Keys, Locked Doors and Map Controls | Escape from Tarkov
Search the exact door before routing to it. Check the threshold, the return path, and any separate control point without assuming its live state.
Search the exact key, room, or door name before opening the map. The catalog contains 202 locked-door markers and 26 control markers, but those totals do not tell you which item is in your inventory or which device has changed state in this raid. A useful door plan starts with a precise result and ends with a known route back out.
Price the access detour
Count the connectors between the main extraction route and the door. A room one corridor away is a small stop. A room that needs another building entrance, a floor change, and a return through the same choke point is a separate branch. Make that distinction before carrying the route into the raid.
Check four details on the selected result:
| Access detail | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Floor | The marker appears on the view used by the room |
| Threshold | The corridor reaches the correct side of the wall |
| Return | A connector leads back toward the assigned exit |
| Control | Any documented switch or button is mapped as another point |
Keyed doors identifies the threshold. It does not guarantee that the key is correct, the room is still worth visiting, or the current approach is open. Read the marker details and compare the name with the item or objective.
Route doors differently on multi-level maps
On Customs, inspect locked doors with controls before showing loot. Choose the Dorms floor or other building view from the search result, then find the stair used for the return.
For Interchange, put doors, controls, and exits in the same planning pass. A mall room can be close in plan view but require a different garage or floor connector.
On Reserve, trace controls to exits through connectors. If the route concerns D-2, keep each underground connection and control as a separate stop. The final extraction marker is not the whole access chain.
For The Lab, compare keyed doors, controls, and floor changes. Search first, set the view second, and trace the relevant connector before entering the corridor.
Use a lighter check on single-purpose doors
The other maps with documented locked-door markers are Factory, Ground Zero, Lighthouse, Shoreline, Streets of Tarkov, Terminal, The Labyrinth, and Woods. The same name may look similar to another result, so confirm the map and neighboring room before committing.
Icebreaker has no Keyed doors category in the available map data. Do not invent a keyed route to explain a closed-looking door. Use the documented connectors available on that map.
Treat every control as a live-state question
The number of maps with control markers is 4. That count does not imply one shared mechanism. Each control has its own location and details. The raid remains the source for current state.
When a route has a control, decide where you will rejoin the main path after using it. A switch that requires a long return can change the value of the locked-room stop. Recalculate the branch instead of assuming the original route still fits.
Hide Raid controls once the step is resolved. This prevents an old waypoint from looking like the next destination when you check the map again on a phone.
Drop a door when the return becomes unclear
A key in the inventory is not a reason to force the room into every raid. Skip the detour if the floor cannot be confirmed, the threshold lies on an unplanned side, or the route no longer leaves enough room for an assigned extraction. The key remains useful in another run; the current path does not need to absorb it.
If the door is part of an objective, remove optional loot branches instead. Keep the search result, connector, and exit visible. Three unrelated layers around the room add less information than one verified return path.
Questions about keyed access
Why is the marker beside me but the door is missing?
Check the active floor and the side of the wall. The room may overlap your position on another view, or the threshold may open from a parallel corridor. Follow the nearest documented connector rather than the screen distance.
Does the control marker confirm that power is on?
No. It records where the control is located and any fixed details attached to it. Confirm live state in the raid, then follow the mapped return toward the selected exit.
