GTA Online guide: The Cayo Perico Heist cooldown time post-nerf 

GTA Online's The Criminal Enterprises update nerfed The Cayo Perico Heist by extending its cooldown for solo players. Not only that, it also made high-value primary targets appear less often in subsequent playthroughs. This essentially means that solo players must wait three in-game days to access The Cayo Perico Heist on Hard Mode, which pays the most money. That's the equivalent of waiting 144 minutes since every in-game day is 48 minutes long.

It is worth noting that this nerf only affects solo players. Teams that grind this heist just have to wait the usual 48 minutes. That said, let's learn more about the changes below in the article.

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GTA Online The Cayo Perico Heist's cooldown since the nerf and how to pass the time

Solo players can still make good money off The Cayo Perico Heist (Image via Rockstar Games)

Rockstar Support states the following regarding the change:

"Solo playthroughs of the Cayo Perico Heist Finale can only be completed once every three in-game days. If you have completed the Heist and Pavel has not called you to start another, wait for the cooldown period to pass, and try again."

It used to be a lot shorter before The Criminal Enterprises update, but this extended cooldown is all that GTA Online players are left with today. There was a bug earlier where the period was extended to four in-game days rather than three, but Rockstar Games patched that.

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Cooldown and Hard Mode

Solo players who have waited 144 minutes will eventually get a text from Pavel regarding Hard Mode. You essentially get 10% more value out of your primary target in exchange for a slightly more challenging run.

It's well worth the hassle for skilled GTA Online players, but you will only have a period of 48 minutes to start the Gather Intel mission once you get Pavel's text. If you do not complete the Gather Intel mission in that time span, then you won't get Hard Mode.

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Tips for waiting through The Cayo Perico Heist's cooldown

It will be a while until you can start again (Image via Rockstar Games)

It can be rough for GTA Online players to wait 144 minutes just for the cooldown to end. However, here are some tips that might help you out:

• Grind other parts of GTA Online in the meantime
• Mess around while keeping the game active in some form
• Use an AFK method to pass the time

This game has a slew of businesses that you can run while waiting for this cooldown to pass. For example, you can collect Special Cargo for your Warehouse or do a Sell Mission for your Bunker.

Carrying out all these activities whenever they're available should easily pass the time and allow you to get a good amount of money for your efforts.

AFKing is easy in GTA Online (Image via Rockstar Games)

Another popular way to keep your player logged in is to use a popular AFK method. One of the easiest ways is to open the Nightclub garage door from the outside and wait on the menu screen.

This method has been tested to work for several hours, which is a godsend for players who would be bored doing other stuff in this game or are too busy. On a related note, this method also helps accumulate passive income without any effort.