How to Revive Teammates & Death Rules in R.E.P.O.
What actually happens when you die in R.E.P.O., how to bring a teammate back with their head, and how to use death head possession while you wait.
Quick Answer
To revive a teammate in R.E.P.O., find the semibot head they left behind, carry it into the extraction zone with your valuables, and complete the extraction quota — they come back when the shutter reopens, at 1 HP. Stay out of the zone while the extractor fires. A dead player spectates until their head charges up, then presses E to possess it, hopping with Space and speaking on proximity chat. If nobody extracts the head, the player returns automatically at the next shop, also at 1 HP.
What Happens When You Die in R.E.P.O.
Death in R.E.P.O. is not a run-ending event for one player — it is a logistics problem for the rest of the squad. Four things happen in order:
You drop into spectator mode
The moment you die, the camera hands you over to your surviving teammates and you watch the run from their point of view. You cannot move, and normal proximity voice chat is cut off, so you cannot simply shout where your body landed.
Your head stays in the level
Your body breaks apart and leaves the semibot head on the floor. That head is the only thing that can bring you back mid-run, which is why a smart squad marks the spot immediately instead of finishing the room first.
The head eventually wakes up
After a recharge delay, the head opens its eyes. Press E to possess it and you regain a limited amount of movement and speech — enough to hop toward the team, flag your location, or point at the next extraction point.
You are back at the next shop either way
A dead player who is never extracted still returns automatically when the run reaches the next shop — but at 1 HP. Reviving mid-run and being auto-revived at the shop both put you back at the bottom of your health bar, so the real difference is whether the team had a full crew for the rest of the level.
How to Revive a Dead Teammate (Step by Step)
There is exactly one way to bring a player back mid-level: extract their head. No item, upgrade, or command does it for you.
Locate the head
A dead player leaves their semibot head behind at the spot they went down. Open the map to look for the marker, or listen for the dead player talking through their head once it powers up. If a monster dragged the body, the head can end up a room or two away from where they actually died.
Pick it up and carry it
The head is a physics object like anything else — grab it, carry it, put it in a cart, or throw it ahead of you through a gap. It has no value at extraction, so it costs you nothing but a pair of hands and some inventory juggling.
Put it inside the extraction zone
Drop the head inside the extraction point alongside your valuables before you start the extraction. Carrying it around the level does nothing on its own — the head has to physically be inside the zone when the extractor fires.
Complete the quota, then stand clear
Deposit enough valuables to hit the extraction quota. The shutter closes, the extractor runs, and when it opens again your teammate is back. Step out of the zone before it triggers — the extractor has a short charge-up and will crush anything still standing inside.
Note: reviving does not refund health. The player is back on 1 HP whether you extracted their head or let them return at the shop, so plan a heal into the same trip.
Death Head Possession: Being Useful While Dead
Dead players are not stuck watching. Once your head charges, possession gives you a short window of movement and speech — the difference between a team searching blind and a team walking straight to you.
Press E when the eyes open
Possession is not available the instant you die. The head has to charge first; when it visibly opens its eyes, E takes control of it. Pressing E again hands you back to spectating your teammates.
Space to hop
A possessed head moves by hopping with Space. It is slow and clumsy, but it is enough to clear a doorway, drop down a level, or close the last stretch to the truck so a teammate only has to make a short detour.
The Death Head Battery is the limit
Possession drains a battery that governs how long you can move and talk. At its default size it gives you only a few seconds per charge, so treat every activation as one deliberate action rather than a free roam.
Upgrade it at the Service Station
The Death Head Battery upgrade appears in the shop like any other upgrade and extends how long each possession lasts. Community testing agrees it does not speed the recharge up — you still wait the same amount of time between charges.
It restores your voice
While possessed you can speak through proximity chat again. For most squads this is the real value: a dead player who can say "I am behind the second door on the left" saves far more time than one who hops there.
Heads can bait monsters
Because a possessed head makes noise and moves, players report using it to pull a monster away from a loaded cart. You are already dead, so there is very little to lose by being the loud one.
Death and Revive Mistakes That Cost Runs
Most failed revives are not bad luck. They are one of these five:
Starting extraction without the head inside
The single most common way to waste a revive. Someone carries the head all the way to the zone, sets it down just outside the boundary, and the extraction completes without it. Put the head next to the valuables, not next to the door.
Standing in the zone when the extractor fires
The extractor has a brief charge-up before it slams. Reviving one teammate while flattening another is a classic R.E.P.O. own goal — call the trigger out loud and clear the zone first.
Leaving the head recovery until last
Monsters keep roaming while you loot. The longer the head sits in an open room, the more likely the route back to it becomes unsafe. Recover it on your next pass through, not on a dedicated trip at the end.
Reviving and then moving on at 1 HP
A revived player comes back on 1 HP. Anything at all kills them again. Spend a health pack, take a teammate heal, or use the truck and the Service Station before the next level starts — see the heal guide for the full options.
Throwing the head around carelessly
The head is a physics object, which means it can be launched into a pit, wedged behind geometry, or knocked somewhere you cannot reach. Funny once, run-ending when it lands somewhere you cannot get it back from.
Related R.E.P.O. Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you revive a teammate in R.E.P.O.?
Find the semibot head the dead player left behind, carry it to the extraction point, and place it inside the extraction zone together with your valuables. Deposit enough loot to meet the extraction quota, then step out of the zone. The shutter closes while the extractor runs, and when it opens your teammate is back on their feet. The head has to be physically inside the zone when the extraction completes — simply carrying it near the truck does nothing.
What happens when you die in R.E.P.O.?
Your semibot breaks apart and leaves its head where you died. You switch to spectating your surviving teammates and lose normal proximity voice chat, so you cannot tell them where you are straight away. After a charge-up delay the head opens its eyes and you can possess it with E, which gives you limited hopping movement and your voice back. If nobody extracts the head, you return automatically at the next shop with 1 HP.
Why do I respawn with only 1 HP?
That is the designed cost of dying. Whether your team extracts your head mid-run or you come back automatically at the next shop, you return on 1 HP and stay that fragile until someone heals you. Health packs bought at the Service Station, a teammate transferring health directly, and the truck between levels are the ways back up. Going into a new level at 1 HP is the fastest way to die twice in a row.
What happens if everybody dies in the same level?
With nobody left to carry heads to the extraction point, the level cannot be completed and the run ends there. That is why full-squad wipes hurt so much more than a single death: one death is a detour, but a wipe costs you the entire run, including the valuables you had already gathered but not yet extracted.
My head is not where I died — why?
The head is a physics object, so it can be knocked, thrown, or carried away from the place you went down. A monster dragging your body, a teammate punting the head to clear a corridor, or a fall through an opening will all move it. Check the map marker, and if you can already possess the head, hop it somewhere visible instead of waiting for the team to sweep the whole floor.
Can dead players talk to the team?
Not while you are simply spectating — proximity chat is cut when you die. Once your head has charged and you possess it with E, you can speak through proximity chat again for as long as your Death Head Battery lasts. Upgrading that battery at the Service Station extends each possession window, which makes dead players far more useful as spotters.
Is reviving mid-run worth the detour?
Usually yes, because the returning player still has to be healed either way and an extra pair of hands moves valuables far faster than one person doing two trips. The exception is when the head is deep in monster territory and the quota is nearly met — losing a second player retrieving a head turns a recoverable death into a wipe.
Does extracting a head cost me any value?
No. The head is not a valuable and does not count against your extraction quota — it simply needs to be inside the zone when the extractor runs. The only real cost of a revive is the time and risk of the trip back to fetch it, plus the healing your teammate will need once they are up.