How do detections work?

Ever wondered why the Dronetag app sometimes shows the same drone more than once, or why you see just one detection even though you landed in between flights? This article explains what detections are, how they work, and why they might not always match your expectations.

What is a detection?

A detection is a record of a drone’s telemetry that our system receives without a long interruption. If there’s a break in the signal for about 15 minutes, we consider that detection closed. Remote ID messages tell us the drone’s location, altitude, speed, and other data, but they don’t say when a flight starts or ends. That’s why we call it a detection—not a flight. We only know where the drone was when we received its signal.

Why do you call it a detection and not a flight?

We use the term "detection" on purpose, because we can’t always tell when a flight begins or ends. In the app, you’ll notice “Flights” and “Detections” are listed separately. That’s intentional: a flight is a different concept from a detection. Flights are always recorded by Dronetag equipment, while detections can come from any Remote ID device.

Why can’t you tell when a drone takes off or lands?

If you’re using a Network Remote ID (NRI) device like the Dronetag Mini, it can report the exact start and end of a flight. But with Direct Remote ID (DRI) devices—or when you’re just picking up signals from a drone with Remote ID—it’s not possible to know the takeoff or landing times. DRI only broadcasts the drone’s ID and location, not when the flight starts or ends. So, with DRI, we can’t pinpoint those moments—only when the drone was detected.

Why do I see multiple detections for the same drone?

If you see the same drone listed more than once, it’s usually because there was a long enough break in detection—maybe the drone went out of range or the signal was lost. When the system picks up the drone again after about 15 minutes, it creates a new detection record.

Why do I see just one detection even though I landed in between?

If you landed and took off again but only see one detection, it’s likely because the break in the Remote ID signal wasn’t long enough. The system only closes a detection after about 15 minutes without a signal. So, if you swapped batteries quickly or restarted the drone in less than 15 minutes, it will still count as a single detection. Fast hands!

What if I detect a drone with multiple receivers? Will I see multiple detections?

Behind the scenes, our system tracks detections from each receiver separately. But to keep things simple for you, we merge them in the app and APIs. You’ll see just one detection, even if several receivers picked up the same drone. If you want to dig deeper and see each detection individually, you can access them through our APIs—check out our developer documentation for details.