How to find the hatch in Dead by Daylight

The Hatch in Dead by Daylight forces a last-minute sprint: The last survivor can always escape through the hatch and win, or the killer can destroy the hatch and foil the easy escape route.

Best ways to find the hatch in Dead by Daylight

A screenshot of the Hatch in Dead by Daylight. — Screengrab via Behavior Interactive

There are a few tried-and-true methods for finding the hatch. The hatch will always make a loud wind tunnel sound, which is normally easier to hear with headphones. If you can hear the sound, run toward where it is coming from. The louder the sound, the closer you are. This also helps you when you don’t hear it because you know you’re not near the hatch if you don’t hear the wind.

It’s quite obvious when you’re very close to a hatch, so if the wind sound is loud and you don’t see a hatch nearby, it’s either on the other side of a nearby wall or a different floor.

Some perks can help you escape if you’re the last survivor, like Clairvoyance or Left Behind, which show you where the hatch is if you’re nearby. Choosing Left Behind is a better option because it will also show you other possible exits if you didn’t realize one of them was open.

If the killer has beaten you to a hatch, you need to make your choice based on whether a gate is open. If you already have an exit gate open, sprint to the exit because the killer will be too distracted by the hatch to get you. If a gate isn’t open, you’ll need to blind the killer or find a way to stop them from destroying your hatch. You will need to find the Skeleton key or a dull key to fix the hatch if you can’t stop the killer, which will be very difficult since the killer will probably guard it and wait for you.

We recommend taking the time to play as the killer because you can move around the map faster and actively look for patterns in the hatches. If that’s not your style, we have a list of places where you can normally find them.

All possible hatch locations in each Dead by Daylight map

The location of most hatches is random, but some areas have a higher probability of hatches spawning in the same spot.

Tip:

To influence the hatch location, you can burn the Annotated Blueprint by the Killer’s Shack. You can also burn Vigo’s Blueprint to influence the hatch to spawn near the map’s main landmark.

Here are some known locations for spawn points in some game areas. You won’t always see hatches here; these are just locations that the hatches appear often.

Azarov’s Resting Place (Autohaven Wreckers Realm): Look near the generators and between trees. The hatch almost always spawns near there at this location.
Badham Preschool (Springwood Realm): The boiler room and sometimes near one of the two exits.
Blood Lodge (Autohaven Wreckers Realm): Enter the lodge and go down the stairs. It will usually be in the ground.
Coal Tower (The MacMillan Estate Realm): Go outside the tower and head next to the wheelhouse. Look around because the hatches normally spawn there.
Disturbed Ward (Crotus Prenn Asylum Realm): Check all bonfires; the hatches usually are very close by them.
Family Residence (Yamaoka Estate Realm): Go immediately to the middle of the map, where the hatch is most often found.

Father Campbell’s Chapel (Crotus Prenn Asylum Realm): Check inside the shack.
Fractured Cowshed (Coldwind Farm Realm): Hatches typically spawn near the blimp crash site.
Gas Heaven (Autohaven Wreckers Realm): Look near the generators for this hatch spawn.
Groaning Storehouse (Coldwind Farm Realm): Look around the building; they usually spawn outside.
Lampkin Lane (Haddonfield Realm): The hatch almost always appears on the paved road, so go there.
Midwich Elementary School (Silent Hill Realm): Check near the hunks of flesh, but this one is random.
Rancid Abattoir (Coldwind Farm Realm): Go to the room with the dead pigs and check near the exits because the hatch is usually in these areas.
Shelter Woods (The MacMillan Estate Realm): They often appear next to cabins, so check next to all of them.
Suffocation Pit (The MacMillan Estate Realm): Go to the ramp and look for the house. The hatch is normally behind the house.
The Ironworks of Misery (The MacMillan Estate Realm): You’ll see two big pipes on the first floor. The hatch is generally in between those pipes.
The Thompson House (Coldwind Farm Realm): Check the corner of the porch at the back of the house to find this hatch frequently.
The Underground Complex (Hawkins National Laboratory Realm): The hatch can usually be found on the lower floor.

Torment Creek (Coldwind Farm Realm): Look near the destroyed buildings to find this hatch.
Wrecker’s Yard (Autohaven Wreckers Realm): Check between the trees and near buildings to find this hatch.
Wretched Shop (Autohaven Wreckers Realm): Look next to the shop for a tree and two barrels. You’ll frequently find the hatch there.

How to find the hatch as the Killer in DBD?

Knowing where the hatch is will boost your chances of winning against pesky Survivors. You will need to be smart, quick and confident if you are willing to camp the hatch once you find it.

A couple of things to know about the hatch, it is loud. If you have good headphones that present an engaging gaming experience, then you will be able to hear the hum of the hatch. The hatch usually spawns at ground level with a few expectations where it spawns on the second floor of some buildings. It also usually spawns near the Killer Shack, so make sure to hover around these areas and do not let the Survivors through.

Tip:

Have the volume way up when looking for the hatch!

How do you know you’re the last survivor in Dead by Daylight?

You can tell when you’re the last survivor because the portraits of the other survivors will show skulls or run away icons. A run away icon means they escaped, and a skull means The Entity or killer killed them.

Whenever a survivor is grayed out, it means The Entity is taking them away. Get ready to run if you are the second-to-last survivor and see the next person’s portrait grayed out. The hatch will spawn as soon as that portrait gets a skull, and the race to reach it first will begin.

While the killer is chasing another survivor, you now know how to find the hatch in DBD. Therefore, you can be head for the hatch spawn location while the killer is busy with another gruesome deed.

How to find the hatch in DBD, summarized

Hatch locations are useful to both the Killer and the Survivor. One, because the Killer can gain huge control of the map knowing the location of the hatch, and two, the Survivor will be able to automatically win the game by escaping.

To influence the hatch, make sure to burn blueprints. This will make the hatch spawn in a location relatively close to you.
The hatch will not spawn immediately when there is only one Survivor left. Therefore, make sure to know where the hatch locations are and find it to gain a huge advantage in the end game.

These are the maps where hatches are often found around the same areas, whereas other maps are usually too random to notice any pattern. If you notice that you hear the sound of wind while looking at these areas, follow that sound to the hatch. It’s always better to follow the sound rather than to search a potential location on a hunch.