Match outcomes

See Control point timing for a detailed list of exact capture timings for Control Point maps.

“

Click to listen

— Merasmus the Magician

”

There are a number of different possible match outcomes in Team Fortress 2, and the conditions will vary depending on the game mode being played.

Victory/Defeat

The two most common match outcomes are victory and defeat, which occur when the team succeeds or fails respectively in their objective:

Game mode	Win/Loss conditions
Capture the Flag	One team wins upon capturing the intelligence the required number of times. The team that fails to do so first loses.
Control Point (Traditional)	One team wins upon capturing every control point on the map. If they succeed in doing this, the other team loses.
Control Point (Attack/Defend)	The attacking team wins upon capturing every control point on the map. The defending team wins by preventing the attacking team from capturing every control point until the timer runs down.
Territorial Control	One team wins upon capturing every control point on the map. If they succeed in doing this, the other team loses. The team that ultimately captures all territories is the overall victor.
Tug of War	One team wins upon holding the cart with the control point on it at the opposing team's checkpoint for the specified duration.
Payload	The attacking team wins upon pushing the cart to the final terminus of the map. The defending team wins by preventing the attacking team from moving the cart to the final terminus until the timer runs down.
Payload Race	One team wins upon pushing the cart to the opposing terminus. The team that fails to do so first loses.
Arena and Versus Saxton Hale	One team wins upon killing all members of the opposing team or by capturing the center control point once the timer runs down. The team that is wiped out or concedes the central point loses.
King of the Hill	One team wins upon capturing the central control point and keeping it for a total of 3 minutes, or possibly longer depending on the map.
Special Delivery	One team wins upon placing the captured Australium/tickets inside the rocket/Strongmann machine while on the loading platform (the exact objective depends on the map).
Robot Destruction	One team wins upon getting enough Power Cores from killing robots to fill their Reactor Core.
PASS Time	One team wins upon scoring the required number of goals. If time runs out, the team with the most goals wins.
Player Destruction	One team wins upon scoring enough points by depositing different objectives depending on the map being played, such as beer, gibs or souls.
Zombie Infection	The attacking team wins upon killing all members of the defending team. The defending team wins by surviving until the timer runs down.

Mini-game

A handful of maps, usually maps tied into a Scream Fortress event (such as Carnival of Carnage, Gravestone, and Bonesaw), do not immediately end the round when one team accomplishes its objective on the main map, and the round instead transitions into a mini-game, with the team that accomplished its objective being given some sort of advantage (such as a head-start if the mini-game is a race). The team that accomplishes the objective of the mini-game first is considered to win the overall round.

Humiliation

“

Can you feel ze Schadenfreude?

Click to listen

— The Medic

”

Humiliation occurs following a victory. During Humiliation, all players on the victorious side receive a 10% speed boost and a Crit boost on all weapons. Players on either side are also able to enter enemy respawn areas to kill anyone inside, but only the victorious team is able to use enemy resupply lockers. By default, Humiliation lasts for 15 seconds; however, this can be altered by server operators with the command mp_bonusroundtime.

During humiliation, the losing players are unable to attack, cannot use their own resupply lockers, and move 10% slower. Losing players also take on a third-person perspective, which allows them to see their characters fleeing, cowering, or being thoroughly disappointed. During Humiliation, the losing team's Sentry Guns are deactivated, Spies drop their Cloak (but retain their disguises if worn already or by using the last disguise command), and players cannot commit suicide by using console commands (kill or explode). However, players still can die by environment hazards.

All players on the victorious side have the ability to respawn during humiliation by changing classes; players on the losing side are unable to do so.

All players in Humiliation, both losers and winners, retain the ability to taunt and use Attack taunts, although taunt achievements are not unlocked.

Animations

Class	Standing	Running	Crouching
Scout	Hunched over, sucking his thumb	Exaggerated running, leaning backward	Fetal position
Soldier	Cowering, arms raised defensively	Arms raised in surrender	Defensive crouch, covering head
Pyro	Tapping foot, disappointed	Jogging mockingly, leaning backward	Genuflecting on one knee
Demoman	Legs together, hands protecting crotch	Exaggerated jogging, leaning backward	Curled up in a defensive crouch
Heavy	Cowering, hunched over	Hands raised, as if begging for mercy	Curled up in a ball, as if hiding
Engineer	Cowering, hands raised in surrender	Hands raised in surrender	On one knee, hands raised in surrender
Medic	Cowering, arms raised in surrender	Arms raised in surrender	Crouched, arms raised in surrender
Sniper	Arms raised in surrender	One hand on head protectively	Crouched, arms raised in surrender
Spy	Facepalming	Hands covering face	On one knee, one hand on face

Humiliation poses have a few other uses, including the animation when a player is stunned and its use by the Pyro for the Easter egg in the BLU spawn area on Thunder Mountain.

Sudden Death

Main article: Sudden Death

Sudden Death mode is activated if neither team scores enough points to win the map and the timer runs out. Sudden Death is a server-side CVAR (control variable) and by default is disabled on the PC version.

Stalemate

Stalemate HUD

“

We lose, but they do not win?

Click to listen

— The Heavy

”

When a round goes into Sudden Death, and neither team manages to kill the other or complete the objectives within the final time limit, the game is a Stalemate and neither team receives a point. This also produces an effect similar to Humiliation, except that both teams lose their weapons and can only run around and taunt until the round ends a few seconds later. It is possible to kill opposing members with kill taunts, but they do not count toward achievements. Switching weapons in stalemate is not allowed; however, quick switching is still allowed. Therefore, players are only able to taunt with the weapon they had out when Stalemate began, or the weapon that they are able to quick switch to.

Stalemates also occur in Versus Saxton Hale rounds, when both Saxton and the opposing team die at the same time.

Although they can be perceived as "neutral" outcomes, Valve had intended Stalemates to be a case as if both teams had directly lost. This is why all losing player characters enter a Humiliation pose and elicit a negative voice response upon a Stalemate announcement despite the hostile enemy team doing the same.

Related achievements

Soldier

Geneva Contravention
Kill 3 defenseless players after a single match has ended.

Update history

August 13, 2009 Patch (Classless Update)

Added custom animations played by the losing team during the post-win state. They are moved into third person camera to enjoy them

Bugs

If the Medic has any secondary weapon out, his right arm appears twisted and bent, occasionally clipping into his head while moving.
A surrendering Soldier with a Beggar's Bazooka loaded right before the round ended could potentially kill winning team members due to how it misfires when 3 or more rockets are loaded into it.
- Additionally, the same thing happens when a Demoman starts charging right before the round ends, potentially killing someone, as the charge does not stop and still delivers damage.
If a Soldier was reloading his Rocket Launcher right before Humiliation, his animation still shows him reloading, even though he is not reloading anything.