Picture of a drone
Drones appear in the sky randomly and can be tapped or swiped (to avoid accidentally tapping a building), knocking them to the ground and giving you a Bocks or Golden Eggs reward.
The base drone spawn rate is approximately 142 common drones and 12 elite drones (154 total) per hour. Drones drop between 0.01% - 0.25% of your Farm Value in bocks or between 6 - 384 golden eggs, depending on various factors such as your lifetime spending and equipped Artifacts. The base drone reward distribution is 70% of drones will drop bocks, with the remaining 30% of drones dropping golden eggs.
Drones were nerfed in update 1.9 to promote chicken hatching and prestige. Since update 1.12, the active running chicken bonus affects farm value and thus the value of drones.
Neodymium Medallions increase the frequency of drones. Carved Rainsticks increase the chance of receiving bocks from a drone. Beak of Midas increase the chance of receiving golden eggs from drones. Aurelian Brooch increases drone rewards.
Common Drones[]
Common drones appear frequently - approximately 142 per hour, or one every 23 seconds on average - and are comparatively slow and easy to knock down. Common drones often come in waves of 1 - 3 drones.
Bocks Rewards[]
Bocks rewards account for 70% of drone drops, assuming no artifacts that modify the distribution are equipped.
The base value for a common drone is based on Farm Value multiplied by the square root of your running chicken bonus when the drone hits the ground. For example, if your farm value is 1,000,000 and your running chicken bonus is 400, the base value will be 1,000,000 x √400 = 20,000,000.
The payout modifier is determined between 3 levels by your Epic Research Drone Rewards level and random chance. The modifier is calculated as m = 1 + (level value / 100), resulting in m = 0 with no epic research and m = 3 at max epic research. The three levels are calculated as follows:
| Band | Payout Modifier | Percentage Chance | % at m = 0 | % at m = 1 | % at m = 2 | % at m = 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.01% | 100 - (m x 10) | 100% | 90% | 80% | 70% |
| 2 | 0.05% | m x 7 | 0% | 7% | 14% | 21% |
| 3 | 0.25% | m x 3 | 0% | 3% | 6% | 9% |
The drone reward is then calculated by multiplying your base value by your payout modifier. For example, if your Epic Research Drone Rewards is at level 10 (+100%), m will equal 1, thus there will be a 90% chance of a 0.01% modifier, a 7% chance of a 0.05% modifier and a 3% chance of a 0.25% modifier. Using the above example base value of 20,000,000, this would result in drones dropping 2,000 bock 90% of the time, 10,000 bocks 7% of the time, and 50,000 bocks 3% of the time.
Golden Egg Rewards[]
Golden Egg rewards account for 30% of drone drops, assuming no artifacts that modify the distribution are equipped.
The base rate for golden egg rewards is determined from your lifetime total spending and Epic Research Drone Rewards level.
For lifetime spending less than 152,500 golden eggs[]
If your lifetime golden eggs spent is less than 152,500, the base rate is between 6 (base) and 24 (max) golden eggs per drone.
The base rate is then then doubled or quadrupled depending on your epic research level and random chance. When your epic research level is between 0 (+0%) and 10 (+100%), the golden eggs dropped will be doubled that percentage of the time. For example, at level 5 (50%), the golden eggs will be doubled 50% of the time.
When your epic research level is between 11 (+110%) and 20 (+200%), the golden eggs are automatically doubled and is doubled again that percentage of the time minus 100. For example, at level 15 (+150%), there is a 100% chance that the golden eggs will be doubled and a 50% (150% - 100% = 50%) chance that the golden eggs will be doubled again.
For lifetime spending greater than 152,500 golden eggs[]
Once you have spent at least 152,500 golden eggs, the base rate increases to between 24 (base) and 48 (max) gold eggs per drone and the epic research modifier changes.
Once your epic research is level 20 (+200%), you have a 99% chance of receiving 24 golden eggs and a 1% chance of receiving 48 golden eggs.
Elite Drones[]
Elite drones appear infrequently - approximately 12 per hour, or one every 5 minutes on average - and are comparatively fast and challenging to knock down. Elite drones often come alone but occasionally will arrive back-to-back. Elite drones can either be very fast in a straight line, have a curvy path, or a combination of both.
Bocks Rewards[]
Bocks rewards for elite drones work the same way as bocks rewards for common drones except the payout modifier is always 5%. The calculation of your base value is the same as for common drones.
Golden Egg Rewards[]
Golden egg rewards for elite drones have a 70% chance of being worth 4 times the base value of a common drone, a 29% chance of being worth 8 times the base value, and a 1% chance of being worth 16 times the base value.
Drone Farming for Golden Eggs[]
Drone farming can be an effective way of earning thousands of Golden Eggs per hour, especially during a 4x Generous Drones event.
The three artifacts that increase the effectiveness of Golden Egg drone farming are the Aurelian Brooch (increases drone rewards), the Beak of Midas (increases chance of gold from drones), and the Neodymium Medallion (increases drone frequency). Even though owners of the Pro Permit can activate up to four artifacts at once, there is no fourth artifact that affects Golden Egg drops from drones. If you have the standard permit, the best artifact to leave out is usually the Neodymium Medallion, but it may take some experimentation to find what works best for you.
The best possible Golden Egg drone farming set consists of a Tier 4 Legendary Eggceptional Aurelian Brooch, a Tier 4 Legendary Eggceptional Neodymium Medallion, and a Tier 4 Legendary Glistening Beak of Midas. The fourth artifact is irrelevant, so long as it is not a Rainstick.
Enlightenment Egg[]
The Enlightenment Egg farm offers a unique opportunity to overpower the artifacts by equipping more than 100% efficacy through multiple clarity stones. For maximum effect, the artifacts should be fully equipped with 50% or 100% clarity stones. If the artifacts are completely filled with 100% clarity stones, drones on the Enlightenment Egg will be guaranteed to drop Golden Eggs at a minimum of 168 per drone.
Note: the Tier 4 Legendary Beak of Midas only needs a single 25% clarity to function at full effect on enlightenment.
Note: the Tier 4 Rare Beak of Midas will function like the Tier 4 Legendary for drones only if it holds a 50% clarity stone. The Tier 4 Rare cannot guarantee Golden Eggs from random gifts or video offers because the chance of Golden Eggs is different than for drones. However, for drone farming purposes the Tier 4 Rare Beak of Midas works just as well as the Tier 4 Legendary.
Notes[]
Almost every drone will also fly through the same area on your screen, right between the door of the starting hab and the top of the second silo. Even though Elite drones may have a curved flight path, they still almost always go through the same area as all the others.
Because of how drone cash rewards are calculated, in addition to the above, you can raise the amount of bocks drones drop with the epic research Accounting Tricks.
Sometimes it can be frustrating for a player to try taking down a drone only to miss it by a few pixels and open another menu such as the silos or the habs. To avoid this, go to the nine dots menu found near the bottom of your screen, tap “shells”, and open the “editor”. This will give you a zoomed-out view of your farm that allows you to take out drones without having to worry about opening any other menus. Be aware that taking down the drones from this screen can be slightly less responsive so a swiping/smudging motion is often better than a single tap.
It's helpful to use Farm to Table when taking down drones because the camera can be moved freely and you can see your entire farm at once.