How does the hunt work in Phasmophobia?

The ghost materializes and roams the location to kill players. Exit doors lock. The hunt lasts 15-60s depending on difficulty and map size.

What attracts the ghost during a hunt?

Being seen by the ghost (line of sight), voice chat (9m range), and active electronic equipment held in hand (7.5m range).

How to survive a hunt?

Hide in a closet/locker, turn off your flashlight and electronics, don't speak. Incense blinds the ghost for 5 seconds.

The Hunt

The hunt is the core danger mechanic in Phasmophobia. The ghost materializes and attempts to kill players.

Initiating a Hunt

At least one player must be inside the investigation area

Average team sanity must be at or below the ghost's threshold (50% default)

Minimum cooldown between hunts: 25s (Demon: 20s)

Cursed hunts ignore sanity thresholds and hunt cooldowns

Grace Period

At the start of each hunt, the ghost remains invisible and still for a few seconds. Exit doors lock immediately.

Amateur 5s

Intermediate 4s

Professional 3s

Nightmare 2s

Insanity 2s

Cursed hunt 1s

Hunt Duration

Difficulty	Small	Medium	Large
Amateur	15s	30s	40s
Intermediate	20s	40s	50s
Pro/Nightmare/Insanity	30s	50s	60s

Cursed hunts add +20s to duration. Each kill can also extend the hunt (depending on difficulty).

Player Detection

👁 Line of Sight - Ghost can see up to 75m. 360° vision. Physical objects block LoS (except throwable items).

🎤 Voice Chat - 9m range. Global chat also attracts the ghost even without talking. (Yokai: 2.5m only)

📱 Electronics - 7.5m for active equipment held in hand or worn. Items on the floor don't attract.

✅ Does NOT attract - Footsteps, doors, electronics on floor, crucifix, lit incense, candles, glowsticks, players outside investigation area

Ghost Speed

Base speed: 1.7 m/s (player walk: 1.6 m/s, sprint: 3.0 m/s)

LoS acceleration: +0.05× base speed per second, max 1.65× (2.8 m/s) in 13s

Deceleration: 0.01× per second after losing detection (65s to return to base)

🌕 Blood Moon: +15% speed increase

No LoS acceleration: Thaye, Hantu, Deogen, Revenant - their speed depends on other conditions.

🎯 Speed Tapper

Tap along to the ghost's footsteps during a hunt. The site calculates the speed and suggests matching ghosts.

Multiplier100%

Hunt Prevention

✝ Crucifix

Prevents hunt if ghost is within range when attempting to hunt.

T1: 3m (1 charge) · T2: 4m (2) · T3: 5m (2)
Demon: +50% range (4.5/6/7.5m)

🌿 Incense (Smudge)

Prevents hunt initiation. During a hunt, blinds the ghost for 5s.

Default: 90s · Spirit: 180s · Demon: 60s
Moroi blinded for 7.5s (instead of 5s)

Flickering & Visibility

Ghost	Visible	Invisible	Cycle
Standard	0.08-0.30s	0.10-0.92s	0.30-1.00s
Phantom	0.08-0.30s	0.70-1.92s	1.00-2.00s
Deogen	0.20-0.30s	0.01-0.40s	0.30-0.60s
Oni	0.02-0.50s	0.01-0.50s	0.30-1.00s

Phantom is more invisible (good for hiding), Oni and Deogen are more visible. Obake can shapeshift on one flicker (6.67%).

Surviving a Hunt

1. Hide in a closet, locker, or small tent - the ghost can't physically enter them

2. Turn off your flashlight and all electronic equipment in hand

3. Don't use voice chat (ghost hears at 9m, Yokai only 2.5m)

4. Hold the closet door shut if the ghost approaches

5. Incense blinds the ghost for 5s - use it to escape if needed

Interactive Timers

Use these timers during the game to time hunts, smudge, and cooldowns.

⏱ Hunt Timers

Shortcuts: S = smudge · H = hunt · C = cooldown

🌿 Smudge

0:00

💀 Hunt0:00

⏳ Cooldown0:00

Electronic Interference

Interference range: 10m (Raiju: 15m)

Lights, equipment, and global chat malfunction/flicker

Heartbeat audible at 10m if no walls/doors between you and ghost

Ghost footsteps audible at 20m (Myling: 12m)

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