Glossary

ZE has its own vocabulary built up over years of CS:S and CS:GO history. This glossary covers the most common terms you’ll encounter in chat and voice.

Map & Round Terms

ZE: Zombie Escape. The game mode.

ze_: The prefix on all Zombie Escape map filenames (e.g. ze_best_korea, ze_FFVII_Mako_Reactor_v5_3).

_p: A suffix on map variants built specifically for CS2, denoting a ported/rebuilt version distinct from the CS:GO/CSS/CS1.6 original. ze_best_korea_p is a separate map from ze_best_korea.

Stage: A distinct section of a map with its own hold and push sequence. Most ZE maps have 1–3 stages; some have more.

Hold: A defensive position where humans stop and fight zombies for a fixed time or until a map event occurs.

Push: The moment when humans advance from a hold to the next stage. Usually called by a leader.

Fail / Wipe: The entire human team getting infected before escaping. “We wiped on Stage 2.”

Escape: The win condition for humans: reaching the designated end point of the map.

Nuke: When all remaining zombies are eliminated (usually by a special item), giving humans breathing room. Rare.

Player Roles

Leader: A player who calls holds, pushes, and item usage for the team. Not an official game role: earned by experience and trust.

Item holder: A player entrusted with a map’s EntWatch item(s).

Zombie / Infected: A player who has been touched by a zombie and converted.

Mother zombie / MZ: The initial zombie(s) randomly selected at round start.

Items & Mechanics

EntWatch: A server plugin that tracks and displays which players hold map items, their cooldowns, and charges. Also the name for the item system itself. “The entwatch item.”

Cooldown: The time between item uses. Displayed in the EntWatch HUD.

Charge / Use: A single activation of a limited item. “The nuke has 1 charge.”

Knockback: The force that pushes zombies back when shot. In ZE, knockback matters more than damage for holding.

Movement & Skill Terms

Bhop / Bunnyhopping: Chained jumps timed to maintain or gain speed. See Movement.

Surf: Gliding on angled ramp surfaces.

Boost: One player standing on another’s head to reach an elevated position.

Strafe: Moving left or right in the air while turning the mouse the same direction; the key technique for bhopping.

Server & Community Terms

Server: A community-run server hosting the ZE game mode.

Plugin: A server-side script that adds functionality to the game (EntWatch, item abilities, zombie HP, etc.).

!rtv: “Rock the Vote.” A server command to start a vote for a map change. !rtv in chat.

!ztele: A common server command to teleport a zombie back to spawn if they get stuck. Syntax varies by server.

Rotation / Map pool: The set of maps a server cycles through.