Random Events in GTA Online

Random Events are encounters and short missions which spawn randomly throughout the state of San Andreas in Grand Theft Auto Online, first introduced in The Diamond Casino Heist update.

Police Rescue
Added in The Diamond Casino Heist update.

The player may encounter a Police Transporter with its siren on, driving around various locations on the map. If the player gets close, Patrick McReary will call out for assistance, whereupon the player can choose to attempt a rescue. If the player successfully stops the transporter, Packie and another un-named accomplice can be found in the back. If a player is close by long enough when the Police Transporter is stationary in traffic, the officers inside will get out and attack the player. The player will also get a wanted level if they get too close, even if they aren't intending to rescue Patrick. This random event can occur in the midst of business resupply/sell missions, which can cause interference.

If the player escapes from their wanted level and drives the transporter to a designated safehouse, Packie will be freed and thank the player. The player will also receive $10,000, 2,800 RP, and the "Gunman" award. Lester Crest will then send a text message suggesting McReary owes a debt to the player that can be repaid by recruiting him for participation in The Diamond Casino Heist.

Drug Vehicle
Added in Los Santos Summer Special update. "Bold Moves Keep an eye out for anything suspicious by the roadside. You never know when you'll happen across a deal going down and be in a position to mount a hostile takeover. Once it's yours, why not return it to its illegal owner for a reward..."

- Online loading screen introduction.

Just like Grand Theft Auto V events, the GTA Online Protagonist will be alerted to the presence of a random event with a blue dot on the map and the screen will flash momentarily if they get within approximately 400 yards of the marker. Other players can see the same random event marker simultaneously if they are nearby. The marker will only stay available for fifteen minutes and players in the vicinity will see a countdown timer with five minutes remaining for the event to be triggered.

Approaching the site of the marker will reveal two African-American Street Punks and a heavily modified vehicle with the trunk open revealing a package of drugs. The player can eliminate the two gang members and take possession of the car.

A text message will arrive from any one of three gang bosses: Al Carter from The Lost MC, Edgar Carlos (misspelled as Edgar Claros) from LS Vagos, or The Families Boss, advising the drugs had been stolen from them and requesting the player deliver the vehicle to a marked location for a reward ($10,000 and RP). If a wanted level was triggered when eliminating the two NPCs, this must be escaped before the vehicle can be delivered. Other players are not alerted to the activity taking place but the player who collects it will have their map blip changed to flashing alternately between their normal marker and the "blue dot" on the maps of other players in the lobby to indicate they have the Drug Vehicle.

While unoccupied, the target vehicle has vastly improved durability with 6 Oppressor Mk II rockets required to destroy one, but when a player is inside it reverts to the normal resilience level and can be destroyed easily. After the introduction of Exotic Exports in the Los Santos Tuners update, the unclaimed vehicle resilience has been halved.

If another player takes the target vehicle on the way to the destination, they will get the same text message as the original player and will be directed to deliver it to the same location. Players can not cooperatively deliver a vehicle, as only the driver receives the payout. Again, there is a fifteen minute time limit to deliver, but only the last five minutes are shown on-screen, this time to all players in the lobby regardless of whether they saw the event from the start.

The player can also use the Cargobob to airlift the target vehicle to the destination if they wish to save times on road.

If the car is not entered within the 15 minute activation timer, the event will deactivate but the car and NPCs will remain in place. The modified car can then simply be taken with no opposition from the NPCs.

If a player enters the vehicle but fails to deliver the vehicle in time, nothing happens. Similarly, there are no consequences if the vehicle is destroyed en route.

After the package is successfully delivered, the vehicle may sometimes remain parked outside the location although this may be an unintended glitch.

In all circumstances where the player remains in possession of the car after the event, it can continue to be used by the player, but may not be taken into a mod shop or player's garage to be kept permanently as a Personal Vehicle.

Vehicles
There are five different model vehicles, each of which have three different modified variants:

Sleeping Guard
Added in The Cayo Perico Heist update.

A guard from Cayo Perico can appear within San Andreas. This event may occur when the player is near one of the possible locations. The blue dot will be marked on the map for all players in the vicinity as "Guard". The first player that is not in Passive Mode to approach the sleeping guard will be prompted to loot him.

They will find a small key that will be permanently added to the player's inventory and $7,007 directly to their bank account.

The key can be used to unlock a drawer in El Rubio's office. In this drawer, the player will find the Perico Pistol, which can subsequently be obtained from Ammu-Nation stores.

Although the pistol can only be obtained once, the random event continues to occur; if the player already has the small key, passing by a sleeping guard will trigger the small key message again. If the player chooses to loot the guard, they will only receive the $7,007. (The amount of money awarded is a reference to James Bond 007, owing to the pistol and other elements of Cayo Perico being inspired by the novel and film The Man with the Golden Gun.)

A player in Passive Mode will be able to see the map dot, but will not get any instructions nor be able to interact with the guard. Once Passive Mode has ended, the instruction messages will appear.

The random event will end after a certain amount of time with the guard dying and being unable to be interacted with anymore.

Exotic Exports
Introduced in the Los Santos Tuners update, Auto Shop owners who have completed a Contract will get a daily list of ten target vehicles that will appear as random event dots.

Phantom Car
Introduced in Los Santos Tuners update, but only active during the Happy Halloween and Halloween Week 2021 event weeks, a special variant of the Tornado Custom named "Phantom Car", would appear at night in freeroam sessions.

The Slashers Event
Introduced in Los Santos Tuners update, but only active during the Happy Halloween and Halloween Week 2021 event weeks. There are 4 killers, which can only be encountered from 9 PM and 5 AM, in specific areas. The killers are: The Clown, The Psycho, The Driver and The Slasher.

The Clown
The Clown is one of the 4 killers from The Slashers Event. He spawns in Los Santos, and is armed with a Switchblade.

The Psycho
The Psycho is one of the 4 killers from The Slashers Event. He can spawn in multiple locations, and is armed with a Baseball Bat.

The Driver
The Driver is one of the 4 killers from The Slashers Event. He can spawn either near the Maze Bank Arena or Redwood Lights Track, and is armed with a Wrench.

The Slasher
The Slasher is one of the 4 killers from The Slashers Event. He spawns in the northern part of San Andreas, and is armed with a Machete.