ARC Raiders PvE Mode Guide: Beta Rules, Loot and Matchmaking
ARC Raiders PvE mode guide: how the October beta toggle worked, zero player damage, lower loot, mixed squad queues, excluded Map Conditions and ARC rules.
In this guide 11 sections
ARC Raiders PvE mode arrived as a one-week matchmaking test, not a new game mode with its own progression. Embark's PvE Toggle Beta Test post set the window from October 13 at 11:00 CEST to October 20 at 11:00 CEST, 2026, and during that week you could pick PvE servers where Raiders could not hurt each other while ARC machines kept fighting as usual. The toggle has since been removed. This guide covers what the test changed for combat, loot, matchmaking, Map Conditions and downed Raiders, how to use the toggle if it returns, and what Embark has said about its future.
Quick summary
- The PvE beta ran October 13 to 20, 2026, and Embark described it as, at least initially, a limited test.
- Player-to-player damage was set to zero, and stun and fire throwables did nothing to other Raiders. ARC enemies were unchanged (Embark).
- Loot value was lowered in PvE, while standard PvPvE raids got a slightly higher loot baseline for the test (Embark).
- Solos, Duos and Trios could land in one PvE session, and PvE games did not touch your PvPvE matchmaking rating (Embark).
- Night Raid, Locked Gate, Hidden Bunker, Frigate and Redirection were not offered in PvE (Embark, October 12 list).
ARC Raiders PvE mode explained
Embark explained the reason in its September 24 announcement, We're testing a PvE Toggle. The game began life as a co-op PvE project before it was reset into a PvPvE extraction shooter, and a large share of its players still play cooperatively. In the studio's player data, 37% leaned toward friendly co-op, 27% played a mix, and 34% preferred pure PvP. Over 70% of friendly players and around 40% of PvP players said they wanted fewer hostile encounters, and 51% of those surveyed were interested in a dedicated PvE option.
Embark was careful about the scope. The test was meant to offer an alternative to fighting other Raiders, not to make ARC harder or add a separate PvE progression track, and the studio said plainly that it might not work. The table below compares the two queues as Embark described them for the test week.
| Feature | PvE toggle (beta) | Standard PvPvE |
|---|---|---|
| Damage between Raiders | None | Normal |
| ARC enemies | Active, unchanged | Active |
| Loot value | Lowered | Slightly higher baseline during the test |
| Squad-size separation | Not prioritized | Kept as usual |
| Quests | Playable | Playable |
| PvPvE matchmaking rating | Not affected | Applies |
| Night Raid, Locked Gate, Hidden Bunker, Frigate, Redirection | Not offered | Offered |
This is a summary of the published test rules, not a full patch note. Details may change if the mode comes back.
Before the toggle, the only way to tilt your lobbies toward calmer players was the behavior-aware matchmaking Embark covers in Notes on The Matchmaking System. That post is clear that it builds no PvE-only servers: you may meet Raiders with a similar playstyle more often, but another player can still open fire. The PvE toggle was the first time the rules themselves removed that threat.
How to play ARC Raiders PvE mode
This toggle sat inside normal matchmaking. You kept the same character, stash and progress, and you could flip back to PvPvE on the next raid. Embark's post calls it a switch between standard servers and PvE servers, so you set it in the matchmaking screen before a raid. Embark did not publish a screen-by-screen walkthrough, so the steps below are the general flow rather than exact button names.
- Open matchmaking and choose your destination as usual.
- Set the toggle to PvE instead of the standard PvPvE queue.
- Pick a map or a Map Condition that PvE supports (see the excluded list below).
- Lock in and deploy.
- Turn the toggle off whenever you want to go back to PvPvE.
Nothing you did in PvE sessions changed your PvPvE matchmaking rating (Embark). The standard queue's matchmaking kept running during PvPvE raids so the team could measure how the toggle changed them. When the week ended, the toggle was removed and every raid returned to PvPvE.
Example: a duo has a quest on Dam Battlegrounds and a solo friend who hates being hunted at extraction. During the test week the three of them could run the quest in PvE, then switch the toggle back for a high-value Night Raid, which PvE didn't offer.
How PvP worked in ARC Raiders PvE
Embark's October 12 rules went beyond turning off bullets between players. The studio expected some players to look for workarounds, so it also blocked the utility items that could still hurt or disable another Raider.
- Zero player-to-player damage: Embark's wording covers all damage between Raiders, so neither gunfire nor melee could hurt another player.
- Stun throwables: had no effect on other Raiders.
- Fire throwables: had no effect on other Raiders.
- Barricades: unchanged, so they still blocked movement.
- Ziplines: unchanged.
PvE sessions were never private raids. Other Raiders still shared the map with you, you could still team up or ignore strangers, and squads of different sizes met more often than in PvPvE. That is a big part of what made the mode feel social rather than empty. Because barricades kept working, a player could still block a doorway or a stairwell, so plan a second route out if someone is being difficult.
ARC Raiders PvE loot explained
Embark cut loot value across PvE sessions on purpose. With no hostile Raiders, the studio expected far more players to extract, and more extractions would flood the economy with items. To keep both sides comparable during the test, standard PvPvE sessions got a slightly higher loot baseline for the week (Embark, September 24).
That creates a clear trade:
- PvE: less risk, lower loot value, easier quest runs and map learning.
- PvPvE: more risk, the better loot economy, harder quest runs when other squads contest an objective.
Embark gave no per-container or per-item numbers for the reduction, so treat any figure you see elsewhere as unofficial. The test was most useful for jobs where risk mattered more than reward: learning an unfamiliar map, finishing a stubborn quest objective, gathering a common crafting material, or giving new squad members a calm first look at Topside. If your goal was maximum value per raid, the lower loot was the cost of the safety.
The same 2.0 update that launched Pendola Pass also added a Dynamic Loot Zone test on that map, where some areas' loot value varies from raid to raid (Embark, Frozen Trail 2.0 patch notes). Embark did not say how that system behaved in PvE sessions.
ARC Raiders PvE matchmaking
Squad sizes were not kept apart in PvE queues. Embark's announcement said Solos, Duos and Trios would share PvE sessions, and the October 12 rules repeated that squad separation was not prioritized. For a solo Raider that meant meeting full trios regularly. With player damage off, that mostly mattered for competition over loot and ARC kills, not for safety.
The likely reason is queue health. Splitting the player base into a PvE pool and a PvPvE pool already divides it in two, and splitting each pool again by squad size would cut it further. Embark warned that matchmaking could take longer in low-population regions and during quiet hours, and said it would watch both queues, including whether a large PvE population hurt PvPvE session quality.
| Matchmaking rule | During the PvE beta |
|---|---|
| Solos | Shared PvE pool |
| Duos | Shared PvE pool |
| Trios | Shared PvE pool |
| PvPvE matchmaking rating | Unchanged by PvE games |
| Queue times | May rise in quiet regions or hours (Embark) |
For context, standard PvPvE tracks your playstyle separately for Solo, Duo and Trio rounds, according to the Notes on The Matchmaking System post. None of that behavior tracking applied to the PvE pool, since there was no hostile play to measure.
How ARC enemies work in PvE mode
ARC were not rebalanced for PvE. Embark said the test was not about making PvE harder, so the machines on Topside behaved as they do in PvPvE. The one rule change applied after an ARC downs you, to keep some pressure on a run when no other player could finish you off.
- 8-second grace period: for eight seconds after you go down, ARC won't target you again (Embark, October 12).
- After the grace period: an ARC that sees you moving can lock on to you again.
- Staying still: Embark's September 24 post said ARC should ignore a downed Raider who doesn't move, and advised care when crawling.
Our read: the stay-still rule fits well with Looting Mk. 3 (Survivor), whose perk regenerates health while you are downed and stationary, up to 75% of max downed health (ARC Raiders Wiki). Embark did not comment on that augment, so test it yourself if the mode returns.
Boss fights are where a PvE queue looks most appealing. The ARC Raiders Wiki groups the Queen and the Matriarch as Giant ARC, heavily armored hexapods tied to the biggest ARC Map Conditions that are often only beatable with several other Raiders. Embark's PvE posts did not mention either boss by name, so we can't say how often they turned up on PvE servers; the rules only say ARC behaved as normal. Our read: a Queen or Matriarch fight where no other squad can finish you off is one of the strongest arguments for bringing the toggle back.
Map Conditions unavailable in ARC Raiders PvE
Not every activity was open to the toggle. Embark's September 24 list excluded Night Raid, Hidden Bunker, Locked Gate and Frigate. The October 12 rules, published the day before the test began, added Redirection. These conditions are built around several squads competing over the same prize, which is the tension PvE removes.
| Map Condition | What it adds (ARC Raiders Wiki) | In PvE beta |
|---|---|---|
| Night Raid | Better loot behind locked doors, more keys, more ARC drawn by Raider activity | Not offered |
| Locked Gate | Collect four key cards to override the Gate's emergency shutdown | Not offered |
| Hidden Bunker | Find four buttons to open the Outskirts Bunker's doors first | Not offered |
| ARC Frigate | A hovering ARC Frigate attacks resistance below; Raiders board it to take part | Not offered |
| Redirection | Emperor Beacons send valuable payloads to the Raider who deploys them | Not offered |
Frigate and Redirection were both new in the Frozen Trail 2.0 update on October 8, 2026 (Embark), so the newest endgame content was the most visible gap. The Frigate in particular sends several squads through the same ship, where the question of whether the other squad will help or turn on you is part of the design. Regular maps and the other Map Conditions stayed open in PvE, and you could scavenge and run quests there as normal.
Is ARC Raiders PvE mode coming back?
Embark's October 20 wrap-up reported more than 30 million PvE rounds played during the week and called the test polarizing. The studio said it needed a short period to analyze the data, asked for feedback in a PvE test channel on its Discord, started a survey for a representative sample of players on October 22, and said it expected to share more in November. As of November 10, 2026, the official news page had no post with a decision.
The studio's own framing is the best guide to expectations: the test was not a promise of a permanent mode, and any decision will weigh the overall health of the game. If the toggle returns, check the new rules for loot, excluded conditions and ARC behavior before you assume this week's version still applies. The ARC Raiders hub lists the game's service categories, and our beginner extraction guide covers route planning for standard raids.
Want a hand with this?
If you would rather not grind this part yourself, ARC Raiders raid services and ARC Raiders quest help are listed on FullBoosts. Read Embark's terms before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included — a marketplace listing isn't publisher permission, and the refund policy explains what happens if an order goes wrong.
FAQ
Does ARC Raiders have a PvE mode now? Not at the moment. Embark ran a PvE matchmaking toggle from October 13 to 20, 2026, then removed it. During that week player damage was off, while ARC combat, looting, exploring and quests worked as normal.
Is ARC Raiders PvE mode permanent? No decision had been announced as of November 10, 2026. Embark said the test was not a promise of a permanent mode and that it expected to share more in November after reviewing the data and survey results.
Can other players kill you in ARC Raiders PvE? They couldn't. Damage between Raiders was set to zero, and stun and fire throwables had no effect on other players. Other squads still shared the map, so the only danger came from ARC.
Is loot worse in ARC Raiders PvE? It was. The studio lowered overall loot value in PvE because extracting was easier without hostile Raiders, and gave standard PvPvE raids a slightly higher loot baseline during the test.
Can you complete quests in ARC Raiders PvE mode? You could. The studio described the PvE servers as a place to scavenge, complete quests and explore. Quests that need Night Raid, Locked Gate, Hidden Bunker, Frigate or Redirection still required PvPvE, because those conditions were not offered in PvE.
What happens if ARC downs you in PvE? For eight seconds, no ARC will target you. After that, a machine that spots you crawling can lock on again; a Raider who lies still should be ignored (Embark).
