Room Key

This article is about Room Keys. You may be looking for Key (disambiguation).

Room Key
INFORMATION
Type	Key
Shop Price	N/A
Usage	Unlocks the next door

Room Keys are keys used to unlock specific doors throughout The Hotel and The Backdoor. On normal floors, the door number the key unlocks corresponds with the number on the key's label.

Overview

Throughout The Hotel and The Backdoor, players will find doors with a lock attached to them. To unlock the doors, players must find the room key assigned to the door and use it. Room keys will spawn somewhere within the room that the players are in, such as on top of and inside containers, on top of beds, sofas, chairs, crates, or on floors. Room keys can spawn in any sub-room with a possible spawn location when a lock is present in the room.

Once the door the room key is assigned to is unlocked, the key will disappear from the room and the inventory of any players who had it. Room keys can only open their corresponding locked door.

As of The Mines update, players can use the key while holding an item; player's character will use the left hand while holding an item with the right. This does not apply to The Backdoor Room Key.

Notes

• In The Reception, a room key will always spawn on the wall behind the counter. Its room label will be "0001".
  • This is the only instance that a room key is guaranteed to spawn in the same location every run.
  • This does not include The Reception in Super Hard Mode; in Super Hard Mode, The Reception key will spawn on the side of a shelf in the back left corner of the room relative to Door 001.
    • In Super Hard Mode, the Evil Key manifests a "0002" room number on it.
• As of the Modifiers update, if Dupe is present in a locked room, the label on the room key, like the door number, will also be scrambled after some time

• The key never used to be scrambled before the patch which made dupe significantly easier before the modifiers update.

• If a player interacts with Dupe's door in a locked room, they will be attacked regardless of whether they are holding the room key.

• When near a room key, Guiding Light (or Curious Light in The Backdoor's case) will emit a "shiny" sound effect, notifying its presence. After a certain amount of time, Guiding Light will highlight the room key with its blue ambience and particle effect. If the locked room is also a dark room, all exits will also be highlighted.
  • If Dupe is present in a locked dark room, Guiding Light will highlight the duplicate door(s) dimmer than the correct door. (After THE HUNT update, this does not apply anymore.)
  • Curious Light will not highlight the room keys in The Backdoor.
  • The retro key is the only key that will not emit any sound, which can make finding it a bit harder.
• Aside from pressing E on PC, or on Xbox, players can pick up a key by touching it.
  • This is especially true for keys on top of beds or on the ground.
• The Electrical Room Key is an alternative version of the room key, behaving the same way as the room key, but is only used to unlock the "circuit breaker room" in The Electrical Room.
• Timothy is able to spawn in a drawer with a room key.
• There will always be a room key in Room -51 (the room where players start in) and it will always spawn on the exact same table.
• In rooms with unnumbered doors, Backdoor Room Keys may spawn inside the small rooms found behind them. However, when doing this, it's important for players be cautious of the vacuum when searching for keys.
• There will always be a room key at the exact same spot on the floor in the first room of the Retro Mode gamemode.

Bugs

• After adding Dupe, keys wasn't label scrambled by it, and if you forgot which room is correct, you could just look at the key number.
• After The Hunt update, sometimes, it is possible for a Room Key to fail to open a door, potentially creating a softlock.
• Another bug after The Hunt update, sometimes, it can causes Guiding Light and Curious Light not emit sound ques for Room keys even without the modifier "Soundproofing".
• If you pick up a key before Dupe scrambles the key labels and door labels, you will still be able to see the number on the key when holding it.

Trivia

• The room key in the inventory icon appears to have "0027" written on it, however the blur causes it to appear as "1127".
• After the door is opened, the room key disappears from the place where it spawned along with the Guiding Light, even if the door was opened using a lockpick or skeleton key. However, the light will not disappear in Dark rooms.
• This concerns to the room key at the Reception.
• Before the Modifiers update, in dupe rooms, the room key(s) used to have the number of the next room on it. Which was a helpful tip for players when they forget the number to the next door. As of 8/26/23, this no longer happens. Instead, Dupe just scrambles the number on the room key.
• The icon for The Backdoor's room key was leaked prior to the floor's release.
• The Backdoor and Retro room key models references an old-timey style key that has a yellow hue and much different to the ones in The Hotel.

Gallery

A room key which has had its label scrambled by Dupe.

Room key after being scrambled by Dupe.

A room key in a dark room. Note how the Guiding Light is highlighting it.

A room key in a drawer.

Key in bedroom.

A room key on the carpet.

A room key on a container.

A room key on a fireplace.

A room key in the middle of the room.

The cursor hovering over the room key in the container. (Same happens with other items if closing container without taking them).

A room key under a drawer.

A room key on a bed.

A room key on a couch.

A room key on an armchair.

Key on the chair.

A Room Key spawned on the tabouret.

A room key on a crate.

A room key on a table.

The key near barricades.

A room key in front of the container.

Key behind the chimney in the Painting room.

A room key right in front of a door.

Key between a table and an armchair.

Guiding Light highlighting the room key in a chest sub-room.

Floating Room Key.

A Room Key Being Found in a Typewriter.

The Backdoor Key resting on a table.

A player holding the Backdoor Room Key.

The lock in The Hotel.

The lock in The Backdoor.