In ROB RUN, the police are described as a constant threat. You decide whether to confront them openly or act quietly. There are police only in Looty Bay, none in settlements.
Related items: the Police Radio and police badges in the Keys and Tools section.
Wanted level
The wanted level rises for killing civilians: killing an NPC gives 1 point, and the scale is capped at 3 points. At the third level, a criminal gets the “Most Wanted” status, and everyone in the city can see their location.
You can hold a store clerk at gunpoint to keep them from triggering the alarm, or kill them. Killing raises your wanted level faster.
Surrender and arrest
In a hopeless situation, a criminal can raise their hands and surrender to the police. On voluntary surrender, they only lose the contents of their bag and keep their gear.
A cop arrests a criminal who has surrendered or is knocked out. The arrested player loses the contents of their bag but keeps the gear they’re wearing. Other criminals can disrupt the arrest, which earns them Notoriety.
An arrested player can offer a bribe from their bank account. In the settings, the bribe goes up in steps of 10,000 and is capped at 200,000. If the cop accepts, the criminal leaves the city with their bag and gear.
Police duty
On shift, a cop gets free standard-issue gear and a vehicle. Personal belongings aren’t available on shift: they’re stored and returned after duty.
Better gear is issued for Sergeant’s, Lieutenant’s and Captain’s badges: the rarer the badge, the better the kit. Badges are single-use, found around the city or bought from Larry after research. You can work as a cop without a badge, but only with the basic gear. Badges can be traded at Barter: 10 Sergeant’s Badges for a Lieutenant’s Badge, 5 Lieutenant’s Badges for a Captain’s Badge.
A cop can only kill criminals. An arrest pays better than a kill, and killing someone who surrendered or was arrested pays nothing. Earnings are credited to an account, and at the end of the shift they’re paid out in confiscated goods worth that amount, with only part of it in cash.
Temporary reward bonuses come from ordering a criminal to surrender, having the siren on in the service car and going on duty through a reinforcement call (which also comes with free gear).
Cop rewards in the settings:
| For what | Value |
|---|---|
| Arresting a criminal | 7,000 to 12,000 |
| Killing a criminal | 1,500 |
| Salary for killing a criminal | 4,000 |
| Seizing a criminal’s loot, base | 3,000 |
| Seizing a vehicle’s loot, base | 2,000 |
| Share of a killed criminal’s gear value | 0.04 |
| Salary limit | 1,000,000 |
Holding cell for offenses
Citizens and cops build up an offense level for traffic offenses: running people over, vandalism, blocking with a vehicle, knockdowns. At level 10, the offender is sent to temporary detention in the city holding cell. Behind bars, you can’t use personal items or change roles. Over time, the offense level drops one at a time.
Prison and authority
Sooner or later, the feds open an investigation and confiscate everything earned illegally: money, cars, real estate, warehouses of contraband, crypto farms. The more is confiscated, the longer the prison sentence. You can also surrender to the feds voluntarily: then all property in the current state is confiscated.
A sentence in the game is your authority. A longer sentence gives tattoos that can’t be taken away in a confiscation and unlocks some of the goods in Larry’s Tree (the “required sentence” column).
A sentence starts at 1 year, with an overall limit of 10,000 years. A year is added for every 500,000 of property value in the state, up to 40 years, and one state can give you no more than 40 years.
You leave prison through escape points. On escape, your character goes to a new state: the nearest one or one chosen from a list. Highlands residents can go to a new state and keep their property, but the strongest players await them there. See Server and States.
Character roles
The rules for death and actions depend on your character’s current role:
| Role | Loses loot on death | Items break | Deals damage | Respawns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settler | yes | yes | yes | no |
| Citizen | no | no | no | yes |
| Criminal | yes | yes | yes | no |
| Cop | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Clan battle participant | yes | yes | yes | no |
| Prisoner | no | no | no | yes |
| Character in the hub | no | no | no | yes |
“Doesn’t respawn” refers to the role, not the account: where a character ends up after death or arrest is set separately.
A Citizen explores the city safely, doesn’t lose items on death and heals for free. A Criminal puts on a mask: everyone treats them as an enemy, and the loot has to be driven out of the city. A Criminal and a clan battle participant die if they quit the game. A cop removes Drills, repairs security panels, sees alarm markers and always sees the kill feed. A Prisoner deals no damage, doesn’t trade and can’t pick up items.