Surviving a night in Keep the Door Locked comes down to one skill: telling a normal guest apart from an Anomaly before you open the door. The game currently has 15 unique Anomalies, and each one has a single tell you can catch if you know where to look. Some appear as visitors at your door, others show up as events inside the room, and a few are hazards you manage across the whole night.
Quick answer: Check the hallway security camera on your laptop before you peek through the door. If the visitor looks wrong on the feed, lock the door. If the threat is a room event instead, use its specific counter (flashlight, bed, curtains, or a quick-time event) to make it leave.
Use the camera first, every time
Anomalies are only visible through the security camera footage, which you open by interacting with the laptop on the desk. Make this your first move whenever someone knocks. Checking the feed before you look through the door saves time and stops you from opening it on something that should stay outside. If nothing looks off on camera, the visitor is a normal guest and you can let them in. If anything is wrong, lock the door.
You can play the whole game and reach the ending without spending money, so the only thing standing between you and survival is reading these tells correctly. The full experience is available on the Keep the Door Locked Roblox page.
Door visitors: spot them and lock the door
These Anomalies arrive as guests. Each one has a visual or behavioral tell you catch on the camera or through the peephole. The counter is always the same: lock the door and deny entry. Several of them have multiple variations, so watch the body and the movement rather than the face.
| Anomaly | How to spot it |
|---|---|
| Ghost | Nearly invisible or see-through on the camera feed. |
| Doppelganger | A duplicate or dead version of the visitor is slumped near the edge of the frame or lying by the door. A body in the footage means a doppelganger. |
| Formal Guy | The model moves in unnatural ways, including when you peek through the door. Deny entry fast. |
| Spasming limbs | The guest’s arms flail and jerk back and forth. |
| Long limbs | The guest has abnormally long arms on the camera view. |
| Neck craner | The visitor stands with their neck bent back, staring at the ceiling. |
| Creepy Woman | She never speaks when you answer. Check the camera and she jumpscares you, confirming the threat. |
Room events: use the right counter to make them leave
Not every Anomaly waits at the door. Some appear inside the room, at the window, or in the vent, and each one has a specific action that clears it. React quickly and these events resolve without lasting damage.
| Anomaly | Tell | Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden Anomaly in the room | A figure appears inside the room. | Shine your flashlight on it to make it disappear. |
| Dark Void | You are suddenly blinded and pulled into darkness. | Follow the visible lights to a doorway to return to normal. |
| Window Creeper | Scratchy noises, knocks, and scuffling from outside the window. It grows stronger over stages if ignored. | Draw the curtains and look at it to force it to flee. Keep checking through the night. |
| Vent Creeper | A dishevelled figure drops from the vent and crawls toward you. | Jump onto the bed and wait for it to crawl back into the vent. |
| Spiders | Hazmat-suited visitors hint at them; listen for scratchy ceiling noises. They explode after a while. | Avoid standing beneath a spider when it bursts. |
Scripted encounters that need a set action
A handful of Anomalies play out as forced sequences. Locking the door will not save you here, so learn the exact response for each one before it happens.
| Anomaly | What happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Door Breaker | A gaunt creature runs to your door and forces it open. | Hide under the bed and wait until it leaves. |
| Headbanger | A visitor bashes their head against the door to break in. | Complete the quick-time event that appears. |
| Serial Killer | A knife-wielding figure appears at the door, swings, and leaves. | On a night the killer showed up, turn the lights off before you sleep. |
| Bathroom Monster | A monster in the bathroom attacks you in your sleep if you are alone. | Always have a non-Anomaly guest sleeping in the room before you go to bed. |
The Roach King is friendly
The one visitor that breaks the pattern is the Roach King. This giant cockroach knocks and politely asks to be let in. Despite the look, it is not a threat. Say yes, and it enters, stays for a few seconds, and leaves on its own. Turning it away triggers a swarm, so open the door and let it through.
How you know a counter worked
For door visitors, a locked door on an Anomaly ends the encounter with no penalty and the visitor disappears. For room events, the Anomaly leaves as soon as you land the correct action, whether that is the figure fading under your flashlight, the Vent Creeper returning to the vent, or the Window Creeper fleeing after you open the curtains and look at it. The most common way to fail is checking only one source of information. A guest at the door can pull your attention away from a change inside the room or at the window, so keep scanning both while you decide.
Learn each tell, keep the camera as your first stop, and treat every knock as a decision rather than a reflex. Do that consistently and you can read every Anomaly correctly and make it through to the ending.
