GTA 5 Random Events Guide

Random Events are worth 5% of GTA V completion, and any 14 are enough. Do not hunt for them all. They will come up naturally during your other 100% cleanup. The total is 57 events, or 60 for returning players on newer versions.

A white sports car parked beside a gas station while a hint says some Random Events reward stat boosts or money.

How Random Events work

Events start to appear after Pulling Favors, and more open as the story goes on, particularly after Mr. Philips. As you travel, a blue dot appears on your minimap when one is near. The color usually tells you what to expect:

Mission Passed screen for Pulling Favors, with a New Contact Tonya notice on the minimap and Franklin beside a tow truck

Mission Passed screen for Mr. Philips over Trevor walking through his trailer

Light blue: a non-hostile encounter, such as someone in need of a lift.
Red: a hostile encounter.
Flashing blue and red: you choose whether to help or hinder.

Many events can repeat, but a repeat may not add to your count, so look for ones you have not done. Some event types, such as Security Vans, can only be done about once per in-game week. Others that lead to a named person, such as many of the lift events, happen once only.

Dark sedan on a Vinewood night street while the passenger says she is Lacey Jonas, the voice of a generation

Dark sedan drives under a lit overpass at night while the passenger talks about being famous

Random Event locations map

The table below is a location reference for every event type, sorted alphabetically. Use it with the in-game map to plan a route.

Pause map zoomed in over the desert, showing a 1599m waypoint and the property list on the right

Pause map with a purple route drawn from the highway across the hills toward the waypoint

Event	Where	Who	What to do
Abandoned Vehicles	Smoke Tree Road, Grand Senora Desert; RON Alternates Wind Farm	All	A parked vehicle is a trap. Trevor can act fast and avoid the attack.
Arrests	Grapeseed by the O’Neil farm; Senora Freeway near Rex’s Diner	All	A cop chases a criminal, and you can help either side.
ATM Robberies	Various ATMs across San Andreas	All	Chase down a thief, then return or keep the wallet.
Bike Thief City	Little Bighorn Avenue, Rancho; Bridge Street, Hawick	All	Catch a bike thief and return the bike.
Border Patrols	Mount Haan Road; Tataviam Mountains; Raton Canyon	All	Armed rednecks ambush you, so kill them all.
Burial	North Point, Paleto Bay	All	Save a woman being buried alive, then drive her home.
Bus Tour	Alta Street, Downtown Vinewood	All	Ride the Vinewood tour to the end. It has its own bus icon on the map and usually runs in the daytime.
Car Theft	Great Ocean Highway by Hookies; Exceptionalists Way, LSIA	All	Chase a stolen car and return it.
Chase Thieves City	Hawick Avenue, Hawick; San Andreas Avenue, Textile City	All	Lost members steal cash and flee in a van.
Chase Thieves Country	Grapeseed Main Street; Route 68 near Checkout!	All	Same idea as the city version, with a stolen wallet.
Crash Rescue	Great Ocean Highway, Mount Chiliad	All	Give a crash survivor a lift before time runs out.
Construction Accident	Calais Avenue, Little Seoul	All	Use a Dozer to free a trapped worker.
Countryside Gang Fight	Marina Drive, Alamo Sea	Michael or Franklin	Save a man from the Lost MC, then follow him.
Countryside Robbery	Route 68, Harmony	All	A police shootout with robbers. You can grab the takings.
Deal Gone Wrong	Chiliad Wilderness near the Great Ocean Highway	All	Find the aftermath of a shootout and collect what is left.
Domestic	Didion Drive, Vinewood Hills	All	Give a man a lift after he is thrown out of his home.
Drug Shootout	Mount Chiliad, north of Grapeseed	Trevor	Kill the bandits and take the briefcase from a shed.
Drunk Drivers	Aguja Street, La Puerta; Armadillo Avenue, Sandy Shores	All	Give a drunk man a lift home.
Escape Paparazzi	Vinewood Boulevard, Downtown Vinewood	All	Lose the photographers and take a celebrity home.
Gang Intimidation	El Rancho Boulevard and Fudge Lane	Michael or Trevor	A woman leads you into an armed ambush.
Getaway Driver	Strawberry Avenue and Forum Drive	All	Drive two robbers away. One of them can then be hired as a heist crew member.
Hitch Lifts	Ineseno Road; North Calafia Way (Franklin or Trevor); East Joshua Road; Route 68	All, except where noted	Give stranded people a lift within the time limit.
Luring Girl Into Alley	Supply Street, La Mesa	All	An alley ambush. Kill both attackers.
Mugging	Strawberry Avenue; Meteor Street, Hawick; Vespucci Boulevard, Pillbox Hill	All	Chase a mugger, then return or keep the wallet.
Prisoner Lifts	North of Bolingbroke (Michael or Franklin); south of Bolingbroke	All, except where noted	Take an escaped prisoner to safety and lose the police.
Rogue Altruists	Baytree Canyon Road, Grand Senora Desert	Michael or Franklin	Rescue a girl and take her home.
Shop Robberies	Eastbourne Way, Rockford Hills; Prosperity Street Promenade, Del Perro	All	Wait for the robbers to leave a shop, then catch them.
Simeon Yetarian	Premium Deluxe Motorsport	Michael or Franklin	Enter the dealership and fight Simeon’s goons.
Snatched	South Mo Milton Drive, Vinewood Hills	All	Rescue a kidnapped girl from the Lost MC.
Sport Bike Thief	North Rockford Drive, Richman	All	Chase the thief and return or keep the bike.
Stag Do Running Man	Route 68, Great Chaparral	All	Free the groom, take him to Hookies, then to his wedding.
Security Vans	10 spots, including La Puerta, Little Seoul, Paleto Bay and Vespucci Canals	All	Rob the van for cash. Expect a wanted level.
Altruist Cult Shootout	Altruist Camp, Chiliad Wilderness	Trevor	Happens after delivering four people to the cult.
Duel	Route 68, Grand Senora Desert	All (returning players on newer versions)	Take a Duke O’Death and fight off the rednecks.
Sea Plane	Cave in the cove east of RON Alternates	All (returning players on newer versions)	Fight the guards and take the Dodo.
Monkey Mosaic	Near Los Santos Customs in Burton	All (returning players on newer versions)	Meet the street artist in a monkey mask.

Which Random Events are easiest to complete

You want quick events with little fighting. These are all good choices:

Dark sedan drives a sandy desert road at night with someone in the back seat

Dark sedan waits at a night intersection beside a white van as the passenger asks for a ride to the Hills

ATM Robberies, Muggings and Bike Thieves: a short chase that repeats often in the city. These are the most common events.
Security Vans: 10 spots across the map. A sticky bomb or a few shots to the rear doors will do, and it gives you cash. Just be ready to lose the police.
Hitch Lifts, Drunk Drivers and Domestic: simple driving jobs.
Simeon Yetarian: walk into the dealership and win a short fight.
Burial, Snatched and Rogue Altruists: short fights followed by a lift home.

Two events worth finding early

Two events give you better heist crew. In Getaway Driver, on Strawberry Avenue at Forum Drive, take Patrick McReary and his partner to safety, and he becomes a good, cheap gunman. In Crash Rescue, on the Great Ocean Highway near Mount Chiliad, drive Taliana Martinez to safety before she bleeds out, and she becomes a good, cheap driver. Crash Rescue doesn’t appear until later in the story, and both are one-time events.

A man in a white shirt walks toward a parked dark convertible outside a house at night.

A man in a white shirt climbs into the passenger seat of a dark convertible parked at a curb.

Two passengers ride in the dark convertible past the lit Lucky Plucker restaurant at night.

The dark convertible waits at a night crossroads on Strawberry Avenue with a liquor store sign ahead.

Random Events that can be missed or may not appear

Nothing here will stop you reaching 100%, since you only need 14, but keep these in mind:

A woman climbs out of the back of a van while a man in a white tee stands by the open door

Red pickup on a curving road under an on-screen hint that Trevor can deliver passengers to the Altruist Cult

Some events are limited to certain characters, as shown in the table. Your ending can remove Michael or Trevor, which would close the events only they can trigger.
If you leave an event too long or drive away, it can fail. Repeating types will come back later, but one-time events may not.
If nothing appears, keep driving and try another area, since these rely on you passing close by. Driving slowly with your minimap in view helps.
Duel, Sea Plane and Monkey Mosaic only appear for returning players on newer versions of the game.
The Altruist Cult Shootout only triggers after Trevor has delivered four passengers to the camp.