About the project

KZ.LAB is an indie project inspired by Kreedz Climbing, made for players who enjoy precise movement, difficult jumps and the atmosphere of the CS:GO-era KZ servers. It is also for anyone tired of searching for a server running their favourite map: pick the map you want and play it whenever you like, without waiting for it to enter a rotation or for a server slot to open.

The goal is to recreate that familiar feeling: movement physics, bhop and strafing, checkpoints, a timer, jumpstats, PRO and TP modes, global records and a clean interface without unnecessary noise.

The project includes a library of KZ maps. Maps are imported manually, checked and prepared for the game, so new levels arrive gradually, with their tiers, authors and images added to the catalogue separately.

KZ.LAB is an independent fan project inspired by classic KZ.

What is KZ

KZ (Kreedz Climbing) is a mode with no enemies and no shooting: just you, the map and the timer. The goal is to get through an obstacle course from start to finish as fast as possible.

KZ.LAB recreates the feel of CS:GO KZ: the same physics, checkpoints, jumpstats and chat commands as on the servers of that era.

History

2003, CS 1.6. Canadian Patrick “Kreedz” Wright makes the map kz_hauntedhouse, followed by the legendary kz_giantbean. The mode is named after his nickname. A community quickly grew around the maps: kreedz.com, kzmaps.co.uk, and later the shared hub xtremejumps.eu.

CS:Source. There were attempts to port KZ, but Source movement felt different and most players stayed on 1.6. A standalone KZ Mod came out in 2012, but it never found a big audience.

CS:GO. This is where KZ was reborn. The KZTimer plugin set the standard, later came GOKZ with KZTimer, SimpleKZ and Vanilla modes and a shared global records database. Servers like House of Climb and CYBERSHOKE were packed, and 2019 was the golden age of the mode.

CS2. With CS2 the community moved to CS2KZ, but many still miss that exact CS:GO feeling. That's what KZ.LAB is made for.

Movement modes

Picked in the game settings.

  • KZTimer: classic KZ, speed after a perf is capped at 380.

Default binds

W / A / S / DMove
SPACEJump
MWHEEL DOWNJump
CTRLCrouch
SHIFTWalk
TChat
TABScoreboard
]KZ menu
ESCPause / settings

You can change them in Settings → Keyboard / Mouse.

Chat commands

Type them in chat with ! or /, e.g. !cp. The command itself is hidden from chat, only the result shows.

Checkpoints

!cp !checkpointSet a checkpoint
!tp !teleport !gocheck !gcTeleport to the current checkpoint
!prevcp !pcp !prev !stuckGo to the previous checkpoint
!nextcp !ncp !nextGo to the next checkpoint
!undoUndo the last teleport
!menu !cpmenuShow / hide the KZ menu

Timer

!r !start !restartBack to start (timer resets)
!pause !resumePause / resume the timer
!stopStop the timer

Movement

!nc !noclipNoclip (fly through walls, timer is off)

Stats

!ssjJumpstats on / off
!ssjmodeJumpstats: every jump / 6th / every 6th
!pre !prespeedPrespeed message on / off

Misc

!spec !spectateSpectator mode
!clear !clearchatClear chat
!help !commandsCommand list (!help cp: details about a command)

Points, ranks and levels

Every map has two tops: PRO (no teleports) and TP (all runs, PRO counts there too, like NUB on GOKZ). You get points for your place in each top, the sum across all maps is your score. The TP top is worth half of PRO.

points = MAX(tier) × weight × (0.1 + liveness × (0.55 × (WR/your time)² + 0.35 × (top-20 bonus)²))

Weight: PRO ×1, TP ×0.5. Top liveness: 0.3 if you're alone on the map and 1.0 with 10+ players, so a WR on an empty map isn't worth as much as a contested one. A slow run gives little, speed and place decide your points. Got overtaken or new players showed up? Points get recalculated, just like on the servers.

T1 · Very Easyup to 400 for PRO · up to 200 for TP
T2 · Easyup to 600 for PRO · up to 300 for TP
T3 · Mediumup to 800 for PRO · up to 400 for TP
T4 · Hardup to 1000 for PRO · up to 500 for TP
T5 · Very Hardup to 1250 for PRO · up to 625 for TP
T6 · Extremeup to 1500 for PRO · up to 750 for TP
T7 · Deathup to 2000 for PRO · up to 1000 for TP

Ranks

Thresholds are based on the max across all maps (26,175), new maps shift them automatically.

NEWfrom 0 points
BEGINNERfrom 524 points
AMATEURfrom 1,309 points
CASUALfrom 2,618 points
REGULARfrom 4,188 points
SKILLEDfrom 6,544 points
EXPERTfrom 9,423 points
SEMIPROfrom 12,564 points
PROfrom 16,229 points
MASTERfrom 20,417 points

Level (LVL)

XP always accumulates and is never taken away: it's “how much you've played”, while rank is “how fast you are”.

Any finish+10 XP and +5 per tier
First clear of a map+40 × tier
First PRO on a map+60 × tier
New personal best+15
World Record+100 and +25 per tier (if the top has at least 2 rivals)

Going from level L to L+1 takes 150 + 75×(L−1) XP.

Glossary

CP / TPCheckpoint and teleporting back to it. Runs with teleports go to TP records.
PROA run without a single teleport. The most respected records.
BhopJumping right as you land, without losing speed.
PerfA perfect bhop: jumping on the exact tick you land.
PrestrafeBuilding speed on the ground before a jump, above 250 units.
StrafeGaining speed in the air: A/D in sync with your mouse turn.
LJLongjump, a standing jump for distance. The classic measure of KZ skill.
JumpbugJumping at the moment of landing while uncrouching: no fall damage and speed is kept.
LadderLadders. Climbing them in KZ is a skill of its own.
TierMap difficulty, from 1 (very easy) to 7 (death).
WRWorld Record, the best time on a map.

Rules

Gameplay and records

  1. Cheats, macros and scripts are banned: bhop scripts, autostrafe, strafe helpers, null-binds / snap tap. Ban and all records wiped.
  2. Binding chat commands (!cp, !tp to a key) is allowed, that's normal.
  3. Found a map bug that lets you skip part of it? Report it. Records using bugs get removed.
  4. One account per person. Alts to boost the leaderboard: ban.
  5. Don't pass off other people's records and replays as your own.
  6. Records in Guest mode are saved locally only and don't go to the leaderboard.

Chat and communication

  1. No insults, racism or harassment.
  2. No spam, flooding or advertising.
  3. No profanity or insults in nicknames, don't impersonate the admins.

Rules may be extended. Not knowing the rules doesn't exempt you from them.