Drone capabilities
What do drones look like at night?
A flashing anti-collision strobe visible for 3 miles, plus small colored orientation lights. At night a legally flown drone shows a bright, rapidly flashing anti-collision strobe. FAA Part 107.29 requires it to be visible for at least 3 statute miles with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision. Most drones also carry small red, green, and white orientation lights that show the pilot which way the drone faces. The strobe is what you notice: a hard, blinking point of light.
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A drone at night looks like a small, hard point of light that flashes rapidly and moves in ways an airplane does not, hovering, darting, or holding still. That flash is deliberate and required.
Under FAA Part 107.29, any drone flown at night must carry lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles, flashing fast enough to help other aircraft avoid a collision. That is a dedicated strobe, much brighter than the drone's own small lights, and the rule lets a pilot reduce its intensity for safety but never switch it off. The FAA does not mandate a color, so white, red, and green strobes are all used, though white tends to stand out best against a dark sky.
Separately, most drones carry small built-in navigation lights, usually red, green, and white, that tell the pilot which way the drone is pointing at close range. Those are orientation aids, not the 3-mile anti-collision light the rule requires, which is why pilots clip on a bright strobe for legal night flying. So if you see a fast-blinking light maneuvering low and oddly after dark, it is very likely a drone showing exactly the lights the rules require. The requirements here are attributed to the source below.
The lights a drone shows at night
A legal night drone shows a bright anti-collision strobe plus small orientation lights. What the FAA requires, and what you actually see, attributed below.
- A legal night drone shows a flashing anti-collision light visible for 3 miles.
FAA Part 107.29 requires a drone flown at night to carry lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles, flashing at a rate sufficient to avoid a collision. That is a bright, rapidly flashing strobe, far brighter than the drone's own status lights, and the pilot may dim but not turn it off.
- Most drones also carry small red, green, and white orientation lights.
Consumer drones ship with small navigation lights, typically red, green, or white, that help the pilot see the drone's direction at close range. Those built-in lights are useful but are not the 3-mile anti-collision strobe the FAA requires for legal night flight, so pilots add a dedicated strobe.
How we know this
This answer draws on the FAA night-operations rule (Part 107.29) as carried by a drone-law reference. Here is the source.
The lighting requirement is the FAA rule as carried by the reference below, not a DEPLOY-verified observation.
Common questions
How can you tell if a drone is flying at night?
What color lights do drones have at night?
Do drones have to have lights at night?
Can you fly a drone at night?
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