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. # Ladder From the spelunky.ai wiki: . *For the Jungle's climbable plants, see [Vine](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/vine).* A Ladder is terrain in Spelunky Classic, a column of rungs in the Mines and the Temple that the player climbs by pressing up, at 1 pixel a step. ![A grey ladder: two rails with four rungs between them](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/sprites/sLadder/frames/0%404x.png) | Ladder | | | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Effect | Climbed up and down; jumped off[^1] | | Destroyed by | Nothing: bombs pass it by | | Objects | `oLadder`, `oLadderOrange`, `oLadderTop` | | Found in | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines), [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle), [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple), [Black Market](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/black-market), [Tutorial](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tutorial) | Ladders stand in the rooms of [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) and [the Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple), where they link a room's floors, and, in [the Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle), only in [the Black Market](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/black-market). The top of one is a ladder top, a rung the player can also stand on. The [Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle)'s rooms have [Vines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/vine) where the others have ladders, and a thrown [Rope](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rope) is, to the code, one more kind of ladder. ## How it works **Clip: Climbing a ladder.** The player walks to a ladder and climbs it to the top, then jumps off toward the ledge beside it, catches the ledge's edge and pulls himself up onto it. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/clips/ladder/climb/clip.mp4)) The clip shows the whole of it: the player walks to a ladder, presses up and climbs it to its top, then jumps off toward the ledge beside it, catches the ledge's edge and pulls himself up. ### Taking hold The player takes hold of a ladder by pressing up while he's in it, or while he's in the air with a ladder just above him. He must be within 4 pixels of the ladder's middle, sideways, and he's put on its middle when he takes hold, his speed stopped[^2]. Pressing down on a platform with a ladder under it, a ladder top among them, takes hold of it too, and he climbs down[^3]. Ducking over a ledge with a ladder beside its edge takes hold of the ladder rather than hanging from the edge[^4]. ### Climbing On a ladder, up and down move the player for as long as the ladder goes on above or below him: each step adds 0.6 to his speed, and climbing's friction takes 0.4 of it away again[^5][^6][^7][^8]. In play that's 1 pixel a step (30 a second), a block in 16 steps[^9]. Left and right only turn him[^10]. A [Cape](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/cape) closes while he climbs[^11], and a fall doesn't count while he's climbing, so climbing down never ends in a long drop's stun[^12]. ### Getting off - **At the foot.** Pressing down where the ladder ends lets go, and the player falls; one who reaches the ground pressing down stands on it[^13]. - **Jumping.** The jump key throws the player off with an upward push, sideways at 4 pixels per step if left or right is held, or straight up without[^14][^15]. For 5 steps after, he can't take hold of a ladder again[^16]. ## Locations Ladders are made by the room templates' ladder and ladder top tiles: | Where | Tiles | | | --------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) | Every ladder tile and ladder top tile | [^17] | | [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) | As the Mines | [^18] | | [The Black Market](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/black-market) | Its own ladder tiles; its ordinary ladder tiles are vines, as the rest of the Jungle's | [^19] | The [Tutorial](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tutorial) has ladders the room editor placed[^20], and the title screen builds one of its own[^21]. In custom levels they're the [level editor](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-editor)'s tiles `L` (a ladder) and `P` (a ladder top)[^22]. ## Interactions - **[Ropes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rope)** are a kind of ladder to the code, as are [Vines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/vine): the checks for a ladder find them too, so the player takes hold of them and climbs them in the same way[^2]. - **[Monkeys](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/monkey)** leaping through the air catch hold of a ladder as they do a vine[^23]. - **[Bombs](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb)** don't destroy ladders: a blast destroys the solid blocks it touches and the Spikes it leaves with nothing under them, and a ladder is neither[^24], so it stays standing where it was. ## Tips - Climbing down a long ladder is safe however far it goes; dropping off it partway isn't, as the fall counts from where he lets go. - Jumping off with a direction held carries the player sideways at 4 pixels per step, faster than he walks, onto a ledge beside the ladder. ## Trivia - The object level generation places is an orange ladder, a kind of the plain ladder object that has no events of its own: the parent is never placed[^25]. - A test for touching a ladder looks for a ladder top first, then a ladder, in the middle of the player's box[^26]. ## FAQ ### How do you climb a ladder in Spelunky Classic? By pressing up in front of it, standing or in the air, within 4 pixels of its middle. The player takes hold, and up and down then climb it, at 1 pixel a step; the jump key jumps off. ### How do you get off a ladder in Spelunky Classic? By jumping, which throws the player off sideways at 4 pixels per step with left or right held, or straight up without; or by climbing down past its foot, which drops him. ### Can you take fall damage on a ladder in Spelunky Classic? No. A fall only counts while the player isn't climbing, so climbing down never builds one. Dropping off the foot of a ladder starts one from there. ### Can bombs destroy ladders in Spelunky Classic? No. A bomb's blast breaks blocks, and a ladder isn't one: it stays hanging where it was, even when the blocks around it are gone. ## See also - **Related:** [Vine](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/vine), [Rope](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rope), [Controls](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/controls) ## References [^1]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:185-236`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L185-L236) [^2]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:606-633`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L606-L633) [^3]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:546-566`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L546-L566) [^4]: [`objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end.gml:6-29`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end#L6-L29) [^5]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:198-212`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L198-L212) [^6]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:677-682`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L677-L682) [^7]: [`scripts/characterCreateEvent.gml:70`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterCreateEvent#L70) [^8]: [`scripts/characterCreateEvent.gml:85-86`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterCreateEvent#L85-L86) [^9]: Clip [ladder/climb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ladder#clip-ladder-climb) [^10]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:196-197`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L196-L197) [^11]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:187-190`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L187-L190) [^12]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:254-267`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L254-L267) [^13]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:206-216`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L206-L216) [^14]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:218-231`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L218-L231) [^15]: [`scripts/characterCreateEvent.gml:72-73`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterCreateEvent#L72-L73) [^16]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:230-236`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L230-L236) [^17]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:341-342`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L341-L342) [^18]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:338-339`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen4#L338-L339) [^19]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenMarket.gml:262-265`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenMarket#L262-L265) [^20]: Room [`rTutorial`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/rooms/rTutorial), as the room editor placed it [^21]: [`objects/oTitle/create.gml:30-35`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTitle/create#L30-L35) [^22]: [`scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:73-80`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrCreateTileObj#L73-L80) [^23]: [`objects/oMonkey/step.gml:102-111`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oMonkey/step#L102-L111) [^24]: [`objects/oExplosion/collision_oSolid.gml:1-31`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oExplosion/collision_oSolid#L1-L31) [^25]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:341`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L341) [^26]: [`scripts/isCollisionLadder.gml:7-10`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/isCollisionLadder#L7-L10) ### Source code - [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent) - [`scripts/characterCreateEvent.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterCreateEvent) - [`scripts/isCollisionLadder.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/isCollisionLadder) - [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step) - [`objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end) - [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen) - [`scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen4) - [`scripts/scrRoomGenMarket.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenMarket)