i checked the permissions, they are setup correctl. but the lights do not turn on. Is the mod outdated?

Could you show the permissions being granted as well as the plugin in a loaded state?

There were recently reports of the light not working for the MiniCopter Options plugin as well. That plugin does the same thing, which is that it spawns a resized search light and parents it to the mini/drone. It sounds like something has happened to vanilla that is affecting both these plugins. Needs further investigation.

Group 'default' permissions:

buildinggrades.up.all, buildinggrades.down.all, buildinggrades.use, advancedgather.use, backpacks.use, removertool.normal, skins.use, itemskinrandomizer.use, itemskinrandomizer.reskin, guishop.use, furnacesplitter.use, signartist.url, signartist.text, securitycameras.use, quicksmelt.use, extendedrecycler.use, droneturrets.deploy, dronehover.use, dronelights.searchlight.autodeploy, dronelights.searchlight.move, autoflipdrones.use, quarrylocks.use

I tested and was not able to reproduce the issue. The drone lights are working all the time. I also ran some debug analysis code to inspect the drone for common issues such as global broadcast mismatches, and found no issues.

However, I was able to reproudce the similar sounding issue that people reported for MiniCopter Options, for which I believe I know the root cause and fix.