Team Fortress 2

Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.

Team Fortress 2

Developers
	Valve Corporation
PASS Time	Escalation Studios
Publishers
	Valve Corporation
Russia (The Orange Box)	Buka Entertainment
Engines
Original	Source 2007
Current	Source 2013 Multiplayer
Release dates
Windows	October 9, 2007
macOS (OS X)	June 10, 2010
Linux	November 6, 2012
Reception
Metacritic	92
Taxonomy
Monetization	Free-to-play, Cross-game bonus
Microtransactions	Cosmetic, Loot box, Player trading, Unlock
Modes	Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS
Art styles	Stylized
Themes	North America, Sci-fi
Series	Team Fortress

Team Fortress
Team Fortress (mod)	1996
Team Fortress Classic	1999
Fortress Forever (unofficial mod)	2007
Team Fortress 2	2007

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer first-person action and FPS game in the Team Fortress series.

The game was purchasable individually and as part of The Orange Box compilation as of October 9, 2007. It became free-to-play on June 23, 2011.

General information

Official wiki - Run by the TF2 community and hosted by Valve

GitHub Issue Tracker includes other Source-based games

Steam Community Discussions

Steam Workshop

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Gives access to Premium account features
Steam		Free to play, Install with steam://install/440 Also available to purchase in The Orange Box bundle, which gives access to Premium account features.

All versions require Steam DRM.

Monetization

Type	Notes
DLC	The soundtrack is sold as DLC.
Free-to-play	The base game is free-to-play as of June 23, 2011, but Premium accounts have access to additional features.

Microtransactions

Type	Notes
Cosmetic	There are hundreds of cosmetics items that players can use to customize their appearance in the game. Some are Halloween-restricted.
Free-to-grind	Timed drops allow players to "find" weapons and other unlockables; rarely, they may find cosmetic items. Premium accounts get an advantage.
Loot box	Mann Co. Supply Crates, and other types of crates, drop automatically, but must be unlocked with a purchased key.
Player trading	Most items in the game can be traded for on Steam with other players, or listed for sale on the community marketplace.
Time-limited	Some cosmetic items were available for purchase, or as part of a promotion, in the past, but are no longer available.
Unlock	All non-reskin weapons in the game can either be outright purchased, traded for, or found in random drops with enough gameplay time.

Limited-use items: Some purchasable items have a limited number of uses, such as Noise Makers and the Dueling Mini-Game.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Fight Songs: The Music Of Team Fortress 2	Soundtrack

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -novid command line argument
Alternatively, go to <path-to-game>\hl2\media. Delete or rename Valve.bik.

Increase performance

TF2's default settings are generally not well optimized. Therefore, it is recommended to install a custom config, such as mastercomfig.

Install mastercomfig[citation needed]

Go to the mastercomfig website and choose a preset, alongside any relevant addons and download the necessary VPK files. Place the downloaded VPK files into <path-to-game>\tf\custom and follow these directions to add the necessary launch options. (Don't forget to remove the -dxlevel launch option after launching the game) Boot up the game and test the performance/visual fidelity. If errors occur, check the troubleshooting section. To change any settings without changing presets, use modules to alter individual settings. Any already existing custom configs will need to be moved from <path-to-game>\tf\cfg to <path-to-game>\tf\cfg\user (create the user subfolder if not present already). It is also recommended to check if any commands in these custom configs overwrite mastercomfig's.

Higher texture quality

Using the console command mat_picmip #, one can change TF2's texture quality preset independently from the in-game settings, where # can range from 2 to -10. The lower the value, the better.

The in-game "Very High" Texture detail setting uses -1, therefore it is not the highest possible texture quality the engine can offer.

Set mat_picmip value in autoexec.cfg

Go to <path-to-game>\tf\cfg and create a text file named autoexec.cfg if it does not already exist. Open autoexec.cfg and add the line mat_picmip -10. Save and close the file. This will ensure that the command is read on start-up. IMPORTANT: if mastercomfig is used, autoexec.cfg will need to be moved to a folder named overrides inside <path-to-game>\tf\cfg. Alternatively, use the launch parameter +mat_picmip -10.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Steam	<path-to-game>\tf\cfg/

Steam Cloud settings are stored in <Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\440\remote.

Demo files are stored in <path-to-game>\tf.

It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Approx. 1 GB available. Settings, in-game sprays and Steam Workshop submissions.

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			Some UI assets don't fill the entire screen.
4K Ultra HD			Interface scales with resolution and can become unusable.
Field of view (FOV)		Slider from 75 to 90°. See Field of view (FOV) for further options.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use the -window -noborder command line arguments.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		MSAA, up to 8x.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Labeled as "Wait for vertical sync".
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		300 FPS cap by default. With console, can change "fps_max" to any value; use 0 for uncapped framerate. The game will break when above 1000 fps, so it may be worthwhile to keep the framerate capped.[citation needed]
High dynamic range display (HDR)		In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering for rendering Bloom and sun shine type effects.
Color blind mode		Under "Advanced HUD Options". Only changes some minor effects like Jarate and Mad Milk.

Field of view (FOV)

For 16:9, a setting of 90° results in a FOV slightly above 106°.

Console commands can change the FOV to arbitrary values, but are not allowed in Competitive Mode. Viewmodel FOV can also be adjusted.

fov_desired[citation needed]
Open the console (~). Enter fov_desired #, where # is your desired FOV.

viewmodel_fov[citation needed]
Open the console (~). Enter viewmodel_fov #, where # is your desired viewmodel FOV. It is also possible to turn on Use minimized viewmodels in the Advanced Options menu. Alternatively, input tf_use_min_viewmodels 1 into the console.

Plugins[citation needed]
It is possible to increase the FOV limit up to 130 or even unplayable 179, using server-side plugins such as this one. However it is important to note that, while allowed by the ETF2L, and while client-side plugins are not classified as a cheats they are not officially supported by Valve. Some cheats include FOV increase hacks, so use at your own risk.

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game mouse/gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		See Controller support for information on enabling the Xbox 360 HUD, which causes the game to show Xbox 360 button icons.
Full controller support		Some menus are unusable with a controller.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers		Officially supported via Steam Input
DualShock button prompts
Light bar support
Connection modes	unknown

Tracked motion controllers		Supports Razer Hydra Sixense API. Exit the Hydra tray application and use the launch options +sixense_enabled 1
Button/gesture prompts

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Steam Input
Steam Input API support
Official controller preset(s)
Steam Controller button prompts

Controller support

See also: Xbox 360 controls on the Official Team Fortress Wiki.

Enabling Xbox 360 HUD[citation needed]
Open the console (~). Input exec 360controller. Notes To reverse the change, input exec undo360controller.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Over-all game volume and separate music slider.
Surround sound		7.1, 5.1 surround sound, 4 speaker surround. Linux version lacks the surround support as SDL itself was chosen to handle the audio without the additional API such as SDL_mixer or OpenAL.
Subtitles		The Developer Commentary is the only part of the game with subtitles.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		"Silence the audio while the game window is in the background" check box
EAX support		Linux only. Open alsoft-config (included with OpenAL package) and in HRTF tab set HRTF Mode to Forced On. It'll work only if you have a 32-bit package of OpenAL.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Bulgarian
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian				The game contains files for complete subtitles, but they are not compiled. The user can compile it themselves using the captioncompiler.exe program which is provided with the game.

Network

In-game general multiplayer settings.

In-game advanced options/multiplayer settings.

For more information, see the "Source Dedicated Server" section of our Source engine article.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		32	Co-op, Versus Use Nucleus Co-op.
LAN play		32	Co-op, Versus
Online play		32	Co-op, Versus

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	27014-27050
UDP	3478-4380, 27000-27030

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
TriDef 3D

Headsets
SteamVR		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer (compatibility list).
Oculus VR (LibOVR)		Available under Video Settings. See Oculus Rift for more information.
Windows Mixed Reality		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer.

Devices
Tracked motion controllers		Supports Razer Hydra Sixense API. Exit the Hydra tray application and use the launch options +sixense_enabled 1 See Input for details.
Traditional controller		See Input for details.
Keyboard/Mouse

Play area
Seated
Standing
Room-scale

Oculus Rift

By default VR mode will run full screen, to switch back to a borderless windowed set the vr_force_windowed convar.

Toggle world view models[citation needed]
Open the console (~). Enter cl_first_person_uses_world_model 1 to enable or cl_first_person_uses_world_model 0 to disable.

Issues fixed

Generic fixes for issues

Console commands[citation needed]
Reload the HUD: in the console, type hud_reloadscheme Resync the game state with the server (start/stop an in-game demo): in the console, type record s; stop Reload sound resources: in the console, type snd_restart Reconnect to a server: in the console, type retry Reshow missing/hidden viewmodel: in the console, type r_drawviewmodel 1

Sprays are not visible

As of the September 16, 2021 update, sprays are no longer available on official Valve servers and can be disabled per server by the server admins.

Multiplayer Decal Limit[citation needed]
Try raising Multiplayer Decal Limit. Check settings cl_allowdownload, cl_allowupload, cl_playerspraydisable, mp_decals, r_decals and r_spray_lifetime.

Purple and black broken textures

A generic fix for this issue can be found on our Source engine page.

Game Crashes at Valve logo on startup

Most likely caused by DirectX problems.

Run the game with command line arguments[citation needed]
Reinstall the latest DirectX Set the game to run with different command line arguments until it functions: -dxlevel ##. Replace ## with 80, 81, 90, and 95, corresponding to Shader Models. Lower is more compatible but 80 may cause more frequent crashes. Try setting -nod3d9ex. This will disable some DirectX 9 extensions used in Windows Vista/7.

Game crashes after closing MotD

Some servers use Pinion advertisement, a buggy plugin that sometimes crashes TF2.

Game crashes after closing MotD[citation needed]

Update Flash/Java plugins. Disable HTML motd (in advanced options, under performance options) Install a Pinion blocker by editing the hosts file. Try adding the following lines to your autoexec.cfg or in the launch options sv_motd_unload_on_dismissal "1" // The MOTD contents will be unloaded when the player closes the MOTD. alias closed_htmlpage ""; echo BLOCKED an attempted html wait timer" cl_disablehtmlmotd 1 Note that some servers require you to watch the MotD for a minimum amount of time (e.g. 30 seconds)

Cosmetic items do not appear on a player

Bug is caused by the dynamic-model-loading system implemented in Team Fortress 2.

Touch a resupply cabinet[citation needed]
Once a player touches a resupply cabinet the cosmetic items should appear.

Getting disconnected while playing on a LAN with multiple players

This is caused by multiple players trying to connect to a server using the same client port.

Use unique client ports[citation needed]
Each player needs a different client port, by adding this to the launch options: +clientport N, where N is a number between 27005 and 27032, but not 27015 or 27020.

Low FPS fix

Ubuntu (12.10 to 17.04) or any distro with Unity desktop

Fix low FPS on Ubuntu (12.10 to 17.04) or any distro with Unity desktop[citation needed]
Once the game has loaded and the FPS have dropped below playable: Press Esc. to return to the game menu. Go to Options → Video Switch Display Mode from Fullscreen → Windowed From here on, the game should increase dramatically in performance. Optional: Switch back from Windowed -> Fullscreen

Linux with Cinnamon Desktop

Fix low FPS on Linux with Cinnamon Desktop[citation needed]

To increase performance: Press the Windows (Super) Key to open the mint menu Go to System Settings → Display (May be under General settings instead) Enable "Skip Compositing Manager", then close the window. Launch the game Switch Display Mode from Windowed → Fullscreen Cinnamon, by default, skips the compositing rendering manager if an application runs fullscreen, which in turn, disables Vsync. Enabling the compositing manager turns ON Vsync and (depending on the system) slows the game down. Optional: Switch back from Windowed -> Fullscreen

Anti-virus exception

Anti-virus software can interfere with a file in TF2's folder, which gets updated constantly during gameplay.

Add an anti-virus exception for the game's entire installation folder

No sound in Linux

Ensure that the PulseAudio is installed and its daemon is enabled.[citation needed]

Command the game to use ALSA instead by adding SDL_AUDIODRIVER=alsa command line argument as the first launch option.[citation needed]

Specify AUDIODEV instead, use aplay -1 command to list available sound cards.[citation needed]

Loading screen freezes in Linux

This happens mostly if you are on a non-english user in ArchLinux, but that may happen on other distros as well.

Edit configuration file[citation needed]
Find and edit locale.gen file and remove the commentary (# symbol) from en_US.UTF-8 Generate the locale with locale-gen command as root.

Textures load slowly on Linux

Happens only when you are using any configuration file responsible for improving the framerate such as Chris' FPS Config.

Set mat_picmip 2 to mat_picmip -1 in the configuration file.[citation needed]

Game does not start on ArchLinux

Ensure that the lib32-libpng12 has been installed.[citation needed]

FL_LoadGlyph error in Linux

Caused by any user who inputs a Unicode symbol in chat

Make the game use Unicode supported font by default[citation needed]
Open sourceschemes.res with a text editor and change ConsoleText into Unifont Open chatschemes.res with a text editor and change the fonts into a Unicode supported one such as Arial, Ubuntu etc. Remove/purge the fonts-wqy-zenhei package Unicode-compatible fonts must be installed. This method needs to be performed after every game update.

Audio delay/distortion when using PipeWire

Change the value of snd_mixahead to 0.03 or higher

Mouse sensitivity is doubled than what was set in Linux

Caused by a very outdated SDL2 library included with the game.

Go to <path-to-game>/bin and remove libSDL2-2.0.so.0 to force the usage of the system-native library.

Flickering Black Graphics on Linux

Caused by a Mesa driver bug

Fixing via console commands[citation needed]
Add these console commands to autoexec.cfg: mat_phong 1. This enables phong lighting, which is usually only disabled for graphical preference or for framerate improvement. mat_bumpmap 1. This enables bumpmapping, which some may prefer disabled. This fix affects visual quality

Fixing by rolling back Mesa driver
Users can rollback to Mesa version 20.1.7 or earlier to avoid the issue as long as mat_bumpmap 1 is set.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9
OpenGL	2.1	OS X and Linux, uses Valve's DirectX 9 to OpenGL conversion called 'ToGL'. Can be launched on Windows with -gl launch parameter.
Shader Model support	2, 3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			This 32-bit-only macOS game does not work on macOS Catalina (10.15) or later.
Linux

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok	Heavily modified variant.
Audio	Miles Sound System, OpenAL, SDL	SDL and OpenAL are used in Linux.
Interface	SDL
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Steamworks

Total Conversions

Name	System	Description
TF2 1.0.1.8 Source 2013	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux	Based on the February 2008 build of the game which does not contain any additional weapons, cosmetic items or even recent game modes, it is ported into Source 2013 engine which fixes a lot of security exploits. This is currently the most original form of the game. Requires Source SDK 2013 Multiplayer.
TF2 Classic	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux	Based on the February 2008 build, it is a community-maintained mod which brings in some features from TFC such as 4-team modes, VIP/escort etc. Right now it provides community-made balances and unique weapons, graphical improvements (such as dynamic lighting for some particle effects) and new features that are completely absent in the original game. The update cycle is slow, but brings in many new changes that keeps it very fresh. Requires Source SDK 2013 Multiplayer. Discord server link: https://discord.com/invite/3zMk4vn
TF2 Vintage	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux	A fork of TF2 Classic. It aims to bring back the game to the pre-Mannconomy Update which happened in October 2010. Primarily focused on gameplay and quality updates. Requires Source SDK 2013 Multiplayer and Team Fortress 2.
Lambda Fortress: Extended	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux	Based on Team Fortress 2 Classic Beta 4. It is a community mod, which adds Half-Life: Source and Half-Life 2 campaign with co-op features. Requires Source SDK 2013 Multiplayer and Team Fortress 2. Discord server link: https://discord.gg/QEHADrdhZr
Open Fortress	Windows, Linux	Based on the February 2008 build, it is a open-source mod, which adds lots of custom content such as new gamemodes and maps, Mercenary and Civilian classes. It is in development now, but can be downloaded using SVN (TortoiseSVN for Windows or various SVN clients for Linux). Requires Source SDK 2013 Multiplayer and Team Fortress 2. Discord server link: https://discord.gg/mKjW2ACCrm
Pre-Fortress 2	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux	Based on the February 2008 build, it is a community-maintained mod that caters to the gameplay of earlier Team Fortress installments while maintaining the aesthetics from TF2's alternative designs from 2006. Requires Source SDK 2013 Multiplayer.

Console commands

"List of useful console commands" - Official TF2 Wiki

Games running on the source engine can utilize Source Engine Console Commands for various tasks.

These commands can be saved into <path-to-game>\tf\cfg\autoexec.cfg to be executed when the game launches.

Enabling the console in Source games[citation needed]

Launch the game From the main menu select Options Select the Keyboard tab Click the Advanced button Check the box next to Enable developer console (~) Click Apply Notes Press ~ to open the console. Some commands may first require you enabling sv_cheats. You can do so with sv_cheats 1. Many servers will not allow you to play with cheats enabled, or will disable them upon entering the server. Users without a US keyboard could experience some problems.

Command line arguments

View this Steam Support Article regarding launch options as well as the relevant Valve Developer wiki page for further information and a list of useful Source engine launch options.

System requirements

Windows version requires a CPU supporting SSE instructions.

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7	10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Dual Core 2.8 GHz AMD Dual Core 2.8 GHz	Intel Core i7
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	15 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8xxx series ATI Radeon X1600 Intel HD Graphics 3000 DirectX 8.1 compatible	DirectX 9.0c compatible

DirectX 9 is required for Competitive Mode.

Windows XP and Vista were previously supported, but as future updates for this game and Steam occurred; the support was dropped, even with retail copies.

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.5.8
Processor (CPU)	1.7 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	15 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8xxx series ATI Radeon X1600 Intel HD Graphics 3000

Linux
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 12.04
Processor (CPU)	Intel Dual Core 2.8 GHz AMD Dual Core 2.8 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	15 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8600/9600 GT ATI/AMD Radeon HD 2600/3600 OpenGL 2.1 compatible
Sound (audio device)	OpenAL Compatible Sound Card
Other	(Graphic Drivers: Nvidia 310, AMD 12.11)

OpenGL versions require the GL_EXT_draw_buffers2 extension. A hacky workaround exists.