Heat measures police attention from 0 to 100. Crimes, GTA, PvP and some contraband actions can increase it. Higher Heat can change risks and costs.
The effect depends on the activity and city. Crime risk uses city police pressure and Heat-related rules. Reaching 100 Heat can trigger an arrest check during a crime attempt; it is not an automatic guaranteed arrest merely because the bar is full.
Street Market fees can include a Heat adjustment. Paid travel fares rise with Heat, and Heat of at least 50 adds a travel delay under the current rules.
Check each activity's displayed costs and risks. A successful action does not necessarily mean it produces no Heat.
The base decay is two Heat every ten minutes. Heat-decay upgrades can increase the amount removed. Decay accounts for offline time when your state is updated.
Lay Low lasts 30 minutes. When the timer finishes, it removes 25 Heat, with a floor of zero. The reduction is awarded on completion, rather than continuously throughout the timer.
You cannot begin while jailed, hospitalized, traveling or already laying low. During Lay Low, activities such as crimes, training, travel and starting PvP attacks are blocked.
You can cancel early, but doing so forfeits the 25-Heat completion reduction.
Lay Low does not protect you from another player's attack. It restricts the player's own actions; a defender using it remains attackable.
Henchman and Wheelman workers can be configured to trigger Lay Low at a chosen Heat threshold. This starts the same player state and completion effect used by manual Lay Low.
A Safe House has a separate timer. Do not assume it uses the same duration as manual Lay Low.
Mechanics checked against the game code on 16 September 2026.