Zone | +$500 and 100 XP | 5 |
| Passenger survived | — | in the Hot Zone | +$1,000 | community |
| Assist from a dropped player — a fighter you brought in got a kill | MH-6 helicopter | anywhere | +$750 and 25–50 XP | 2 |
| Return trip to base — per survivor aboard | ground vehicle | back to your base | +$150 and 50 XP (was $250 and 100 XP) | patch notes |
| Delivering a supply pallet | Z20 Lakota helicopter | — | +$1,250 and 400 XP (was $2,500) | patch notes |
| Delivering a supply pallet | ground vehicle | — | +$1,250 and 500 XP | patch notes |
| Delivering a small / large crate | helicopter | — | +$250 / $500 and 150 / 300 XP (was $500 and 200 XP for a small one) | patch notes |
| Delivering a small / large crate | ground vehicle | — | +$250 / $500 and 200 / 400 XP | patch notes |
| Refuelling | — | — | −$5 (cost) | 1 |
- Ground drops pay better than air drops. The Season 2 patch notes put a ground passenger at $350 and an air passenger at $100. In Season 1 it was $500 and $150 (community data), and our screenshot then showed $2,000 for one passenger dropped from a car in the Hot Zone — $500 × 4, the Hot Zone multiplier.
- “Assist from a dropped player” arrives when a fighter you brought in gets a kill. We got it after flying 2–3 km away from the zone: passengers keep earning for you after the drop.
- The rule “a return trip pays for at least three passengers” is Season 1 community data. The patch notes give only the per-passenger payout.
- The pallet on the Z20 Lakota paid five times more than the crate on the MH-6. In Season 2 the ratio is the same: $1,250 against $250. Cargo capacity matters.
Delivery streaks
Section titled “Delivery streaks”Since Season 2 every delivery in a row adds a bonus. Bulkhead added it to reward logistics players who come back for the next load instead of abandoning their vehicle. The values below are for deliveries into the Control Zone, from the patch notes.
| Streak | Bonus per delivery in a row | Streak cap |
|---|---|---|
| Crates | +$100 and 50 XP | 10 |
| Pallets | +$250 and 100 XP | 10 |
| Players | +$25 and 5 XP | 25 |
| Return trips | +$50 and 25 XP | 10 |
The patch notes don’t say whether the bonus grows with each step of the streak or stays the same.
Supply pallet: the full maths
Section titled “Supply pallet: the full maths”| Step | Amount | Observations |
|---|---|---|
| Buy a pallet from the vehicle vendor | −$400 | community |
| Deliver the pallet to the zone | +$1,250 (Season 1: $2,500) | patch notes |
| Pallet streak bonus | +$250 and 100 XP per pallet in a row, up to 10 | patch notes |
| Unload the pallet at a FOB (“Storing supplies”, UNLOAD SUPPLIES) | +$1,800 | 2 |
| Net per pallet, Season 1 | +$3,900 |
We don’t recompute the Season 2 net: the patch notes give neither the pallet price nor the unloading payout, and don’t say how the streak bonus adds up.
Unloading is a separate action: walk up to each pallet and choose UNLOAD SUPPLIES. Drop the pallet and fly off, and you leave $1,800 of the payout behind.
Since Season 2 the mechanical, ammo and fuel pallets are no longer unlocked from the start. They unlock on the WARDOG track: level 5 for $10,000, level 9 for $25,000 and level 16 for $50,000.
Vehicles: combat
Section titled “Vehicles: combat”| Action | With | Payout | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Destroying a vehicle (Season 1) | SKS marksman rifle | +$2,344 and 150 XP | 1 |
| Destroying an enemy spawn APC | — | +$10,000 | community |
| Destroying cars and trucks | — | Kodiak $500, Kodiak Pickup $600, Kodiak [M249] $3,400; Humvee $600, Humvee [M249] $4,250, Humvee [Minigun] $5,000; Ural $1,000, Ural Defender $3,600, Ural Defender [M249] $4,750; Wolf-110 $450, Wolf-110 [M2] $3,900; Bobcat $100; Dune Buggy $300 | patch notes |
| Destroying a tank or heavy vehicle | — | L2A6 $11,000, T-72B3 $8,000, SPH-2 $8,000, Gepard $7,000 | patch notes |
| Destroying a helicopter | — | MH-6 $1,250, Little Bird [Miniguns] $6,000, Little Bird [Rockets] $9,400, Z20 Lakota $1,500, Z20 Lakota [Miniguns] $7,500, Havoc $14,000 | patch notes |
| Killing infantry from a vehicle | — | — | checking |
- Vehicle payouts aren’t fixed: they depend on the vehicle and on where you and it are (the zone multiplier). Hence the odd $2,344 in Season 1.
- Since Season 2 each variant has its own payout, listed in the table above. Armed variants give 1.5× the XP of the default one. Attack vehicles are worth more the more kills they’ve made. The patch notes don’t say how the zone multiplier applies to these amounts.
- Community data says only vehicles someone bought pay out. Free vehicles from base earn nothing.
- Passengers of a destroyed vehicle pay separately, as normal kills.
Building and FOB supply
Section titled “Building and FOB supply”| Action | Where | Payout | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hammer hit on a structure | in the Control Zone | +$2…$15 | several |
| Finishing a structure | in the Control Zone | +$32 | several |
| Storing supplies (unloading a pallet at a FOB) | in the Control Zone and the Hot Zone | +$1,800 and 180 XP | 2 |
| Hacking an enemy FOB | in the Control Zone | +$2,500, plus 250 XP per the patch notes | 1 |
| Hacking an enemy FOB, teammates nearby | in the FOB radius | +$1,000 and 250 XP | patch notes |
| Destroying an enemy FOB | — | bonus up to +$7,500 and 250 XP, by the supplies it held (maxed at 25,000 supplies) | patch notes |
| Breaching a door with the Halligan Bar | — | +$100, once per door | patch notes |
| Closing a friendly FOB door | — | +$75 | patch notes |
Hacking an enemy FOB takes about 30 seconds and is loud, so it’s hard to pull off alone — bring a squad for cover. Since Season 2 teammates in the FOB radius also get paid for the hack, so going as a squad pays more. Hacking levels Assault.
Destroying structures and crates
Section titled “Destroying structures and crates”Since Season 2 an enemy structure pays its build supply cost, and XP is roughly a quarter of that. An unfinished structure pays by how far it was built. All amounts are from the patch notes.
| Target | Payout |
|---|---|
| Hot Zone Magnet | $2,750 (was $4,500) |
| Vanguard CIWS | $1,200 (was $3,000) |
| L81 mortar, Stingray | $650 each (was $300 each) |
| Talon 9K-SAM | $650 (was $2,000) |
| MG Nest | $650 |
| Large Shelter | $250 |
| Repair / refuel station | $200 (was $400) |
| Gate / door | $200 / $100 (was $170 / $500) |
| Wood base | $15 |
| Small / large supply crate | $300 / $600 (was $500 / $1,000) |
| Small / large armoured crate | $1,000 / $1,600 (was $500 / $1,000) |
| Supply pallet | $800 (was $1,000) |
An empty enemy crate gives half the cash and XP. Crate payouts scale with the value of the supplies inside.
Towers
Section titled “Towers”| Action | Payout | Observations |
|---|---|---|
| Capturing a neutral tower | +$250 | community |
| Capturing an enemy drill tower | +$1,500 and 300 XP (was $750 and 250 XP) | patch notes |
| Firing the Hot Zone magnet (entering the code) | +$2,500 | community |
More on towers in the Towers section.
Other: money from other players
Section titled “Other: money from other players”| What | Payout | Observations |
|---|---|---|
| Tips (TIP) | +$10…$15 | 2 |
| Revive bribe | whatever the downed player set, in $50 steps | see below |
Revive bribe
Section titled “Revive bribe”A downed player can put up their own reward for whoever revives them:
- the downed screen shows “Total bribe” and the hint F1 — bribe +$50: each press raises the reward by $50;
- the amount shows on the map next to the downed player’s icon, e.g. “$100” or “$200”.
Heading out to pick someone up? Check the map — downed players with a bribe pay better. Downed with no medic nearby? Put up a bribe to get picked up faster.
Players can send each other tips. They arrive as a separate line, “TIP — name +$…”. That’s how people thank pilots for rides, medics for revives and logistics players for deliveries.
Cash refunded at match end
Section titled “Cash refunded at match end”The match summary has a “Cash refunded” line. In our match it came to $7,973 — nearly $8,000.
Community data says you get back 90% of the price of gear that survives to the end of the match, as long as at least 20 score ticks have passed. The rule is simple: survive until the end with expensive gear and it comes back as cash. Vehicles, in our experience, aren’t refunded: in the Ural match the truck survived intact and the refund was $0. In the spotting match $359 came back — almost exactly 90% of the rangefinder’s $400 price (Season 1).
Example: one match summary
Section titled “Example: one match summary”This Season 1 match was a loss; our team finished 2nd.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2nd place + contribution | +$4,400 |
| Money spent | −$29,709 |
| Money earned | +$22,281 |
| Cash refunded | +$7,973 |
| Net profit | +$4,875 |
Even a lost match ended in profit: earnings, the placement bonus and the refund outweighed spending.
Reading the cash counters
Section titled “Reading the cash counters”There are two numbers in the top-right corner:
- the right one is your total balance (e.g. $34,721);
- the left one is the current match result: earned minus spent (e.g. −$15,788).
At the start of a match the left number is usually negative — you’ve just bought your kit. It climbs towards zero and beyond as you play. If it’s still deep in the red near the end, your loadout was too expensive for your playstyle.
Conclusions
Section titled “Conclusions”- Logistics is the most reliable income. In Season 1 a $400 pallet paid $2,500 on delivery plus $1,800 for unloading at a FOB — $3,900 net without firing a shot. In Season 2 delivery pays $1,250, but each pallet in a row adds +$250 and each return trip in a row +$50. Transport adds more: a ground passenger pays $350, each survivor $500–$1,000, and every kill by a fighter you brought in another $750.
- A kill in the Hot Zone ($3,000, Season 1) is the most valuable single action, and the riskiest. Outside the zone a kill is worth only $300 — fighting outside the zone barely pays. Since Season 2 an assault rifle kill in the Control Zone pays $2,000.
- Reviving is cheap and nearly risk-free: $800 in the zone, $1,600 in the Hot Zone. A medic with bandages pays off very quickly, with bribes and tips on top.
- Zone presence pays constantly: $160 per tick in the Control Zone and $320 in the Hot Zone, plus the Hot Zone streak bonus. Every minute in the zone is cash and points for your team.
- Building barely pays by itself ($2–$32 per action). You build to hold the zone and towers, not to earn. Since Season 2 wrecking enemy structures pays better: each one pays its build supply cost.
- Survive until the end. Getting 90% of your gear’s price back can be a big part of your profit. Vehicles aren’t refunded.
Still checking
Section titled “Still checking”Besides the “checking” and “community” rows in the tables above:
- Whether the bribe arrives as a separate line on revive.
- What spotting and unloading a pallet at a FOB pay in Season 2.
- How the delivery streak bonus adds up, and what a helicopter return trip pays.
- The Hot Zone streak bonus: it’s in the game tables, but we haven’t seen it in a screenshot yet.
- The placement bonus at match end: the game tables say $1,000 / $500 / $250 plus 30% / 25% / 20% of earnings (up to $100,000), but our match summaries don’t add up to that.
- How the zone multiplier applies to the patch-note vehicle payouts.
Which strategy earns the most per match: Money-making strategies. See also: Economy basics.