Friendly fire in Soldier of Fortune II is turned on with g_friendlyFire 1. SoF2 then tracks how much damage each player does to their own team, and once it passes a limit (g_teamkillDamageMax, 300 by default) the player is removed and banned for a few minutes (g_teamkillBanTime, 5 by default). Victims can forgive an accidental team kill, which takes some of that damage off the total, while team kills that aren’t forgiven count three times over.
Should friendly fire be on?
| Friendly fire on | Friendly fire off | |
|---|---|---|
| Feels | Realistic and careful | Fast and forgiving |
| Grenades and spraying | Have consequences | Are risk-free |
| Trolls | Can team kill, until the limits remove them | Can’t hurt teammates |
| Best for | Round-based modes, clan matches | Busy public servers, new players |
Most clan matches play with it on, because it makes grenades and crossfire matter. On public servers it’s a matter of taste. If you turn it on, set the limits below so troublemakers are dealt with automatically.
The settings
| CVAR | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
g_friendlyFire | Enables friendly fire so players can damage teammates. | 0 | — |
g_teamkillPenalty | Score adjustment applied to a player for each team kill. | -1 | — |
g_teamkillDamageMax | Cumulative friendly fire damage a player can deal before being acted on. | 300 | — |
g_teamkillDamageForgive | Amount of team kill damage that can be forgiven by the victim. | 50 | — |
g_teamkillNoExcuseTime | Time window in seconds after a team kill during which the victim can forgive it. | 8 | — |
g_teamkillNoExcuseMultiplier | Multiplier applied to unexcused team kill damage for penalty calculation. | 3 | — |
g_teamkillBanTime | Minutes a player is banned for exceeding the team kill damage limit. | 5 | — |
How the team kill limit works
- Every point of damage to a teammate is added up for each player.
- After a team kill, the victim has a few seconds to forgive it (
g_teamkillNoExcuseTime, 8 by default). A forgiven team kill takesg_teamkillDamageForgive(50) off the shooter’s total. - A team kill that isn’t forgiven counts extra: its damage is multiplied by
g_teamkillNoExcuseMultiplier, three times by default. - When the total passes
g_teamkillDamageMax(300), the player is removed from the server and banned forg_teamkillBanTimeminutes (5).0means a kick without a ban.
So one accidental team kill that’s forgiven costs little, while a player who keeps shooting teammates reaches the limit quickly.
Score penalties
g_teamkillPenalty takes points off for each team kill, one by default. g_suicidePenalty does the same for suicides. Both stop players from gaining anything by killing teammates or themselves to respawn somewhere better.
Example settings
Public server, friendly fire on
seta g_friendlyFire "1"
seta g_teamkillPenalty "-1"
seta g_teamkillDamageMax "300"
seta g_teamkillDamageForgive "50"
seta g_teamkillNoExcuseTime "8"
seta g_teamkillNoExcuseMultiplier "3"
seta g_teamkillBanTime "10"Public server, friendly fire off
seta g_friendlyFire "0"Clan match
seta g_friendlyFire "1"
seta g_teamkillDamageMax "2000"
seta g_teamkillBanTime "0"In a match between two clans, team captains deal with problems themselves, so you don’t want a player removed automatically after a few unlucky grenades. A very high limit means nobody reaches it in a normal match, and a ban time of 0 means a kick without a ban if they ever do. Mods can add their own rules, so check your mod’s documentation too. More match settings are in round, respawn and team settings.
For players: avoiding team kills
- Check your crosshair. It changes colour over a teammate (
cg_crosshairFriendRGBA), and withcg_drawCrosshairNames 1their name appears. See crosshair settings. - Turn on teammate markers with
cg_drawFriend 1, so teammates show a marker above their heads. - Watch your grenades. Most team kills on servers with friendly fire are grenades thrown into rooms where teammates already are.
- Say sorry. A quick “sorry” in chat after an accident, and forgiving honest mistakes from others, keeps the server friendly.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn on friendly fire in SoF2?
Set g_friendlyFire 1 in your server.cfg, or type /rcon g_friendlyFire 1, then restart the map with /rcon map_restart to be sure it applies.
How many team kills before a ban in SoF2?
It’s based on damage, not kills. When a player’s total team damage passes g_teamkillDamageMax (300 by default), they’re removed and banned for g_teamkillBanTime minutes.
What does forgiving a team kill do?
It takes some of the shooter’s team damage off their total (g_teamkillDamageForgive, 50 by default), so an honest mistake doesn’t count against them as much.
Do team kills lose points?
Yes, one point each by default, set by g_teamkillPenalty.