When using Zonai devices and building vehicles in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you have to take care not to move too far away from them assuming you want to use them as much as possible. This is because objects in Tears of the Kingdom have a set despawn distance. If you move a certain distance away from an object, it will permanently disappear, forcing you to look for a replacement. Needless to say, this can become pretty irritating, but thankfully, Tears of the Kingdom does feature a helpful, albeit unconventional method for significantly increasing objects’ despawn distance. This guide will explain exactly what this method entails.
What to do to enhance objects’ despawn distance
The answer to this despawn distance conundrum lies in the collectible dragon parts. As you probably know already, dragon parts have incredible utility as fusible weapon buffs, materials for upgrading armor, and cooking ingredients. But what’s not immediately apparent is that dragon parts have a much, much higher despawn distance compared to that of other objects. For reference, Mirrors boast the largest despawn distance of all the Zonai devices at a little over 200 meters. Meanwhile, dragon parts handily outclass them thanks to their staggering 2,000-meter despawn radius.
So how does this relate to vehicles and Zonai devices? Well, if you attach a dragon part to a Zonai device or anything you have made with Ultrahand, then the dragon part’s despawn radius will apply to that entire object. This will even work if you recreate the object, dragon part included, with Autobuild. Of course, doing this without bringing out an extra dragon part of your own costs three Zonaite, but considering it’s much easier to get more Zonaite than it is to obtain more dragon parts, this is a worthy tradeoff.
I first learned about the large despawn radius of dragon parts through this video by YouTuber Kleric, so check it out for a visual demonstration. If you’d like to augment your contraptions’ despawn distance in Tears of the Kingdom through other means, Brightbloom Seeds serve as a decent substitute. These items come with a despawn radius of around 600 meters, which, while not as powerful as dragon parts’ radius, can still help out in a pinch.
Screenshot via PC Invasion
