Item levels
The majority of items in Team Fortress 2 have levels associated with them. Levels, viewed with the item name in the loadout menu, are purely cosmetic and have no effect on any weapon or item.
Originally, when the Backpack was first implemented in the Sniper vs. Spy Update, item levels were added by the developers to test if level functionality could be included in the item drop system. Dropped items were given a random level between 0 and 100, and the level would appear under the name of the item, visible to all players. It was speculated that this was intentional on Valve's part to increase variety in items in the trading system (e.g. a Level 100 Ambassador or Level 69 Huntsman would be considered quite rare).
Random levelling is now no longer a feature as of a patch implemented shortly after the "Sniper vs. Spy" Update. All new items receive a standard level. However, it appears that hats will still receive random levels (which can only be seen in a backpack viewing website), and all existing items with random levels will still retain them.
List of item levels
Weapons
| Level | Items |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Dalokohs Bar – Direct Hit – Rocket Jumper – Sandvich – Shortstop – Sticky Jumper – Sydney Sleeper – Your Eternal Reward |
| Level 5 | Ambassador – Battalion's Backup – Black Box – Big Kill – Blutsauger – Bonk! Atomic Punch – Buff Banner – Bushwacka – Crit-a-Cola – Eyelander – Frontier Justice – Frying Pan – Homewrecker – Jarate – L'Etranger – Lugermorph – Mad Milk – Natascha – Pain Train – Powerjack – Scotsman's Skullcutter – Scottish Resistance – Tribalman's Shiv – Vita-Saw – Wrangler |
| Level 7 | Killing Gloves of Boxing |
| Level 8 | Kritzkrieg |
| Level 10 | Axtinguisher – Backburner – Chargin' Targe – Darwin's Danger Shield – Degreaser – Equalizer – Flare Gun – Force-A-Nature – Gloves of Running Urgently – Gunboats – Huntsman – Razorback – Übersaw |
| Level 15 | Gunslinger – Sandman |
| Level 20 | Southern Hospitality |
| Level 25 | Golden Wrench |
| Level 42 | Holy Mackerel |
| Level 50 | Community weapons |
| Levels 0-100 | Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker |
| Level 100 | Valve weapons |
Hats and misc. items
| Level | Items |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Cheater's Lament – Ghastly Gibus – Ghastlier Gibus – Mildly Disturbing Halloween Mask – Polycount Pin |
| Level 5 | Mercenary |
| Level 10 | Bill's Hat – Ellis' Cap – Halloween Masks – Mann Co. Cap – Saxton Hale Mask – Soldier of Fortune |
| Level 15 | Grizzled Veteran |
| Level 20 | Alien Swarm Parasite – Primeval Warrior – Wiki Cap |
| Levels 1-24 | Bronze Dueling Badge |
| Levels 25-49 | Silver Dueling Badge |
| Level 31 | Cadaver's Cranium – Horseless Headless Horsemann's Head – Horrific Headsplitter – Spine-Chilling Skull – Voodoo Juju |
| Level 50 | Dealer's Visor |
| Levels 50-74 | Gold Dueling Badge |
| Levels 0-100 | All other hats and Miscellaneous items |
| Level 75-100 | Platinum Dueling Badge |
| Level 100 | Gentle Manne's Service Medal |
Other items
| Level | Items |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Description Tag – Name Tag – Scrap Metal – Secret Saxton – Standard (default) weapons |
| Level 2 | Reclaimed Metal |
| Level 3 | Refined Metal |
| Level 4 | Unusual Haunted Metal Scrap |
| Level 5 | Dueling Mini-Game – Gift Wrap – Mann Co. Supply Crate Key – Noise Makers – Paint Can |
| Level 10 | Mann Co. Supply Crate |
| Level 23 | Pile o' Gifts |
