Abnormality 0003

Abnormality Surname: Toolgun Echo

Risk Level: Passive

Status Level: Dormant

Type: Event

Abnormality 0003, nicknamed "Toolgun Echo," refers to a phenomenon in which the player's Toolgun interface begins displaying commands and behaviors that the user did not initiate, usually during long building sessions (45+ minutes) in sandbox mode.

This abnormality is non-aggressive, but psychologically disorienting. The Toolgun behaves as if there is a second player mirroring or predicting the user's actions slightly before or after they occur.

Typical manifestations include:
Toolgun sounds duplicate and play without user input.
Spawning of thrusters, balloons, and etc appearing on untouched props.
Rope entities that disappear upon a user getting close.
Toolgun HUD being noticeably absent.

These effects do not cause crashes, nor do they break gameplay directly, but prolonged exposure has caused players to develop paranoia, with reports of unplugged mice clicking and GMod responding.

"Toolgun Echo" was first discussed in a Steam thread titled "Why is my toolgun duplicating my clicks?" posted by user ratwash in October 2014. They included a screenshot where the tool was aimed at air, yet the constraint preview line bent and latched to a crate behind them.

Users began reporting increased frequency after pausing mid-build and remaining idle with the Toolgun equipped.

A patch, somewhere in 2020 fixed the Toolgun Echo and is now only able to be replicated in older versions of GMod

Instance of 0003. The original image file is corrupted but the Toolgun HUD is noticeably absent.