Protect Radios from Lightning Strikes

Understanding Lightning Damage

During thunderstorms, lightning can strike active radio antennas and destroy unprotected radios, putting them into Destroyed mode and deactivating them permanently. Taller antenna towers (built with stacked lightning rods) are more vulnerable to strikes.

Prevention Strategies

• Disable during storms: Toggle radios to Output mode or power them down when lightning is likely.
• Reduce antenna height: Use shorter lightning rod stacks to lower strike risk, though this reduces transmission range.
• Server protection: Check if your server has lightning protection plugins or settings that can prevent strikes in specific areas.
• Rebuild strategy: Keep spare radio blocks and materials on hand to quickly replace destroyed units.

Recovering from Strikes

If a radio is destroyed, you'll need to place a new radio block and reconfigure its frequency and mode. Lightning strikes are a natural hazard of maintaining tall antenna systems.