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Hydrate

Your First Day

What happens after you make your character, what you start with, and a checklist of things to sort out on day one.

City Guide2 min read

Welcome to the city! This page covers what happens after you make your character, and the first few things worth sorting out.

Where You Start

New characters arrive at Del Perro Pier. The pier is a weapon-free zone, so it's a safe place to find your feet.

From your next login onwards, you choose where to spawn: your last location, one of the city spawn points (The Pier, City Central, Vinewood, Sandy Shores, Paleto Bay, Mission Row or Mario Warfare), or places that belong to you, like a property, your job's duty point or your crew's clubhouse.

What You Start With

  • $25,000 cash in your pockets, and $25,000 in the bank
  • An ID card
  • A phone (P to open it)
  • A tablet (use it from your inventory)

Your ID card, phone and tablet arrive a few seconds after you load in.

Weapons unlock after 30 minutes

For your character's first 30 minutes of play, you can't use weapons. A timer on screen shows how long is left. It's there so brand-new characters settle in before jumping into fights, but it doesn't stop other players from hurting you.

Your First-Day Checklist

  1. Learn the basics. Hold Left Alt to interact with people and things, and press F1 for the radial menu. See Keybinds.
  2. Set up your HUD. Type /hud in chat to choose what's on screen. Turning on the status panel shows your cash and bank balance.
  3. Grab food and water. Hunger and thirst run down over a few hours. Any 24/7 store sells both, and there's one right on the pier. Shops take cash. See Health and Hospitals.
  4. Get your licences. Visit Sharon at City Hall (below).
  5. Pick up a radio. Digital Den in Mirror Park sells them. See Voice and Radio.
  6. Find some work. See Jobs and Getting Paid.
  7. Check what's on. The Hydrate Events app on your phone lists upcoming events.

Licences and ID: Talk to Sharon

Sharon handles licences and ID at City Hall in Rockford Hills, and at the Court House. Hold Left Alt on her and choose Speak to Sharon. Fees come out of your bank account.

LicencePriceReplacement
ID card$500$500
Driver licence$2,000$500
Pistol licence$50,000$1,000
Hunting licence$10,000$1,000
Fishing licence (not needed to fish)$10,000$1,000

You need a pistol licence to buy a pistol at Ammu-Nation, and a hunting licence to buy hunting rifles. Police may ask to see your driver licence, so it's worth having one.

Sharon can also replace lost vehicle keys, and change your character's name (it's expensive).

To show a licence, use the card from your inventory: people nearby will see it. A wallet ($500 at any 24/7) keeps your cards in one place.

Court House metal detectors

Walking through the Court House metal detectors takes any weapons you're carrying. Collect them afterwards from the weapon check-in box inside.

Next Steps