Red Dead Online - What Happens When My Character Dies?

As you venture forth in Red Dead Online’s vast open world, your character may eventually find himself looking at the business end of another outlaw’s firearm. That leads to a simple question: what happens when a player dies in Red Dead Online? There’s actually two separate answers to that, and we have them for you here.

If you’re just out and about in the open world without a specific mission or task to complete, Red Dead Online is surprisingly lenient. There’s little to no effect at all on a player death, the game simply respawns the character a little ways away. There’s no loss of items or money, progress remains as is, and no in-game time passes whatsoever. The main game takes some money out of Arthur’s pocket, but Red Dead Online doesn’t bother with it. It’s a nice change of pace really, and allows the daredevil in us to come out without consequence.

This all changes when you take on a mission, particularly with a group of people. In this case there are a finite number of deaths allowed, that number displayed prominently in the corner of the screen. What’s more, that number of deaths is shared among the entire group, so if there’s 10 deaths allowed in a mission for two and one guy dies nine times, that other guy better know how to survive in a pinch.

Reviving fellow players before they burn one of those lives is possible, and it’s as easy as running over to the downed cowboy and pressing a button. Just make sure that there’s at least one member of the posse designated to helping out those who die, otherwise that death total will end up shrinking quickly.

For more on Red Dead Online, check out our guides on setting up camps in the world of RDO, as well as a kidnapping gone wrong for one unlucky player.