Strafe

To strafe is to move sideways (left or right) without turning.

In the default keyboard configuration, the comma key strafes left and the period key strafes right. It is also possible to strafe by holding down the "strafe on" key (Alt by default) and pressing a turn key (left arrow or right arrow).

When using mouse control, moving the mouse to the left or right normally turns the player. But when a "strafe on" key is down, it results in strafing. The right mouse button is often assigned as "strafe on" to facilitate this.

Because of the way the Doom engine works, different combinations of the strafe on, directional strafe, and forward keys can cause the player to move faster than normal running speed. These are called strafe40 and strafe50 (see speedrunning).