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[2000] - Highlander Rulebook⚓︎

[2001] - Format Rules⚓︎

The Highlander format is a 9v9 match with a class limit of 1. Highlander is primarily played on Payload and King of the Hill maps. If a team is unable to field 9 players, then the team may choose to play 8v9. Teams with fewer than 8 players on the server must gather a substitute or a ringer.

[2001.1] - Class Limit of One⚓︎

If at any point a team has two of the same class spawn and begins to have an impact on the match (e.g. both near front lines, upgrading tele, etc.), that team immediately loses the round and receives a penalty, regardless of whether it was accidental or was for “just one rocket”.

Though RGL does have a config that attempts to prevent this, TF2 does not fully stop this from happening. It is still technically possible to spawn two of the same class. Make sure when you switch classes you are communicating with your team so that no one else chooses that class as well.

[2001.2] - Item Whitelist⚓︎

Match servers must use the current Highlander RGL item whitelist.

The entire whitelist can be found on Whitelist.tf

If there are weapon changes or new weapons added in a TF2 update during the season, they will be automatically banned. The admin team will then evaluate the changes/additions, and update the community on if the weapons will be unbanned or stay banned for the remainder of the season.

[2001.3] - Highlander Map Pool⚓︎

To see what maps are being played this season, visit the matches page, where the map names will be listed in the header.

[2001.4] - Stopwatch Rules⚓︎

Stopwatch maps include Payload (e.g. pl_vigil) and Attack/Defend maps (e.g. cp_steel).

The winner of the map is the first team to win two rounds. A round consists of both attack and defense.

[1008.14] - Team Starting Sides to determine side color.

Round
Round 1 Teams decide which team starts first
Round 2 Switch Sides*
Round 3 Teams decide which team starts first

*If between rounds teams don't automatically start on the opposite side than the previous round, reload the map and go to the correct side. For example, Team A played round #1 as BLU, expecting to play round #2 as RED, but somehow started as BLU team again for round #2, then they should reload the map and configs.

Round one: Team A attacks / Team B defends then Team B attacks / Team A defends.

Round two: Team B attacks / Team A defends then Team A attacks / Team B defends.

The third round is a tiebreaker and is only needed if the score is 1-1 after the first two rounds. If a third round is played, the first team will choose which side they would like to start the final round on.

For example, the first team decides to start on offense in the third round.

Round Three: Team A attacks / Team B defends, then Team B attacks and Team A defends.

[2001.5] - KOTH Rules⚓︎

King of the Hill maps (e.g. koth_ashville_rc1, koth_product_rc8):

King of the Hill (KOTH) maps have one capture point in the middle of the map. After a short time, the point unlocks and can be captured. In most cases, the point must be held for a total of 3 minutes by one team to win the round.

The winner will be the first team to have won four rounds.

[1008.14] - Team Starting Sides to determine side color.

Each half in KOTH will end after either one team has won two rounds of that half or a team has won 4 rounds total to win the match. A minimum of two halves will be played.

Here is an example of a KOTH match that enters the third half:

Halves Score Total Score
1st Half 2-1 2-1
2nd Half 0-2 2-3
3rd Half 0-1 2-4

First half: Team A wins 2 rounds and Team B wins 1. (2-1) Second half: Team B wins two rounds and Team A wins none. (2-3) The score is now A: 2 | B: 3. Since neither team has won 4 rounds, the third half is played. Third half: Team B wins the first round. The game is over as Team B has reached 4 round wins. (2-4)

Important Note: Once the match is finished, make sure to re-exec the KOTH config. This will stop the match and make sure the logs are correct and do not have an extra round.

[2001.6] - League Table⚓︎

During the regular season, teams are not ranked based on their wins/losses, but on their match points.

If there is a tie in match points, the tiebreakers for rank are (in this order):

  1. Head to Head Winner (if teams played each other prior in the season)
  2. Quality of Opponent / Strength of Schedule
    1. Median-Buchholz (used in Swiss divisions)
    2. Sonneborn-Berger
    3. Tiebreaker Score
  3. Rounds Won

Last update: August 26, 2023