Maximum drone altitude in Germany
What is the maximum drone altitude in Germany?
Drone flights in Germany are held to a published general height limit of 120 m above_nearest_obstacle. The limit is not absolute: the published conditions that change it are cited below.
- General height limit
- 120 m
- Reference datum
- above_nearest_obstacle
The general height limit that applies to drone flights, and what changes it.
Germany applies the European Union / EASA framework. Rules marked as framework rules below are inherited, not uniquely national — see the European Union / EASA answer.
What the rules say
Each line is resolved from published facts of Germany. "Not resolved" means the corpus does not answer it in a machine-checkable way — never that the law is silent.
- General height limit120 mConditional
- Reference datumabove_nearest_obstacleYes
- Category-specific limitsConditional
- Aerodrome-related limitConditional
- Structure exceptionConditional
- Authorised exceedanceConditional
- Conditional limitsConditional
- ExceptionsConditional
What changes the answer
- altitude
Flight altitude at or below 120 m
- altitude
Flight altitude at or above 100 m
- altitude
Flight altitude below 120 m
- location
Lateral distance above 10 m
- location
Lateral distance at or below 100 m
The rules behind this answer
- Binding lawNational rule
UAS Operations Near Federal Highways, Waterways, and Railways
UAS operations over and within a lateral distance of 100 meters from federal highways, federal waterways, and railway installations are only permitted under specific safety, consent, distance, or altitude conditions.
- Binding lawNational rule
UAS Operations Over Nature Reserves and National Parks
Operation of an unmanned aircraft over nature conservation areas within the meaning of § 23(1) of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG), over national parks within the meaning of § 24 BNatSchG and over areas within the meaning of § 7(1) nos. 6 and 7 BNatSchG is permitted only if: (a) the competent nature conservation authority has expressly consented to the operation; or (b) the operation of unmanned aircraft in those areas is regulated differently by Land law; or (c) except over national parks, all of the following cumulative conditions are met: (aa) the operation is not carried out for the purposes of sport or recreation; (bb) the operation takes place at an altitude of more than 100 metres; (cc) the remote pilot knows the protective purpose of the protected area concerned and takes it into account in an appropriate manner; and (dd) the use of the airspace by overflying the protected area concerned is indispensably necessary to fulfil the purpose of the operation.
- Binding lawNational rule
UAS Operations Over Residential Properties
Operation of an unmanned aircraft over residential property is permitted only if: (a) the owner or other person entitled to use the affected property, whose rights are affected by the operation, has expressly consented to the overflight; or (b) the take-off mass of the unmanned aircraft is up to and including 0.25 kg and the unmanned aircraft and its equipment are incapable of optical and acoustic recording and transmission and incapable of recording or transmitting third parties' radio signals; or (c) the operation takes place at a flight altitude of at least 100 metres and all of the following cumulative conditions are met: (aa) use of the airspace over the affected residential property is necessary to fulfil a legitimate operating purpose, public areas or properties that are not residential property cannot be used for the overflight, and the consent under (a) cannot reasonably be obtained; (bb) all precautions are taken to avoid interference with the protected private sphere and the right to informational self-determination of the affected citizens, which includes in particular that affected persons are as a rule informed in advance; (cc) the operation does not take place between 22:00 and 06:00 local time; and (dd) the noise immission guide values under No. 6.1 of the Technical Instructions on Noise Abatement (TA Lärm) are not expected to be exceeded.
- Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule
Article 4 - section overview
This section establishes the classification requirements for UAS operations in the 'open' category, defining limits on aircraft class, maximum take-off mass, operational distance from people, visual line of sight, maximum altitude, and cargo restrictions, as well as dividing the category into three sub-categories.
- Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule
Class C0 Maximum Attainable Height Limit
A class C0 UAS must have its maximum attainable height above the take-off point limited to 120 m.
- Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule
Compliance with Open Category Operational Limitations
UAS operations in the 'open' category must comply with the operational limitations set out in Part A of the Annex.
- Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule
Criteria for Determining Unmitigated Ground and Air Risks
The risk identification must determine the unmitigated ground risk and unmitigated air risk based on specified operational, environmental, and airspace criteria.
Official sources
Other drone rules in Germany
- Do I need to register my drone in Germany?Registration in Germany is governed by a published mass threshold of 0.25 kg, alongside the further conditions cited below. Whether it applies to a given flight depends on those conditions, each cited to its rule.
- Can I fly a drone near an airport in Germany?Drone flights near aerodromes in Germany are governed by airspace and aerodrome restrictions: whether permission is needed depends on the airspace, distance or aerodrome type published below.
- Can I fly a drone over people in Germany?Flight over uninvolved people is treated as a higher-risk operation in Germany: it is available only where the published conditions below — class, mass, separation or authorisation — are satisfied.
- When does a drone operation need authorisation in Germany?Whether an operation in Germany needs prior authorisation depends on the operational category, risk class or location: the published triggers below decide it.
- What training do I need to fly a drone in Germany?Remote pilot competency in Germany scales with the operation: which training, examination or proof of competency applies is set by the published conditions below.
- Do I need drone insurance in Germany?Drone insurance in Germany is published with a minimum third-party cover of 0.75 million SDR. Whether cover is required for a given flight depends on the published conditions below.
Built around official regulatory sources
- Official sources
- Regulation-level citations
- Coverage and freshness checks
- Location-aware data where available
Built from 39 published facts (25 binding) held for Germany. Dataset ds_55k3jghy8xqzcekzeepwdmanya · generated 2026-09-02 · sources last verified 2026-08-22.
Ask Drone Assistant about altitude limits in Germany
This page answers "What is the maximum drone altitude in Germany?" for the general case. Ask about your own aircraft, weight and location to see which of the 8 rules above actually apply to you.
This page gives general regulatory information. It is not flight clearance, operational authorisation or legal advice, and it does not guarantee that a flight is legal. See sources and methodology and terms.