Among the many tasks and sabotages available for crewmates and impostors in Among Us, the most often ignored and least understood of them is the doorlog on the Mira HQ map. This isn't a surprise to anybody familiar with the game, as it can be hard to learn where the sensors are, and how exactly they work (especially compared to the rather intuitive way the crewmate tasks operate).
However, with enough practice, the doorlog can become one of the most vital tools in deducing who the impostor is. Unlike players, the doorlog never lies, so figuring out how to read and interpret the doorlog is essential for improving your effectiveness as a crewmate.
10 The Doorlog Becomes More Effective As Crewmates Die
While the doorlog can be extremely effective at keeping track of where players are and where they have been, this relies on being able to actually track their movements. The doorlog has one major flaw: it can only hold twenty entries at a time.
Once it reaches the twenty entry limit, it will erase the oldest entry and replace it with the newest one. In a 10 person game, this means the doorlog can fill up fast. As more crewmates die, however, there are fewer players crossing the sensors, allowing you to better track everyone's movements.
9 Check It Often
The only way to get experience with the doorlog is to actually use it, so make sure to take a break from completing your tasks (or from your attempts to murder everybody onboard) and check up on the doorlogs.
Simply taking a minute or two every match to try and figure out the movements of a single player can greatly increase your ability to read the logs effectively, making future visits easier and easier. Even glancing at the logs for a few seconds every time you pass the security office can give you a quick idea of roughly where everyone is.
8 Stay Aware Of Your Surroundings
Like most activities in Among Us, the user interface for the doorlog takes up the majority of the player's screen. Although you can see the hallway from the doorlog desk, it can be easy to miss an impostor making their way into the office.
What's the best way to avoid getting stabbed in the back while trying to learn how to read the logs? Make sure to close the doorlog often to make sure nobody is sneaking up on you. The logs don't disappear between viewings, so taking quick breaks to ensure your own survival is paramount.
7 Three Entries Are Needed To Determine A Player's Movement
While it can be tempting to view the most recent entry as an indication of where a player is, a total of three entries are needed to fully determine a player's location and how they got there. A single entry (say, on the north sensor) could indicate that the player is entering or leaving the top of the map, but two entries (the southeast followed by the north) tell you that the player left the cafeteria and headed to the top of the map.
So why do you need three entries? The third entry will determine if the player used the vents to bypass the sensors. For example, if the player passes the southwest sensor, followed by southeast and then north, a vent has been used, as there is no way to visit all three sensors without passing the same sensor twice. They either went from left to right and vented to the top of the map, or they headed west, vented to the cafeteria, and headed north.
6 Look For Double Entries
Double entries are the best way to identify if a player is traveling without using the vents. For crewmates, the only way to enter a new section of the map is to pass over a sensor, and when they finish their tasks they have to pass back over that same sensor to head somewhere new.
In a set of three consecutive doorlog entries, a crewmate will always have at least two entries on the same sensor. The only ways to get around this restriction are through the impostor's use of vents and being summoned to the cafeteria via an emergency meeting or body discovery.
5 Beware The Loss Of Comms
On two of the three maps, the comms are one of the most ignored sabotages, as their only effect is removing the ability to see the task list. However, sabotaging the comms gains an extra ability on Mira HQ. As of version 2020.10.22, when the comms are sabotaged on Mira HQ, all entries stored in the doorlog are deleted.
This can be used by the impostors to remove evidence of vent activity or logs that would go against their alibi. As such, it's important to check the logs regularly or risk losing any potential evidence that they might have held.
4 Keep An Eye On The Time Between Entries
While the doorlog entries don't have actual times printed on them, it is still a good idea to be aware of how often entries are being made. If a player is constantly passing across the sensors, filling up the doorlog with their entries, it may be a good idea to ask them to do their tasks during the next meeting.
Conversely, if a player regularly fails to make any entries on the doorlogs, and yet always seems to be in the right location, it is likely an indication that they are venting around the map to avoid the sensors.
3 Check Up On Players
Did two players travel up to the top of the map, but neither have returned across the sensor after a few minutes? It might be a good idea to go check on them. It's possible that they simply have a lot of tasks to take care of.
However, if one of them is dead and the other is gone, you can safely identify one of the impostors. If they're both dead, then it is time to report a body and hope that the impostors don't come after you next. Was an emergency meeting called before you could check? If the players had a pet, you can see if it is still sitting where the player would have been.
2 Don't Ignore Your Tasks
Like any complicated feature, it can be tempting to sit on the doorlogs and try to figure them out. While useful in the long run, this is a terrible idea. As a crewmate, it is essential that you actually complete your tasks, to ensure that even if you can't identify the impostors that you will still have a chance at winning.
Check the logs out as you pass them, but then resume your important scientific research. If you happen to finish your tasks, feel free to return to the doorlogs and spent all the time you like on them.
1 Expect To Get It Wrong
No matter how much time you spend studying the doorlogs and how they work, expect to accuse the wrong person. Whether you defend an impostor because they didn't vent a single time and passed the sensors regularly or accuse a crewmate because you misread a few entries, it will happen.
The best way to handle it is to just keep trying. Nobody can be perfect, and the more you learn about how the doorlogs work, the better you can exploit that knowledge when it's your turn to be the impostor.