Fortnite: What Are Reboot Cards and How Long Do They Last?

If you're a longtime Fortnite player, chances are you probably already know what a Reboot Card is. But for everyone else, it's worth going through a quick refresher. Reboot Cards were first introduced in Fortnite back in Season 8, alongside the Reboot Van. But if you haven't been playing Duos, Trios or Squads, then you've probably never come across these tokens, which drop when a teammate dies.

The Reboot Card is actually a very important part of the gameplay loop in team-based Fortnite matches, and understanding exactly what they do and how long they last when dropped is vital if you want to get your teammates back in the game.

What is a Fortnite Reboot Card and how long does it last?

First, let's discuss how you get Reboot Cards. These tokens drop whenever a teammate is taken down by an enemy. This means that in any firefight that ends in your teammates getting eliminated, you'll see a Reboot Card pop up next to their body. Only other teammates can pick up a Reboot Card, and they float exactly where the teammate died. So if your teammate died while jumping off of something, the Reboot Card will be floating in midair.

Once a Reboot Card drops, you'll only have 90 seconds to pick it up. If you don't make it to the card within the 90 seconds, it will completely despawn, eliminating your teammate from the match for good. After you've picked it up, though, all you need to do is head to a Reboot Van. These items are scattered around the island in Fortnite, and the fallen teammates can even ping one that's close by.

After you insert a Reboot Card into a Reboot Van, the fallen teammate will respawn. Unfortunately, they won't keep any of the gear that they had before. Instead, they'll spawn back in with 100 health, a Common Pistol and 100 Wood. Because of this, we highly recommend bringing some extra guns and materials with you to help get them back into the action.

Additionally, if you've managed to snag multiple Reboot Cards, you can actually use all of them at the same time. And since enemies can't even see the Reboot Cards for your teammates, you'll never have to worry about them nabbing them instead.

Reboot Cards are sometimes disabled—like during the Fortnitemares: Midas' Revenge event. When disabled, you'll be unable to pick them up. They also do not appear in solo matches, or matches where you do not have any teammates. That's just about all you need to know. Now get out there and collect some cards!

Fortnite is available to play now for free on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Switch, PC, iOS and Android.