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A geofence is a boundary the flight controller enforces. Rally points are alternative return points the flight controller can use instead of home. You set both in the Plan tab’s right panel, and both upload to the flight controller with the mission.
Plan tab with a polygon fence and rally points on the map and both right-panel sections open

A polygon geofence and three rally points, with the Geofence and Rally Points sections expanded.

A geofence breach triggers a flight action on the aircraft. Read Safety and test the fence on a bench or in SITL first.

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Geofence

The Geofence section holds the fence for the current plan.

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Create a fence

1

Open the Geofence section

In the Plan tab, expand Geofence in the right panel and switch on Enable Geofence.
2

Draw the boundary

Pick Polygon or Circle under Type, click Draw on Map and draw the shape. Or click Auto-fence to build a polygon around the plan with the buffer you set.
3

Set the ceiling and the action

Enter Max Altitude and choose the Fence Action.
4

Upload

Click Upload Fence. Mission Control sends the fence points over the MAVLink mission protocol (fence mission type) and writes the fence parameters, including FENCE_ENABLE, FENCE_TYPE, FENCE_ACTION and FENCE_ALT_MAX.

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Inclusion and exclusion zones

A fence can carry extra zones: inclusion zones the aircraft must stay inside and exclusion zones it must stay out of. Add and edit zones, and toggle a zone between inclusion and exclusion, in the node’s Setup tab under SAFETY → Geofence. On download, the first inclusion shape becomes the main fence and the rest become zones. Mission validation checks waypoints, legs and rally points against the fence and every zone, and blocks upload when one falls outside. See Mission validation.
iNav uses geozones instead of the ArduPilot fence. See iNav guide.

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Rally points

When the flight controller returns to launch, it can fly to the nearest rally point instead of home. Use them when home may be blocked, or when a closer safe landing area exists.
1

Place points

Choose the Rally point tool (Y) and click the map. Each point appears in the Rally Points section.
2

Set altitudes

Set the Altitude of each point in the section.
3

Upload

Click Upload Rally Points. Use Download Rally Points to read the points stored on the aircraft, and Clear All to remove them from the plan (undo restores them).
Validation blocks upload when a rally point is outside the fence or inside an exclusion zone, and warns when its altitude is above the fence ceiling.
On ArduPilot, RALLY_LIMIT_KM sets how far from home a rally point can be and still be used. Points farther away are ignored. Set it in the Parameters tab to cover your operating area.

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A typical setup

  1. A polygon fence around the whole operating area, with a ceiling.
  2. Exclusion zones around buildings, roads or people.
  3. Three or four rally points in clear landing areas inside the fence.

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Next steps

Mission planning

Validate and upload the full plan.

3D mission preview

Preview the mission, fence and rally points in 3D.
Last modified on October 11, 2026