DJI Fly waypoint limits: 200 waypoints, no resume after a battery swap, no terrain follow, Max Altitude
Four limits shape every waypoint mission in DJI Fly: at most 200 waypoints, no resume after a battery swap, heights measured from the takeoff point with no terrain follow, and a Max Altitude setting the whole mission has to fit under. Here is what each one means and how to plan around it.
Last checked
In short
- At most 200 waypoints per mission. DJI Fly refuses more, so a bigger job is several missions.
- No resume after a battery swap. A mission has to fit one battery, so a long job is several flights from the same takeoff, each ending with return-to-home.
- Every height in the file is metres above the takeoff point. DJI Fly has no terrain-follow mode, so a slope has to be in the heights already, and you take off from the planned spot.
- A waypoint above DJI Fly's Max Altitude fails the mission. Set Max Altitude at least as high as the highest waypoint and the return-to-home height; EU builds stop at 120 m.
At most 200 waypoints
DJI Fly refuses a mission with more than 200 waypoints, whatever the drone. The open-source planners that write DJI Fly files report the same cap, and a DJI RC 2 or a low-end phone gets sluggish well before it, from about 120 waypoints. Older firmware has been reported to stop at 99.
The cap bites hardest on mapping grids. DJI Fly's own waypoint editor has no interval-photo action, so each photo station is a waypoint of its own, and a grid with more than 200 photos is flown higher, with less overlap, or as several missions.
No resume after a battery swap
A DJI Fly waypoint mission runs from the first waypoint to the last on one battery. Land to swap the battery and the mission is over; there is no way to carry on from the waypoint you were at. So a job that needs two batteries is two missions, each its own file, flown one after the other from the same takeoff.
Heights count from the takeoff point, and there is no terrain follow
DJI Fly flies every waypoint height as metres above the spot the drone took off from. Its mission files have one height mode, relativeToStartPoint, and the app has no height-above-ground or terrain-follow mode. Two things follow. A slope under the route is not followed on its own: the heights in the file have to climb and descend with it. And taking off somewhere other than the planned spot moves the whole route up or down by the difference in ground height.
Max Altitude: the mission fails above it
DJI Fly's Max Altitude setting is also measured from the takeoff point, and in EU builds it stops at 120 m. A mission with a waypoint above the setting fails: the waypoints don't upload, and the return-to-home height can't be set above it either. So before each mission, Max Altitude has to be at least as high as the highest waypoint and the return-to-home height. On ground that rises from the takeoff, a waypoint 100 m above the ground can sit well over 120 m above the takeoff, and then no setting helps: take off higher up, or lower the waypoint.
Set Max Altitude and the return-to-home height
Once per mission, before you fly. The numbers are in your plan; DJI Fly keeps these settings itself, the file doesn't carry them.
Find the highest waypoint
Read off the highest waypoint height in the mission, in metres above the takeoff point, and the return-to-home height you plan to use. If your planner gives you a Max Altitude to set, use that.
Check the 120 m ceiling
If the highest waypoint is more than 120 m above the takeoff, the mission can't fly in an EU build of DJI Fly. Lower that waypoint, or take off from higher ground so the whole route sits lower relative to the takeoff.
Set Max Altitude in DJI Fly
In DJI Fly's safety settings, set Max Altitude at least as high as the highest waypoint and the return-to-home height, with a few metres to spare.
Set the return-to-home height
Set the RTH height to the one in your plan. The mission file doesn't carry it: DJI Fly uses its own setting, so it is set by hand, and it can't be higher than Max Altitude.
Take off from the planned spot
Max Altitude and every waypoint height count from where the drone takes off. Take off from the planned spot, or the whole route moves with the ground.
Fly a bigger job as several missions
For more than 200 waypoints, or more than one battery.
Split the job into flights
Cut the route into flights that each fit one battery and 200 waypoints, cut at natural points: between two shots, at the end of a mapping lane, at a corner. Every flight should end with return-to-home, and the next should start by climbing over the takeoff to the return-to-home height and flying in at that height.
Make one placeholder per flight
DJI Fly has no import, so each flight needs a placeholder mission to replace, named so you can tell them apart. The KMZ import guide shows where the files live on an iPhone and on a DJI RC 2.
Replace each placeholder's file
Replace each placeholder's
<UUID>.kmzwith one flight, and note which placeholder holds which flight: the name in DJI Fly's list stays the placeholder's.Set Max Altitude once
Max Altitude and the return-to-home height are the same for every flight, so set them once, as above.
Fly them in order from the same spot
Fly flight 1, land, swap the battery, open flight 2 and start it, and so on, all from the same takeoff. Later flights count their heights from the same point, so a new takeoff spot moves them.
Slopes without terrain follow
With no terrain follow, the slope has to be in the file. Plan each waypoint's height from the ground height at that point: a waypoint 60 m above the ground on a hill 40 m above the takeoff is 100 m in the file. Check the legs between waypoints too. The drone flies them in a straight line, so a ridge between two low waypoints is a problem the waypoints alone don't show.
- Plan heights from a terrain model, not from the look of the map. In Norway, Kartverket's laser data gives the ground to 1 m.
- Keep the highest waypoint, counted from the takeoff, under Max Altitude and under 120 m. On a route that climbs, take off from higher ground.
- Take off from the planned spot. A few metres of ground height are the same few metres on every waypoint.
When DJI Fly says the altitude is too high
- The mission won't upload, or DJI Fly says a waypoint is above the maximum height: Max Altitude is below the highest waypoint. Raise Max Altitude in the safety settings, or lower the waypoint.
- Max Altitude is already at 120 m and the waypoint is still too high: the waypoint is more than 120 m above the takeoff. Lower it, or take off from higher ground. On a hillside this happens even to a route that stays under 120 m above the ground.
- The return-to-home height can't be set as high as planned: it is capped by Max Altitude. Raise Max Altitude first.
- The drone flies lower or higher than planned over a slope: it took off somewhere other than the planned spot, or the slope isn't in the file's heights. Both are fixed on the ground, not in the air.
- DJI Fly refuses the file: count the waypoints. More than 200 is refused, and some older firmware stops at 99.
Where Skyplanr fits in
Skyplanr plans around all four limits. A job over 200 waypoints or one battery is split into flights from the same takeoff, each checked on its own and ending with return-to-home, up to 1000 waypoints per mission and one KMZ per flight. Every waypoint height comes from the terrain: Kartverket's 1 m laser data in Norway, checked every 2 m along every leg against the ground and the obstacles, and never more than 120 m above the ground. And the first line of the preflight checklist tells you the Max Altitude to set in DJI Fly: the highest waypoint or the return-to-home height plus 5 m, rounded up to the next 10 m, with a warning when a waypoint sits more than 120 m above the takeoff. Missions install in DJI Fly for the DJI Mini 4 Pro, DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Air 3, DJI Air 3S, DJI Mavic 3 Pro and DJI Mavic 4 Pro.
How a plan is madeQuestions
How many waypoints can a DJI Fly mission have?
200. DJI Fly refuses a mission with more, and a DJI RC 2 or a low-end phone gets sluggish from about 120. A bigger job is flown as several missions.
Does DJI Fly have terrain follow for waypoint missions?
No. Every waypoint height is metres above the takeoff point, and DJI Fly has no height-above-ground or terrain-follow mode. A slope under the route has to be in the file's heights, and you take off from the planned spot.
Why does DJI Fly say the planned altitude is too high, or that the maximum height is reached?
A waypoint, or the return-to-home height, is above DJI Fly's Max Altitude setting, which counts from the takeoff point and stops at 120 m in EU builds. Raise Max Altitude in the safety settings to at least the highest waypoint and the return-to-home height. If it is already at 120 m, the waypoint is more than 120 m above the takeoff: lower it, or take off from higher ground.
Can DJI Fly resume a waypoint mission after a battery swap?
No. A mission runs on one battery, from the first waypoint to the last. A job that needs more is flown as several missions from the same takeoff: land, swap the battery, open the next mission and start it.
Sources
What this guide rests on. The third-party guides are linked as published; Skyplanr is not affiliated with them.
- DJI Developer: DJI WPML overview (the KMZ format DJI Fly reads) (developer.dji.com)
- DJI Developer: DJI WPML waylines.wpml reference (executeHeightMode: heights relative to the start point) (developer.dji.com)
- jedrula/dji-waypoints: a DJI Fly waypoint generator that reports the 200-waypoint refusal (github.com)
- HOT DroneTM: flying with DJI Fly (the RC 2 and phones lag above about 120 waypoints) (docs.drone.hotosm.org)
- eyelanoesis/drone-mission-planner: reference KMZ files written by DJI Fly itself (github.com)
- dronnix-io/FlyPath: an open-source DJI Fly waypoint generator checked against a native RC 2 mission (github.com)
This guide describes how DJI Fly behaved when it was last checked; DJI can change the app at any time. It is advice, not a permission: you are the pilot in command, and the site, the geo-zones and the rules are yours to check before take-off.
Let Skyplanr write the file.
Describe the job, and Skyplanr plans the waypoint mission, checks it and gives you the KMZ for DJI Fly.