Challenge labs (CTF)
A challenge lab is a capture-the-flag lab: a machine with something hidden in it, and a set of missions that tell you what to go and find. Each mission ends with a flag — a secret string you find by solving the mission and paste back into the dashboard.
By the end of this page you will know how to run a mission from start to flag, what a wrong flag costs you, and how team labs work.
Open the catalogue from My Labs → Challenge Labs in the sidebar.
1. Deploy the lab
Each card in the catalogue shows the lab's difficulty, whether it is a solo or team lab, and — for event labs — which event it belongs to. Open a lab and deploy it the same way you deploy any lab (see Labs).
Missions only work while the lab is running. If it is not, you will see "Instance is not running, deploy lab to start the mission."
2. Open the missions
Open the lab and go to the Challenges tab. Each mission card shows:
| On the card | Means |
|---|---|
| Zeal value | What the mission pays at the current multiplier |
| Difficulty | easy, medium or hard |
| completed badge | You have already captured this flag |
| Failed Attempts | How many attempts at this mission failed |
| Score Multiplier | What your reward is multiplied by — click the info icon beside it for the full explanation |
Some missions are locked until you finish the ones before them: "This challenge is locked, you have to unlock it by finishing previous challenges first."
The lab's other tabs include Achievements (badges for this lab) and Leaderboard (who has earned the most from it).
3. Start a mission
Click Start Mission. You will see:
The flag is in place, now go capture the flag, time is running.
At that moment a new flag is created for you and placed inside your lab. It is random, and unique to you (or to your team) and to this attempt. Nobody else's flag will work in your lab, and a flag from an earlier attempt will not work either.
Click Mission Brief for the story and hints about where to start.
A lab runs one mission at a time. Starting a different mission — or stopping, redeploying or losing the lab — fails the one in progress. The start dialog warns you if a mission is already running.
4. Submit the flag
When you have found the flag, click Submit Flag, paste it in and confirm.
Correct flag: "Congratulations, you have captured the flag." You earn the mission's Zeal — the first time only — and any missions that depended on it unlock.
Wrong flag: "Oh, no! That doesn't look like the right flag."
It is not "try again with a different string". The attempt is marked as failed, your score multiplier for that mission drops by a quarter, and the flag you were hunting is no longer valid. Click Restart Mission to get a new flag and start again.
So check a flag before you submit it — copy it exactly, with no extra spaces.
What counts as an attempt
| What happened | Counts as |
|---|---|
| You submitted the right flag | A successful attempt — you are rewarded |
| You submitted a wrong flag | A failed attempt |
| The lab ran out of time while the mission was running | A failed attempt |
Your best reward comes from capturing the flag on the first attempt without hints. Once you have captured a flag, doing the mission again pays nothing, and later failures on it no longer count against you.
Hints
Each mission can have hints. They cost Jolt, unlock in order, and each Jolt you spend on hints slightly reduces the mission's Zeal. The unlock dialog shows the cost and how much it reduces the reward.
You have to start the mission before you can open its hints. After you have captured the flag, the hints are free to read.
Time and renewal
Challenge labs run for a set time and then stop. The expiry is shown at the top of the lab page.
To add time, click Renew while the lab is running, choose how much with the slider and confirm — the dialog shows the Jolt cost. A lab can be renewed only a limited number of times.
If no mission is running, redeploying the lab resets its timer for free. Do not redeploy during a mission — that fails it. And if you redeploy after paying for a renewal, the extra time you bought is lost.
Team labs and clans
Some challenge labs are team labs. To deploy one you need to be in a clan with at least two members.
A team lab belongs to your clan, not to you alone. When a teammate captures a flag it counts for them and for the clan, and the rest of the clan is notified.
Retired labs
When a lab from an event is retired, it stays open for practice. Its missions pay less than they did during the event, and captures do not appear on the event's leaderboard.
Leaderboards
- Each lab has its own Leaderboard tab.
- The CTF Leaderboard (Mastery Hall → CTF Leaderboard) ranks everyone by challenges completed, then Zeal earned, then time taken.
Next
- Events — timed CTF competitions.
- Clans and clubs — form a team.
- Fair play