GTA 6’s gauges show your remaining health, stamina, and special ability energy. Underwater, you also need to watch your breath or the oxygen remaining in your scuba tank. Restoring a depleted bar, temporarily boosting it beyond its normal maximum, and increasing your base stats through training are different mechanics.
Key points
- The white line on the health bar marks the automatic regeneration limit. Use recovery items or other methods to restore health beyond it.
- A temporary health boost makes the right side of the bar longer than normal.
- Lung capacity tracks how long you can hold your breath; O₂ tracks the oxygen left in your scuba tank. They measure different things.
Gauge Types and Meanings
Use each icon and color to identify its gauge. The diagram below compares five types; they are not necessarily all displayed at the same time.
Health
The pink heart and bar show your remaining health. Taking damage reduces it, and it gradually regenerates up to the white line. Restoring health beyond that line is different from temporarily boosting your maximum health.
Stamina
The turquoise lightning bolt represents stamina. Physical activities such as running and working out consume it. At the gym, you need to finish your set before your stamina runs out.
Special Ability
Focus
The purple eye icon represents the special ability gauge. Using the ability to slow time and highlight enemy weak points drains the bar while it is active.
It is not confirmed whether the Focus function that reveals police through walls is the same ability as the time-slowing, weak-point highlighting skill.
Oxygen
Scuba tank supply
The O₂ icon shows how much oxygen remains in your scuba tank. This measures the supply in your equipment, rather than how long you can hold your breath.
Lung Capacity
The lung icon shows your remaining breath underwater. Watch this gauge when diving without a tank. Underwater, the stamina display switches to the lung capacity display.
Jason’s Special Ability
Jason’s special ability slows time and highlights parts of an enemy’s body in red and yellow. It drains the purple bar in the upper-left corner while helping you distinguish lethal targets from areas you can aim at to incapacitate an enemy.
Red: Lethal Targets
Red highlights mark vulnerable areas such as the head and the area around the heart. These are targets to aim at when you intend to kill an enemy.
Yellow: Incapacitating Targets
Yellow highlights mark areas such as arm and leg joints and the hand holding a gun. Aim at these to stop an enemy from moving or attacking and incapacitate them without killing them.
The colors do more than identify easy targets. They help you choose whether to kill an enemy or prevent them from attacking. The connection to the Focus function that reveals police through walls, and the details of Lucia’s special ability, remain unconfirmed.
Health Regeneration and the White Line
When health falls below the white line, it gradually regenerates up to that marker. The line is not your maximum health: it marks how far health can recover automatically without using anything.
Recovery changes at the white line
Use recovery items or other methods to restore health beyond the white line and up to the normal maximum. Normally, the marker sits in the middle of the bar. Having pink health remaining to its right does not, by itself, mean a temporary boost is active.
Temporary Boosts and Maximum Health
A temporary enhancement from food, drinks, or similar effects is called a buff. A health buff does more than restore missing health: it adds health beyond your normal maximum.
Restores missing health up to the normal maximum.
Adds extra health beyond the normal maximum.
Increases the normal maximum for health or stamina.
The temporary extra health is lost once your remaining health drops below the normal maximum. Healing afterward does not restore the higher maximum provided by the buff.
Food, Drinks, and Recovery Items
The icons beside drinks and items indicate which gauges they affect. Some items have more than one icon.
BLITZ BERRY SMOOTHIE / BLITZ GREEN SMOOTHIE
The icons suggest that these drinks affect stamina and special ability energy. Whether they replenish the bars or temporarily boost them needs to be checked by comparing the gauges before and after use.
Pink Heart
The red container has a pink heart matching the health icon. It appears to be a standard recovery item that restores lost health.
Orange Heart
The narrow container has an orange heart inside a circle. It may temporarily boost health beyond the normal maximum.
These interpretations of the two items are based on their icons. It is not confirmed whether the orange-heart item caused the boosted health shown above.
Training and Recovery
Working Out
Training can improve your base health and stamina. Cardio contributes to stamina, while strength exercises contribute to health growth. These increases to your normal limits are different from temporary food and drink buffs.
Food, Drinks, and Sleep
Energy drinks temporarily boost the stamina bar. Getting enough sleep also affects how some attributes recover. This does not mean that sleeping alone instantly fills every gauge.
Going to the gym is optional, but exercise and food or drink effects give you ways to prepare before taking action. Exact stat increases, item effects, and buff durations will be added once verified.
Lung Capacity and Oxygen Underwater
Watch the lung icon to track your remaining breath.
Watch the O₂ icon to track the tank’s remaining oxygen.
Lung capacity and tank oxygen are separate resources. The icon tells you whether you are managing your own breath or the oxygen supplied by your equipment.
For police-related HUD indicators, see wanted star types and meanings. For equipment you can carry, see weapon carry limits and storage. Visit Game Systems for an overview of the core features.