Fortnite's latest fall damage bug is catching players by surprise

Brace yourselves, Fortnite players. There's a new fall damage bug in the game and it is low on Epic's list of priorities, meaning the problem will likely be around for a while. Earlier this week, players started reporting an issue that results in fall damage when the player falls from a great height — it's the opposite of a recent bug that made players impervious to fall damage.

Though they're not quite as common as they used to be, Fortnite still has a series of ziplines located around the islands: these allow players to rapidly cover large areas of empty ground, eliminating the need to constantly run. Players can pop free of these ziplines at any time; they will not take fall damage when they hit the ground regardless of how high they are.

Somehow Died of Fall Damage from Jumping OFF a Zip Line and INTO WATER from r/FortNiteBR

That is, unless they accidentally recreate a new fall damage bug. Players have discovered that dropping from a zipline into a body of water causes the player to take fall damage the way they typically would when falling from a great height. This can, in cases where the player is particularly high or already low on health, cause the player to be eliminated.

Epic Games has acknowledged the bug by including it on its list of known issues in the battle royale version of the game. As can be viewed on the company's public Trello account, the company has given the bug a low priority with several other more pressing issues ahead of it. This means the problem may be around for a number of days.

The fall damage bug joins two recently discovered exploits that allow the player to fall from a great height without taking fall damage. The first of the two exploits requires the player to run through a bush, after which point they remain invincible (from fall damage) for as long as they avoid jumping. The second exploit required the player to drop from a zipline into a body of water, which is now obviously something to avoid.