Fall damage

“

Ooooh, I've realllly hit rock bottom. Click to listen — The Demoman

”

Fall damage is a type of damage that is only applied when a player hits the ground while traveling faster than a certain velocity, or by certain areas in a map.

Fall damage is taken by a victim when the victim falls faster than 650 Hammer units per second and lands on a flat horizontal surface; the damage received varies based on the victim's downwards velocity (generally the longer you fall, the higher this is) and the victim's max health. If a Spy using the Conniver's Kunai and a Heavy fall from the same distance, the Heavy will take more fall damage. The fall is usually accompanied by a distinct bone crunching noise and blood particles being emitted from the legs for a brief time. Landing while crouched will therefore increase fall damage taken, as the player is calculated to have traveled further in this space of time.

However, fall damage can be cancelled by utilising a Double jump (or a Triple jump with the Atomizer or a Force jump with the Force-A-Nature) close to the floor, being Airblasted away from the floor at an angle, activating the B.A.S.E. Jumper's parachute before touching the floor, or explosive jumping away from the floor with precise timing. The Mantreads can also offset fall damage from the user if they successfully land on an opponent, inflicting 3 times the fall damage that would've been taken by the wearer to the target, and the wearer will take no fall damage. It is also possible to negate fall damage by landing in a body of Water of a depth greater than 1 Hammer unit.

If a player dies from fall damage — including pitfalls such as the southern face of Upward, which instantly kill any player who lands in them — a distinct kill message will be displayed in the kill feed, and an assist will be awarded to anyone who was attacking the victim at the time of death. Some areas of a map can kill a player no matter what speed they have while touching them, or if they are under the effect of the ÜberCharge.

There is a 20% random variance in fall damage. This random variable can be disabled by setting tf_fall_damage_disablespread to 1.

Gallery

See also: List of kill icons

 Scout fell to a clumsy, painful death

Damage values

Note: The following values are before the 20% random variance in fall damage is calculated. The following values are also percentages, not exact values, as fall damage is dealt proportionately to maximum health. It should also be noted that these are theoretical values, calculated using the fall damage formula: Damage (%) = 5 * ( Velocity / 300 ).

Velocity (units/s)	0-650	651	700	750	800	850	900	950	1000	1050	1100	1150	1200	1250	1300	1350	1400	1450	1500	1550	1600	1650	1700	1750	1800	1850	1900	1950	2000	2050
Damage (%)	0.00	10.85	11.67	12.50	13.33	14.17	15.00	15.83	16.67	17.50	18.33	19.17	20.00	20.83	21.67	22.50	23.33	24.17	25.00	25.83	26.67	27.50	28.33	29.17	30.00	30.83	31.67	32.50	33.33	34.17
Velocity (units/s)	2100	2150	2200	2250	2300	2350	2400	2450	2500	2550	2600	2650	2700	2750	2800	2850	2900	2950	3000	3050	3100	3150	3200	3250	3300	3350	3400	3450	3500	-
Damage (%)	35.00	35.83	36.67	37.50	38.33	39.17	40.00	40.83	41.67	42.50	43.33	44.17	45.00	45.83	46.67	47.50	48.33	49.17	50.00	50.83	51.67	52.50	53.33	54.17	55.00	55.83	56.67	57.50	58.33	-

Graph

Previous values graphed, along with minimum and maximum damage percentages.

Related achievements

 Scout

Fall Classic Cause an environmental death or suicide using the Force-A-Nature's knockback.

 Demoman

He Who Celt It Use the Sticky Launcher to kill an enemy player via environmental damage.

 Medic

Medical Intervention Save a falling teammate from dying on impact.

Update history

October 18, 2011 Patch #1

• [Undocumented] Standing on top of an enemy and then killing said enemy while facing the floor will no longer deal fall damage to the player.

July 7, 2022 Patch

• Added a game server setting, "tf_fall_damage_disablespread", to disable random fall damage (default: 0).