Mug protection
What TornLife's research has established about Mug protection, and the questions players asked about it.
What TornLife has verified
- Buy-mugging means buying from a victim's Bazaar or Item Market listing and mugging as the payment lands in their wallet. Travelling and self-hosping are named protections. (documented; Mug › Buy-mugging, )
- In March 2026 a player reported that a Discord bot using the API showed the real name of a stealth mugger while the in-game UI showed 'Mugged by someone'. Staff replied that the attacker had mugged the defender several times, some stealthed and some not, so the bot may have shown a name from an earlier unstealthed hit. Staff asked for the actual API response as proof. (confirmed by Torn; [API Leak] Stealth Attacker Identity Exposed via API / Discord Bot, )
- After a mug, the leftover wallet amount is protected and decays linearly to zero over 12 hours. A later mug only reaches wallet minus protected value. Removing protected funds (spending, gambling, vault deposit) invalidates protection on them. Any mug resets existing protection. (documented; Mug › Mug Protection, )
- A 7* Clothing Store gives a 75% mugging reduction (max mug at $1,000,000 falls from $100,000 to $25,000 at base). (documented; Mug › Mugging Mechanics, )
- A 2017 bug report and developer discussion describes mug protection being exploited: friends deliberately mug each other for small amounts to lock in protection, shielding the real balance from being mugged by strangers afterward. The developer considered invalidating protection on any change to money on hand since the last mug, but noted this could itself be exploited by someone sending $1. (confirmed by Torn; Mugged even after mug protect, )
- A staff reply to a 2018 suggestion to nerf mug protection raised the concern that doing so would promote faction mugging chains, implying mug protection's design is partly meant to limit repeated chain-mugging within or across factions. (confirmed by Torn; Nerf Mug Protection, )
- The wiki's money-making guides say banking (available from level 5) is a way to store cash so it cannot be mugged, but advise against locking it up for more than about a week unless the player is comfortable doing so; bank space is capped at $2,000,000,000. (documented; Beersteins Guide to Making Money › Banking, )
Questions about Mug protection
- What kinds of players are worth mugging for money, and how should a player choose mugging targets?
Mug targets worth your energy are players weaker than you who currently have cash on hand — classically someone who just sold a high-priced item on t…
Combat ·
- How does stealth work in Torn attacks, and how can you defend against a stealthed attacker?
Combat ·
- How does mugging work, what is lost when mugged, and can the victim identify the mugger?
A mug, one of the three options after winning an attack, steals a percentage of the defender's cash on hand: 5-10% at base, 7.5-15% with Masterful Lo…
Combat ·