The power indicator at the start of the night.
The Power Indicator is a vital in-game mechanic that can mean the difference between sweet victory and bloody defeat as it manages as well as shows how much power is remaining and how much is being used all at once.
In-Game
The Power Indicator, as said above, is a major game mechanic that is located at the bottom left of the player's screen. The player starts off with 99% power and it will decrease depending on how much power is being used at a given time. An example would be having two doors closed and having the camera up will cause the power to drain at an alarming rate. Conserve your power by using the lights, doors, and cameras sparingly. Below the percentage indicator is a graph that shows two green bars, a yellow bar, and a red bar. If only one or two green bars are illuminated, then the power usage is okay. If the yellow bar is illuminated, then power usage is medium and the red bar indicates critical or max power usage.
What Drains Power
- There is an unstoppable 1-bar drain that drains 1% power every 9.6 seconds.
- Turning on the Hall Lights, closing the Doors, and checking the Cameras will cut that time in half for each one turned on. 1% each 4.8 seconds with 2 bars, an average of 1% each 3.2 seconds (in a cycle of 2.8s, 2.9s, 3.9s) with 3 bars, and an average of 1% each 2.4 seconds (in a cycle of 1.9s, 2.9s) with 4 bars (the max amount). It is impossible to have more than 4 bars because use of the camera and each door light are mutually exclusive (You have to turn off or release one before being able to turn on another). It is also impossible to be at 4 bars without having both doors closed.
- Foxy drains 10% power the second time he is blocked, and an additional 5% each time he is blocked afterwards. (More confirmation needed.)
Power Usage Calculations
~9% power used per in-game hour with the constant 1-bar usage. Assuming a night where no one kills you (only possible if Foxy and Freddy never attack the entire night even without being looked at), the maximum amount of power capable of completing a night with is ~45% (Upper limit High-score).
Assuming the Camera, Doors and Lights all drain the same:
- 18% power used per hour with constant 2-bar usage. Electricity would run out at ~5:30am.
- 27% power used per hour with constant 3-bar usage. Electricity would run out at ~3:42am.
- 36% power used per hour with constant 4-bar usage. Electricity would run out at ~2:47am
Not accounting for the few seconds you have with to survive with no power. Even distribution of power over the 6 hours would lead to ~16.6% power usage per hour. Below is a guide of values to try to remain above. (Tip: Energy can be conserved a bit earlier in the night for later the same night due to having a slight leeway before they start bearing down on you.)
- 12am: ~99%
- 1am: ~83%
- 2am: ~66%
- 3am: ~50%
- 4am: ~33%
- 5am: ~16%
- 6am: ~0%
Trivia
- There is not an endless supply of power because the restaurant is apparently on a "power budget" due to their low revenue in the past few years.
- The unstoppable 1% drain is most likely due to the ghost lights around the building and the fan in the office.
Bugs
- Sometimes, the power meter can instantly drop from 3% or 4% straight to zero. On occasions, it has even dropped to zero from 8%. This may be caused by Foxy banging on the door. It is confirmed that Foxy does it thanks to video, if you watch from 1:10 onwards and pay attention to the power it goes from 8/7% to 1%, which means that when Foxy bangs on the door he drains a portion of your power each time.