Voting

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Voting is a game feature added in the Hatless Update on April 14, 2011. It enables any player to call a vote to enact a change on the server. The various voting options enable players to vote on a map change, to kick a particular player or to scramble the teams. Any player can initiate a vote by clicking on the checkbox icon in the main menu. A vote type can then be selected and the vote is put to all players present in the server.

The voting system was first introduced into the Team Fortress 2 Beta on March 9, 2011. Two later updates that included tweaks to the system were made available in the beta, before the system went live in Team Fortress 2 on April 14.

The voting system can be disabled by setting the server command sv_allow_votes to 0. Particular voting types can also be disabled by specific server command (see below).

Voting types

There are five types of votes that can be called:

• Kick: Kick a selected player out of the server.
• RestartGame: Restarts the current round. If this comes to pass, then a notification will be given out to all players that the round will restart. A set number of seconds pass before a new round begins, neither team getting any points.
• ChangeLevel: The current map changes to the selected map.
• NextLevel: The next map is changed to the selected map. Unlike ChangeLevel, the current map doesn't end.
• ScrambleTeams: The players are put in a random team. Note that this will immediately scramble the teams, rather than wait until the end of the round. A notification is given to all players that a scramble will commence before it happens.

Keyboard commands

F1

Votes "Yes" on the current vote or chooses a map in a level vote. Client command unknown.

F2

Votes "No" on the current vote or chooses a map in a level vote. Client command unknown.

F3

Chooses a map in a level vote.

F4

Chooses a map in a level vote.

F5

Chooses a map in a level vote or extends the current map in a NextLevel vote.

Server commands

Server-side variables can be set to adjust several elements of the voting engine. The following commands are made available:

sv_allow_votes

Enables or disables the voting system entirely. Defaults to 1 (enabled).

sv_vote_allow_specators

Allow spectators to participate in votes. Defaults to 0 (disabled).

sv_vote_failure_timer

Cooldown time (in seconds); the time that must pass after a vote fails for another to be initiated. Defaults to 300 (5 minutes).

sv_vote_issue_kick_allowed

Allow kick votes to be called. Defaults to 0 (disabled).

sv_vote_kick_ban_duration

The length of time (in minutes) of the ban on the player if the kick vote is successful. Defaults to 1. Set to 0 to disable the ban entirely and instead only kick the player.

sv_vote_issue_nextlevel_allowed

Allow the next level to be determined by vote. Defaults to 1 (enabled).

sv_vote_issue_nextlevel_allowextend

Allow the next level vote to include an 'Extend' option. Defaults to 1 (enabled).

sv_vote_issue_nextlevel_choicesmode

Allow players to be presented with a list of lowest playtime maps to choose from. Defaults to 1 (enabled).

sv_vote_issue_changelevel_allowed

Allow a vote that changes the map to the next level immediately to be initiated. Defaults to 0 (disabled).

sv_vote_issue_restart_game_allowed

Allow a vote that restarts the round to be initiated. Defaults to 1 (enabled).

sv_vote_issue_scramble_teams_allowed

Allow a vote that scrambles the teams to be initiated. Defaults to 1 (enabled).

Update history

March 9, 2011 Patch (Beta)

• Added in-game Voting system

March 11, 2011 Patch (Beta)

• Tuning pass on CallVote cooldowns/timers:
  • Increased the cooldown before a player can call another vote
  • Increased the cooldown before a failed vote can be resubmitted
• The CallVote screen now hides issues the server has disabled
• Increased the percentage of players required to pass a vote
• Kick issue: the player calling the vote no longer appears as an option in the Kick issue parameters list
• Temporarily disabled Kick and Changelevel
• Enabled nextlevel_choicesmode by default (to test it)
  • The server will automatically ask players to select the nextlevel shortly before the current map is over

March 18, 2011 Patch (Beta)

• Voting keys changed to F1-F5
• Further increased a vote calling cooldown

April 14, 2011 Patch (Hatless Update)

• Added a new vote system
  • Server convars added to control the vote system