Last verified 2026-09-21 by ReviewGamers Editorial
PUBG Update 43.1 deployed on PC on 10 September 2026, and consoles received the update on 17 September. The headline additions are two new unarmed combat moves—the standing kick and jump kick—expanded ways to engage in water, the return of Solo Deathmatch arcade mode, and changes to how boats behave and repair. This is how to use each new mechanic, according to PUBG’s official release notes.
Standing Kick: how to trigger and what it breaks
When you are unarmed, hold right-click (console: LT) to perform a standing kick. The standing kick delivers substantially more damage and knockback than a punch, making it useful both for interrupting an opponent’s actions and for breaking the environment.
According to PUBG’s patch notes, you can kick through:
- Windows (all types)
- Wooden doors
- Wooden fences
- Jars
- Vehicle tyres
You can also use a kick to damage vending machines faster than normal interaction. On doors that cannot be broken (like reinforced metal doors), a kick opens them quickly without announcing yourself with gunfire—useful for silent building entry.
Jump Kick: mid-air execution and knockback value
While airborne, hold right-click (console: LT again) to perform a jump kick. The jump kick follows the same destruction rules as the standing kick—windows, wooden doors, fences, jars and tyres all break—and delivers the same strength knockback. The jump kick is most useful when you leap from a height, when it amplifies the knockback, or when an opponent is positioned below you. The mechanic works whether you jump naturally or vault over an obstacle.
Water Combat: swimming faster and shooting from the surface
Update 43.1 increased swimming and diving speed by 25 per cent across the board, making water a more viable route between positions. More tactically, you can now fire sidearms and throw grenades while on the water surface.
Handguns support both hip-fire (fire without aiming) and aiming down sights, although shoulder-fired weapons are not available. Bullet spread is notably higher than on land, reflecting the difficulty of firing accurately while in water. Throwables such as grenades and stun grenades use an overhand throw exclusively. The moment you begin a normal swim or dive underwater, your weapon stows automatically. When you surface, it draws again.
This change means water is no longer a vulnerability when you are caught swimming—you have a brief moment to return fire or suppress an approaching player on shore.
Boat Changes: durability and repair from the surface
Boats now have increased overall durability, and firearm damage has been standardised at 50 per cent against all boat types. This means the boat damage calculation no longer differs between, say, a small motorboat and a larger houseboat.
More usefully for squad play, you can now repair a boat from the water surface using an All-in-One Repair Kit. The repair cannot be applied while you are submerged—you must be on the surface. This removes the need to beach a boat to patch incoming damage during water-based rotations.
Item Carrying and Ground Use: H Key Efficiency
Update 43.1 streamlines item management by allowing you to carry items directly without inventory space. Press H to pick up an item and carry it without stowing it—useful when your inventory is full and you need to transport consumables or deployables to teammates or a storage location. You can also throw carried items to teammates directly.
More significantly, consumable and deployable items (healing items, grenades, utility devices) can now be used instantly from the ground. Instead of picking up a syringe or energy drink, you can use it directly where it lies. This removes the friction of inventory management during intense fights.
Parachute Changes: Automatic Deployment and Emergency Adjustment
The parachute system now features automatic activation at 250 metres altitude, eliminating the need to manually deploy early and letting you maintain speed during descent. If you deploy manually below the automatic threshold, the emergency parachute’s minimum deployment height has been reduced from 10 metres to 9 metres, giving you fractionally more margin when landing near obstacles or terrain.
Light Machine Gun Rebalancing
Light Machine Guns received significant tuning to address their dominance in the previous patch:
- Aim Down Sights transition increased from 0.30 seconds to 0.37 seconds, slowing the weapon’s readiness
- Spawn rates reduced by 30 per cent across the map
- Vehicle damage multipliers standardised: M249 and RPD dropped from 1.1x to 1.0x, matching other weapon classes
- Recoil control effectiveness reduced significantly by firing position (standing, crouching, prone)
These changes make LMGs less dominant in mid-range team fights whilst preserving their role as suppressive weapons.
Solo Deathmatch Returns to Arcade
Solo Deathmatch is back in the Arcade playlist with expanded time windows: PC players had access from 10 September through 14 October, whilst console players (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S) received the mode from 17 September through 22 October. A new leaderboard under the Career menu tracks top 500 competitors by seasonal wins, kills by weapon type and Clan XP. Players outside the top 500 can see their approximate percentile rank, allowing all players to gauge their standing.
Related Feature: Jujutsu Kaisen Collaboration
Alongside the mechanical updates, Update 43.1 introduced Jujutsu Kaisen-themed collaboration content integrated into Erangel, giving the patch broader appeal beyond pure mechanical changes.
When you get this on console
If you play on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S, the update arrived on 17 September, one week after the PC release. All mechanics outlined above apply identically across platforms; there are no separate mechanics by platform or console generation.
For more on PUBG on Steam and updates to the game, explore our Steam platform guide or PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS hub.