How to Enable, Disable, or Adjust the Flight Distance Restriction on the DJI Neo 2
Peter Leslie
21 May 2026
If your DJI Neo 2 is throwing a Max Flight Distance Reached warning mid-flight, or you want a hard software backstop so the drone cannot wander past a set radius from the Home Point, the slider you are looking for is Max Distance inside DJI Fly.
It is one slider with three useful positions. Pull it to a deliberate radius to enable a safety cap, push it past the 8,000-metre mark to disable the cap entirely, or nudge it anywhere in between to fit the field you are flying in. Most drone pilots ship the Neo 2 with No Limit selected and never realise the restriction exists until the first time the drone drifts further out than they were comfortable with.
Quick guide
To enable, disable, or adjust the flight distance restriction on the DJI Neo 2, go to DJI Fly → Settings → Safety → Flight Protection → Max Distance. Drag the slider anywhere between 20 metres and 8,000 metres to enable a cap, or push it past 8,000 metres to set No Limit and disable the restriction.
Step-by-step: How to Enable, Disable, or Adjust the Flight Distance Restriction on the DJI Neo 2
Follow these top to bottom the first time, and you will know the path off by heart the second time.
Open the DJI Fly Settings menu from the camera view
With the DJI Neo 2 connected to the remote controller and DJI Fly sitting on the camera view, tap the Settings icon in the top right of the screen. The settings panel slides in with the category tabs down the left.
Tap the Safety category in the Settings panel
Safety is the second tab down the left of the settings panel, below Control. Tap it and the right-hand pane updates to show every safety-related option for the DJI Neo 2 — flight limits, RTH settings, signal-loss behaviour, and so on.
Scroll down to the Flight Protection block inside Safety
Scroll past the Max Altitude row until the Flight Protection sub-heading appears. Max Distance is the slider sitting directly underneath, with the current value shown to the right of the row.
Drag the Max Distance slider to enable a deliberate radius
To enable the flight distance restriction, drag the slider away from the far-right position. The slider accepts any value between 20 metres at the bottom and 8,000 metres at the top, and the current number updates live to the right of the slider as you move it.
Push the slider past 8,000 metres to disable the restriction
To disable the flight distance restriction entirely, drag the slider all the way to the right. The value flips from a number to No Limit, and the Max Distance cap is now switched off for the rest of the flight.
Adjust the slider mid-flight if your plan for the field changes
The Max Distance value can be raised, lowered, or switched to No Limit at any point during a flight without landing. Open the same Safety panel from the camera view, drag the slider to the new value, and the new radius is in force from the moment you close the panel.
Close the Settings panel to save the new Max Distance value
Tap outside the panel or hit the back arrow at the top of the screen. The change applies straight away with no restart of the drone or the app — the next outward leg honours the new radius or the No Limit setting.
Peter's tip
I set Max Distance deliberately for every new site. For a small park I drop it to about 300 metres; for an open field I might pull it to a kilometre or so. The slider is the cheapest insurance on the drone — a forgotten stick input that would have sent the Neo 2 chasing the horizon just stops at the radius I picked. No Limit only comes out when I have a clear sight line and a genuine reason to need the range.
| Slider position | What it does to the drone | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Set value (20 m to 8,000 m) | Drone brakes at the radius and refuses to fly any further from the Home Point. Sideways and inbound travel still works. | Garden, park, or field flights where a software backstop is useful. Pick the smallest radius that still covers your planned path. |
| No Limit (far right) | Max Distance restriction is disabled. The drone is bounded only by radio range, battery, and any GEO Zones it crosses. | Long-range flights with a clear sight line and a deliberate reason to need the full controller range. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the default Max Distance setting on the DJI Neo 2?
No Limit. The DJI Neo 2 ships with the Max Distance slider pushed to the far right of the range, meaning the drone is not confined to any radius from the Home Point until you set one yourself. The radio link to the remote controller becomes the effective ceiling instead of a software value.
What is the minimum and maximum Max Distance value I can set on the DJI Neo 2?
Twenty metres at the bottom of the slider and 8,000 metres — eight kilometres — at the top. Past the 8,000-metre mark the slider flips to No Limit. The 20-metre floor is there so you cannot accidentally set a radius smaller than the drone's own GNSS drift.
What value should I set for Max Distance on the DJI Neo 2 in the UK?
Pick the smallest radius that still covers the area you plan to fly that day. For a UK garden or park flight under the Drone Code's visual line of sight rule, 200 to 500 metres is usually plenty. Setting a deliberate Max Distance gives you a software backstop if the drone misreads a stick input or the wind pushes it further than you expected.
Does setting Max Distance to No Limit mean the DJI Neo 2 will fly forever?
No. With No Limit selected the Max Distance restriction is disabled, but the drone is still bounded by the controller's radio range, the battery, and any GEO Zones along the route. The Neo 2 will also trigger Smart RTH automatically when battery falls to the calculated return threshold, no matter what the Max Distance value is.
Will the Max Distance setting still work if GNSS signal is weak?
The Max Distance limit only takes effect with strong GNSS, because the drone needs a confirmed Home Point to measure the radius from. If GNSS strength drops below the threshold while you are already airborne, the limit you set stays applied for the rest of the flight. With no GNSS lock at takeoff, only the altitude limit applies.
What happens when the DJI Neo 2 reaches the Max Distance I have set?
The drone brakes automatically and refuses to fly any further from the Home Point. You will see a Max Flight Distance Reached warning on the DJI Fly camera view. You can still fly the drone sideways or back towards home — the limit only blocks further outward travel.
Is the Max Distance restriction the same as a GEO Zone limit on the DJI Neo 2?
No. Max Distance is a radius you set yourself around the Home Point, and you can disable it whenever you want. A GEO Zone is a geographic boundary set by DJI based on local airspace rules — airports, prisons, nuclear sites — and you cannot fly into one without going through the Self-Unlock or Custom Unlock process. The two systems run at the same time.
Does Max Distance apply to Palm Control and Mobile App Control on the DJI Neo 2?
No. When you are flying the DJI Neo 2 with Palm Control or Mobile App Control, Max Distance is not applied at all and the slider has no effect. The Max Distance restriction only kicks in when the drone is bound to a physical remote controller like the DJI RC-N3 or DJI RC 2.
Max Distance is the cheapest piece of insurance the DJI Neo 2 ships with. Set it deliberately for every new site, push it to No Limit only when you have a clear reason, and the drone never strays further from home than you wanted it to.
Got a Neo 2 that is throwing a Max Flight Distance warning at the wrong moment, or a slider that will not accept the value you want? Drop a note to peter@hiredronepilot.uk with the message DJI Fly is showing and I will come back to you directly. If you prefer the video version of this walkthrough, the comments are open on YouTube.
References
Primary source material for this article is the official DJI Neo 2 documentation and DJI Fly. External links open in a new tab.
- DJI Neo 2 — Downloads (User Manual, Quick Start Guide, firmware notes) · Flight Altitude and Distance Limits block, Max Distance default value of No Limit, and the Palm Control / Mobile App Control carve-out where the restriction does not apply.
- DJI Neo 2 — Product page (UK) · Drone hardware overview, GNSS receiver and remote controller specifications relevant to the Max Distance behaviour.
- DJI Fly — App download and release notes · The app where the Safety category, Flight Protection block, and Max Distance slider live. Release notes record any menu reshuffles between versions.
- UK CAA — The Drone and Model Aircraft Code · Visual line of sight rule that informs the radius most UK drone pilots actually need from Max Distance.
Peter Leslie
Founder & GVC Drone Pilot
Peter is the founder of HireDronePilot. With thousands of logged commercial flight hours, he writes about drone technology, commercial surveying tactics, and UK aviation compliance.
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