Exploits

From TF2 Wiki

An Exploit is a bug or unintended feature of gameplay that is deliberately and knowingly used by the player to gain an advantage. For example, if a bug enables a player to be immune to damage and a player knowingly uses it, it is an exploit. However, a bug which (similarly) permits a player to be immune to damage but which occurs randomly, rather than being deliberately exploited, is merely a glitch.

1 List of exploits
2 List of patched exploits
3 Glitches

List of exploits

NOTE: A glitch/exploit is said to be broken if it is unintentional to the games Developers, because it as a broken feature of the game.

Terrain exploits

Fenced Sentries Whereby an Engineer may place his Sentry gun behind a linked fence, from behind which it can shoot. These can still generally be sapped or affected by explosive splash damage (Broken)

Gate Bypassing Whereby a Demoman or Soldier can rocket jump into the enemy base and wreak havoc before the match begins, this is normally considered a fair exploit (Legitimate)

Shooting Through the Gates in Various Maps Some maps will have a pair of separable gates that do not open until after setup time has ended. However it has been found that Snipers may shoot through the gates and that the Pyro's flames can bypass them. While the Pyro's flames passing through may be considered an intended feature due to the gates featuring chain links in-game, Snipers may actually shoot through the solid metal sections of the gates themselves. Demomen, Soldiers, and sometimes Medics can sometimes use the cracks in the walls to use their explosive weapons (or needs to drop down) to hurt/kill enemies in their own spawn.(Partially Broken)

Skywalking Whereby a player gains vast height through sticky jumping, rocket jumping or using engineers buildings to gain enough height to allow them to walk on top of the map area. This is also possible for other classes in cooperation with their opponents, by using knock back. (i.e. a enemy sentry or an enemy medic)

Underground Sentries Whereby an Engineer may place his Sentry gun under the surface of the ground, where it can attack but not be attacked (Broken)

Weapon exploits

Face Stabbing Whereby a Spy is able to achieve a backstab by stabbing someone's front, usually around their face. This was listed as fixed in an update by Valve but this does not seem to have stopped its occurrence (Broken - Xbox 360 and PS3 Version)

Needle boosting Whereby players could be boosted to inaccessible areas by Medics. This is done by medics who shoot their needles underneath players on their own team. (Broken - Xbox 360 and PS3 Version)

Buildings Exploits

Teleporter Exploit Whereby an Engineer could earn himself a large amount of points by using his own teleporter repeatedly. (Broken - Xbox 360 and PS3 Version)

Map specific exploits

2Fort

Building Teleporter to a Dead-End A player may reach a broken location which is impossible to leave. An engineer can build a teleporter exit there and accumulate points from players teleporting. The players then have to suicide to get out. At least one such is in a corridor going down to intelligence, near the left spawn point.

Entering Enemy's Spawn A hole in right side of the No Enter symbol for Blu's base (the one next to the haystacks) can be used by red players to get into the Blu's spawn. The hole is located on the right side of the No Enter symbol, if you are facing their spawn. The only way to get in there, is if one of the Blu's team member goes to their spawn or comes out of it. Then while the door is still open, you need to stand next to it and move toward the right side and you will get in their spawn.

Holding Enemies Spawn Door Open Both teams can hold open the enemies spawn door at the hay room by running into it while it is open. While this works well for the Blu team, as they can potentially spawn camp, its not so easy for the Red team. Should a member of the Red team attempt this, they can potentially get stuck in the door, unable to move, and end up getting dragged up and down with the door as the Blu team enters and leaves the spawn area.

Pointless RoomThere is a spot in each intel room, where players can get others stuck. By building a dispenser on the left wall of the left corridor (the one facing the intel) and then by using the "jump through roofs" exploits to build a teleporter exit, a player can trap other players on their team. There is no tactical advantage to getting in here (sentries don't work here either), you can't be shot or shoot anybody. It is mostly used by people who are greifing as they will set up a teleporter entrance somewhere in your base and an exit in the roof. This then traps your teammates and forces them to commit suicide.

Roof Holes A hole in the roof of BLU's 'upstairs' room (above and behind the balcony) allows arcing projectiles (grenades and needles) to be fired into the 'upstairs' room just outside BLU's main respawn room. It can be used for taking out Sentries placed in the corner of the upstairs room. This looks intentional; however the same cannot be used on RED's base as chicken wire covers the hole.

Badlands

Underground Sentries Hole in the terrain that allows players to get under the map near RED's respawn. Can be abused by Engineers to build an underground Sentry gun that cannot be hit. Similar to the Gravelpit exploit but the Sentry can be avoided by using alternate routes, however it is an exploit nonetheless. This exploit has been patched.

Dustbowl

Glitched Area Stage 2, Control point 1 building - Allows Soldiers and Demomen to Rocket jump into the roof area of the building. Additionally, Scouts can double jump to get up there, and Engineers can build a dispenser and jump on that to get up there (the back section opposite wall to the rail track). (Possibly legitimate)

Skywalking Stage 1 Cap 2. Engineers can build dispensers/sentries to stand on or by jumping on top of boxes, are able to access some high areas. To skywalk, go to the small room with the boxes (the one across the bridge) , and then click crouch and then jump to be able to place a teleporter exit. Then by building a dispenser next to the wall and building another teleporter exit ontop of the wall, you are able to skywalk at Cap 2 Stage 1 Dustbowl. You are also able to build sentries on top of the room with the box.

Gravelpit

Roof Holes A hole in the roof of RED's respawn room allows weapon fire in both directions. The holes are between the boards over the window and big enough to allow most projectiles through.

Under Map Cap A. By using the "Crouch Jump" exploit, you can get under the map at Gravel Pit Cap A. To do this, go to the tunnel next to Cap A. Build a dispenser and use the "Crouch Jump" exploit to build a teleporter exit. After using the teleporter you built, you will need to crouch jump over a little gap in the small room you teleported into and you will be able to build sentries under the map.

Well

Glitched Area Backroom (Control point 5 in CP_Well and Intel Room in CTF_Well) - Allows Soldiers, Demomen, and Engineers to get into the roof area and on the beams. Unconfirmed if an exploit or not as both teams can use it, higher areas are blocked by invisible walls and hasn't been fixed by Valve even though it's been around a while. (Possibly legitimate)

List of patched exploits

Backstab not breaking disguise Whereby a Spy could backstab while retaining their disguise (Patched in PC and 360 version- Broken PS3 Version)

Bunny hoppingA technique that allows players to move faster than they regularly could, without bunny hopping.

Cloaked Backstab Whereby a Spy could backstab while remaining cloaked. (Patched in PC and 360 version- Broken PS3 Version)

Critical Hit Storing Whereby players are able to store critical hits in their weapon using the above weapon switching exploit until they attack, especially annoying for spies one-shotted by an Engineer's wrench (Patched in PC and 360 version- Broken PS3 Version)

Crouch Jump Whereby players are able to build teleporters in places that they should not be able to, like in the enemy's or their own spawn. To do this, click crouch and then click jump to boost yourself through roofs partially, and you should be able to build if you are jumping correctly in the correct spot, like in the exploit at dustbowl stage 1 cap 2. If you click crouch then jump then crouch again you will get stuck in the roof and may be able to build, if you are in the correct spot. You can also do this on top of your sentry/dispenser, if you crouch jump onto it, or other objects in the game, like boxes. (Patched in PC version only)

Demo Achievements Whereby players could complete achievements by spectating other players who earned them.

Door Block Exploit Allowed an engineer to block spawn doors with the help of teleporters (Patched in both versions- Broken PS3 Version).

Heavy Minigun Exploit Whereby a Heavy was able to run and simultaneously rev up or fire their Minigun (Patched in both versions- Broken PS3 Version)

Intelligence Teleportation An exploit that allowed a player to teleport with the intelligence by dropping it next to the Teleporter, then picking it up as you teleported.

Melee Weapon Switching Exploits Whereby players could attack and then instantly switch to another weapon and back again, making your next attack with the melee weapon land instantly, and stack on the attack you are already making. (Patched in PC and 360 version - Broken PS3 Version)

Needle boosting Whereby players could be boosted to inaccessible areas by Medics. (Patched in PC version only - Broken for Xbox 360 and PS3 Versions)

Occlusion Visualization Cheat (cvar) Allowed you to make use of the built-in Performance UI to enable visible occluders which would let you then see through walls (Patched in PC version).

Permanent Ubercharge Whereby a disconnected Medic could continue to Ubercharge his target indefinitely.

- Infinate Ubercharge Whereby a Medic is able to give himself an ever-lasting ubercharge for the rest of the round. It requires a player to have unlocked the Kritzkrieg, and is done by switching to the Kritzkrieg whilest deploying the uber in the team respawn room. This can also be done the opposite way around - by switching to the Medigun, giving the player infinate critical hits for the rest of the round. Standing near a dispenser (or Gold Rush cart whilest attacking), healing a teammate, or being healed by a teammate will however end the charge.

Teleporter Exploit Whereby an Engineer could earn himself large amounts of points by using his own teleporter repeatedly. You can no longer earn points by using your own teleporter. (Patched in PC version - Broken PS3 Version)

Wall Sap Whereby a Spy could attach an Electro sapper to enemy buildings through thin walls. (Patched in PC and 360 version- Broken PS3 Version)

Glitches

What is a Glitch?

A Glitch is a bug or error in the game or map. A glitch would be something like not being able to load a menu screen or jumping out of the map by accident.

Gameplay specific glitches

Accessing Developer Console Unlike the PC version, the console versions of TF2 are not allowed to access the developer console. Occasionally, the host of the game can accidentally access this console. The way to access it is unknown but some have brought it up simply by doing an Ubercharge. If the host has an Xbox 360 Chat Pad, they will be able to enter in text in the text box. (Occurs on Xbox 360)

Glitched Textures Sometimes after "alt-tabbing" or a server crash/disconnect, you can experience weird textures in some maps, namely spawn gates and water. It will look wireframe, usually in 2fort.

Invisible 2Fort Bridge Roof Sometimes, a player will be able to see through the bridge roof on 2Fort. The shots cannot go through this invisible roof though. The cause is unknown. (Occurs on Xbox 360)

Invisible Models Occasional occurs on the PC version if Alt-Tab is used whilst in full screen mode. Weapons fire can be seen but no player or weapons models. This usually only happens on one random player with the rest of the players still being visible and can lead to the player seeing the glitch to think the invisible player is using hacks. (PC only)

Invisible Weapons Occasionally a player will appear as if he doesn't have a weapon in his hands. The weapon fire is still seen and he's still in the posture as if he's holding one, but it appears as if he's not holding one. The cause is still unknown (Occurs in the Xbox 360 version and occasionally in PC and PS3 Version).

Losing the Aiming Crosshairs Occasionally, if a player leaves a laggy game and join a new game they can lose their crosshairs or aiming reticle. This reticle will not appear on screen however, the shots will go to where the reticle would have been if it were there. (Occurs on Xbox 360 and PS3 Version)

Losing Main Menu Sound Effects Occasionally, if a player leaves a laggy game or gets lagged out, they will not have any sound effects in the main menu. (Occurs on Xbox 360 and PS3 Version)

Mouth not Opening Sometimes when a player does a taunt or response, the characters' mouth will not open but the sound can still be heard. The Soldier will never open his mouth when doing a Shovel Taunt. (Occurs on the Xbox 360 Version and PS3 Version)

Over Player Limit If the room has too many spectators, the game will see that the room is still in need of players to fill it up. So, it will still be considered an open room. More players will be able to join and thus, the game will be over the maximum player limit. When the room goes back to the lobby and then they play another match, the game will automatically boot the players who recently joined who made it over the limit. (occurs on the Xbox 360 version)

Still on fire Sometimes after dying by fire you respawn and the burning effect remains arround the edges of your screen, you take no damage and the disorientating sound is not present.

Opposite Team skins If a player who was playing as a Spy changes class, he will sometimes have the opposite skin (red or blue) of the team he is on. When you look at this player, the game will think that he is still a spy, and will display the "Diguised as enemy/friendly class" under his name, depending on the last disguise used. The actual cause of this glitch is unknown.

Lag glitches

Glitches caused by lag.

Flamethrower range Occurs all the time. Sometimes you can be instantly killed even when swept by the extreme range of the flamethrower, or the flamethrower has simply more range (not a critical swept).

"Netquake" Occurs rarely, but sometimes all players in the server will be unable to move and the player's view will shake (like an earthquake).

"Pseudo-hax" Being killed by someone (with a direct weapon like a sniper rifle), despite being out of its view and weapon range. Getting killed through walls is a prime example of this.

Sliding characters Some characters will assume default position (standing still) and slide instead of running around. The Civilian always assumes this position, and is not a lag glitch.