Jumping

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Click to listen

— The Scout

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Jumping is a basic ability that every class is capable of. It moves the player 45 Hammer units vertically. Jumping can be used to reach elevated positions, shorten walking distance, or avoid enemy fire. By default, jumping is performed by pressing Space on a PC or Mac, on the Xbox 360, or on the PlayStation 3.

Basic maneuvers

Crouch-jumping

At any point during a jump, the player may crouch by pressing the pre-assigned button. This will cause the class to bring their legs up in world view and move an additional Hammer unit up, as well as reduce their height by 27 Hammer units from the bottom of their hitbox. This can allow them to reach higher surfaces or shrink their hitboxes to dodge enemy fire. By default, a player may only crouch and uncrouch twice while in the air to prevent several exploits.

Crouch-jumping is also used to boost the effect of explosive knock back. By design, any jump involving an explosive will go further with a crouch-jump than a regular jump.

Air strafing

Air strafing allows players to curve in mid-air to change their trajectory. While airborne, it can be performed by simultaneously strafing and turning smoothly in the same direction. Moving forward during the maneuver may cancel the strafe.

Scout jumps

Using the Force-A-Nature to augment jumps.

The Scout is the only class with the innate ability to double jump. This can be augmented with the Force-A-Nature, Boston Basher, or Atomizer, thus creating a wide variety of jumping variations.

Double Jump

By pressing the jump key a second time at the peak of the initial jump, the Scout can perform a second jump in any direction. The extra height and distance this ability grants can be used to access areas which other classes cannot. This can be useful for avoiding enemy fire and ambushing incoming enemies. A careless double jump, however, has an easily trackable trajectory, allowing any other competent class to make a kill.

It is possible to perform the second jump at any time while in midair. This can be used to negate fall damage by performing the second jump just before hitting the ground.

Triple Jump

Equipping the Atomizer allows the Scout to perform a triple jump, which deals 10 damage to the Scout when executed. With this ability, the Scout can jump across larger gaps that were previously inaccessible when double jumping. Scouts with this ability are distinct from other Scouts, as a second or third jump will emit a purple cloud beneath their feet.

Force Jump

With the Force-A-Nature equipped, the Scout can use the recoil from a shot to propel himself even higher into the air for an effective triple jump. The third "jump" produced by the Force-A-Nature shot has more horizontal force and is slightly more difficult to aim and predict than a double jump. By jumping forwards and firing a Force-A-Nature shot downwards against the jump, the player will propel themselves higher than a double jump, but with the second jump available in reserve. This acts as a trade-off; horizontal momentum is negated in order to provide greater vertical distance.

Bonk! Jump

With the Bonk! Atomic Punch equipped, the Scout can use the recoil from an opposing Sentry Gun shooting at him (while he is invulnerable) to propel himself up in the air. The higher the sentry level is, the longer the jump will be.

Basher Jump

By hitting himself with the Boston Basher while in midair, the Scout can use the Basher's self-damaging properties to get to places previously inaccessible. Such a maneuver is risky, however, as it will only take around four missed swings to bring a non-overhealed Scout with full health to exactly one hitpoint. Extensive use of medkits is therefore required. Much like rocket jumping, crouching while in midair will greatly increase the distance a Basher-jumping Scout can travel. The Boston Basher can be used in conjunction with the Force-A-Nature to achieve maximum height or distance as the Scout.

Quad Jump

By combining the Atomizer's triple jump with the Force-A-Nature's knock back, a Scout can perform four jumps in quick succession. This is for Scouts that are skilled with force jumps, and focus mainly on offense. This can be good for getting to an objective quickly while maintaining a height advantage. While this is a good offensive tactic, this can also help get into a hard-to-reach spot while defending.

Soldier jumps

Basic rocket jump

A demonstration of a basic rocket jump.

A rocket jump is any jump assisted by the explosive knockback of the Soldier's own rockets. A player can propel himself to great heights and distances, usually at the cost of some health. This technique is often used to reach unusual locations on the map, cover ground quickly, bypass barriers, and surprise foes. To assist with rocket jumps, the Soldier has 40% damage resistance against any rocket he fires that does not damage an enemy. Critical hits do not deal extra self-damage or extra knock back to the Soldier, so they will not propel him further. Any rocket jumping Soldier will display burning, smoky boots until he lands.

To execute a rocket jump, simultaneously jump and fire a rocket at the ground below. The angle of the shot and distance from the explosion will determine the velocity and height of the jump. Crouch-jumping before firing the rocket will launch the player significantly further. The sooner the explosion is made after jumping, the further and faster the Soldier will fly.

Advanced rocket jump

A demonstration of a "pogo'"rocket jump.

There are multiple variations on the basic rocket jump. Most are regularly used on jump maps, but they can also be used in a normal game to gain great speed or height.

Faster rocket jumps can be made off a combination of a wall and ground. Aim down at the corner where the wall intersects the ground, crouch-jump and fire. These jumps tend to have a low angle and high velocity, and they often go further than regular jumps.
Wall jumps can be made while in the air and against a wall. Continue to hold crouch and fire down below yourself on the wall. The explosion will produce a second jump. Rocket jumps and wall jumps can be chained together to gain great distance or height.
Pogo jumps are secondary rocket jumps made against the ground to increase your airtime. The explosion should keep you airborne and potentially increase forward momentum. Skipping is the high speed variant. You must predict your location and sometimes aim ahead to ensure that the rocket lands directly beneath you, or you might fail and touch the ground. You must always be crouching during these jumps as failure to do so makes your jumps far less powerful.
Double rocket jumps require two rockets to detonate as you jump, and can only be performed on a few maps. If you fire a rocket downwards and fall after it, you will eventually fall faster than your own shot. After landing, you then rocket jump as your first shot strikes you. The combined explosion sends you much further and higher than is otherwise possible.
Flicking is rapidly turning around and firing the rocket mostly behind you. This can be combined with any other technique to fine tune the direction and power of a jump. An easier equivalent is to face backwards while you make your rocket jump. Always turn in the direction of your weapon. Doing this results in a faster and more precise jump, as projectiles in the Source engine are spawned at the end of the player's viewmodel, not in the center of their screen.
Water jumping is using the water physics of the Source engine to gain extra momentum. Players that are in the process of surfacing in deep water receive a minor boost upwards; rocket jumping during this time (likely against a wall) will augment this force into a very strong jump. Well is the most likely place to find this kind of jump.
No damage will be dealt to the Soldier when rocket jumping if he has the Rocket Jumper equipped, although he will still receive fall damage.
Rocket jumping off of enemies or buildings will allow the Soldier to jump small barriers close by without going too high.
Rocket jumping with different items such as the Liberty Launcher and Direct Hit will provide different effects, the Direct Hit may not be the best choice as you will inflict more damage to yourself while the Liberty Launcher only has three rockets compared to the normal four.

Demoman jumps

Basic sticky jump

A demonstration of a basic sticky jump.

A sticky jump is any jump assisted by the explosive knock back of the Demoman's own stickies. Compared to the Soldier's rocket jump, the Demoman pays more health, but jumps much higher and further. This technique is often used to reach unusual locations on the map, cover ground quickly, bypass barriers, and surprise foes. To assist with sticky jumps, the Demoman has 25% damage resistance against any sticky he fires that does not damage an enemy. Critical hits do not deal extra self-damage or extra knockback to the Demoman, so they will not propel him further. Any sticky jumping player will display burning, smoky boots until he lands.

To execute a successful sticky jump, place a sticky bomb on the ground and wait for it to arm. Jump over the sticky and detonate it. Your distance from the sticky's wide explosive radius will determine height, velocity, and damage taken to a significant degree. Crouch-jumping will cause the explosion to launch you significantly further.

Advanced sticky jump

A demonstration of a "mid-air pogo" sticky jump.

Advanced sticky jumping techniques are similar to a Soldier's rocket jumping techniques, but the mechanics are somewhat different because of the sticky's arming period.

Double sticky jumps begin by setting two stickies on the ground instead of one. You'll lose vastly more health, but you'll jump much further and higher. It's best to only attempt this jump while a Medic overheals you or ÜberCharges you. In regular games, this is often used to leap across an entire section of the map.

A demonstration of 'pogoing' techniques.

Triple sticky jumps use three stickies. They shouldn't be done without an overheal, ÜberCharge, or the extra health from the Eyelander. Because the player will often land with less than twenty health, their destination should either be very high up or have a Health Pack. No official maps are big enough to need this; a double sticky jump will get you to the same place with some health to spare.
Like rocket jumps, more powerful sticky jumps can be made by launching the sticky at the intersection between a wall and the ground. These jumps generally give you more speed and distance at the cost of some height.
Wall jumps can also be made with stickies. Because of the arming delay, the Demoman must launch a sticky at the wall and rapidly detonate the sticky under his feet before the wall sticky arms. Then he must detonate the wall sticky as he passes. The height and distance gained from this technique is extreme. It is possible but extremely difficult to chain further wall stickies together, but this can only be done on jump maps which heal you during your jumps.
Pogoing is also possible with the Demoman. To pogo, you must fire a new sticky at your destination and detonate the old one beneath you just before the second one arms. You repeat this combination over and over to remain in the air.
Mid-air pogoing is also possible on a jump map. You place one sticky below yourself, fire another sticky upwards or outwards, and then jump after the airborne sticky. If done correctly, you will catch up to the sticky while it arms in mid-air, and you can detonate it for a further boost.
No damage will be dealt to the Demoman when sticky jumping with the Sticky Jumper out, although he will still receive fall damage unless you shoot a sticky at where you will land and time it correctly.

Grenade jump

A demonstration of a basic grenade jump.

A demonstration of a grenade jump with a chargin' targe.

A demonstration of a basic caber jump.

Much like rockets, stickies, and other explosives, a Demoman's Grenade Launcher can be used to jump. The explosion has power and damage comparable to a rocket jump, but it's far more difficult to time and execute a good grenade jump. These are rarely used in actual play, but they have a niche for Demomen wielding the Chargin' Targe or Splendid Screen, which can give a boost while charging and is similar to ramp sliding. This form of jumping may also be preferable if you have stickies already placed and do not wish to detonate them to jump somewhere. The Ullapool Caber can also be used to grenade jump, performed by crouching and striking the ground or adjacent wall.

There are three rules of thumb for executing a good grenade jump.

Fire straight down or against a wall or corner to control grenade positioning. Firing it forward will make it very difficult to track, and it may explode before you've reached it.
Crouch-jump over the grenade roughly two seconds after you fire it, absorbing as much of the explosion as possible. Jump too early, too late, or without good timing and the jump will have little power or control.
Vertical jumps require you to crouch-jump without any lateral motion. Proper grenade placement will give you the forward momentum to bypass a high barrier.
Shooting a grenade at an enemy if he is very close while jumping will allow higher jumps.

To perfectly time a grenade jump, immediately reload after deploying the grenade and jump after the second audible click plays. A visual clue is to watch the rings around the grenade, which pulse increasingly faster as it nears detonation.

Rampsliding

A demonstration of "rampsliding".

Rampsliding uses the charging ability of either the Chargin' Targe or Splendid Screen to propel the player off inclined surfaces.

Approach the incline you wish to slide off of at full running speed. You must not be stationary.
Jump and charge at the base of the ramp simultaneously. The steeper the incline, the closer to the ramp's base you must be.
Simultaneously attack to cancel the charge and jump to go airborne when at the very top of the ramp.
If timed correctly, you will preserve all forward momentum and fly through the air. Use the strafe keys and mouse to maneuver!

Other jumps

Sentry rocket jump

A demonstration of a sentry rocket jump.

There are two ways to Sentry Gun rocket jump;

The easy method is to wrangle your level 3 Sentry and fire rockets at your feet while you crouch-jump. Since the Engineer receives no self-damage resistance, he loses a great deal of health but flies very far. Landing spots must be chosen carefully.
The hard method allows the Engineer to jump and carry his Sentry with him. You must fire the rockets, switch away from the Wrangler and pack-up the Sentry before the jump carries you out of range.

Scripting can automate the hard method, but the technique can be learned manually. While looking at your Sentry Gun, tap the following keys in rapid succession: Crouch-jump and fire rockets simultaneously, switch to your last weapon, and then pack-up the Sentry Gun. If you want to avoid crouch-jumping, you can cut out that step by standing on your Sentry instead.

Using the hard method, you can rapidly relocate and redeploy your Level 3 Sentry in unusual or aggressive locations.

It is recommended that you go the direction the rockets were fired, as going another direction can be hard to do properly due the angle you will have to hit the explosion.

Sentry bullet jump

A demonstration of a sentry bullet jump.

Bullet jumps are more difficult than Sentry rocket jumps, but they can be performed with any Sentry and often do less damage to the Engineer. The Gunslinger's Mini-Sentry is especially useful for bullet jumping. It deals even less damage and fires faster, giving more knock back for the jump.

The technique is deceptively simple. Stand on top of your Sentry Gun, aim in the direction you want to go, crouch-jump and fire. Your bullets should propel you high into the air. Most bullet jumps fail because you aim too low and fire the gun beneath you, or because the angle of the Sentry Gun's fire isn't pushing you up fast enough to overcome gravity.

If you have difficulty bullet jumping at angles, a simpler technique is deploy your Sentry beside the location you want to reach, stand on it, and fire almost straight up. Once you are nearly at the height you desire, aim a touch in the direction you wish to go, and the last few bullets will nudge you horizontally at your target.

Pyro rocket jump

A demonstration of a Pyro rocket jumping.

The Pyro can take advantage of the knock back effect of reflected projectiles. By aiming the compression blast at his feet, the Pyro can redirect the Soldier's or Sentry Gun's rocket into a powerful rocket jump. Because the Pyro has no self-damage resistance, this jump generally sends the Pyro further and higher than a Soldier could manage, however this also means that the Pyro will take considerably more damage than a Soldier would in the same situation. Pyros can also jump with reflected grenades, though the reflecting force exerted by the compression blast in conjunction with the smaller window of time before the detonation make it very unlikely to use properly. Sentry Gun rockets can also be used to jump; Sentry rockets will launch the Pyro higher into the air than the Soldier's rockets, but also do considerably more damage.

Flare jump

A demonstration of a Detonator jump.

The Pyro can use the explosive flares shot by the Detonator or Scorch Shot to gain additional jump height and distance. It can be used to clear gaps or jump to higher areas that are normally unreachable by the Pyro. While the Detonator jump is easier to control due to the ability to detonate your flare at any time, the Scorch Shot jump will do in a pinch as Scorch Shot flares shot against the terrain will explode, allowing you to use it as a jumping tactic. You can increase the effectiveness with the Gas Jockey set, as the 10% increase in move speed adds to distance, while the increased bullet vulnerability adds to the height. As with all explosive jumps, these consume a small amount of your health.

Quick-fix jump

As a Medic using the Quick-Fix, when the person you are healing does an explosive jump, the Medic is blasted with the same force in the same direction, but takes no damage (although fall damage is still accounted for). This only works with Soldiers and Demomen, as it only applies to explosive jumps, not Scout jumps, and it does not work with flare or sentry jumps. This is useful to get medics to the front lines faster, to allow them previously inaccessible locations, and to make up for the health loss of explosive jumps.

Enemy-assisted jump

While unlikely, it is possible to use opposing attacks to make jumps. For example, Bonk! Atomic Punch Scouts can use the knockback of a high-leveled Sentry Gun or a cluster of stickies to fly across a map, while any class could feasibly jump a fair distance using an incoming enemy rocket or grenade. That said, attempting to make enemy-assisted jumps will often deal high damage and may result in being juggled.

Pumpkin jump

A demonstration of "Pumpkin jumping".

A Pumpkin jump uses Pumpkin bombs to launch the player into the air.

Lighter classes should stand far away and crouch-jump while shooting the Pumpkin.
Heavier classes can stand beside the Pumpkin and fire for a larger boost. The Heavy can jump further than the Demoman's sticky jump for roughly half his health.
The Chargin' Targe reduces damage done by Pumpkin explosions.
When using the Gunboats, using rockets to destroy a Pumpkin will reduce the Pumpkin bomb's explosive damage.

Inability to jump

There are certain states a player can be in that prevent them from jumping;

While charging with the Chargin' Targe or Splendid Screen as the Demoman.
While spinning a primary weapon as the Heavy.
Drawing an arrow while wielding the Huntsman as the Sniper.
Taunting.
Crouching.
While stunned.
There is something above the player. (If the mentioned object doesn't allow a full jump, the player will jump and stop and fall when the model reaches the object.)
They are underwater.
They are in the air (with the exception of the Scout's double jump).
They have already performed a double jump, triple jump, quadruple jump, or force jump.

Jump exploits

These jump exploits have been patched out of the game, but they once allowed players to perform unusual and unintended behavior.

Needle boosting

Prior to the December 31, 2007 Patch, Syringe Gun needles pushed friendly players a small amount. With enough Medics using needle boosting, the player could be launched very high on a wave of needles.

Bunny hopping

Prior to the October 31, 2007 Patch, you could jump repeatedly to preserve forward momentum. Rocket jumping, air strafing, and other techniques could be used to increase the momentum gained from bunny hopping, allowing players to move far faster than intended. Note: bunny hopping still exists, it just increases movement speed slightly when strafing.