Cooling Fans are found in Technological loot sources. That label sounds broad, but in practice it is very specific.
The most reliable source is Server Racks. These are tall, rectangular cabinets filled with blinking lights and metal panels. If you have looted data centers, relay stations, or underground tech facilities, you have seen them.
Cooling Fans do not spawn loose on the ground. You will not find them in crates, lockers, or civilian containers. If you are searching residential zones or outdoor scrap areas, you are wasting time if Cooling Fans are your goal.
From repeated runs, most players notice that Server Racks have a limited loot pool. When a Cooling Fan drops, it replaces other high-value tech items rather than being an extra bonus. That means you might clear three or four racks and see nothing, then suddenly find one.
There is no official map that guarantees Cooling Fans, but experienced players gravitate toward areas with clustered Server Racks. These tend to be:
Underground tech complexes
Data processing facilities
Industrial research buildings
ARC-controlled infrastructure zones
The key factor is density. A single Server Rack in a small building is not worth a dedicated run. Areas with multiple racks close together are where Cooling Fans realistically drop at a usable rate.
Players often make short, repeatable routes that hit four to six Server Racks and then extract. This reduces risk and avoids overfilling inventory with low-value items.
On paper, the Cooling Fan is labeled as a rare item. In practice, it feels rarer than many other items with the same tag.
A reasonable expectation is one Cooling Fan every few full Server Rack runs. That usually translates to one fan every 30 to 45 minutes of focused scavenging, assuming you survive and extract consistently.
This is why players complain about needing five for a single project. The grind is not brutal, but it is noticeable, especially if you recycled earlier fans without realizing future requirements.
Most veteran players say yes, especially early or mid-progression.
The Cooling Fan weighs 3.0 and stacks only up to three. Carrying two already puts noticeable pressure on your loadout. Carrying three means you are probably skipping other valuable loot.
Because Cooling Fans are tied to specific locations, dying with one hurts more than losing generic scrap. If your run’s goal is Cooling Fans and you find one early, extracting is usually the correct play.
Late-game players with surplus gear may push further, but that is a calculated risk, not standard advice.
Early game: save them. Mid game: still save them. Late game: maybe recycle.
This item exists primarily as a progression gate. Recycling gives Plastic Parts and Wires, which are easier to farm elsewhere. The trade is rarely worth it until all Cooling Fan-dependent projects are completed.
A common mistake is recycling Cooling Fans to rush a smaller upgrade, then realizing later that you need multiple fans again. At that point, you are forced back into tech zones whether you want to go or not.
Some players even lock Cooling Fans in storage and mark them mentally as “do not touch,” similar to high-tier electronics.
Indirectly, yes.
Server Racks tend to be placed in higher-threat zones. You will often deal with patrols, drones, or heavier ARC units nearby. These enemies do not guard the racks intentionally, but their pathing overlaps with tech areas.
This means stealth builds and quiet weapons are more effective for Cooling Fan runs. Loud fights attract attention and increase the chance of losing the item before extraction.
Players who rush racks without clearing nearby threats often end up ambushed while overweight and low on stamina.
Directly buying Cooling Fans is not usually an option. Traders rotate stock, and Cooling Fans do not reliably appear for sale.
Some players look for indirect shortcuts, such as buying blueprints or advancing crafting paths to reduce future dependency. Discussions around options like buy bobcat blueprint usually come up in this context, when players are trying to minimize time spent farming specific rare materials rather than acquiring the Cooling Fan itself.
The important thing to understand is that Cooling Fans are meant to slow progression slightly. The game pushes you back into risky tech zones on purpose.
They plan around efficiency, not greed.
A typical approach looks like this:
Enter a known tech area
Loot only Server Racks and nearby containers
Avoid unnecessary combat
Extract as soon as one or two fans are secured
They do not fully clear zones. They do not chase extra kills. The goal is repeatability, not maximizing loot per run.
Players also track which buildings tend to spawn Server Racks consistently and skip zones with random layouts.
Yes, but only because progression demands them.
Cooling Fans are not exciting loot. They do not unlock flashy gear or weapons directly. What they do is unblock systems that eventually give you better survivability, crafting depth, and flexibility.
Once you finish the projects that require them, you will probably never actively farm Cooling Fans again. That alone tells you how niche the item is.
If you remember only three things, remember these:
Do not recycle Cooling Fans early.
Focus on Server Racks, not general loot.
Extract quickly once you find one.
Most frustration around Cooling Fans comes from misunderstanding where they spawn or underestimating how many will be needed later. With a bit of planning, they become a manageable, if slightly annoying, part of Arc Raiders progression.