Simple Fortnite exploit gives players unlimited consumable items

Fortnite players accidentally stumbled upon an incredibly simple bug that essentially provides unlimited consumable items, giving players who exploit it a huge advantage. The issue is substantial enough that it resulted in the DreamHack Open tournament originally scheduled for this past weekend being canceled over fairness concerns.

Consumables in Fortnite refers to the items your player can consume — most of which are used to heal, though some offer temporary performance enhancements like speed-running and hopping. You can carry a limited number of these items, such as 15 bandages or three Med Kits.

A major bug is allowing players to generate additional consumable items on demand, however, and the exploit is so simple that some players report doing it entirely on accident. All you have to do is have a full inventory when you throw a consumable while picking up another item.

It's easy to accidentally use the exploit if you have your game set to automatically pick up nearby items. You may, for example, toss a shield to one of your teammates while quickly pressing the button to pick up another item nearby, only to find that the shield has now doubled and your partner gets two instead of one.

Players who deliberately use the exploit can repeat the throwing process multiple times, adding another consumable with each throw until they've maxed out the amount that can be carried in their inventory. This could, for example, enable players to remain in the Storm for a long period of time during the end game, resulting in their final opponent's elimination.

A quick look at the Fortnite Trello bug board and Status Twitter account shows a complete lack of commentary about the bug. It's likely that a fix will arrive soon to remove the feature.