SCP: Secret Laboratory: Complete Survival Guide

This guide covers every role in SCP: Secret Laboratory (SCP:SL): Class-D, Scientists, Guards, MTF, Chaos, and the playable SCPs, plus keycards, key items, zone flow, and the tactics that decide rounds.

Researched September 2026. Current as of patch 14.2.7 (May 2026), with Megapatch III (15.0, adding SCP-953) in development. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Know your win condition. Class-D and Chaos want to escape and kill Foundation staff. Scientists, Guards, and MTF want to evacuate Scientists and re-contain or kill SCPs. SCPs want everyone human dead. Some teams will cooperate, so read the situation.
• Keycards are progression. Everything in the facility is gated by keycard permissions. Picking up and upgrading cards is how you get anywhere.
• Use proximity voice chat. Talking is half the game: surrendering, bluffing, negotiating, and teaming up. Scientists and Class-D teaming up happens a lot.
• Learn the zone order. Light Containment Zone (LCZ) leads to Heavy Containment Zone (HCZ), then Entrance Zone, then Surface. Checkpoints connect them, and the escape point is on Surface.
• LCZ decontaminates. Partway through the round, Light Containment gets sealed and flooded with gas. Get out before the countdown ends.
• Don't look at SCP-096's face, and keep eyes on SCP-173. These two basic rules alone will save you in many rounds.
• Escaping changes your team. Escaped Class-D become Chaos Insurgency, and escaped Scientists become MTF. Escaping cuffed switches you to the other side, which is a key tactic.
• Respawn waves decide the late game. MTF and Chaos arrive in waves on Surface. The side that has been doing better tends to get stronger reinforcements, so staying alive and completing objectives matters.
• Pick up and use SCP items. SCP-500 heals fully, SCP-207 makes you faster at a health cost, and SCP-268 makes you briefly invisible. These items win fights.

The Facility

Zone | What's there | Notes

Light Containment Zone (LCZ) | Class-D cells, Scientist spawns, SCP-173's chamber, SCP-914, SCP-330 (candy), armory | Decontaminated mid-round, so leave in time

Heavy Containment Zone (HCZ) | Most SCP containment, generators, SCP-079's room, the MicroHID room, the Alpha Warhead | Most dangerous zone. SCPs roam here

Entrance Zone | Guard spawns, offices, Gate A and Gate B elevators | Checkpoint between HCZ and Entrance

Surface | Gate A and B exits, escape point, helipad and Chaos vehicle arrival, the warhead detonation surface | Where respawn waves arrive

The layout is procedurally generated from room pieces each round, so learn rooms and how they connect, not a fixed map.

SCP-914

The refining machine in LCZ. Set it to Rough, Coarse, 1:1, Fine, or Very Fine and put items (or yourself) in the intake. Refining keycards on Fine upgrades them (with some randomness), which is the fastest way for Class-D and Scientists to get access. Refining yourself can have unpredictable results.

Human Classes

Class | Starts with | Goal

Class-D Personnel | Nothing | Escape. Escaping turns them into Chaos Insurgency

Scientist | A keycard, a medkit or basic item | Escape. Escaping turns them into Nine-Tailed Fox (MTF)

Facility Guard | A weapon, armor, a radio, a Guard keycard | Protect Scientists, contain Class-D, slow SCPs until MTF arrive

Nine-Tailed Fox (MTF) | Rifles, armor, higher cards (Private, Sergeant, Captain ranks) | Re-contain SCPs, escort Scientists, kill hostiles

Chaos Insurgency | Heavy weapons, armor, the Chaos Access Device | Kill Foundation staff, rescue Class-D

Cuffing and Surrender

Anyone with a weapon can disarm (cuff) an unarmed or surrendering player. A cuffed Class-D who reaches the escape point as a Foundation prisoner turns into MTF. A cuffed Scientist brought out by Chaos turns into Chaos. Cuffing enemies is often better than killing them because it adds to your side's numbers.

Keycards

Keycards give permissions in three families: Containment, Armory/Security, and Admin. Inspect a card to see lit squares for each permission.

Family | Cards (low to high)

Containment | Janitor, Scientist, Research Supervisor, Containment Engineer

Security | Guard, MTF Private, MTF Operative, MTF Captain

Administrative | Zone Manager, Facility Manager, O5 (everything)

Two special items:

• Chaos Insurgency Access Device: Captain-level access, and it has a built-in Snake mini-game.
• Surface Access Pass: opens Gate A or B once (it can't close them), then it's consumed.

Checkpoint access is what lets you move between zones, so a card that opens checkpoints is your top early priority.

Weapons, Armor, and Key Items

• Guns: COM-15 and COM-18 pistols, Crossvec, FSP-9, MTF-E11-SR, AK, Logicer, FR-MG-0, Shotgun, the .44 Revolver, and the A7. Heavy weapons have movement and stamina penalties that scale with attachments. Patch 14.2.6 re-added these for the AK, E11-SR, Logicer, FR-MG-0, and Shotgun.
• Attachments: customize at workstations. Lighter builds run and turn faster, and heavier builds hit harder.
• Armor: Light, Combat, and Heavy Armor add protection and ammo capacity but slow you and cost stamina.
• Micro-HID: a charged energy weapon that shreds SCPs, stored in HCZ. It's the classic anti-SCP tool.
• Jailbird: a heavy melee baton for crowd control.
• Grenades: frag and flashbang.

SCP Items Worth Knowing

Item | Effect

SCP-500 | Pill that fully heals and removes most negative effects

SCP-207 | Cola: faster movement, slowly drains health, stacks dangerously

Anti-SCP-207 | The opposite: slower, but gives regenerating protective health

SCP-268 | Cap that makes you invisible for a short time

SCP-018 | A super-bouncing ball that gains damage with each bounce

SCP-244 | Vase that makes a freezing fog cloud, which is great for area denial

SCP-330 | Candy bowl in LCZ. Take up to two candies safely. Taking a third cuts your hands off

SCP-1344 | Goggles that show nearby players through walls (you start partly blinded, clearing over time). Never take them off: removing them blinds you permanently and rapidly drains your health until death

SCP-1576 | Gramophone that lets you talk to spectators briefly

SCP-1853 | Boosts weapon handling when you're in danger, but comes with a harmful side effect

SCP-2176 | Ghostlight that shorts out room lights and locks doors when thrown

SCP-127 | A living submachine gun in HCZ (needs level-3 containment access) that regenerates its own ammo, levels up as you deal damage and get kills, and gives its wielder a small Hume Shield

SCP-1509 | "Blade of Rebirth" machete. It hits hard (double damage to SCP-049-2), gives a regenerating Hume Shield while held, and killing a human, SCP-049-2, or SCP-939 with it revives a spectator on your side. Revival has a cooldown, and each spectator can be revived once per round. Found in bulletproof lockers that need containment and checkpoint access

Playable SCPs

SCP | Playstyle

SCP-173 ("The Sculpture") | Can only move when no one is looking. Blink-teleports and snaps necks instantly. Uses tantrum (feces) to slow and block doorways. Deadly in groups when humans blink

SCP-096 ("The Shy Guy") | Harmless until someone sees its face, then enrages and hunts every target who did. Can also charge and pry open gates

SCP-049 ("The Plague Doctor") | Kills with a touch and revives dead humans as SCP-049-2 zombies. Tracks one target at a time. Best as a pack leader

SCP-049-2 (zombie) | Revived minions. Tanky melee brawlers that swarm

SCP-106 ("The Old Man") | Walks through doors, sends victims to the Pocket Dimension, and stalks from underground. Weak to being flushed out and burst damage

SCP-939 | Pack predator that "sees" by sound, mimics voices, and lunges. Shut up and stand still around it

SCP-079 ("The Old AI") | Controls the facility from the cameras: locks doors, shuts down lights, triggers the Tesla gates and blackouts, and supports the other SCPs. Is recontained once all three generators are activated and a human triggers the containment mechanism in its chamber (the overcharge starts automatically if it's the last SCP alive)

Coming in Megapatch III (15.0): SCP-953, a shapeshifter who spawns disguised among humans (Scientists, Class-D, or Guards, each with their inventory) and uses a new Essence resource to reveal herself and use abilities. Details were still subject to change as of the August 2026 showcase.

Containment and Countering SCPs

• SCP-106: it's weak to sustained burst damage when it's surfaced. Don't chase it into the dark. Make it come to your guns.
• SCP-079: activate all three generators in HCZ (each takes about two minutes to boot), then enter SCP-079's chamber and trigger its containment mechanism. The chamber stays sealed until all three are on. A detonated Alpha Warhead also kills it.
• SCP-096: don't look at its face. If you trigger it, spread out so it has to split its attention.
• SCP-173: keep line of sight with at least one person and call out when you blink.

Round Flow

• Spawn: Class-D in cells, Scientists near LCZ offices, SCPs in their containment, Guards in Entrance.
• LCZ scramble: Class-D rush items and 914. Scientists try to reach a checkpoint. SCP-173 is often loose immediately.
• Decontamination: LCZ gets sealed with a warning countdown. Anyone left inside dies.
• Respawn waves: MTF helicopter or Chaos vehicle arrives on Surface. Spectators respawn in waves, and how well each side has done affects who spawns and how strong the wave is.
• Endgame: the Alpha Warhead can be armed from the control room in HCZ and started at the Surface panel. Once it detonates, anyone still inside dies. It's often used to force an end or wipe SCPs.

Playing Each Role Well

Class-D

• Head to 914 or the armory with a group. Refine cards on Fine.
• Grab a weapon from Guards who come to check on you, or get cuffed by a friendly Scientist and "escape" together.
• Escape early. A Chaos wave with your name on it is worth more than a lucky kill.

Scientist

• Go to the nearest checkpoint with your card and stay near Guards.
• Negotiate with Class-D: an "I'll give you a card if you don't shoot" deal often works.
• Escaping as a Scientist turns you into MTF with good gear.

Facility Guard

• Your job is to secure Scientists, hold checkpoints, and stall. You're under-geared, so don't chase SCPs in HCZ alone.
• Cuff Class-D instead of killing them. Delivering them to the exit turns them into MTF for your side.

MTF and Chaos

• Move as a squad and call out rooms on the radio.
• MTF: kill or re-contain SCPs, and escort Scientists. Clearing SCPs and using the Micro-HID wins rounds.
• Chaos: hunt Scientists and Guards, and help Class-D reach the exit.

As an SCP

• Play together with the other SCPs. 049 with zombies, plus 096 or 173 in the same area, is overwhelming.
• Use SCP-079 as the team's eyes: lock doors behind fleeing humans and shut down lights for 106 or 939.
• Protect your Hume Shield. Many SCPs regenerate a shield when they're out of combat, so fall back and come back.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Staying in LCZ during decontamination.
• Looking at SCP-096 out of curiosity.
• Taking a third candy from SCP-330.
• Using SCP-207 while low on health. It drains health over time.
• Killing cuffable targets when cuffing them would add to your team.
• Wandering HCZ alone as a Guard. You're the least equipped fighter in the game.
• Stacking heavy armor and an LMG while you're the one running. The movement and stamina penalties are real.

Advanced Tips

• Door control is everything. Closing a door on SCP-939 or holding a checkpoint with a shotgun can decide a fight.
• Use SCP-1344, SCP-268, and SCP-2176 together for aggressive play: see through walls, go invisible, and break the lighting.
• SCP-1509 creates comebacks. One kill brings a teammate back, so it's worth the locker trip in long rounds.
• Talk as an SCP-939 mimic to lure humans. As a human, don't trust voices you can't see.
• Generators decide the SCP-079 fight. Guard the players activating them, and have SCP-079 lock them out.
• Punish SCP-106 while it's surfaced. Burst it down before it sinks back into the floor.
• Remote Admin and custom servers: many community servers run plugins and custom rules. Read the server info panel, because the rules can differ from vanilla.

FAQ

Is SCP: Secret Laboratory free? Yes, it's free to play on Steam.

What's the current version? As of September 2026, the live build is 14.2.7 (May 30, 2026). Northwood is working on Megapatch III (version 15.0), which will add SCP-953, lockers, reworked surface areas (Gate A and B), and more.

How do I become Chaos or MTF? Escape as Class-D (Chaos) or Scientist (MTF), or wait as a spectator for a respawn wave.

What does SCP-914 do with keycards? On Fine it tries to upgrade the card to a better one. Very Fine is more random. It's the easiest way to get access as Class-D.

Why can't I hear some players? Proximity voice and team radio channels are separate. Patch 14.2.7 also said it "potentially fixed" an issue with players not hearing one another. Check your voice settings and radio.

When is Megapatch III coming? No release date has been announced as of September 2026. Devlogs are showing SCP-953, surface zone rework, and new lockers in development.

Sources

• SCP: Secret Laboratory Steam news (14.2.6, 14.2.7, Megapatch III reports, SCP-953 showcase)
• SCP-953 Model and Abilities Showcase (Aug 2026)
• 14.2.7 patch notes (May 2026)
• 14.2.6 patch notes (Mar 2026)
• Official SCP:SL Wiki: SCPs
• Official SCP:SL Wiki: Keycards
• Official SCP:SL Wiki: SCP-1509
• Official SCP:SL Wiki: SCP-079
• Official SCP:SL Wiki: SCP-1344
• Official SCP:SL Wiki: SCP-127