Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold. Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC. # Jetpacks vanishing while the player is invisible From the spelunky.ai wiki: . Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.10](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.10) on 28 October 2026. Jetpacks vanishing while the player is invisible is a quirk of Spelunky Classic in which a Jetpack lying in the level vanishes once the player turns invisible. | Quirk | | | --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Status | GML + Oracle | | Where | [`objects/oJetpack/step.gml:1-4`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oJetpack/step#L1-L4) | | Pinned by | `fidelity/replays/item-jetpack-player-invisible.txt` | | Row | [docs/quirks.md §1, Bugs and leftovers in the 1.1 source](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/main/docs/quirks.md#1-bugs-and-leftovers-in-the-11-source): “A Jetpack lying in the level destroys itself while the player is invisible.” | A [Jetpack](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jetpack) lying on the floor, in a shop or in the player's hands is gone the moment he turns invisible, which only happens as he dies. Nobody sees it go: without the [Ankh](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ankh) the game-over screen follows, and with it, he's visible again before any Jetpack looks. ## What happens The player walks past a Jetpack lying on the floor into a [Mantrap](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mantrap), which swallows him. On the next step the Jetpack behind him is gone[^1]. **Clip: A jetpack on the floor vanishes when the player dies unseen.** The player walks past a jetpack lying on the floor into a man trap, which swallows him. On the next step the jetpack behind him is gone: it destroys itself while the player is invisible. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1d3f433106e37ef1/clips/quirks/jetpack-vanishes-player-invisible/clip.mp4)) ## Why The Jetpack's step has one check of its own: ```gml objects/oJetpack/step.gml:3-4 if (instance_exists(oPlayer1)) if (not oPlayer1.visible) instance_destroy(); ``` [`objects/oJetpack/step.gml:3-4`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oJetpack/step#L3-L4), from `spelunky.gmk`, Spelunky Classic 1.1's source, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC ([Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt)). It's the worn [Cape](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/cape)'s check, word for word[^2]. The Cape is drawn on the player's back, so it should go when he does. A worn Jetpack isn't an object at all, only a flag (`global.hasJetpack`), so the `oJetpack` that runs the check is the pickup: the one lying in the level, for sale, or held. The player turns invisible when he's crushed, when his hearts fall below -99[^3], or when a Mantrap or the [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost) takes him[^4][^5]. After a crush or the hearts, every Jetpack goes in the same step, as the player steps first; after a Mantrap or the Ghost, in the next, as their collisions come after the steps. With the Ankh it never happens: the revival makes him visible again before any Jetpack's step runs[^6]. ## Reproducing it Die out of sight with a Jetpack nearby, without the Ankh: walk into a Mantrap or let the Ghost take the player. The game-over screen hides it, so it only shows in the step between. The replay of the clip's staged scene, on a custom level, has a Mantrap eat the player and the Jetpack on the floor behind him destroyed on the next step[^7]. The Ankh's case is only the code's and the event order's: no replay has a Jetpack near an Ankh revival. ## In the port The spelunky.ai port reproduces it exactly: it's in docs/quirks.md's list of the 1.1 source's bugs[^6], and the oracle's fingerprint of the replay pins the step it goes. No option turns it off. ## FAQ ### Why did the Jetpack disappear in Spelunky Classic? The player died out of sight: a [Mantrap](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mantrap) or the [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost) took him, he was crushed, or his hearts fell below -99. Any [Jetpack](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jetpack) lying in the level, for sale or in his hands destroys itself while he's invisible. ### Can a Jetpack vanish while the player is alive? No. With the [Ankh](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ankh), the revival makes him visible again before any Jetpack checks, so the Jetpacks stay. Without it he's dead, and they're gone behind the game-over screen. ### Why does the Jetpack do this? Its code is the worn [Cape](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/cape)'s, which removes the Cape drawn on the player's back when he's gone. On the Jetpack, it's the pickup lying in the level that runs it. ## See also - **Related:** [Jetpack](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jetpack), [Cape](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/cape), [Mantrap](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mantrap), [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost) ## References [^1]: Clip quirks/jetpack-vanishes-player-invisible [^2]: [`objects/oCape/step.gml:49-50`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oCape/step#L49-L50) [^3]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1484-1488`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1484-L1488) [^4]: [`objects/oManTrap/collision_oCharacter.gml:41-44`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oManTrap/collision_oCharacter#L41-L44) [^5]: [`objects/oGhost/collision_oCharacter.gml:13-16`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGhost/collision_oCharacter#L13-L16) [^6]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^7]: Replay `fidelity/replays/item-jetpack-player-invisible.txt` ### Source code - [`objects/oJetpack/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oJetpack/step) - [`objects/oCape/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oCape/step) - [`objects/oManTrap/collision_oCharacter.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oManTrap/collision_oCharacter)