If you’re moseying around in Red Dead Online, Red Dead Redemption 2‘s open-world multiplayer mode, you may encounter some unfriendly cowpokes who mean to do you harm. Some rascally varmints practically go out of their way to kill you over and over. That simply won’t fly for players looking to explore and mind their own business. Luckily, Rockstar Games built in a system that helps lessen the frustration that inevitably occurs when a bunch of gun-toting baddies are unleashed upon a Wild West playground.
There are ways to opt into “feuds” and PvP in Red Dead Online if you prefer, without feeling as though you’re being forced into fights you simply don’t want. If you’re unsure how PvP or its various offshoots work in Red Dead Online, here’s how it all breaks down.
- What’s Different About Red Dead Online?
- 5 Weird Secrets Hiding in Red Dead Redemption 2
- The Best Horse in Red Dead Redemption 2
How to Flag Your Camp For Makeshift “Passive Mode”
First, understand there is no actual “pacifist mode” in Red Dead Online — at least, not while you’re out roaming the world. You can’t simply opt out of being damaged by other players, hence the need for the following modes discussed in this guide. This means that you’re in danger of being killed at just about any moment, and you need to make sure you have the means to protect yourself. However, you do have one safe zone in the game: your personal camp.
There are two settings for the flag flying over your camp. You can fly a red flag to allow players to come into your camp and cut you down where you stand. However, if you fly a white flag over your camp, you can return there to change clothes, craft items, and take a breather without having to worry about being killed.
You can change flags by sitting near the camp flag and holding the L2/LT button on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One to raise or lower your white flag. You can select this option by pressing left on your D-pad and choosing the “Camp” menu. When you lower your white flag, it cannot be raised again for a full 30 seconds. If you want to live dangerously, simply leave the red flag flying high. It might be fun to lure others in and kill them, after all.
How the Parley System Works in Red Dead Online
While adventuring in the world of Red Dead Online, you’ll no doubt come across other players looking to pick a fight. It’s the nature of the Wild West, after all, so you can hardly blame them for wanting to start some trouble. But it simply isn’t fun to continue dealing with frustrating players who want nothing more than to ruin your experience.
You’ll likely hear players taunting you via the proximity-based chat system if you’re using audio, but if your silent aggressors speak only with actions and gunshots, don’t worry — you don’t have to suffer at their hands permanently.
Yes, players can kill you multiple times and frustrate you beyond belief, but there’s a special option Rockstar built into Red Dead Online to help quell some particularly annoying tiffs between players. After being killed multiple times in a row, the game offers you the choice to participate in a “parley.”
While a parley is active, the two players involved cannot harm the other for 10 minutes. It’s meant to help both players hash things out together or, in most actual cases, get away from their aggressor to go somewhere else. It’s important to note that only one player has to consent to a parley before it triggers, mostly as a protective measure.
How the Feud System Works in Red Dead Online
If you’re more interested in wreaking havoc out in your Wild West playground than keeping the peace, you don’t have to participate in a Parley. Instead, you can go the complete opposite route and start annihilating other players. While parleys only need one player’s permission to trigger, feuds only activate if both parties agree to it.
Once a feud begins, both players can actively attempt to murder each other in a no-holds-barred brawl for three minutes. A score counter will even appear on-screen to track how many kills each player racks up in that amount of time, as well.
Feuds offer ways for players to duke it out without worrying about the gray area of “griefing,” to set up battles between friends, or even start gunfights between posses to determine the better players. It’s also a lot more fun to set up a structured showdown with another outlaw to see who can come out on top. It’s an interesting idea. You may find yourself using a lot more often than you’d think.
And that’s all for now in this Red Dead 2 PVP guide! We hope this helps you get into — and possibly out of — the kind of trouble everyone can enjoy. Have fun!
