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SCP: Secret Laboratory Beginner’s Guide to Teams and Win Conditions

A beginner-friendly guide to SCP: Secret Laboratory roles, escape mechanics, team objectives, and the three survivor states that trigger the final victory comparison.
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The short version: your objective in SCP: Secret Laboratory depends on the role you spawn as. Scientists and Class-D must reach the Surface Zone, Foundation players protect Scientists and contain threats, Chaos Insurgents support escaped Class-D, and SCPs hunt every human. The round does not end simply because one player or one SCP dies. It ends only when one of three remaining-team states is reached, then the game compares Scientist escapes, Class-D escapes, and living SCPs to determine Foundation, Insurgency, SCP, or Stalemate.

This guide explains every beginner role, what escaping or being captured does to the final score, and why a round can finish as a stalemate even when one faction appears to have dominated the facility.

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How teams and objectives fit together

SCP: Secret Laboratory is a free-to-play multiplayer horror game built around asymmetric teams. Players begin as civilians, Foundation personnel, or SCPs. Some civilians can escape and return as militant reinforcements, so the person you meet late in a round may have started on the opposite side.

There are three broad objectives:

  • Escape: Scientists and Class-D look for access and a route to the Surface Zone.
  • Secure or eliminate: Foundation forces protect Scientists, contain or kill SCPs, and stop Chaos and Class-D threats.
  • Hunt and deny: SCPs remove human players and prevent escapes that would strengthen either human faction.

The end screen is based on the state of the surviving teams and on escape totals. A civilian’s decision to run, surrender, or accept an escort can therefore affect the result long after that player leaves the facility.

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Team overview for a first round

Role or team When you normally enter Primary objective Main allies Main opponents What changes the final comparison
Scientist Initial civilian role Find access, cooperate with Foundation security, and reach the Surface Zone Foundation SCPs, Chaos, hostile Class-D Each normal escape increases the Scientist-escape total
Class-D Initial civilian role Find access, avoid capture, and escape Other Class-D; later Chaos support Foundation, SCPs, hostile players Each normal escape increases the Class-D-escape total
Facility Guard Foundation personnel Protect Scientists and respond to threats Scientists, MTF SCPs, Chaos, Class-D Does not create a civilian escape total
Mobile Task Force Later Foundation reinforcement Secure the facility, rescue or escort Scientists, and remove SCP and Insurgency threats Scientists and Foundation personnel SCPs, Chaos, Class-D Enables the Foundation-side end state; does not add civilian escapes
Chaos Insurgent Reinforcement Help remaining Class-D escape and eliminate Foundation personnel Class-D and Chaos Foundation, Scientists, SCPs Supports a Class-D total high enough for Insurgency
SCP Initial anomalous role Hunt humans and prevent useful escapes Other SCPs All human roles Living SCPs are counted at the final comparison

The table describes the scoring categories, not a promise that every round contains the same number of players or every role at the same time. Reinforcements and escapes change the population during play.

Foundation: protect the people who determine your score

The Foundation side includes Facility Guards, Scientists, and Mobile Task Force (MTF). Its practical priorities are to keep Scientists alive, contain or eliminate SCPs, and defeat Chaos and Class-D threats. Foundation success is tied to Scientist escapes, so a technically impressive kill streak is not enough if Scientists never reach safety.

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Scientists

Scientists begin as civilians inside the facility. Your route is an information-and-access problem: locate a usable access card, move through the facility while avoiding hostile players, and reach the Surface Zone. Foundation security is your most valuable protection; identify guards or MTF before revealing your position to unknown players.

  1. Search methodically for access. Check available rooms and bodies for a card rather than repeatedly crossing dangerous corridors with no plan.
  2. Use cooperation deliberately. Tell Foundation players where you are and follow their instructions when they are securing a route. Splitting from an escort at the wrong moment can turn a safe extraction into an enemy escape.
  3. Travel toward the Surface Zone when equipped. Do not treat an access card as the objective by itself; the score is created only when you complete the escape.
  4. Understand the scoring consequence. A normal Scientist escape is counted for Foundation, while a disarmed Scientist who is escorted does not add to the Scientist-escape total and instead returns on the opposite side as a militant role.

A Scientist who escapes changes the round’s future population by returning as a militant player. The exact tactical value is therefore twofold: the escape adds to Foundation’s comparison and the player can continue helping the human side.

Facility Guards

Guards are the early Foundation response. Protecting Scientists is more important than wandering alone in search of fights. Hold routes that civilians must use, communicate sightings, and avoid abandoning a Scientist group merely to chase a distant target. A guard who keeps a Scientist moving toward the Surface Zone contributes to the quantity Foundation needs at the end.

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Mobile Task Force

MTF are respawned Foundation militants. When you enter as MTF, the facility may already contain escaped civilians, weakened SCPs, and confused alliances. Secure the facility in layers: locate friendly Scientists, coordinate with existing Foundation players, then remove SCP and Insurgency threats. Escorting a civilian is often strategically stronger than immediately killing one, because the captured player may be denied an enemy escape and converted into a Foundation teammate.

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Class-D: escape without feeding the enemy

Class-D begin as civilians whose normal objective is to find access and escape. Foundation security, SCPs, and hostile players can all stop you, and a visible fight may attract more danger than it solves.

A practical Class-D route

  1. Find access before committing to a long run. Search for cards and pay attention to which routes are controlled by Foundation or SCPs.
  2. Move with a purpose. Travel toward the Surface Zone once you have the access needed for your route; aimless movement creates more encounters without improving your position.
  3. Decide whether a player is an ally. Chaos support can help remaining Class-D, but a uniform or claim of friendship is not proof. Keep distance until intentions are clear.
  4. Prioritize a normal escape when possible. A normal Class-D escape raises the Class-D-escape total and returns you as a militant player on the Insurgency side.

There is an important exception to the last step. If Foundation personnel disarm and escort you, you do not count as a normal Class-D escape. You respawn as an MTF Private instead. Foundation has denied an Insurgency scoring escape and gained another teammate, so surrender can be strategically significant even when it feels like a loss.

Chaos Insurgency: reinforce the Class-D side

Chaos Insurgents enter as reinforcement. Their mission is not simply to kill whatever they see: they should help remaining Class-D reach an escape and eliminate Foundation personnel. Every normal Class-D escape improves the quantity that can produce an Insurgency victory, while removing Foundation players helps satisfy the requirement that the opposing classes be dead.

Chaos priorities after spawning

  • Find the surviving Class-D. A Chaos squad that never reaches civilians cannot create the escapes its victory condition needs.
  • Open or defend an escape route. Coordinate movement rather than scattering into unrelated fights.
  • Remove Foundation resistance. Scientists and Foundation militants are direct obstacles, but killing a Class-D or allowing an avoidable Class-D death also damages your own scoring path.
  • Track the end-state requirement. Insurgency requires Class-D escapes to exceed Scientist escapes and all enemies to be dead. Winning a corridor fight alone does not satisfy either condition.

SCPs: deny escapes and survive the comparison

SCP roles hunt human players and prevent useful escapes. Your objective is broader than eliminating the person nearest to you: Scientist escapes strengthen Foundation, Class-D escapes strengthen Insurgency, and the number of SCPs still alive is itself part of the final comparison.

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What SCP players should watch

  • Human movement. A civilian heading toward the Surface Zone may be more valuable to stop than an isolated target with no access.
  • Both civilian totals. Preventing only Scientist escapes can still leave Class-D escapes high enough for Insurgency, and the reverse is also true.
  • Your own survival. The final SCP-only state compares living SCPs with both escape totals. Being alive earlier in the round does not end the game; the comparison happens only after the required remaining-team state is reached.
  • Coordination with other SCPs. Divide search areas and avoid giving humans separate opportunities to escape while SCP players pursue the same target.

Exactly when a round can end

The official victory-conditions rules recognize only three remaining-team states as round-ending triggers:

  1. Only MTF and Scientists are left alive.
  2. Only SCPs are left alive.
  3. Only Chaos and Class-D are left alive.

Once one of these states exists, the game compares three quantities: the number of normal Class-D escapes, the number of normal Scientist escapes, and the number of living SCPs. The surviving-team state determines how those quantities are interpreted.

State 1: only MTF and Scientists remain

This is the Foundation-side end state. If Scientist escapes are higher than Class-D escapes, the result is a Foundation Victory. If the Class-D total is higher, the result is Stalemate under the official comparison. The presence of MTF and Scientists alone therefore does not guarantee Foundation; the escape totals still decide which human side has the stronger claim.

State 2: only SCPs remain

When all living humans are gone and only SCPs remain, the game checks the living SCP count against both civilian escape totals. SCPs win when the number of living SCPs is greater than both the Scientist-escape total and the Class-D-escape total. If that condition is not met, the escape comparison can produce an Insurgency result or a Stalemate instead.

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State 3: only Chaos and Class-D remain

This is the Insurgency-side end state. More Class-D escapes produce an Insurgency Victory. More Scientist escapes produce Stalemate. Insurgency also requires Class-D escapes to exceed Scientist escapes and all enemies to be dead, so reaching the Chaos-and-Class-D survivor state is necessary but not, by itself, sufficient.

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Why the game does not end after every major kill

A round can continue after an SCP dies, after Foundation loses a squad, or after a civilian reaches an apparent safe area because the three end-state conditions have not yet been reached. Escaped civilians may return as militants, and a remaining player from another category can keep the round alive. Check who is actually alive, not just who won the last encounter.

Escape, disarming, and the score you do not see immediately

Normal escapes and escorted escapes are different events. A normal Scientist or Class-D escape increases that civilian category’s total. A disarmed Scientist or Class-D does not increase the corresponding escape total, even though the player respawns for the opposite side.

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What happens to the civilian Escape total increased? Later team effect Tactical meaning
Scientist reaches the escape route normally Yes—Scientist total Returns as a militant player for the Foundation side Strengthens Foundation’s comparison and adds a human fighter
Class-D reaches the escape route normally Yes—Class-D total Returns as a militant player for the Insurgency side Strengthens the Insurgency comparison and adds a Chaos-side fighter
Foundation disarms and escorts a Class-D No—Class-D total is unchanged Returns as an MTF Private Denies an Insurgency escape and adds Foundation manpower
A disarmed Scientist is escorted No—Scientist total is unchanged Returns for the opposite side as a militant role Changes both the immediate population and the final escape comparison

This is why capturing can be more valuable than killing. A kill removes one player; an escort can also prevent an escape from being counted and turn the captured player into a teammate. The best choice depends on whether your side needs to deny a particular escape total and whether you can safely complete the escort.

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How to read a stalemate

Stalemate is a rules outcome, not necessarily evidence that nobody played well. It commonly appears when the surviving-team state favors one human faction but the opposite civilian escape total is higher, or when the SCP-only comparison does not give SCPs a count greater than both escape totals.

Typical causes

  • Foundation keeps the facility but too many Class-D escaped before the final state.
  • Chaos and Class-D are the last human group, but Scientist escapes already outnumber Class-D escapes.
  • SCPs are the only survivors, yet living SCPs do not exceed both civilian escape totals.
  • Players assume an escorted civilian counts as an escape even though disarmed civilians are excluded from that category’s total.

To diagnose the result, reconstruct the three numbers first, then identify which of the three survivor states triggered the comparison. Do not judge the outcome from the final firefight alone.

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Beginner decision guide by role

If you spawn as Scientist

  • Announce your location to trustworthy Foundation personnel.
  • Search for access before taking unnecessary fights.
  • Stay with an escort when SCP or Chaos pressure is high.
  • Reach the Surface Zone; survival inside the facility does not create a Scientist escape.

If you spawn as Class-D

  • Look for access and a route rather than waiting indefinitely in a starting area.
  • Use temporary cooperation, but verify who controls the corridor ahead.
  • Escape normally when the route is open if your side needs Class-D escapes.
  • If disarmed, understand that an escort removes your escape from the Insurgency total and changes your later team.

If you spawn as Guard or MTF

  • Protect Scientists as a scoring priority, not as optional escort work.
  • Coordinate before entering SCP-controlled areas.
  • Capture civilians when an escort is practical and the denied escape matters.
  • Keep enough personnel alive to reach the Foundation-side end state.

If you spawn as Chaos

  • Locate Class-D before chasing isolated Foundation targets.
  • Create a defensible route to the Surface Zone.
  • Remember that Insurgency needs Class-D escapes to exceed Scientist escapes and requires enemies to be dead.

If you spawn as SCP

  • Prioritize humans who can realistically escape.
  • Prevent both civilian categories from building a decisive total.
  • Preserve SCP lives when the final count may be close.
  • Continue playing until the required survivor state is reached; apparent dominance is not an automatic victory.

Common beginner mistakes and fixes

Mistake: treating every civilian as an immediate kill

Fix: Decide whether your side benefits more from a denied escape, a conversion through disarming, or a rapid elimination. The scoring consequence can outlast the encounter.

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Mistake: assuming an escape ends the round

Fix: An escape changes a player’s team and one comparison total. The round still needs one of the three official survivor states.

Mistake: ignoring the opposite escape total

Fix: Foundation must monitor Class-D escapes as well as Scientists; Chaos must monitor Scientists as well as Class-D. The final comparison always considers both civilian categories.

Mistake: splitting from the team after reinforcement

Fix: MTF and Chaos are reinforcement roles with objectives that depend on surviving civilians. Reconnect with the people your side needs instead of turning every encounter into a solo hunt.

Mistake: assuming the final team composition tells the whole story

Fix: Count normal escapes, identify disarmed escorts, count living SCPs, and then apply the rule for the survivor state. This explains outcomes that otherwise look contradictory.

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Version and rules caveat

Victory logic can change in a major game update. The explanation here follows the current English official victory-conditions rules described for this guide, including the three round-ending states and the treatment of disarmed escapes. Check the official English wiki’s Victory Conditions page after a major patch if a server’s end screen appears to follow different logic.

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