Police and prison mechanics are an important part of ROB RUN. Whether you’re playing as a Criminal, Citizen, or Cop, your actions can have serious consequences. You might attract police attention during a robbery, lose your loot after an arrest, or eventually face federal confiscation and a prison sentence.
In this guide, we’ll explain how the wanted system works, what happens when you surrender, how to earn rewards as a police officer, and what you can expect from the holding cell and federal prison. We’ll also cover character roles, property confiscation, and how to escape prison and move to another state.
ROB RUN Police and Prison Guide – Wanted Level, Arrests
| Mechanic | What You Need to Know |
|---|---|
| Wanted level | Increases when you kill civilians; maximum is 3 |
| Most Wanted | Reached at wanted level 3, revealing your location to everyone |
| Surrender | Lose your bag contents but keep equipped gear |
| Arrest | Police can arrest surrendered or knocked-out criminals |
| Bribes | Can be offered from your bank account, up to 200,000 |
| Police duty | Provides standard equipment and a vehicle |
| Holding cell | Entered after reaching 10 offense points |
| Federal confiscation | Can take illegally earned money, vehicles, property, and other assets |
| Prison sentence | Starts at 1 year and can reach 10,000 years overall |
| Prison escape | Escape through designated points to move to another state |
1. How the Wanted Level Works
Your wanted level increases when you kill civilians in Looty Bay. Every NPC civilian you kill adds one point to your wanted level.
The wanted scale has a maximum of three points.
| Wanted Level | What Happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | You receive one wanted point |
| 2 | Your wanted level increases to two |
| 3 | You receive Most Wanted status |
What Is Most Wanted Status?
Once you reach three wanted points, you become Most Wanted.
This is particularly dangerous because everyone in the city can see your location. Other players and police officers can track you, making it much harder to escape with stolen goods.
How to Avoid Increasing Your Wanted Level Too Quickly
During robberies, you can hold a store clerk at gunpoint to stop them from triggering the alarm.
You can also kill the clerk, but doing so increases your wanted level faster. If your goal is to escape without attracting unnecessary attention, controlling the clerk is the better option.
Important: Police only operate in Looty Bay. Settlements do not have police officers.
2. How to Surrender and Get Arrested
Sometimes a robbery goes wrong, or you find yourself surrounded by police officers with no realistic way to escape.
In these situations, surrendering can be better than fighting until you’re knocked out.
How to Surrender
When you’re playing as a Criminal, raise your hands to surrender to the police.
If you surrender voluntarily:
- You lose the contents of your bag.
- You keep your equipped gear.
- You avoid losing your equipment through death.
A police officer can arrest you after you surrender or become knocked out.
What Happens During an Arrest?
When a Cop arrests a Criminal, the contents of the Criminal’s bag are taken, but the equipment they’re wearing is kept.
Other Criminals can interfere with an arrest. Disrupting an arrest earns them Notoriety.
Can You Bribe a Police Officer?
Yes. An arrested player can offer a bribe using money from their bank account.
The bribe system has the following limits:
| Bribe Setting | Amount |
|---|---|
| Minimum increment | 10,000 |
| Maximum bribe | 200,000 |
You can increase the offer in steps of 10,000, up to the maximum of 200,000.
If the police officer accepts your bribe, you leave the city with both your bag and equipped gear.
This can be particularly useful if you’re carrying valuable loot that would otherwise be confiscated during an arrest.
3. How to Play as a Police Officer
If you want to play on the other side of the law, you can join the police force at the Looty Bay police station.
Police duty provides free equipment and a vehicle for your shift.
What Happens to Your Personal Items?
When you start a police shift, your personal belongings are stored away. You cannot use them while on duty.
Once your shift ends, your belongings are returned.
Police Badges and Equipment
You can work as a police officer without a badge, but you’ll only receive basic equipment.
Better equipment is available through three types of badges:
- Sergeant’s Badge
- Lieutenant’s Badge
- Captain’s Badge
The rarer the badge, the better the equipment issued to you.
Badges are single-use items. You can find them around the city or purchase them from Larry after completing the required research.
How to Upgrade Police Badges Through Barter
You can exchange lower-tier badges for better ones through the Barter system.
| Exchange | Required Badges |
|---|---|
| Sergeant’s to Lieutenant’s Badge | 10 Sergeant’s Badges |
| Lieutenant’s to Captain’s Badge | 5 Lieutenant’s Badges |
4. Police Rules and Rewards
Police officers have different combat rules from Criminals.
A Cop can only kill Criminals. Arresting a Criminal also provides a better reward than killing them.
However, killing someone who has already surrendered or been arrested gives no reward.
Police Reward Table
The following values are the reward figures listed in the game settings.
| Police Activity | Reward |
|---|---|
| Arresting a Criminal | 9,000–15,000 |
| Killing a Criminal | 2,000 |
| Salary for killing a Criminal | 5,000 |
| Seizing a Criminal’s loot (base) | 4,000 |
| Seizing a vehicle’s loot (base) | 2,000 |
| Share of a killed Criminal’s gear value | 0.04 |
| Maximum salary | 1,000,000 |
How Police Payouts Work
Your police earnings are credited to an account during your shift.
At the end of your duty, the earnings are paid out in confiscated goods worth the corresponding amount. Only part of the payout is given in cash.
Temporary Police Reward Bonuses
You can receive additional temporary reward bonuses through certain actions:
- Ordering a Criminal to surrender.
- Keeping the siren switched on in your police vehicle.
- Starting duty through a reinforcement call.
A reinforcement call also provides free equipment.
5. Holding Cell: How Offense Points Work
The city holding cell is different from federal prison. Citizens and police officers can accumulate offense points by committing traffic-related offenses.
These offenses include:
- Running people over.
- Vandalism.
- Blocking others with a vehicle.
- Knocking people down.
How to Get Sent to the Holding Cell
Your offense level increases as you commit these actions.
Once you reach 10 offense points, you’ll be sent to temporary detention in the city’s holding cell.
What Happens Behind Bars?
While inside the holding cell:
- You cannot use personal items.
- You cannot change your character role.
- Your offense level gradually decreases over time.
The offense level drops one point at a time, so you’ll need to wait for it to decrease.
6. Federal Confiscation and Prison Sentences
Federal prison is a more serious system than an ordinary police arrest.
Eventually, the Feds may open an investigation and confiscate property earned illegally. This can include almost everything you’ve accumulated through criminal activity.
What Can the Feds Confiscate?
Federal confiscation can affect:
- Money.
- Cars.
- Real estate.
- Warehouses containing contraband.
- Crypto farms.
The more property the Feds confiscate, the longer your prison sentence becomes.
You can also surrender to the Feds voluntarily. If you do, all property in your current state is confiscated.
How Prison Sentences Are Calculated
Your prison sentence is based on the value of your property in the state.
| Sentence Detail | Duration |
|---|---|
| Starting sentence | 1 year |
| Additional sentence | 1 year per 500,000 property value |
| Maximum from one state | 40 years |
| Overall sentence limit | 10,000 years |
Each state can contribute a maximum of 40 years to your total sentence.
Why Would You Want a Longer Sentence?
Interestingly, a prison sentence also acts as a form of progression in ROB RUN.
A longer sentence unlocks tattoos and certain items in Larry’s Tree.
The tattoos cannot be taken away through federal confiscation, making them a permanent part of your character’s progression.
Some Larry’s Tree items also have a required sentence listed in their unlock requirements.
7. How to Escape Prison and Change States
You leave federal prison through designated escape points.
Once you escape, your character moves to another state. Depending on the available options, you can travel to the nearest state or select one from a list.
What Happens After Escaping?
Your destination is a new state, which means you’ll be moving to another server.
There is an important exception for Highlands residents: they can move to a new state while keeping their property. However, the strongest players await them there.
For more information about moving between servers and states, see the Server and States guide.
8. All Character Roles and Their Death Rules
Your current character role determines what happens when you die, whether your items break, and whether you can deal damage or respawn.
Here is a comparison of all the roles listed in the game.
| Character 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 |
Note: The respawn column refers to the character’s role, not your entire account. Where your character ends up after death or arrest is determined separately.
Settler
Settlers lose their loot when they die, and their items can break. They can deal damage but do not respawn.
Citizen
Citizens are the safest role for exploring Looty Bay.
They don’t lose items on death, don’t take item durability damage, and receive free healing. They also cannot deal damage.
Criminal
Criminals wear masks and become enemies of everyone in the city.
They can use weapons and commit robberies, but they lose their loot and items can break when they die.
Criminals also die if they quit the game while playing in this role.
Cop
Police officers can use weapons, deal damage, and respawn.
They lose their loot and can have items break when they die. Their personal belongings are stored separately during police duty.
Clan Battle Participant
Players participating in clan battles can deal damage, but they lose their loot and items can break when they die.
They also die if they quit the game while participating in a clan battle.
Prisoner
Prisoners cannot deal damage, trade, or pick up items.
They do not lose loot or suffer item breakage on death, and they can respawn.
Character in the Hub
Characters in the hub are protected from the usual inventory losses.
They cannot deal damage, don’t lose loot, and can respawn.
Police and prison mechanics affect almost every part of ROB RUN, whether you’re committing robberies, working as a Cop, or building your criminal empire.
The most important thing is understanding what you’re risking. Keep your valuable money in the bank, know when to surrender, and be careful about your wanted level. If you’re playing as a police officer, focus on arrests rather than kills to earn better rewards.
Once you understand the difference between ordinary arrests, holding-cell detention, and federal confiscation, you’ll be much better prepared to survive in Looty Bay.