Capture the Flag

The bridge area in the center of 2Fort.

The bridge area over the crevasse on Double Cross.

“

Wave goodbye to ya secret crap, dumbass! Click to listen — The Scout

”

Capture the Flag features both RED and BLU with their own Intelligence briefcase (known as the flag). The goal for both teams is to capture their enemy's Intelligence continuously until they have reached the game's capture limit (default limit is 3) whilst preventing their enemy from achieving the same. If no team completes the capture limit before time runs out, the match will enter Sudden death mode.

Maps

Main article: List of maps

Capture the Flag maps carry the "ctf_" prefix.

	Map	Filename
	2Fort	ctf_2fort
	Double Cross	ctf_doublecross
100px	Sawmill	ctf_sawmill
100px	Turbine	ctf_turbine
100px	Well	ctf_well

Intelligence

A Scout carrying Intelligence

The Intelligence, also known as the "intel," "flag," or "briefcase," is the eponymous flag and objective of the Capture the Flag game mode. It appears as a team-colored briefcase, sporting a complicated numbered lock pad on the front and papers protruding out of its joints. Once picked up by an enemy, the case loses its color partially and will trail paper particles and a long team-colored tail.

Role

During a Capture the Flag round, each team is given their own Intelligence, located within their section of the map. It must be retrieved from this location by the opposite team and returned to a defined point, usually the opposing team's 'capture zone' where their Intelligence is stored.

The Intelligence can be taken by any enemy player that walks up onto it. It will then appear on their back and the Announcer will notify both teams that the Intelligence has been taken. The Intelligence indicator located on the HUD will then point in the direction of the carrier who must make their way out of the enemy base and back to their own.

While carrying the intelligence, several disadvantages become in play. Firstly, A player cannot use Teleporters. A Medic's ÜberCharge cannot be used on the Intelligence carrier, nor can a player pick up the Intelligence while under its effects. Scouts are also unable to drink Bonk! Atomic Punch while holding the Intelligence, and may not pick it up while under its effects. Spies are unable to pick up the Intelligence while Cloaked, but can pick it up while in disguise, although this is automatically removed. Furthermore, the Spy cannot disguise or Cloak while carrying the Intelligence, and will automatically drop it if they do. Finally, the Intelligence is dropped automatically if the carrier is killed or enters a resupply area.

Once the Intelligence is returned to a capture point, the successful team will gain one point shown in the Intelligence Indicator, and will receive ten seconds of Crit boost.

The Intelligence can be dropped manually if the player carrying it presses the drop-item button. Once dropped, a clock-like timer ring will appear over the Intelligence. When the default 60 seconds have passed without an enemy picking it up again, it is automatically returned to its original position in the team's base. If an enemy picks up and subsequently drops the intelligence, this timer will reset. Teams are required to defend the dropped Intelligence during this period or face losing it. Should the Intelligence carrier is killed by certain environmental hazards that prevent the dropped Intelligence from being touched, like the bottomless pits on Double Cross, it will be forcibly returned to its original position. This functionality is inherent to the map's code and not the intelligence itself, and thus has to be added to the map manually by its creator. Thus, while Valve official maps all share this for specific bottomless hazards, not all custom maps may utilize this function.

Gallery

Flags

• 

  The RED Intelligence briefcase.

• 

  The BLU Intelligence briefcase.

• 

  The neutral Intelligence briefcase.

• 

  The RED Intelligence briefcase (picked up).

• 

  The BLU Intelligence briefcase (picked up).

• 

  The neutral Intelligence briefcase (picked up).

• 

  The old red team flag.

• 

  The old blue team flag.

• 

  The old neutral flag.

Notes

1. The Neutral Intelligence briefcase is a white-colored version of the standard briefcase that appears in the game files. It remains unused by Valve in official maps, however, was included by them for use by community developers in custom game modes (such as "Single Flag CTF").
2. As placeholders during early stages, Valve used modified versions of Team Fortress Classic's flags, which can be still be seen in the game files, featuring the faces of TF2's development team. The face that appears on the red flag is that of Robin Walker, the co-creator of the Team Fortress series.

Related Achievements

Scout

64px	Belittled Beleauger Kill an opposing player that has your intelligence while holding theirs.	64px	No Hitter Steal and then capture the enemy intelligence without firing a shot.
64px	Round Tripper Capture the enemy intelligence 25 times.	64px	Triple Steal Capture the enemy intelligence 25 times.

Pyro

Cooking the Books Ignite 5 enemies carrying your intelligence.

Heavy

Crime and Punishment Kill 10 enemies carrying your intelligence.

Engineer

Trade Secrets Kill 20 players carrying the intelligence.

Sniper

Have a Plan Capture the flag in CTF.

Robbin’ Hood Take down an intelligence carrier with a single arrow.

Trivia

• When carried on a player's back, the Intelligence will leave a literal 'paper trail'.
• With the Classless Update, intelligence visuals when being carried by a player were improved to make detecting the carrier easier.
• There is an option that allows servers to specify the length of a Crit-boost on a successful capture, or to disable it entirely (tf_ctf_bonus_time).
• If sudden death occurs, the Intelligence is automatically restored to its original position.
• Unlike variants of Capture the Flag in other games, a capture can be made even if the enemy is currently carrying your team's Intelligence.