How to Change the Maximum Flight Altitude on the DJI Neo 2
Peter Leslie
21 May 2026
If you have a planned wide shot that needs more height, a previous flight that kept hitting the on-screen Max flight altitude reached prompt, or a brand new DJI Neo 2 with a default ceiling lower than you want, the setting you are looking for is Max Altitude inside DJI Fly.
The slider runs from 20 metres at the bottom to 120 metres at the top, and the upper number is not arbitrary — it is the legal ceiling for recreational flying under the UK Drone Code. Most drone pilots only need to touch this once per site, so set it deliberately for the flight you are about to do rather than leaving it on whatever the last session left behind.
Quick guide
To change the Maximum Flight Altitude on the DJI Neo 2, go to DJI Fly → Settings → Safety → Flight Protection → Max Altitude. Drag the slider to a value between 20 and 120 metres, then close the panel — the new ceiling is live from the next takeoff.
Step-by-step: How to Change the Maximum Flight Altitude 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 powered on and connected to the controller, tap the Settings icon in the top right corner of the camera view. The settings panel slides in with the category tabs running down the left.
Tap the Safety category in the Settings panel
Safety is the second tab down the left of the Settings panel, sitting directly below Control. Tap it and the right-hand pane updates to show the flight-limit, RTH, and sensor options for the DJI Neo 2.
Scroll down to the Flight Protection section inside Safety
Flight Protection is the block that groups Max Altitude and Max Distance together. Scroll past the top of the Safety pane until the Flight Protection sub-heading appears.
Find the Max Altitude row at the top of Flight Protection
Max Altitude is the first row in the Flight Protection block, with the slider sitting horizontally across the row. The current value sits in a small numeric box on the right of the slider so you can read it before you change anything.
Drag the Max Altitude slider to your chosen ceiling between 20 and 120 metres
The slider runs from 20 metres at the left to 120 metres at the right. Drag it to the lowest value that still lets you fly the planned shot — pushing it straight to 120 every time is a habit that wastes battery on the climb and the descent.
Check the new value in the numeric box on the right of the slider
The numeric box updates live as you drag. Glance at the number before you let go of the slider — the slider track is short, and the difference between 80 and 100 metres on a phone screen is only a few millimetres.
Close the Settings panel to lock in the new Max Altitude
Tap outside the panel or hit the back arrow in the top left. The new ceiling applies straight away with no restart, and the DJI Neo 2 enforces it from the next takeoff onwards.
Confirm the new ceiling on a short test climb before the main flight
Take off, climb steadily on the right stick, and watch the altitude readout in DJI Fly. The drone should stop climbing at the exact value you set and the Max flight altitude reached prompt should appear on screen.
Peter's tip
I treat the Max Altitude slider as a per-site setting, not a per-drone one. A coastal landscape shoot might want 100 metres, a back-garden test hover wants 30 metres, and a public park where the trees are 20 metres tall wants 50. Resetting it for every new site is twenty seconds of work that has saved me from an embarrassing climb into a tree more than once.
Frequently asked questions
What is the default Max Altitude on the DJI Neo 2?
DJI Fly ships with a conservative default in the lower half of the slider on a fresh install. Set it deliberately for the site you are about to fly rather than trusting whatever value the app inherited from the last flight.
What is the minimum and maximum value of the Max Altitude slider on the DJI Neo 2?
The slider runs from 20 metres at the bottom to 120 metres at the top when flying with the DJI RC-N3 or DJI RC Motion 3. The 120-metre ceiling matches the UK Drone Code legal limit for the Open category. Palm Control and Mobile App Control are separately locked to a fixed 60-metre ceiling that cannot be changed in DJI Fly.
Why is the Max Altitude on the DJI Neo 2 capped at 120 metres?
That ceiling matches the UK Drone Code maximum legal flight altitude. The Drone Code limits drones in the Open category to 120 metres above the surface, so DJI bakes the same ceiling into the Max Altitude slider — letting you set 150 metres would automatically push every UK flight into an illegal altitude band.
What altitude should I set for my DJI Neo 2 flight?
Set it to the lowest value that lets you frame the shot, not to the maximum by default. Lower altitudes give you better detail, less interference, and a shorter return path. Reserve the 120-metre ceiling for the rare wide landscape shot, and treat 30 to 50 metres as the sensible working range for most garden and park flights.
Does the GNSS signal affect the Max Altitude limit on the DJI Neo 2?
Yes. With a strong GNSS signal the drone enforces the value you set in DJI Fly. With a weak GNSS signal the drone falls back to a default ceiling of 30 metres above the takeoff point if lighting is sufficient, or 2 metres above the ground if lighting is poor and the downward infrared sensor is working. Once the GNSS signal becomes strong again the slider value takes over for the rest of the flight.
What if my DJI Neo 2 stops climbing before it reaches the Max Altitude I set?
DJI Fly throws a Max flight altitude reached prompt at the value in the slider, so if the climb stops earlier the cause is one of three things. The drone is in a GEO Altitude Zone that overrides the slider, the GNSS signal is weak and the drone has fallen back to its 30-metre default, or Palm Control or Mobile App Control is active and the 60-metre fixed ceiling is in effect. Check the on-screen prompt for the exact reason.
Can I fly the DJI Neo 2 higher than 120 metres in the UK?
No — not legally in the Open category. The UK Drone Code limits flights to 120 metres above the surface, and the DJI Neo 2 enforces that limit in the slider. Operating above 120 metres needs Specific category authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority. For everyday recreational flying, 120 metres is the hard ceiling.
Does changing the Max Altitude also change the Auto RTH Altitude on the DJI Neo 2?
No — they are independent sliders in the same Safety menu. Max Altitude controls the ceiling the drone is allowed to climb to during normal flight. Auto RTH Altitude controls the height the drone climbs to when Return to Home triggers. Set both deliberately for every new flight site, because a low Max Altitude with a high RTH Altitude makes no sense, and the other way round leaves the RTH path below the trees.
Max Altitude is one of those Neo 2 settings most drone pilots set once and forget, which is exactly why the on-screen Max flight altitude reached prompt sneaks up on people. Take twenty seconds at the start of every new flight site to drag the slider to a value that matches the planned shot, and the drone will climb to where you want it and stop where the law says it has to.
Got a Neo 2 that refuses to climb to the value you set, or a slider that snaps back to a lower number? Drop a note to peter@hiredronepilot.uk with the on-screen prompt and the value 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 the UK Civil Aviation Authority Drone Code. External links open in a new tab.
- DJI Neo 2 — User Manual (v1.2, December 2025) · §2.1 Flight Restrictions — Flight Altitude and Distance Limits, strong vs weak GNSS behaviour, the 60-metre fixed ceiling under Palm Control and Mobile App Control, and the Max flight altitude reached on-screen prompt.
- UK Civil Aviation Authority — The Drone and Model Aircraft Code (CAP2320) · 120-metre maximum flight altitude in the UK Open category, which sets the upper bound of the Max Altitude slider in DJI Fly.
- DJI Fly — App download and release notes · The app where the Max Altitude slider lives. Release notes record any menu reshuffles between versions.
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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