Movement speed
Movement speed is one of the player's stats and affects how quickly they can travel around. Many features can affect movement speed, such as Movement Accessories, wings, Mounts, Minecarts and Liquids, along with certain Buffs, Debuffs, Armor and other hazards such as Ice Blocks and Cobwebs. Movement speed can be broken down into horizontal movement, which is the most affected component by most sources, and vertical movement, which is mostly affected by Wings and Movement Accessories.
Horizontal movement
All characters start with a horizontal movement speed of 11 tiles/second, or 15 mph (shown by the Stopwatch). While moving, the character will automatically climb any one-block high ledge or hill, and horizontal movement speed is not impeded by doing so (climbing over a pyramid is just as fast as tunneling through it). These values are ignoring the small amount of time it takes to accelerate from a standing position.
Horizontal movement speed can be further broken down into two separate speed stats, move speed and sprint speed. Most sources of horizontal movement purely affect move speed, but some, most notably wings and sprinting accessories, affect sprint speed. The higher of the two stats determines the player's maximum horizontal movement speed. Having a higher sprint speed causes dust and a sound effect when approaching or at the player's maximum horizontal movement speed.
(Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Horizontal movement speed is capped at 1.6 × base speed, or +60%.
- Hooks reel in the player at a constant speed regardless of speed boosting accessories. The more movement speed boosts a player has, the less noticeable the speed boost a hook provided is.
Move speed
Object | Effect (% increase) |
Velocity (miles/hour) |
Velocity (tiles/sec) |
Velocity (pixels/tick[1]) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Base | ||||
Nothing from below | +0% | 15 | 11.36 | 3 |
Armor | ||||
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+7% | +1.05 | +0.798 | +0.21 |
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+8% | +1.2 | +0.912 | +0.24 |
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+10% | +1.5 | +0.798 | +0.3 |
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+6% | +0.9 | +0.684 | +0.18 |
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+10% | +1.5 | +0.798 | +0.3 |
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+5% | +0.75 | +0.57 | +0.15 |
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+5% | +0.75 | +0.57 | +0.15 |
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+6% | +0.9 | +0.684 | +0.18 |
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+6% | +0.9 | +0.684 | +0.18 |
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+8% | +1.2 | +0.912 | +0.24 |
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+8% | +1.2 | +0.912 | +0.24 |
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+8% | +1.2 | +0.912 | +0.24 |
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+10% | +1.5 | +0.798 | +0.3 |
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+10% | +1.5 | +0.798 | +0.3 |
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+10% | +1.5 | +0.798 | +0.3 |
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+11% | +1.65 | +1.254 | +0.33 |
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+12% | +1.8 | +1.368 | +0.36 |
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+15% | +2.25 | +1.71 | +0.45 |
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+15% | +2.25 | +1.71 | +0.45 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+25% | +3.75 | +2.85 | +0.75 |
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+30% | +4.5 | +3.408 | +0.9 |
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×1.15 | |||
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+15% | +2.25 | +1.71 | +0.45 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+27% | +4.8 | +2.85 | +0.96 |
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×0.3 | |||
Accessories | ||||
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+5% | +0.75 | +0.57 | +0.15 |
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+7.5% | +1.125 | +0.855 | +0.225 |
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+8% | +1.2 | +0.912 | +0.24 |
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+8% | +1.2 | +0.912 | +0.24 |
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+8% | +1.2 | +0.912 | +0.24 |
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+10% | +1.5 | +0.798 | +0.3 |
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×1.15 | |||
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×1.25 | |||
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×1.5 | |||
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×1.75 | |||
Buffs | ||||
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+5% | +0.75 | +0.57 | +0.15 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+20% | +3 | +2.28 | +0.6 |
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+21% | +3.15 | +2.386 | +0.63 |
Happy! also applies a ×1.1 multiplier to all buffs to the left of it in the buff list | ||||
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+25% | +3.75 | +2.85 | +0.75 |
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+30% | +4.5 | +3.408 | +0.9 |
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+40% | +6 | +4.56 | +1.2 |
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+100% | +15 | +11.4 | +3 |
Blocks | ||||
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×3.5 | |||
Debuffs | ||||
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-10% | -1.5 | -1.14 | -0.3 |
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×0.75 | |||
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×0.5 | |||
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×0.5 | |||
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×0.33 | |||
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×0.33 | |||
Modifiers | ||||
Brisk | +1% | +0.15 | +0.114 | +0.03 |
Fleeting | +2% | +0.3 | +0.228 | +0.06 |
Hasty | +3% | +0.45 | +0.342 | +0.09 |
Quick | +4% | +0.6 | +0.456 | +0.12 |
Weapon | ||||
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×0.5 | |||
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×0.33 |
- Modifiers are only applicable to accessories. 5 / 6 / 7 accessories may have these modifiers, meaning +20% / +24% / +28% horizontal speed possible. Only one of these modifiers may be applied at a time. (See: Reforging)
- All multipliers are calculated after additive effects, i.e. wearing an Anklet of the Wind (+10%) and a Magiluminescence (×1.15) will give an overall bonus of +26.5%, not +25%.
Sprint speed
Object | Sprint speed (miles/hour) |
Sprint speed (tiles/sec) |
Sprint speed (pixels/tick[1]) |
---|---|---|---|
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30 | 22 | 6 |
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30 | 22 | 6 |
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30 | 22 | 6 |
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30 | 22 | 6 |
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30 | 22 | 6 |
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30 | 22 | 6 |
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30 | 22 | 6 |
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33.75 | 24.75 | 6.75 |
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33.75 | 24.75 | 6.75 |
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33.75 | 24.75 | 6.75 |
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×1.75 | ||
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×1.15 | ||
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×1.15 | ||
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×0.3 (Only grounded sprint speed) | ||
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Equal to the move speed. |
- Since boots set sprint speed instead of adding to it, stacking multiple boot accessories will not increase sprint speed. In fact, the lowest boot in the player's accessory slots will be what determines sprint speed. For example, if the player equips Hermes Boots (30mph) beneath Lightning Boots (34 mph), they will have a sprint speed of 30 mph instead of 34 mph. This does not impact wings since only one pair can be equipped at once.
- Wings use sprint speed when airborne, and sprint speed from wings overrides the player's ground sprint speed if it is higher. The sprint speed of wings are listed as on the list of wings page (in the "maximum horizontal speed" column).[2]
Vertical movement
Upward movement
There are two quantities that play a role when dealing with vertical upward movement: jump duration and jump speed. Together, they describe jump reach, the maximum number of tiles that a character can ascend with a jump. All characters have a base jump duration of 15 and a base jump speed of 5.01[3], granting them a base jump reach of 6.27 tiles.
A jump in Terraria consists of two phases: First, the character steadily ascends with a fixed velocity, and then slows down their ascension rate until coming to a stop when reaching the peak of the jump.
- The first phase lasts for
ticks[1], i.e. 16 ticks (0.267 seconds) for default characters, though releasing the ↷ Jump key will terminate it prematurely – hence, in order to acquire the maximum possible jump reach, the ↷ Jump key must be held for the entire duration of the first phase. The velocity during this phase is equal to jump speed (in pixels/tick) minus gravity (0.4 by default, below the Space layer), i.e. 17.2875 tiles/second for default characters; it is acquired instantly when starting the jump and it is not altered until the first phase is completed.jump duration + 1
- The second phase begins when jump duration has been exhausted: The character is now normally only subject to gravity, which will linearly reduce their velocity. The phase is terminated when the character's velocity becomes zero and they have reached the peak of their jump.
It can be seen that while jump duration affects for how long the character surmounts gravity and moves upward, jump speed dictates the character's velocity during their ascent.
With this information, jump reach for any given combination of jump duration, jump speed, and gravity can be calculated:
[math]\displaystyle{ \text{jump reach} = (\text{jump duration}+1) \times (\text{jump speed}-\text{gravity}) + \dfrac{\text{gravity}}{2} \times (\dfrac{\text{jump speed}}{\text{gravity}}-1)^2 }[/math]
The two summands here represent the two phases of the jump, as described above.
The base jump reach of all characters can be determined by inserting the default values into the formula:
[math]\displaystyle{ \text{base jump reach} = (15+1) \times (5.01-0.4) + \dfrac{0.4}{2} \times (\dfrac{5.01}{0.4}-1)^2 \approx 100.33 }[/math]
The result value is in pixels; dividing it by 16 gives the number of tiles:
[math]\displaystyle{ \text{base jump reach}_{\text{tiles}} = \dfrac{100.33}{16} \approx 6.27 }[/math]
Boosts
The following table lists all items that have an effect on jump duration and/or jump speed.[4] Items that are listed in the same row do not stack with each other.
Items | Jump duration |
Jump speed |
Resulting jump reach[a] |
---|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
20 | 6.51 | 10.94 tiles (+74.48%) |
|
n/a | +1.8 | 10.85 tiles (+53.43%) |
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n/a | +1.6 | 9.22 tiles (+47.05%) |
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n/a | +1.6 | 9.22 tiles (+47.05%) |
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n/a | +1.6 | 9.22 tiles (+47.05%) |
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n/a | +1.6 | 9.22 tiles (+47.05%) |
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n/a | +1.6 | 9.22 tiles (+47.05%) |
|
+1 | +1.8 | 10.02 tiles (+59.81%) |
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|
+2 | +0.2 | 7.22 tiles (+15.15%) |
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+5 | n/a | 7.71 tiles (+22.97%) |
Being atop ![]() (applied after all other effects)
|
-90% | -80% | 0.12 tiles (-98.09%) |
![]() (applied after all other effects)
|
-80% | -50% | 0.87 tiles (-86.12%) |
The maximum possible jump reach is 48.85 tiles (+679.11% in total), attainable by equipping the Shiny Red Balloon, Soaring Insignia, Frog Leg, Amphibian Boots, Frog Flipper, Frog Webbing, Frog Gear, and the Moon Lord Legs.
Multiple jumps
Usually, a character may only perform a single jump and will need to stand on a surface again before pressing the ↷ Jump button causes the character to ascend again. However, certain items grant the ability to perform another jump mid-air which is functionally identical to the regular jump described above. These items set an own jump duration for their respective jump.
Downward movement
Characters falling downward constantly accelerate with 30 tiles/second², but falling speed is capped at 37.5 tiles/second (or 51 mph). However, both of these values may be modified by certain items, buffs, and environmental factors.
Liquid movement
Liquids (water, lava, honey, and shimmer(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)) all have slowing effects on movement of all directions compared to that of air.
- Note that the Chromatic Cloak(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is required to move normally in shimmer.
- (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Holding the Trident increases mobility in water and lava.
- Some items grant the player the ability to "ignore liquids" when active. This ability makes the player move in water, lava, and honey as if they were air when moving horizontally. Vertical movement is still affected by these liquids as normal.[5] These items are: Black Spot, Fishron Wings, Flipper Potion, Hardy Saddle, Minecarp, Shrimpy Truffle, and Superheated Blood.
Liquid | Multiplier | Horizontal speed | Vertical movement (without multiplier effect) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mph | Tiles/sec | Gravity[6] | Max fall speed[7][b] | Jump duration[8] | Jump speed[9] | ||
No liquid[3] | ×1 | 15.34 | 11.25 | 0.4 | 51.14 mph | 15 | 5.01 |
Water[10] | ×0.5 ×1 (Merfolk, holding Trident, or with ignore liquid ability) |
7.67 | 5.625 | 0.2 0.3 (Merfolk) 0.25 (holding Trident) 0.1 (holding Trident and holding ▲ Up) |
25.57 mph 35.8 mph (Merfolk) 30.68 mph (holding Trident) 10.23 mph (holding Trident and holding ▲ Up) |
30 25 (holding Trident) |
6.01 5.51 (holding Trident) |
Lava[11] | ×0.5 ×1 (Merfolk, holding Trident, or with ignore liquid ability) |
7.67 | 5.625 | 0.2 0.3 (Merfolk) |
25.57 mph 35.8 mph (Merfolk) |
30 | 6.01 |
Shimmer(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)[12] | ×0.375 | 5.7525 | 4.21875 | 0.15 | 51.14 mph | 23 | 5.51 |
Honey[13] | ×0.25 ×1 (with ignore liquid ability) |
3.835 | 2.8125 | 0.1 | 15.34 mph | 15 | 5.01 |
When Merfolk is not active or player does not have ignore liquid ability, minecarts have an additional speed multiplier in liquids: 0.5× in water and lava, 0.25× in honey and shimmer. This multiplier is applied multiplicatively with the multiplier in the above table.[3]
- Note that Minecarp gives the player ignore liquid ability, so these multipliers will not be applied to it.
Additionally, the Stopwatch handles speed in liquids differently from player movement. Certain multiplier is applied to the measured speed in different conditions.[14] This also means that Stopwatch might give incorrect readouts when moving in liquids.
Condition | Water, lava, and shimmer |
Honey |
---|---|---|
Merfolk is inactive and no ignore liquid ability |
1× | 1× |
Merfolk is active or player has ignore liquid ability |
0.5× | 0.25× |
Sticky movement
There are two types of "sticky" tile: Cobweb and Honey Block. They both greatly slow down player's movement on touch.
When touching these tiles:[15]
- If the horizontal speed is more than 3.84 mph, a 0.85× horizontal speed multiplier is applied; otherwise, a 0.6× horizontal speed multiplier is applied.
- The maximum horizontal speed before applying the multiplier is 5.11 mph.
- If the vertical speed is upwards, a 0.96× vertical speed multiplier is applied; otherwise, a 0.3× vertical speed multiplier is applied.
- The maximum vertical speed before applying the multiplier is 25.57 mph upwards, and 5.11 mph downwards.
Maximizing speed
Horizontal speed
On the Desktop version,
Console version, and
Mobile version, the maximum horizontal speed possible, as measured by the Stopwatch, is 279 mph, achieved by using these items/buffs, and following this process:
- Equip all following items, and apply all buffs except Panic! and Happy!.
- Trigger the Panic! buff and enter the runway area with the Happy! buff. Make sure that among all buffs that affect movement speed, the Happy! buff is at the rightmost buff slot.
- Items and buffs
Cobalt Helmet
Gi
Shinobi Infiltrator's Pants
Anklet of the Wind(Quick)
Moon Charm(Quick, at night)
Frostspark Boots(Quick)
Lightning Boots(Quick)
Magiluminescence(Quick)
Soaring Insignia(Quick)
Terraspark Boots(Quick)
Panic Necklace(swap off after gaining the Panic! buff)
Asphalt Blocks(runway)
Exquisitely Stuffed(from certain food items)
Happy!(from Sunflower)
Sugar Rush(from the Slice of Cake)
Swiftness(from the Swiftness Potion)
Vertical speed
On the Desktop version,
Console version, and
Mobile version, the maximum stable ascent speed (i.e. the speed remains the same when ascending) possible is 382 mph, achieved by using the following items. Note that the Celestial Starboard's boost effect should be suspended after speeding up, otherwise the speed will be capped at 255 mph.
For the maximum instantaneous speed, use the same loadout as above, and mount the Gelatinous Pillion after reaching maximum speed. This will further increase the speed to more than 720 mph briefly. However, by using the
Inner Tube, the player can theoretically achieve infinite speed.
The maximum falling speed is 179 mph, achieved by holding a Portal Gun.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A tick is a time unit countable by the software. Most of Terraria's updating logic happens every tick. A tick has the length of 1/60th of a second, hence there are 60 ticks in a second and 3600 ticks in a minute.
- ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, method
WingAirLogicTweaks()
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, method
Update()
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, methods
UpdateJumpHeight()
inTerraria.Player.cs
andApplyEquipFunctional()
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, field
ignoreWater
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, field
gravity
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, field
maxFallSpeed
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, field
jumpHeight
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, field
jumpSpeed
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, methods
WaterCollision()
inTerraria.Player.cs
andUpdate()
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, methods
WaterCollision()
inTerraria.Player.cs
andUpdate()
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, methods
ShimmerCollision()
inTerraria.Player.cs
andUpdate()
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, methods
HoneyCollision()
inTerraria.Player.cs
andUpdate()
inTerraria.Player.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, method
DrawInfoAccs()
inTerraria.Main.cs
. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, method
StickyMovement()
inTerraria.Player.cs
.
- ↑ Assuming gravity is default and no boosts other than the one of the respective row are in effect (use the formula above for multiple boosts). The increase in percent is referring to the increase from base jump reach (6.27 tiles).
- ↑ Calculate the actual fall speed by multiplying speed values in this column with the corresponding multiplier in the second column.