Jump Freighters

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Jump Freighter (Class)

Jump freighters (JFs) are the Tech 2 variants of the freighter. In addition to travelling through stargates, they can use their jump drives to jump to cynosural fields, which lets them move cargo through lowsec and nullsec without using gates. Jump freighters are one of the main ways goods are moved between empire space, nullsec and player-staged systems, and they make a large contribution to the availability of modules and other items in the outer regions of New Eden.

Flown correctly, with an emergency exit cyno (see Roles), the jump freighter is the safest hauler in the game, including in highsec. It is not suited to wormhole space, because no jump drive can reach a wormhole system and a jump freighter inside one cannot use its emergency exit. Running jump freighters takes a significant investment in skills, ISK and extra accounts, so many players are better served by a reputable player-run hauling service, or by their corporation's jump freighter service if it offers one.

Jump freighters receive a 5% bonus per level of the pilot's racial freighter skill to cargo capacity and agility. Each level of Jump Freighters adds 10% to hull hitpoints and to shield or armor hitpoints, depending on the race, and reduces jump fuel requirements by 10%.

Compared with freighters, jump freighters have much larger tanks but much smaller cargo holds. Their high value nevertheless makes them attractive targets for gankers.

There are four jump freighters:

Operating a jump freighter builds on general hauling knowledge and on the mechanics of flying freighter-class ships. Related articles:

Moving your items covers the ways to move items, including having someone else move them.
Hauling covers the basics of hauling items around New Eden.
Creating an Alt Hauler covers training a dedicated hauling character, and contains Minimum and Recommended skill plans for each jump freighter and for cyno and webber alts.
Jump drives are the foundation of jump freighter operation and the key difference from T1 freighters.

Roles

Operating a jump freighter reasonably safely requires at least three Omega accounts; four is recommended, and additional cyno accounts make jump freighting more convenient. Running several characters at the same time requires every one of their accounts to be Omega, so a cyno alt that is active alongside the jump freighter must be on its own Omega account. The roles are:

Jump freighter pilot: the character that flies the jump freighter and carries the cargo. This is the character most at risk of a substantial loss, and the whole operational plan is built around keeping it and its ship safe.
Cyno alt: lights the cynosural fields the jump freighter jumps to along its route. Ideally more than one is available, already positioned along the route. In highsec, where cynos cannot be lit, this character instead acts as the scout or webber.
Emergency exit cyno (e-cyno): a cyno alt waiting in a lowsec system within jump range of the highsec part of the route, lit only when the jump freighter needs to escape. The e-cyno is what makes the jump freighter safe in highsec.
Scout / webber: a scout checks gates and stations ahead of the jump freighter, and a webber webs it so it enters warp almost instantly. The scout's job is usually done by a cyno alt while the jump freighter is safely docked.

Players with several cyno alt accounts usually make the most of that investment by using those characters for other activities as well, such as passive skill farming, planetary industry and reactions. Extra cyno characters on the same account can be parked as "static" cynos in systems used often.

Other players can fill these roles, but this makes the logistics of a jump plan more difficult.

Skills

Ready-made Minimum and Recommended skill plans for every jump freighter, and for cyno and webber alts, are available on Creating an Alt Hauler. The skills below are the ones that matter most for jump freighter operation.

Jump freighter skills

Jump Drive Operation: reduces the capacitor needed to initiate a jump by 5% per level. At level V a jump uses about 71% capacitor. Level V is a prerequisite for Jump Drive Calibration.
Jump Drive Calibration: increases maximum jump range by 20% per level, from 5 light years base to 10 light years at level V. This greatly expands the viable routes; level V is recommended at minimum.
Jump Fuel Conservation: reduces isotope (fuel) consumption by 10% per level. Level IV is recommended at minimum.
Jump Freighters: one of the two hull bonus skills (see above). Level IV is recommended at minimum.
<Racial> Freighter^{[Note 1]}: the other hull bonus skill, adding 5% per level to cargo capacity and agility. Level IV is recommended at minimum.

Training these skills requires at least:

The following are not required but are recommended, and are a subset of the Magic 14 skills:

Cyno alt skills

Cyno alts have far lower requirements:

<Racial> Hauler I^{[Note 2]}, or Mining Frigate I when using a Venture
CPU Management V
Cynosural Field Theory IV to fit a proper cyno Venture (level I is enough to light an industrial cyno at all). Higher levels reduce Liquid Ozone cost (800 base, 400 at level V; the Venture halves it again).

Jump clone skills are also useful, since cyno alts need clones in strategic locations:

Ships

The table below compares the four jump freighters.^[Verify] Cargo is shown at racial freighter skill V. Fuel is the base consumption per light year before the Jump Freighters and Jump Fuel Conservation skills, which both reduce it.

Description	Align Time	Cargo	Base fuel per lightyear	Fuel type	Base EHP
The Ark is the most well-rounded jump freighter. It is the second most efficient for cargo hold capacity per fuel per lightyear.	26.1s	168,800m³	8,800	Helium Isotopes	530,000
The Rhea has the largest cargo hold, but the slowest align time and consumes the most fuel. However, it has the most efficient cargo hold capacity per fuel consumed per lightyear.	27.8s	180,000m³	10,000	Nitrogen Isotopes	468,000
The Anshar has the highest effective hit points, with the second highest available cargo space, and second highest fuel consumption.	27.3s	171,000m³	9,400	Oxygen Isotopes	548,000
The Nomad has the fastest align time, but the lowest hit points. It also has the cheapest fuel costs but it has the least efficient cargo hold capacity per fuel consumed per lightyear.	23.7s	165,000m³	8,200	Hydrogen Isotopes	440,000

The Rhea is a popular choice because its large hold has room for a full load plus spare cyno equipment; the Nomad is the most fuel efficient. The only differences in skill requirements between the four ships are the racial freighter skill and its racial hauler prerequisite. The ships also differ in model size, which can matter when placing cynos and their bookmarks, although well-placed cyno bookmarks work for all ship sizes.

Cynosural fields

A jump drive can only jump to a cynosural field ("cyno") or a cyno beacon, never to a celestial, and never to a cyno in the system the ship is already in. There are three types of cyno:

	Industrial cyno	Normal cyno	Covert cyno
Lit by	Venture, T1 haulers, Blockade Runners, Deep Space Transports	Force Recons, Black Ops, Heavy Interdiction Cruisers	Covert-cloak ships
Jump freighters can use it	Yes	Yes	No (Black Ops only)
Duration	10 minutes	5–10 minutes	30 seconds – 1 minute

Jump freighters normally jump to industrial cynos. While an industrial cyno is lit:

the cyno pilot must be in the jump freighter's fleet and moving slower than 500 m/s to light it;
for the full 10-minute cycle the cyno ship cannot move under its own power, warp, dock, tether or switch the module off, and anyone in the system can see the cyno and warp to it;
only fleet members can jump to it. If the cyno pilot disconnects, a fleet broadcast of the cyno still works.

If the cyno ship is destroyed just as the jump freighter jumps, the jump still happens, but the freighter lands at the destination system's sun.

Cynos cannot be lit in highsec, so jump freighters cannot jump into highsec, although they can jump out of it. Jumping is also impossible into wormhole space, into Pochven (which is cyno-jammed region-wide), into systems with an active Tenebrex Cyno Jammer or Sansha incursion, and within 100 km of a Mobile Cynosural Inhibitor.

Cyno beacons

Pharolux Cyno Beacons are sovereignty structures in nullsec. A beacon with a public access list appears in the jump menu of every passing jump-capable ship, and hostiles set them up as bait, waiting with bubbles and tackle at the landing point. This is why jump freighters should only ever jump via the fleet window, a fleet broadcast or the watchlist, never from the capacitor menu.
Mobile Cynosural Beacons are deployables that take two minutes to come online and last up to an hour. They warn hunters, can be destroyed before they come online, and are also used by hostiles to bring in gank fleets. They should be avoided for jump freighter work.
Upwell structure beacons are controlled by the structure's access list and can land a ship outside tether range, so the landing point needs checking before jumping.

Fitting

Jump freighter

Every jump freighter has three low slots. Tank is not a defence against organised gankers, who have enough characters to kill any fit, so the low slots are used for speed, cargo or fuel depending on the leg of the journey:

Prototype Jump Drive Economizers decrease fuel costs and are fitted while jumping.
Prototype Hyperspatial Accelerators increase warp speed and are fitted for gate travel into and through highsec, to spend as little time in space as possible.
Inertial Stabilizers II increase agility, helping the ship align and enter warp more quickly. A common travel setup is one Inertial Stabilizer and two Hyperspatial Accelerators.
Expanded Cargohold II increase cargo capacity but reduce hull hitpoints. They are fitted only when the extra space is needed.

Jump freighter pilots carry each of these modules so they can refit along the route. A Rhea in particular also has room for spare Liquid Ozone, spare cyno generators and a spare cyno hull.

Cyno ships

Ships that can fit an Industrial Cynosural Field Generator include the Venture, T1 haulers, Blockade Runners and Deep Space Transports. Common choices:

Sigil: with a nullifier and a buffer tank, the preferred ship for e-cynos and cynos in busy systems, since it can survive a beating for the 10-minute cycle and travels well.
Venture: cheap and disposable, with halved Liquid Ozone cost, but it dies to almost anything. Fine for quiet "static" cynos, but not to be relied on for e-cynos or busy systems.
Blockade Runner: for moving cynos into position quickly in any space.
Deep Space Transport: a tanky cyno with cargo space.
Shuttle: for moving cyno pilots between pre-positioned cyno hulls.

Cyno fits should prioritise buffer tank over cost, carry a cloak for holding position before lighting, and use a nullifier or good travel speed for getting into position. Insuring cyno ships can also be worthwhile.

The cyno pilot's home station should be set at the station the cyno lights at, so that a podded cyno pilot wakes up where it is needed.

Implants

The standard hauling implant set is the High-grade Ascendancy set (warp speed), with the slot 6 implant replaced by Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Warp Drive Speed WS-618. It is complemented by:

Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Evasive Maneuvering EM-706: agility (slot 7).
Inherent Implants 'Noble' Mechanic MC-806: hull HP (slot 8).
Inherent Implants 'Noble' Hull Upgrades HG-1006: armor HP (slot 10).

Tank implant sets are not used. A hauling clone flown correctly is rarely lost, and doubles as a training clone.

Route planning

An unoptimized Jump Freighter route between Jita and an arbitrary system in nullsec using DOTLAN's Jump Planner tool for demonstration purposes. Even though it is optimized for the shortest route in terms of travel distance, the midpoints lack NPC stations. It may also be preferable to select midpoints with highsec entrances even though the Jump Freighter would be moving outbound. Lastly, there could be adjacent midpoints that are more suitable based on their activity levels.

To bring a jump freighter into highsec, it jumps to a system next to highsec and then travels through gates to its destination like a normal freighter. The stretch from the highsec exit to the destination is the riskiest part of the journey.

Jump freighters get a 90% reduction to the distance used for jump fatigue, which is capped at 5 hours. After each jump there is a jump reactivation cooldown of at least (1 + light years jumped) minutes, up to 30 minutes.

Types of systems

Systems on a route between highsec and lowsec or nullsec have specific names:

Origin: the starting system in nullsec or lowsec (or in highsec, if the journey runs the other way).
Midpoint: any system between the origin and the highsec exit.
Highsec exit: a lowsec system directly adjacent to highsec, from which the jump freighter travels through gates to its destination. Exits close to the destination minimise gate travel, but those gates also tend to attract the most attention.
Destination: the destination system in highsec.

Stations and structures

For newer jump freighter pilots, every system on the route should contain an NPC station. This makes docking reliable and allows the pilot to dock up if something happens outside the game. NPC stations and citadels owned by the pilot or their corporation are the safest choices; freeport citadels and other structures owned by unknown players should be avoided:

The owner of an Upwell structure can remove a pilot's docking rights while they are docked or in transit (an "ACL pull"), leaving them to undock untethered. Docking access can be checked remotely through Show Info → Services → Docking.
"Bait" citadels exist: freeport structures from unknown owners in suspiciously convenient spots, such as next to a common highsec entry gate, with jump freighter kills nearby.
Once aggressed on an Upwell structure, a ship cannot dock there, unlike at an NPC station.

A station shown in the "Structures" tab of the Solar System Information window can be docked at. Some jump planners help with station choice: the Capsuleers.app jump planner has an option to prefer NPC stations for intermediate jumps and shows jump fatigue and cooldown after each jump.

Some station designs make poor stops. Some models make it harder to place a reliable cyno bookmark, and some are "kick-out" stations, which push undocking ships out of docking range so quickly that there is little or no time to redock. Kick-out stations are also more dangerous to arrive at, because there is less room for the landing sphere (see below). The kickout stations guide lists how far each NPC station model lets a ship coast before it leaves docking range, the Stations undock range PDF illustrates the issue, and the Station Cyno Placement Guide (2013) shows a tested cyno spot for every NPC station model.

In nullsec, a jump freighter should never warp between structures in the same system, because of drag bubbles. Since it cannot jump to a cyno in its own system, it jumps out to another system and back in instead.

It can be useful for one or more midpoints to have a highsec exit, so that the jump freighter can refuel and cyno alts have easier access to highsec, for example after losing a ship or when bringing in additional cynos.

In summary, midpoint selection depends on system activity, station availability and design, and fuel costs.

Highsec exit and e-cyno

Choosing the highsec exit is one of the most important parts of planning. The DOTLAN Jump Planner is useful for routing, but it does not choose a good highsec exit. That has to be researched separately and then added to the jump planner as a waypoint.

Before choosing systems, it helps to become familiar with the general topography between origin and destination, particularly around the highsec/lowsec boundary. The DOTLAN map and the in-game map together are most useful for this. The DOTLAN range tool helps find lowsec systems in range of a given highsec system. Candidate highsec exits can be evaluated on:

Number of gates between the exit and the destination: the longer the freighter is in space, the longer it is at risk.
Security status of the systems between the exit and the destination: ganks are harder to pull off in higher-security highsec, so attention tends to fall on lower-security highsec. A well-organized group can gank successfully in any security level.
Recent activity in the candidate exit: activity levels, the players involved and the locals. Killboards show whether there are regular gate camps, supercapitals or other problem groups. This should be checked regularly, even on routes that have been quiet.
Stations available in the system: see Stations and structures.

The e-cyno must sit in a lowsec system within jump range of every highsec system on the route, so that the jump freighter can escape at any point. The best place for it is tethered on a trusted citadel, where it cannot be shot before it is needed.

Bookmarks and cyno placement

Once a route is planned, all characters involved need the right bookmarks at every station along it. Both the jump freighter and the cyno alts need insta-docks at every station: bookmarks right on the undock that let the ship dock immediately. Using the "dock" command from a distance can leave a ship outside the docking ring. Insta-undock bookmarks, on the other hand, should never be used with a jump freighter, because it can be combat-probed while aligning to them.

The most important bookmarks are the cyno alts' cyno bookmarks: the specific point at each station where the cyno is lit. A jump freighter lands at a random point 5 km from the cyno, that is, somewhere within a sphere 10 km across. The cyno must be placed so that:

the whole sphere lies inside the station's docking ring, so the jump freighter can dock immediately wherever it lands. The ring of lights around an NPC station marks its docking radius;
the sphere does not touch any part of the station model. If it does, the jump freighter can appear inside the station's collision geometry and be thrown off at high speed, out of docking range.

With the tactical overlay on, hovering over the cyno module shows the landing sphere. Every station model has its own shape and collision model, although stations of the same model can share the same cyno spot. Cyno bookmarks from a trusted source help, but the spot should still be checked before every light. Placement and jumps can be practised on Singularity when it is open.

A detailed guide on Reddit about cyno placement and the Station Cyno Placement Guide linked above cover this in much more depth and are strongly recommended reading.

Threats

Outside threats usually appear, or are first triggered, after the jump freighter jumps into a lowsec or nullsec system (the cyno announces its presence to the whole system), or during gate transitions in highsec or at the lowsec exit. Threats of the pilot's own making usually come from poor preparation.

Suicide ganking is the biggest outside threat, on gates in highsec and at the exit. A jump freighter is a target whether or not it carries cargo, simply because it is an expensive ship. A pilot who falls into predictable habits makes it easy for a determined group to anticipate their movements and routes.
- On gate: gate camps with suicide tackle and a gank fleet, or a bumper that keeps the jump freighter from warping until the fleet arrives. The answer is the e-cyno (see below). The jump freighter should jump as soon as a bump starts, without waiting for tackle, because any warp disruption (a warp scrambler or disruptor) or a lance stops the jump drive.
- Gate bumps on the lowsec side, by Machariels, Panthers, capitals, or Black Ops bridged in on a cyno near the gate.
Lancer dreadnoughts: a cloaked recon or Heavy Interdiction Cruiser lights a cyno on the gate and a Lancer dreadnought jumps in, or a pre-cloaked Lancer decloaks and refits. A Disruptive Lance hit stops both warp and jump drives. Either way there is a window of about 18 seconds from the moment the jump freighter starts warping, so a fast warp from station to gate beats it. Recons, HICs and other cyno-capable ships on d-scan or on grid are a warning sign.
Cyno ganks on station: hostiles light a cyno on the station to bring in capitals or supercapitals and alpha a jump freighter that is aligning, warping, or that bounced on arrival.
Undock bumps: a fast, heavy ship such as a battleship, carrier or a Force Auxiliary in triage bumps the jump freighter out of docking range as it undocks. They are most common at stations with a small docking radius. If a bump is attempted, the jump freighter should redock and leave from another system.
Bouncing off the station is the biggest threat of the pilot's own making, caused by poor cyno placement. If it happens, the pilot should try to dock immediately while still inside the ring. If the ship is already outside the docking ring, it is often better to warp off to another station or planet roughly in the direction of the bounce than to turn around and try to redock.
Bait beacons and bait citadels: see Cyno beacons and Stations and structures.
Timers, capacitor and context temporarily limit the option of escaping by jumping:
- A jump requires more than 75% capacitor. Together with the jump reactivation timer, this effectively prevents jumping again immediately after a jump.
- A jump freighter can only jump to a cyno in a different system, so the pilot needs to know where the other cynos are before trouble starts.
- A jump freighter moving too fast cannot jump, which can happen after being bumped or bouncing off a station.

Arriving on an Upwell structure

After any cyno jump, a ship is invulnerable for up to 60 seconds, or until it is given any command. When that ends, it cannot tether for another 30 seconds, although it can still dock. A jump freighter arriving on an Upwell structure should therefore wait out the 10-second session change timer without touching anything, then dock immediately.

Escaping with the e-cyno

From gate cloak: if the next system looks dangerous after jumping a gate, the e-cyno is lit with about 10 seconds of gate cloak left. The pilot hovers over "Jump To" and clicks it on the last tick of the cloak, clicking again if they think they were early. The jump freighter decloaks and jumps on the same tick, so gankers cannot lock it.
From warp: if a bumper is seen on d-scan while warping to a gate, the e-cyno is lit at once, and "Jump To" is clicked on the last tick of warp, as the velocity bar passes 50% going down. Warping to the gate with "warp to 0", rather than "Jump", and not queueing the gate jump during warp keeps a few extra seconds of post-warp invulnerability for the e-cyno jump.
After an e-cyno escape, the same gate should not be tried again while the bumper is in the system, because they now know where the jump freighter will land.

Operating procedures

By the time a route is flown, the route should already be planned, and the cynos, their equipment and jump clones staged. Many of the practices below are habits, and they matter most once a pilot feels comfortable on a route.

Before departure

Check the destination: whether a cyno can actually be lit there (is the route camped, is the station bubbled?), the station model and whether it is a kick-out station, and recent jump freighter or capital kills at that station and gate on zKillboard.
Make sure every cyno and the e-cyno is in fleet, fuelled with Liquid Ozone, in position and in range (check with DOTLAN).
Carry enough isotopes for a round trip, and keep the fuel stacked in the fuel bay. Ideally, keep the fuel bay full. Stage extra fuel for the jump freighter and the cynos in the jump systems; a jump freighter deep in nullsec without fuel is badly stranded.
Make sure the stations where the cyno alts are based have spare ships and fuel, and carry spare Liquid Ozone, cyno generators and a cyno hull in the jump freighter.
Carry all the low slot modules needed for refitting at the right points along the route.
Check that all cargo to be moved is in the jump freighter, including any ships from the ship hangar.
Wait for the jump reactivation timer (shown in red) to clear before undocking, so the jump freighter is free to jump again if needed.

In transit

Jump only via the fleet window, a fleet broadcast or the watchlist ("Jump to Member"), never from the capacitor menu, which can show bait beacons. Add every cyno to the watchlist.
Have the jump freighter undocked and ready before the cyno is lit, so the cyno is exposed for as little time as possible.
Undock using S.A.W. (Stop, Align, Warp): stop the ship on undock (Ctrl+Space does not break undock invulnerability), align only once the session change timer is over and speed is below 25%, and warp at 75%. Use "align to" rather than "warp to" when leaving a station, so the ship can redock without cancelling a warp first.
In the highsec exit system and before undocking, especially on a new route, set the destination on the jump freighter and open the in-game map. A grey sphere shows the maximum jump range; every highsec system on the route should fall within it.
When moving into highsec, refit the low slots for gate travel. While refitting, keep an eye on the e-cyno and on what others in the system are doing.
While travelling between the highsec exit and the destination, keep the e-cyno in position, ready to light at once. It should not wait docked "in reserve", because it would then need to reach its cyno spot under pressure.
Before travelling into highsec, check the state of the cyno. If it is still lit, will it have enough fuel to relight immediately, or will it need to refuel at the station? Try to time refuelling with the gate cloak timers. One trick is to set the cyno's destination to the station after decycling the cyno, so it automatically slowboats and docks when the cycle ends.
If a normal or covert cyno, cloaky ships or force recons are visible on undock, redock or don't undock.
After entering warp to a station's insta-dock, set the destination to that station and enable autopilot, so the jump freighter docks instantly when it lands on grid.

Notes

^ Amarr Freighter, Caldari Freighter, Gallente Freighter, and Minmatar Freighter
^ Amarr Hauler, Caldari Hauler, Gallente Hauler, and Minmatar Hauler

[1] Amarr Freighter, Caldari Freighter, Gallente Freighter, and Minmatar Freighter

[2] Amarr Hauler, Caldari Hauler, Gallente Hauler, and Minmatar Hauler

[Note 1]

[Note 2]