Call of Duty Wiki:Ask A Veteran/Camping

Camping is a tactic of waiting for enemies to come to the player, rather than actively seeking them out, for extended periods of time. Players usually camp in order to gain a tactical advantage over their opponents. Camping is a strategy that relies on a lack of patience in other players, counting on them to come after the player first, who would be lying in wait.

In several game types, camping is a legitimate style of play, often in defensive based games, comparable to 'turtling". In game types such as Capture the Flag, as well as Domination, it isn't nearly as detrimental to gameplay as it would be in game types such as Free-For-All and Team Deathmatch.

It often proves frustrating, particularly to new players, as it rewards those who are very familiar with the map (as it allows them to know the layout and which areas provide the best defensive position as well as heavily trafficked areas. Many players consider Camping to be equal to cheating, especially in deathmatch-type games.

Door to door camping
This method is really quite simple. One player will be camping near a door way with a high power close quarters weapon, usually a shotgun or Assault Rifle, and simply wait for unsuspecting victims to run by. Quite often they will go to the other side of the door every 2 or 3 kills to avoid players learning their positions every so often. This works best in mainly indoor maps where there are lots of camping spots, such as Terminal, Skidrow, and Highrise where the majority of the fighting is in small, indoor pockets of the map, which can quite often result in the camper getting easy kills, and will often be found on Deathmatch, FFA style modes. Like other forms of camping, they will often hide behind crates and walls that can protect them but still allow them to see players coming.

Spawn Camping
Spawn camping is a form of camping when a player assaults the position(s) where opposing players just enter or re-enter (respawn) the map. The camper has the advantage in that they are able to kill players before they have a chance to get their bearings and sometimes can shoot them in their back. This may be difficult due to random spawn points in some game types such as Free-For-All, as well as killcams showing the players who get killed by spawn campers the camper's location and let them prepare for their next respawn.

Spawn camping is considerably easier in Domination as the game prefers to spawn players near flags they already own thus limiting the possible spawn points available. Note that enemies will not spawn at a spawn point if the player is looking directly at the spawn point, though looking through a chain link fence or glass does not count as direct line of sight. If the player turns his/her back to the spawn point or blocks his/her view of the spawn point by say, crouching behind a crate, enemies will spawn again. Thus, spawn killing is easiest through chain link fences or by popping up and down behind a crate that has view of the enemy spawn.

Base Camping
The term Base Camping refers to camping at the base (or defensive objectives) of one's own team in Capture the Flag, Search and Destroy, and possibly other types of games. One would sit in one's team base and wait for the other team to come. Though hiding in one's own team base, especially if done by a large group, makes it easier to survive enemy attacks, it is sometimes criticized. The general acceptance of Base Camping mainly depends on the map, the kind of game played. Game types in which one team is to defend its base, or protect a flag, naturally encourage this tactic. One acceptable situation is in Search and Destroy, when there is only one player remaining versus several players on the opposing team. The single player will often camp for periods of play in a location that is easy to defend or has only one entry way, because this enhances their survivability when faced with superior opposition numbers. The other team will usually go into active hunting mode, expecting the single player to be hiding somewhere on the map. This type of camping is more accepted by gamers, because there is a valid reason for the outnumbered player to camp. By convention, when both teams are down to single players only, continued camping is frowned upon and both players are expected to come out and confront each other, otherwise the round will be lost by the attacking side.

Advantages
The camping player gains advantages in many ways: Camping helps out with getting more high-end killstreaks for players like Chopper Gunner, AC-130, EMP, or even the Tactical Nuke, however players may need to wait a while for that many kills. This method is quite popular, and has led to the "Camping for Killstreaks" term.
 * Camping players often watch choke points from behind cover. Good choke points protect the camper's flanks and give them only one place to watch for enemies. The cover protects them and makes them harder to spot. Conversely, a player moving through the choke is forced to be in the open and look over a wide area for potential threats.
 * Campers often remain in ADS mode, giving them extra zoom and saving the time it normally takes to enter ADS. Enemies moving through the area are rarely in ADS as ADS slows moving players down and lessens their situational awareness.
 * Moving players are often sprinting. The camper, on the other hand, is in ADS with weapon drawn giving the sprinting player almost no chance to stop sprinting, pull out their weapon then raise it to ADS in order to accurately return fire.
 * Moving players are often forced to expose their flanks to fire. Unless moving with a team, certain map locations are simply impossible to "check the corners" in all directions. Campers, on the other hand, minimize this exposure.
 * Opposing players, due to their desire for revenge, will often repeatedly rush campers giving the camper multiple easy kills.
 * In Modern Warfare 2, since a camper usually aims one way they usually have a heartbeat sensor, this to see when the enemy is coming or in case of teamkilling. (Hardcore matches).
 * Camping can be a way to hold the best ground. Maps, especially Rundown on Modern Warfare 2, if you can keep in a good position where it makes it impossible for the enemy to get around can be advantageous in game modes like Search and Destroy, or stall for time in Demolition.

Disadvantages

 * To get tons of kills, you need patience (and "don't do anything stupid" - reference to Cpt. MacMillan).
 * Popular or well-known camping spots may easily become compromised if your opponents know how to get around them.

Ways to beat Campers

 * Use Heartbeat sensors and slowly move across the screen to see if the enemies move or not.
 * If you keep getting killed by the same camper over and over in the corner, use grenade launchers or semtex on that enemy to kill him. MUST BE QUICK TO DO THIS
 * Use smoke grenades where you always get killed to block the screen of the camper in that area and kill the camper quickly before the the smoke fades. Heartbeat sensor can ruin this tactic.
 * Use Flash grenades and do the same thing said above. Heartbeat sensor cannot negate this tactic although hip fire/blind fire can negate this tactic if successful.