DDraceNetwork is a free, open source cooperative 2D precision platformer built on the Teeworlds engine, and it arrived on Steam on 17 August 2020. Up to 64 players share one server and drag each other through thousands of community maps using a grappling hook and a hammer. Official servers run across 14 countries, and every finish feeds a single global points table holding over 33,000 points.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best characters, weapons worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Grappling hook movement
The hook reaches roughly 11 blocks and accelerates you toward whatever it grabs until you hit the cap of about 20 blocks per second. Hooking a teammate instead of a wall lets a pair swing, throw and carry each other across gaps neither tee could cross alone.
Freeze and deep freeze tiles
A freeze tile disables movement keys, jumping, the hook and every weapon for a few seconds. Deep freeze refreshes that three second countdown once per second, so only an Undeep tile clears it and a teammate hammer does nothing at all.
Hammer unfreezing
The hammer is short ranged melee that instantly releases any tee it touches from freeze. It never applies downward force, only sideways and upward, which is exactly why hammerjump and hammerfly are built on top of it.
Team system with save codes
Typing /team followed by a number drops you into a private team where every member has to reach the finish together. The /save and /load commands store that team state behind a code, so a group can stop halfway through a Brutal map and resume the identical run days later.
Points scaled by map difficulty
Points depend on the server category plus the map star rating. A Moderate map at 0 stars pays 5 points and a Brutal map at 3 stars pays 24, and each map only ever pays once no matter how many regional servers you finish it on.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our DDraceNetwork combat guide.
Characters Overview
| Role | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novice runner | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Rank chaser | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Team carry | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Dummy solo player | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Map maker | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our DDraceNetwork builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Weapons Guide
| Weapon | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | Always available, reaches about 11 blocks, and pulls you toward hookable tiles at up to roughly 20 blocks per second. | Everything, from a first Novice map to the hardest Insane climbs |
| Hammer | The only melee tool and the one you press most often. | Rescuing frozen teammates and building vertical momentum |
| Shotgun | Fires a straight beam that pulls any tee it strikes toward the beam, including your own. | Dragging teammates across long gaps and gaining speed on shotgun parts |
| Grenade launcher | Lobs a projectile whose explosion pushes tees outward. | Rocket jumps and knocking a stuck teammate free of a corner |
| Laser rifle | An automatic weapon whose beam bounces off walls until it hits a tee or runs out of range, and any tee it touches is unfrozen immediately. | Long distance unfreezes and bouncing a shot around a corner |
Hook: Always available, reaches about 11 blocks, and pulls you toward hookable tiles at up to roughly 20 blocks per second. It also grabs other tees, which is what makes DDNet cooperative rather than a solo obstacle course.
Hammer: The only melee tool and the one you press most often. A hit unfreezes a teammate instantly and pushes them sideways or upward, never down, which powers hammerrun, hammerjump and hammerfly.
Shotgun: Fires a straight beam that pulls any tee it strikes toward the beam, including your own. Map authors hand it out where a player needs to build speed in a direction that the hook cannot reach.
Grenade launcher: Lobs a projectile whose explosion pushes tees outward. Firing at your own feet produces the rocket jump that many Brutal and Insane parts are designed around.
Laser rifle: An automatic weapon whose beam bounces off walls until it hits a tee or runs out of range, and any tee it touches is unfrozen immediately. It solves rescues that the hammer cannot reach.
Full breakdowns in our DDraceNetwork weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Novice | First 20 hours | Low risk points, hook fundamentals, a feel for team play |
| Moderate | After roughly 100 Novice finishes | 5 to 15 points per map, first real hookfly and shotgun parts |
| Brutal | Several hundred hours in | 15 to 30 points per map, save code discipline, reliable partners |
| Insane | Veteran only | 30 to 50 points per map, a name on leaderboards most players never touch |
| Solo | Any, difficulty varies map to map | Points without needing a group, plus clean practice for movement technique |
Novice: The entry category and the largest one, meant to be finished by a group rather than a soloist. Star ratings run from 0 to 5, paying 1 point up to 6 points per map.
Moderate: The step where parts stop forgiving sloppy hook timing. A 0 star Moderate map already pays 5 points, which is more than any Novice map.
Brutal: Long maps with sections that assume you can hammerfly and rocket jump on demand. A 3 star Brutal map pays 24 points, so a handful of finishes moves your global rank noticeably.
Insane: The hardest team category, where single parts can take a week of attempts. These maps sit at the top of the points table and many have only a few dozen finishers worldwide.
Solo: Maps designed to be completed alone, with no teammates and no dummy interference, though chat stays open. This is the category to use when nobody else is online in your region.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Bind the dummy toggle to a single key before doing anything else. Almost every solo technique, from deepfly to dummy hammer parts, assumes you can swap control between two tees without pausing to open a menu.
- Learn the /r rescue command on your first evening. It teleports you back out of freeze to the last safe position, which turns a dead run into a five second setback rather than a restart from the start line.
- Hook the wall before you jump, not after. Beginners jump first and then hook, which wastes the jump, while the correct order lets the hook add its own acceleration on top of your existing upward speed.
- Download the top 5 demo for any map that is beating you. DDNet stores replays of the fastest finishes, and watching a 200 point player route a part is worth more than an hour of blind attempts.
- Use /save after every hard section on a long Brutal map. The code stores your whole team state, so a disconnect or a dinner break costs nothing instead of erasing two hours of progress.
- The laser rifle unfreezes at range and bounces off walls, so aim at the wall behind a trapped teammate when a direct line does not exist. This rescues players stuck in pits that the hammer cannot reach.
- Deep freeze is not the same as freeze. Only an Undeep tile clears it, so stop hammering a deep frozen teammate and carry them to the Undeep tile instead, which is usually placed nearby by the map author.
- Pick a home server region from the 14 available and stay on it. Points are global, but hook timing at 20 ms of ping feels different from 120 ms, and swapping constantly stops your muscle memory from settling.
- Finish every 1 and 2 star Novice map before touching Moderate. The points are small individually, but there are enough of them that the category alone can carry a new player past a thousand points while teaching hook control.
- Join a team with /team before attempting a hard map with friends. Team 0 lets strangers hook and block you mid attempt, while a numbered team isolates the group and makes the finish a shared requirement.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating DDNet as a solo game. Most Novice through Insane maps have parts that physically cannot be passed without a second tee to hook or hammer you.
- Hammering a deep frozen teammate over and over. Deep freeze ignores the hammer completely and only an Undeep tile releases it.
- Skipping the Novice category because it looks easy. The category teaches hook release timing, and players who jump straight to Moderate usually stall out for weeks.
- Forgetting to save a team code on long maps. One disconnect on a Brutal run wipes an entire evening of coordinated progress.
- Chasing speed before consistency. A part you clear one time in ten will fail somewhere in a twenty minute run, so drill it to near certainty first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is DDraceNetwork actually free?
Yes, permanently. It is free and open source, released on Steam on 17 August 2020, with no purchases, no ads and no premium servers. The client and the server code are both public.
How do points work?
Each map carries a value set by its server category and its star rating from 0 to 5. A Moderate map at 0 stars pays 5 points and a Brutal map at 3 stars pays 24. Points are global, so finishing the same map on a second regional server pays nothing extra.
Can I play without friends?
Yes. The Solo category is built for single players, and the Novice through Insane servers are usually full of strangers who will hammer you out of freeze without being asked. You can also control a dummy as a second tee.
What is a dummy?
A second tee you control from the same client. It can copy your inputs or be steered separately, and techniques like deepfly and dummy hammer parts depend on it, which makes it near mandatory above the Moderate category.
Which server should I connect to?
Whichever of the 14 official regions gives you the lowest ping, since Germany, Poland, USA, Canada, Russia, China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, India, Chile, Brazil, South Africa and Australia all host servers. Ranks are shared globally, so region choice costs you nothing.
More DDraceNetwork Guides
- DDraceNetwork Best Builds
- DDraceNetwork Tier List
- DDraceNetwork Walkthrough
- DDraceNetwork Beginner's Guide
- DDraceNetwork Tips & Tricks
- DDraceNetwork Weapons Guide
- DDraceNetwork Combat Guide
- DDraceNetwork Boss Guide
- DDraceNetwork Maps & Locations
- DDraceNetwork Crafting Guide
- DDraceNetwork Classes & Characters
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