The Goons in Escape from Tarkov can spawn on four maps and rotate between them: Customs, Woods, Shoreline, and Lighthouse.

Core spawn locations

  • On Shoreline, The Goons spawn at the Weather Station area on the hill.
  • On Woods, they spawn around the Radio Tower area on the big hill.
  • On Lighthouse, they can appear at the Water Treatment Plant or at the lower USEC “blue” chalet.
  • On Customs, they spawn around the Stronghold/fortress complex (the big industrial compound near the middle of the map).

How their spawns work

  • They rotate between those four maps, so they will only be on one of them in any given raid.
  • They spawn at the start of a raid; if they are on that map, they are there from the beginning rather than late‑spawning.
  • Community “Goon tracker” websites log last-seen reports and are widely used to know which map they’re currently on.

Practical tips to find them

  • Check a community tracker shortly before queueing; if it says “last seen on Customs,” prioritize that map.
  • When on the correct map, go straight to their known spawn (Weather Station, Radio Tower, Water Treatment/Chalet, or Customs Stronghold) in the first few minutes.
  • Listen for a distant sniper shot or heavy grenade spam; Birdeye and Big Pipe’s behavior often gives away that The Goons are present nearby.

Mini FAQ

  • “Where are the Goons Tarkov right now?”
    They change constantly and are player-reported, so checking a live tracker site is the only reliable way to know their current map.
  • “Can they be on any other maps?”
    As of the latest info, their rotation is limited to Shoreline, Woods, Lighthouse, and Customs only.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.