Updated 2026-09-24
Do I need to register my drone, and what is Remote ID?
Short answer
If your drone weighs 250 grams or more you must register it with the FAA — $5, valid three years — and it must comply with Remote ID. Under 250 grams, flown recreationally, it needs neither. Every recreational flyer, at any weight, must take TRUST and carry proof of it. TRUST is free and takes about twenty minutes online.
The weight line does two jobs at once
Registration and Remote ID are not separate decisions. The FAA requires Remote ID compliance of drones that are required to be registered, or that are registered. So the 250-gram threshold decides both at once: a 249-gram aircraft flown recreationally needs no registration number and no broadcast, and a 251-gram one needs both. That is why so many drones in this catalog weigh exactly 249 grams, and why the extended battery that adds twenty minutes also adds a legal obligation.
What the registration actually is
It costs $5 and lasts three years. Recreational flyers get one registration number that covers every drone they own; a Part 107 certificate holder registers each aircraft individually. The number has to be displayed on the outside of the aircraft — the sticker people ask about in forums — and you have to be able to produce the certificate.
Three ways to satisfy Remote ID
Fly a Standard Remote ID aircraft, which broadcasts its identity and position and the position of the control station from the factory. Or attach a Remote ID broadcast module, which broadcasts the drone's identity and its takeoff location and costs roughly the price of a spare battery. Or fly inside an FAA-Recognized Identification Area, which in practice means a club field that has applied for one.
The battery footnote nobody expects
On DJI's Mini line, Remote ID broadcasting follows the weight rather than the hardware: the aircraft carries the capability, but with the smaller battery — which keeps it under 250 grams — it does not broadcast, and with the larger battery, which pushes it over, it does. The behaviour matches the rule exactly. It also means the answer to "does this drone broadcast Remote ID" is sometimes "it depends which pack is in it".
TRUST applies to everyone
The Recreational UAS Safety Test is required by law for recreational flyers regardless of aircraft weight, it is free, it is online, and you cannot fail it — it re-asks anything you get wrong. Take it, screenshot the completion certificate, keep it on your phone. It is the cheapest part of this entire hobby to get right.