Communication

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The communication is a set of methods that the player has to communicate information or ideas to other players in Team Fortress 2. The communication is primarily used for coordinating team play and general conversation.

Voice chat

A speech bubble indicating a speaking player.

The voice chat is an communication method to send information via the player voice.

In the PC version, voice chat functions in a push-to-talk manner (default key: V). Voice chat on the Xbox 360 is activated simply by plugging in a headset into the controller. On the PlayStation 3, a wireless Bluetooth earpiece can be used.

Uses

Voice chat is helpful in situations that require detailed or rapid communication, such as:

  • Warnings for incoming enemies.
  • Communicating with your Medic buddy to activate his ÜberCharge.
  • Coordinating an attack with a group of other players.
  • Rooting out disguised Spies.
  • Indicating the locations of enemy Engineer buildings.
  • Telling people the exact location of the Intelligence.
  • Informing teammates of fallen enemies or destroyed buildings.
  • Calling for backup.

Voice Chat Misuse

Any of these actions may result in a kick or ban from the server:

  • Playing music using external programs (allowed on "micspam" servers).
  • Verbally threatening or harassing players.
  • Screaming into the microphone to agitate other players.
  • If alltalk is on, giving the enemy locations of your team (unless the map/game/server is non-serious and it doesn't matter).
  • Making repetitive trade requests in a non-trading server.

Limitations

The "Mute players" button

A player's voice can only be heard by their own team by default, but dead players can still be heard by their living teammates (again, by default). On servers where "alltalk" is enabled (with the setting sv_alltalk 1), all players can hear each other, including players who are on opposite teams or waiting to respawn. The alltalk feature is not available on the console versions.

Specific players can be muted in the PC version via the main menu by clicking the "Mute players" button near the bottom of the screen. Voice chat can be disabled altogether in the Voice tab of the options screen.

On the PC, in-game voice chat is sometimes complemented by the use of third-party VoIP software, such as Discord, Mumble, Teamspeak, or Ventrilo. This allows players to coordinate with their teammates regardless of server limitations. For example, using an alltalk-enabled Team Fortress 2 server and two external voice channels simultaneously allow for public discussion between the teams, and private in-game coordination among teammates.

Speech bubbles

When a player is using voice chat, a speech bubble icon is displayed on the right side of their HUD. Another bubble appears above the player's head, visible to teammates. On alltalk servers, a team-colored speech bubble is shown over all talking players, including cloaked and disguised enemy Spies. Additionally, a talking player's name and team are displayed as a colored bar on the right side of the HUD. If they are waiting to respawn, Health dead.png will appear by the side of their name.

Gallery

Text chat

AMOGUS

Voice commands

I require assistance!
I require assistance!
The Medic

Voice commands are pre-defined calls used to organize a team or call for help. When used, they are spoken in the voice of the character class, and may also include a hand gesture (not visible to players themselves). The voice commands are divided into three separate menus (default: Z, X, and C). Some - but not all - of the commands are also printed on-screen alongside typed messages.

Due to its importance and universal nature, the "Medic!" call by default has its own separate keybind (default: E). Teammates (and disguised Spies) calling for healing will have a speech bubble with a red cross appear over their heads. When playing as a Medic, these bubbles are additionally visible through walls and will have an on-screen indicator pointing to the player of origin when it is not in front of the Medic player.

The "Help!" call is context-sensitive; if the player using it is standing on an enemy control point or pushing a Payload cart, they will request help with capturing the point or cart. If the player using it is standing on a team-owned control point, they will request help in defending the point. The "Spy!" call is also context-sensitive: Pointing at a character and using the "Spy!" command will result in the character currently being played calling the target a Spy (unless playing as Pyro). This works on players of both teams, and regardless to whether that character is actually a Spy. The "Medic!" call is context-sensitive for the Scout, Soldier, Heavy, Engineer, Sniper, and Spy: Pointing at the Medic and using the "Medic!" command as any of these classes will result in the character asking the Medic to follow the player. In addition, by using the "Battle Cry" call on an enemy with a certain weapon out, the character being played will speak lines similar to the lines spoken when making a duel with another player, as well as some unique lines which can only be heard by this command. This also works for Spies disguised as enemies, so using it can blow the Spy's cover instantly.

Voice commands used by disguised Spies behave differently: to the Spy himself and to the enemy team, these commands will sound as the disguised class; to teammates, the Spy will sound normal.

It is to be noted that, when trying to use voice commands in a script, each of the menus has a different number that must be used. For example, voice menu 1 would be voice menu 0 when trying to script. More information can be found in the Wiki's Scripting page.

List of voice commands
Voice Menu 1 Voice Menu 2 Voice Menu 3
Default key:   Z Default key:   X Default key:   C
  1. MEDIC!
  2. Thanks!
  3. Go Go Go!
  4. Move Up!
  5. Go Left
  6. Go Right
  7. Yes
  8. No
  9. Pass to me!
  1. Incoming
  2. Spy!
  3. Sentry Ahead!
  4. Teleporter Here
  5. Dispenser Here
  6. Sentry Here
  7. Activate ÜberCharge!
  8. MEDIC: ÜberCharge Ready
  9. Pass to me!
  1. Help!
  2. Battle Cry
  3. Cheers
  4. Jeers
  5. Positive
  6. Negative
  7. Nice Shot
  8. Good Job

Voice commands by class

Muting players

  1. Press Esc to bring up the main menu while connected to a server.
  2. Click the mute players icon at the bottom of the screen (Looks like an ear with an X in it).
  3. Scroll to the offender's name.
  4. Highlight their name.
  5. Click Mute in-game voice, or double-click their name.
Mute Player.png

Update history

February 28, 2008 Patch
  • [Undocumented] Added protection against voice command spamming. Dramatic reduction in Teleporters needed.

April 14, 2011 Patch (Hatless Update)

  • Updated the Equalizer to suppress the Medic call effect while active.

June 3, 2011 Patch

  • Added community submitted voice commands.

July 5, 2012 Patch

January 20, 2016 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Fixed Heavy and Soldier not playing animations for some of their voice commands.

May 17, 2018 Patch

  • Fixed the voicemenu command being used to lag servers.

RESORT

October 1, 2014 Patch

  • tf_teamtalk is now on by default - the dead can talk to the living
  • When you mute a player, the mute settings now apply to text chat as well as voice chat. If you want the previous behavior, change convar cl_mute_all_comms to 0.

March 12, 2015 Patch

  • Reduced the latency of voice audio.

November 18, 2016 Patch

  • Added beta support for the CELT voice codec
    • Currently only enabled in community servers that opt-in to the beta
    • Server operators can enable CELT usage by setting the below convars, followed by a level change
      • sv_use_steam_voice 0
      • sv_voicecodec vaudio_celt

December 21, 2016 Patch

  • The CELT voice codec is now the default for all game servers
    • Community servers can enable use of the older steam voice codec with sv_use_steam_voice 1

See also