Will destroying items in a Dota 2 game lead to bans?

You can destroy or 'break' an item in Dota 2 by dropping it on the ground manually and then attack-clicking it (A+click on default keybind). This can be done with any item other than Gem of True Sight and Divine Rapier. The only other restriction in item-breaking is ownership. The item should either belong to the player in question or to any member of the opponent team.

Breaking an item, as opposed to selling it, will not refund the player half of its cost. In effect, it only serves to instantly reduce the overall net worth of the player. Otherwise, the intended purpose for this mechanic is as a part of inventory management in Dota 2.

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Reddit user discovers new potential Dota 2 ban for breaking items

Destroying your items will now grant you an instant 4 hour cooldown and 1 single draft game. by u/MicroGG25 in DotA2

Reddit user MicroGG25 recently disclosed his discovery of a prototype auto-ban system that bans players for intentional griefing by breaking items. The thread in question gained much traction on the Dota 2 subreddit, where some users deemed it to be a masterful satire of Valve's penalty system for griefing.

Nevertheless, reports of the alleged auto-ban have since been repeated from reputable sources, including the official Team Spirit Twitter handle and Jonathan "Loda" Berg.

As per these sources, intentionally breaking items to throw games now automatically leads to a 4-hour ban from matchmaking as well as a low-priority pool penalty of one Single Draft game.

The automatic Overwatch ban system is supposed to detect cases of griefing by sudden drops in net worth. This may distinguish counts of bannable offenses from innocent Iron Branch dismissals.

However, this also raises several questions and loopholes, such as drops in net worth resulting from losing teamfights after buybacks or dropping Divine Rapiers.

A number of anecdotal reports have since confirmed this rumor, while numerous others have said that it hasn't held true in their experimentation. The lack of universal confirmations might imply this is an experimental rollout of a future auto-ban detection system that does not currently apply to all matches or accounts.

In any case, breaking items to grief is nevertheless an indefensible action. Even if the automatic ban is not true, manual Overwatch reviews are highly likely to get item breakers penalized.

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Is breaking items in Dota 2 officially considered griefing?

Screenshot from an Immortal ranked match where Quinn (Queen of Pain) breaks his items (Image via Twitch)

To get the most out of their inventory space, players use placeholder cheap items to bolster their attributes and other stats while farming for the bigger items. Usually, this is an extra pair of Circlets or Iron Branches.

Core heroes in a rush to achieve a good item timing often cannot disrupt their farming pattern to manually take these cheap items to the shop to sell them for a meager amount of gold.

Often, winning teamfights in a high-tempo game also results in having to fly out too many items in the courier to make space in your inventory. On these occasions, dropping the cheap throwaway items and consumables to break them can often be the optimal move.

There are no safety triggers to stop you from destroying expensive items or even your entire inventory. Dota 2 is a stressful game where tilting is common. Unfortunately, this means breaking items is often how players vent their frustrations when a game is not going their way.

Outside of 5-man stacks, there is no surrender button in Dota 2. Even when getting stomped, players have to simply rough it out and try their best until their throne falls. Players who have given up on a disadvantageous game can only, therefore, hope to accelerate their loss for a fresh start in the next match.

Some would describe this behavior as defeatist, others would call it pragmatist. In any case, AFKing and item breaking are observed in every echelon of Dota, down to professional players in public matchmaking. Danil "gpk" Skutin and Quinn "Quinn" Callahan are infamous examples.