Sanhok and Livik: How to Play PUBG Mobile’s Fast Maps

Sanhok is 4×4 km with 100 players. Livik is 2×2 km with around 52. Erangel is 8×8 with 100. Those numbers mean the player density on Sanhok is roughly four times Erangel’s, and on Livik higher still — and nearly everything that makes these maps different follows from that one fact.

Why small maps invert the rules

On Erangel, the correct default is to loot thoroughly, move early, and avoid fights that do not improve your position. On Sanhok and Livik that same approach gets you killed while you are still sorting attachments.

• You cannot avoid fights. There is nowhere far enough away. Plan to fight in the first two minutes, because you will be.
• Loot less, and faster. A gun, ammunition and armour is enough. If you are still in the same building after ninety seconds, someone is already walking toward you.
• The circle moves faster. Rotations are short but the timers are tight, and you will be moving through contested ground rather than empty fields.
• Sound is constant and less informative. On Erangel a gunshot means something. On Sanhok there is always gunfire somewhere; you have to filter for what is close.
• Vehicles matter far less. Distances are short and vehicles are loud. On Livik especially, a vehicle mostly announces you.

Sanhok

A dense jungle map with heavy vegetation, close terrain, and far more cover than any other map in the game. It is also the only map where the QBZ95 and QBU spawn in place of the M416 and Mini 14 — both are good, and the QBZ in particular is close to an M416 in performance.

Playing Sanhok well

• Use the vegetation, but do not trust it. Sanhok’s foliage renders at reduced density at a distance on many phones, which means a bush hiding you at 20 metres may not be hiding you at 150. Treat vegetation as concealment from close range only.
• Expect fights at every range under 100 metres. An 8× scope is nearly useless here. A red dot and a 3× cover almost everything.
• The loot is richer than Erangel’s. Sanhok deliberately spawns better gear to compensate for shorter looting time — so do not over-loot. A full loadout comes together fast.
• Watch elevation. Despite the dense cover, Sanhok has real hills, and holding one above a compound is as strong here as anywhere.

Livik

At 2×2 km with roughly 52 players and matches running about fifteen minutes, Livik is the fastest mode in the game. It was built explicitly for short sessions, and it plays accordingly.

Livik also has its own weapons. The MP5K in particular is one of the best guns in the game and spawns only here — it takes a full set of attachments and has almost no recoil, which makes it competitive with assault rifles at the ranges Livik fights happen at. If you see one, take it.

What makes Livik different

• There is no early game. You land, you fight. Loot the first building fast and expect contact within a minute.
• Circles are small and quick. There is no such thing as a long rotation, but there is also nowhere to hide while you make it.
• Terrain is varied for the size — a waterfall, hot springs, a power plant, a port and hills, all packed together. Notable spots include the Power Plant, Hot Spring, East Port, Blomster and Midtstein.
• The loot is generous. Livik hands you a strong loadout quickly by design, so the game is about fighting, not about equipment.

Playing Livik well

• Take the aggressive option. Passive play does not work in fifteen minutes on 2×2 km — the circle will simply push you into people.
• Close-range weapons only. An MP5K, a shotgun, or an AR with a red dot. Snipers are almost a wasted slot.
• Heal constantly. Fights come one after another with no gap. The player who tops up between them wins the next one.
• Use it as practice. Livik gives you more fights per hour than any other mode, which makes it the best place to drill a new sensitivity setting or learn the gyroscope.

Loadouts for fast maps

The common thread: on small maps, a second close-range weapon beats a long-range one. The range band where a sniper is useful barely exists, and the slot is better spent on something that wins the fight happening at 30 metres right now.

Are small maps good for rank?

It depends what you want, and it is worth being clear about the trade-off.

Matches are much faster, so you play more of them per hour and accumulate points faster in absolute terms. But your average placement will be worse, because avoiding fights is not an option, and placement is what ranked weighs most heavily — see the rank system guide for how that scoring works.

In practice: if you are climbing efficiently, Erangel and Miramar are the better maps, because they let you play for placement. If you are practising mechanics, learning the gyroscope, or testing new sensitivity settings, Livik and Sanhok are far better, because they give you ten times the fights per hour. Use them for different purposes rather than treating one as strictly better.