All controls listed are default and do not represent any changes to key bindings

W - Move Forward
S - Move Backward
A - Strafe Left
D - Strafe Right
Left Shift - Sprint
Left Control - Crouch (Sneak)
Space - Jump


Y - Message All
TAB - Display Scoreboard


Left Mouse Button - Fire/Quick Melee Attack
Right Mouse Button - Hold Iron Sights/Charged Melee Weapon Attack
V - Melee Attack with Gun/Execute with Melee Weapon
R - Reload
E - Use/Pickup Item
F - Turn Flashlight On/Off
G - Drop Weapon
U - Unload Weapon
H - Drop Current Weapon Ammo
J - Drop Unusable Ammo
B - Show Phone
1, 2, 3, 4 - Select Weapon Slot
Mouse Wheel Up & Down - Cycle Through Weapons
Q - Last Used Weapon

Left Click - View Previous Objective (Escape Mode)/Ping Selected Players Phone (Hunted Mode)
Right Click - Look at Phone
R - View Next Objective (Escape Mode)/Scroll Through Nearby Player List (Hunted Mode)


Left Mouse Button - Claw
Right Mouse Button - Grapple
E - Climb
F - Turn Zombie Vision On/Off
R - Roar
B - Toggle Zombie Blending
V - Command Zombie Minions
Mouse Wheel Up & Down - Cycle Through Zombie Blending Animations

Setting up your Controller

You can enable Controllers as well as edit button layout and other settings in Options - Controller. If you want to edit the keys more in-depth you'll have to edit one of the configs in "../Steam/SteamApps/common/Contagion/contagion/cfg/", or you can bind the buttons via console.

Button Configuration

Left Stick - Move
Right Stick - Look
Press Left Stick - Sprint
Left Shoulder - Crouch (Sneak)
A - Jump


Right Shoulder - Use/Pickup Items
Start - Open Main Menu/Go back in Menu
Back - Display Scoreboard


Press Right Stick - Melee Attack with Gun/Execution with Melee Weapon
Left Trigger - Iron Sight/Charged Melee Weapon Attack
Right Trigger - Fire/Quick Melee Attack
B - Show Phone
X - Reload
Y - Next Inventory Slot
D-Pad Up - Flashlight On/Off
D-Pad Left - Drop Current Ammo
D-Pad Right - Drop Unused Ammo
D-Pad Down - Drop Weapon

Left Trigger - View Phone
Right Trigger - View Previous Objective (Escape Mode)/Ping Selected Player (Hunted Mode)
X - View Next Objective (Escape Mode)/Scroll Through Nearby Player List (Hunted Mode)


Press Right Stick - Command Zombie Minions
Left Trigger - Grapple
Right Trigger - Claw
Right Shoulder - Climb
X - Roar
B - Blend As AI Zombie
D-Pad Up - Zombie Vision On/Off
Y - No Zombie Action
D-Pad Left - No Zombie Action
D-Pad Right - No Zombie Action
D-Pad Down - No Zombie Action

For Survivors there's always some sort of objective that must be completed in order to win. But for Zombies their objective is always the same, prevent the survivors from completing their objectives by killing them. As a zombie you have limited lives before you turn into a cockroach and spectate, so use them wisely!

The survivors must work together to complete all the objectives and escape. Objectives, items, and pathing are random, so each play through is different. Survivors must share and conserve their supplies if they wish to make it out alive. Any survivors that lose their life along the way will return as infected and must eliminate the remaining survivors before they complete the objectives and escape. Your phone is a useful tool allowing you to view the objectives as well as your distance away from the objective. Whenever you hear your phone's ringtone play, that means you've received a new objective. If you don't know what to do, check your phone!

This is a Player Vs. Player (PvP) based game mode where the last survivor standing is the champion. Each survivor starts with a weapon(s) and a small amount of ammo. Other supplies are scattered throughout the map randomly and you can also obtain ammo from some zombie corpses. To win you must hunt the other survivors down and eliminate them, be the last survivor alive and you're victorious. Your cell phone will be extremely useful in tracking down survivors and player zombies. You may use your phone to ping another players phone, which will emit a ringtone alerting you of their position. Beware though, when you ping a player's phone they'll know a survivor is nearby and begin searching. Once you've been turned into a zombie, it's your job to help eliminate the remaining survivors to keep them from winning. So be sure to choose a target that satisfies you!

In this game mode, survivors must work together to protect civilians and help them escape once the rescue vehicle arrives. Extraction starts off with survivors spawning randomly across the map. Your phone serves as a GPS in this game mode. Use it to get directions to the current objective, and locate civilians (Blue Markers) and fellow survivors (Pink Markers). Survivors must meet up at the specified location, but be sure to wait for all your teammates. Once you approach the location, it will activate and zombies will become attracted to it. You must use the supplies at the location to defend yourselves from the zombies until the rescue vehicle arrives. After the holdout time is complete, gather up the civilians and take them to the extraction point which can be located with the phone. As long as one civilian is extracted per holdout point, you may activate the next holdout point until all are completed. If all civilians of a holdout point die, you will lose and the round will restart. As a zombie your objective is to eliminate any survivors and/or civilians preventing an extraction.

Pistols: Sig Sauer (9mm), Colt 1911 (.45), Revolver (.45)
Submachine Guns: MP5K (9mm), KG9 (9mm)
Shotguns: Mossberg 590, Over & Under
Rifles: Remington 700, BLR
Assault Rifles: AR-15, AK74u
Misc: Crossbow, Grenade
Melee: Sledgehammer, Fire Axe, Baseball Bat (Wooden & Metal), Kabar Knife


Health Kit - Heals you (Left Click) or targeted teammate (Right Click) to full health, can only be used once.
Keys - Unlocks certain doors, if it won't open try using the keys on it.
Extinguisher - Extinguishes fires that block your path.
Bolt Cutters - Can be used to cut limbs or open doors that are chained shut.
Nail Gun - Barricades windows and doors, but requires boards to use. You can find a pile of boards in the house somewhere, usually the garage or basement.
*Pocket Light* (THIS IS A KICKSTARTER ONLY ITEM) - Can be used with weapons that don't have mounted flashlights. The pocket light only has to be in an inventory slot to use, press your flashlight key to turn it on when you have a flashlight-less weapon equipped. Will spawn randomly in the map if any players in the server donated $15 or more to the kickstarter.



The phone is an extremely important tool in your mission to survive. The phone has different uses depending on which game mode you're playing.

In Escape the phone is used to display the objectives as well as the distance between you and the objective. When you have received an objective, you will hear a ringtone go off. The current objective will always be displayed on the phone's screen. So when you hear your phone go off, or you're confused on what to do next just check your phone! You can always scroll through the list of objectives with Left Click and R to see what the previous objectives were.

In Hunted the phone is used to help you track down the other survivors and deceased survivors (player zombies whose phone remains on body) by pinging their phone's network which causes their phone to emit a ringtone. To ping a player's phone, equip your phone and it will begin searching for nearby devices. Once any player is within range, their name will appear in the list. You can use the Left Mouse Button to cycle through the list and press R to ping the selected player. Pinged players will know there's a survivor nearby, so be ready to attack. You cannot have the phone and a gun equipped at the same time, be careful not to get caught with your phone out!

In Extraction the phone serves as a GPS to guide you to your next extraction or holdout point. On your phones screen you will see a bird's eye view of your location and a yellow line leading to your objective. Civilians appear as a blue marker on the GPS and fellow survivors appear as a pink marker. After the holdout time is complete for a location, the phone will display the route to the extraction point. Once the civilians are extracted the phone will lead you to the next holdout point.

Zombies have unique abilities to give them an edge in killing survivors. Use these to your advantage to be an effective killing machine!

This feature allows you to disguise yourself as an AI zombie. This can help you seem like less of a threat to the survivors so you may easily approach them. When you're ready to attack, you can unblend to take control and try to kill them.

To toggle Zombie Blending on, press C and you will be switched to a Third Person View of your character and AI will take over. While blending the player has no control over their character. The only thing you can do while blending is cycle through animations with mouse wheel up or down to enhance your blending experience as well as adjust your movement speed. Whenever you're ready to take control of your character again, press C and you will return to First Person View.


With roar you can call up to 7 zombies to follow and aid you in your attacks. These zombies will follow you until they are killed or you die. Once they are alerted by any survivors or higher priority, they will stop following you and begin attacking whatever caught their attention.

To use Roar you must be within range of other zombies and press R. You will see your zombie roar, then any zombies following you will also roar. Once you have your horde, you can assault the survivors and blockades with their help.

While the horde of zombies is following you, it will be the perfect time to use zombie blending and appear as a regular AI zombie. This can help make you seem less threatening to survivors until you're within range to make a successful attack.


This attack has a small chance of infecting the survivor. Once within range of your target, right click and if you have enough stamina you will grab the survivor and bite them. Zombies will begin surrounding and attacking the grappled survivor. After grappling there is a delay before you can grapple or attack again. So be sure to grapple the survivor once your teammate is done with them so that they can't escape!

Grapple can be cancelled by taking damage, so if survivors are grouped up it may be best to avoid using grapple. If you're damaged before you bite the survivor, no damage or infection will be inflicted making the attack useless and leaving you vulnerable.


Grants the zombie the ability to see in the dark. Press F to turn zombie vision on/off if you're having trouble seeing. And more...


As zombie you have the ability to climb over obstacle in your way. Just approach the object you wish to climb over and press E. If the obstacle is short enough you will climb on top of it, be sure to experiment on obstacles that you think may be too tall.