Community Guides/Getting Started
Welcome to Foxhole! If you're new to the game, there are many community-made tutorials available to you! For more help, feel free to stop by the Foxhole Official Discord or the Steam Discussions and Guides! If you are unsure of any terminology that players say, please refer to the Slang page.
Preface
Foxhole is a massively multiplayer war game, inspired by Interwar period and World War II, where two factions Wardens and Colonials fight for dominion over the fictional continent of Raka. Every player plays as an individual soldier, everything is produced by players, everything* is built by players. The game map consists of 37 hexagon-shaped regions, and each region has one unique town that gives 1 victory point to the faction that holds it. Whoever gets 32~ victory towns out of a possible 37, wins the war.
Video Tutorial
A video explaining all the basics.
Joining in the Game
Shard Selection
Foxhole is designed to host one massive scale war where everyone around the world fights the same war no matter their location or time zone, but due to influx of players, especially during the update wars, it is mandatory to compensate them and open new shards to make everyone enjoy the game without waiting on queues. Shards are separated servers that host different wars and might have different starting conditions and technology trees. There can be a few wars being fought at the same time. Player ranks and levels are shared between shards. Players can join both shards and have a different faction or regiment in each one of them.
To play the game, you must click on "PLAY" button and choose which shard you want to play on.
Shard "ABLE" is usually more populated, which can mean longer queues. Other shards are "BAKER" and "CHARLIE", which are expected to be opened and closed from time to time, depending on player population.
After selecting a shard, you can proceed with the faction selection screen.
Faction Selection
At this point, you are presented with a choice to join a faction, Wardens or Colonials.
WARNING: After selecting a faction and playing in the war for 6 minutes, you will get faction locked, and you will have to play with your faction until the war is over, which can last more than a month. It is not possible to switch factions mid-war, with one exception. Players below level 5 will be able to switch factions a single time.
Even though both factions share the same game mechanics, there are both visual and strategic differences. In Foxhole, most combat weapons and vehicles are faction-specific, which means only one faction can produce them, yet if players can get their hands on the opposing faction's equipment, they can use it with no impact. This asymmetrical approach is one of the unique features of the game, and you are encouraged to fight a war with both factions once before going forward.
After concluding your faction selection, you must click the "DEPLOY" button to spawn in the faction-specific Home Region.
Home Region is not the actual war but a lobby and a training area.
User Interface
Controls
Movements & Camera
WASD: Move or driveC: CrouchX: ProneSpacebar(can be held): Climb or vaultShift: SprintHold MiddleMouseButton + Mouse Movement: Rotate cameraRightMouseButton: Aim
Communication
Voice Chat:
T: Local voice chatG: Squad voice chatU: Enable or disable voice chat
Text Chat:
Enter: Open chat or send messageTab: Switch between text channels
Here's a quick explanation of each text channel:
- Local (All): Talk with all players near you.
- Squad: Talk with allies in the same squad.
- Regiment: Talk with allies in the same regiment.
- Region (Team): Talk with allies in the same region.
- World (Team): Talk with allies in the same war.
- World (Logi): World chat dedicated to talking about logistics.
- World (Intel): World chat dedicated to sharing intelligence.
Equipment & Interactions
Tab: Open inventoryLeftMouseButtonon item in backpack: Equip item1/2/3: Take the primary/secondary/tertiary item in your handsRightMouseButton: AimLeftMouseButton: Use held item or fire weapon (must be aiming to fire)R: ReloadF: Switch fire mode, switch ammunition type or attach bayonet (if applicable)Q: Enter and exit vehicle or structureE: InteractShift + E: Open interact context menu (when there are multiple possible interactions)Escape: Exit or open game menu
Map
You can open the map by pressing M. Since you are in the Home Region, it will show just the map of the Home Region. You can check the state of war by interacting with the map table under the tents. After deploying to any of the regions, M key will open the state of the war by default. On the map screen orange arrow shows your location and direction.
There is also intelligence which is being gathered by various items, vehicles or buildings and shows the real-time position of both enemy and friendly entities on the map. This information is shown on the state of the war map after you get faction locked. But for now, we will ignore it.
Now you can open your map by pressing M and visit the training areas around. If you wish to deploy, go towards one of the two deploy areas marked on the Home Region map to the east or west. Alternatively, you can run in the direction pointed by the arrow below the "Deploy" text written on the ground.
Appearance Selection
You can change your appearance at any of the barracks in Home Region. Press E to open the appearance menu.
Deploying into the War
When you arrive at the deploy area, press E to open Deployment Point Selection. On this screen, you will see dozens of squares. Every square here represents one Home Base currently being held by your faction or a player-built Bunker Base with Deployment Point technology. To get into some action, select one of the deployment points closer to the frontline. If you wish to proceed with learning logistics or building, spawn in a backline region. After playing 6 minutes and getting faction locked, you will be able to see map intelligence from your home region, so you can always check the state of the war first and decide on where to spawn depending on this intel. A bigger diamond represents more friendly player activity in the area. A red diamond means your faction is outnumbered and needs reinforcements.
Spawn & Respawn
Once you've deployed to a base, your home base spawn point will be set there until either you go to another home base and set your spawn there or return back to the home region. To change your home base spawn to another home base, first go to that home base, press E to open that base's menu and click the house icon 
at the bottom to assign your spawn there.
After dying, you will be able to spectate friendly soldiers nearby while being able to cycle through them with PageUp and PageDown.
You can click the "Spawn" button and then select one of your spawn points to respawn. You will consume 1 Soldier Supplies from that base's stockpile. Once the base no longer has any soldier supplies, you can no longer respawn there until more soldier supplies are brought and submitted into the base. So keep an eye on the amount of soldier supplies your base has and don't hesitate to request more supplies on World (Logi) chat.
You can only set two possible spawns, one Home Base, which are preplaced static bases held by either faction and one Forward Base, which are player-built bases. Setting a new spawn point of the same type will replace the old one.
Gearing up
At your base, press E to open its menu. The menu that pops up is the stockpile. Click on what you need to retrieve it (takes a few seconds per item). Grab a Rifle and 2 or 3 magazines of the corresponding ammo (usually 7.62mm). Close the menu with E or Escape, then press Tab to open your inventory. Click on the rifle in the bottom "backpack" section to equip it, and Tab again to close the inventory. Press 1 to equip your rifle and R to reload it. Aim with RMB and fire with LMB.
You can drop unwanted items in your inventory with Alt + LMB.
You should choose to grab a bandage if you expect to get injured. Once you start bleeding 
, equip the bandage (gets in the third slot), press 3 then LMB to use the bandage. It will stop the bleeding, but it will not heal you.
You can carry a downed soldier by pressing E to move them to safety or bring them to a medic. The downed soldier cannot bleed out as long as they're carried. Press Shift + V to drop them.
You know the basics of fighting. Read the Combat Guide to learn more.
Open the map and find the nearest front line (where blue and green icons meet).
Driving
Resources & Production
Logistics is a huge aspect of the game. Nearly every item, weapon, ammo and structure in the game is created by players.
There are several main resources you will gather during the war.
- Salvage
: resource used for making Basic Materials 
, Diesel 
, and Explosive Powder 
- Components
: resource used for making Refined Materials 
- Sulfur
: resource used for making Heavy Explosive Powder 
- Oil
: resource used for making Petrol 
- Aluminum & Iron: uncommon resources that occasionally drop during salvage fields (but not from mines), used to progress technological research.
- Wreckage: resource that randomly spawns and is turned into Basic Material and Refined Materials when sorted at Refineries.
Gathering Materials
Gathering resources is a simple as equipping a Hammer or Sledge Hammer, going to a resource field, positioning yourself near a small resource pile, and clicking the pile until it is depleted. Or collected from a Resource Mine.
- Salvage is mined at the
icon and looks like a pile of assorted metal pieces or directly picked up from a Salvage Mine 
icon. - Components are mined at the
icon or directly picked up from a Component Mine 
icon. - Sulfur is mined at the
icon and looks like a yellow rock or directly picked up from a Sulfur Mine 
icon. - Oil is picked up at the
icon for the Oil Well.
A successful mining strike will produce a banging sound and sparks/smoke. A message will appear on the bottom left of the screen telling players that they collected +2 (resource type).
Reminder! Components and sulfur can only be gathered with sledgehammers. Hammers do not work.
Refining Materials
Once obtained, Salvage, Components, and Sulfur can be refined at a Refinery 
.
Salvage can be refined into either Basic Materials (Bmats), Explosive Powder (Emats) or Diesel.
Components can be refined into Refined Materials (Rmats).
Sulfur can be refined into Heavy Explosive Powder.
Oil can be refined into Petrol using Facilities.
Usage
These materials play a vital role in securing victory in the war. Basic Materials are used in nearly every aspect of the game: building defenses and vehicles, making weapons and tools, among other things.
Refined Materials are used to produce advanced equipment in factories and vehicles at Garage 
.
Explosive Powder are only used at the Factory 
to produce explosives such as Grenades or R.P.G. shells
Heavy Explosive Powder are used for really advanced explosives like Havoc Charge or 150mm shells and the Warhead.
Building
Building structures requires a Hammer and some material, or a Shovel, or Large Materials. Most structures require either Basic Materials.
Bunker and Trenches in their first stage just require a shovel, but when upgrading them to the next tier, you'll need Basic Materials and in higher tiers Concrete Materials.
To build, equip the hammer and press B to select the structure you want. You should now have a blue copy of the structure to move around and place. You can rotate the blue structure with the RMB + drag(right mouse button). Finalize your placement with the LMB (left mouse button).
Repairing structures always only costs you Basic Materials to repair, even if you need another resource to build it.
Bunker Bases: For a tutorial on how to build a basic bunker base, check out this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3clsDKZOlzU&ab
Gallery
Gameplay FAQ
These are some of the most commonly asked questions by new players.
How do I set my spawn point?
Players can set their spawn point by interacting with a friendly Base. Interact with the building using the E key and then select Assign Spawn Point . The base must have Soldier Supplies in it to allow players to respawn.
What server am I playing on?
Players can open the map (press M) and look in the bottom-left of the screen to see the server information. In the main menu, you can see which shard server you have selected in the top-right corner. Shards do not correspond to particular time zones, as the world is persistent, and everyone from anywhere in the world can play.
Depending on the overall game population, certain Shards are unavailable, with each shard only able to hold up to 4,000 players. Able is the "main" shard, with other shards, like Baker, Charlie, or Dev Branch, open at certain times.
How long is an in-game day?
24 Foxhole hours = 1 real life hour, with daytime and nighttime around 30 minutes long. To see the in-game time, you can open up your map and look at the bottom left of your screen.
How do I get weapons and gear?
Players can "assemble" (i.e. grabbing an item from a stockpile) weapons and gear from a Stockpile Forward and World Bases. Interact with the building using the E key and navigate the stockpiled inventory on the right-hand side of the screen for the items you want. Then you can use LMB (left mouse button) to assemble a single item into your inventory. If you use Shift + LMB, you will assemble 3 of that item (option only available from the truck driver seat).
Make sure to equip the items you have assembled.
How do I equip weapons and gear?
Weapons and gear items all have a particular slot that they can be equipped to. Refer to the Player section for what items can fit where. To equip an item, click it with LMB (left mouse button) while it is in your inventory grid to move it to your equipped items.
How do I get a vehicle?
Vehicles can be built at a Garage using materials made at the Refinery. They can be stored in public stockpiles inside Seaports and Storage Depots. However, first ask yourself if you really need a vehicle? Vehicles are usually operated by dedicated teams of players running Logistics or operating advanced attack vehicles like tanks and artillery. If your team lacks players fulfilling these roles, then feel free to build one of your own and assist.
How do I build structures?
There are multiple construction tools: Hammer, Shovel, Construction Vehicle, Large Materials.
Equip the relevant tool, then press B to open the build menu, and select the desired structure to build. Use RMB + drag to rotate the building before placement. Hitting the blueprint with the correct tool while having the required materials in your inventory with begin the construction process and prevent the blueprint from disappearing.
How do I communicate with other players?
Foxhole has a simple text-based chat system with a few different channels. When first logged in, the channel will be set to team region chat. To switch chats, hit Enter to begin typing and then cycle the channels with Tab. You will see the channel icon change each time you cycle.
If you have a microphone setup, you can use proximity voice chat with the T key. Press G to use the squad voice squad when you are in a squad.
If you do not wish to use the tab key, you can use chat commands. After hitting Enter, you can then type the following commands to switch channels
/t= Region (Team)/l= Local (All)/i= World (Logi)/s= Squad/w= World (Team)
You can send private messages to other players through the f1 Menu. You can also use the command /p [PlayerName] [TextHere] , you don't even have to type the whole player name, type the first few letters and press Down Arrow to cycle through the names of players online that match the letters.
How do I find out where the battle is?
Ask other players in Team Chat where the frontline is. Another option is to access a friendly Forward or World Base by pressing E to get updated intel on your map regarding friendly/enemy positions and structures. Any player that is within a Watch Tower's range will be broadcast on the map when you update your intel and press M to open your map. If you have a radio equipped, it automatically updates the player's Map Intelligence on their map screen every 5.
Also pay attention to Map Posts put on the map by others.
If you are in the Home Region, you can check the state of the war and where the frontline is by checking the War Tent.
Is there a progression system in this game?
The short answer is yes, however, there are two systems:
Your Level: Players can earn experience by contributing to the team via actions like building/killing/and supplying troops. This contributes to your level, which is the integer value in your F1 menu screen. Currently, this level offers no benefits whatsoever aside from allowing any player under level 5 who has been faction-locked (i.e. playing a faction for more than six minutes into a war) to get one free faction unlock.
Your Rank: Rank is earned/awarded to you from other players through Commendations. Commendations are awarded based on meritorious achievements in-game, such as kills, heals, revives, repairs, building friendly structures, and destroying enemy structures. They can be awarded to other players via the F1 menu screen. Right-click a player's name and click "Commend" in the menu that pops out. Alternatively, you can hold Alt and click on a player you can see. Make sure to commend players that you see doing valuable work for your team!
How do I report other players?
If another player has broken the Code of Conduct, you can report a player in multiple ways:
- If they're nearby, you can press
Alt + LMBon their character and select "Report" - If they talked in chat, you can right click their name in the chat and select "Report" (player must be in the same region)
- If they are in the same region or left the region recently, you can press
F1to open the player menu, right click their name and select "Report"
To report a violation that doesn't fit the options listed in the Report menu or if you want to report a player that has left the game (or if you've left) you will need to use the External ToolYou can access the External reporting Tool from in-game by pressing Escape and selecting the "Support" button at the bottom. This will lead you to the external reporting tool where you'll be able to submit a ticket. You can directly access the external reporting tool at https://clapfootgames.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new
Do not attempt to contact the development staff through the Official Foxhole Discord for player reports; use the external tool instead.
Abusing this system to kick players you don't like or for any non-serious reason can be grounds for you being removed from the game.
How do I get past the queues?
Players are unable to bypass queues through regular means. If the region you wanted to go to is queued up, try to find another region that's less populated.
Additionally, you can try to deploy to a backline region, gear up and drive to the desired region to do frontline logi delivery (logi has a priority queue, which allows players to get into a region faster. Depending on the value of the equipment you are carrying, you will have a higher priority compared to other players)
If the queues to most regions are too long, and other Shards are available, you can play on them. You can change the shard server in the top right corner of the main menu.
Why can't I see enemies shooting at me?
Elevation and aiming ranges (especially for longer-ranged weapons) can provide the enemy with superior viewing distance, preventing the player from easily seeing them. Additionally, they might be obstructed from view, either by the time of day, weather conditions, or in certain structures.