PUBG Update 43.1 Adds a Kick and Nerfs LMGs, Live on PC 10 September
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS update 43.1 goes live on PC during an 8.5-hour maintenance window on 10 September, running 00:00 to 08:30 UTC, with console servers following a week later on 17 September from 01:00 to 09:00 UTC. The headline addition is a kick, a proper melee attack that hits harder than a punch and can smash windows, kick doors open and knock a vending machine over.
Krafton published the notes early on 9 September, a day ahead of the PC rollout. Console players keep playing update 43.0 until the 17th, so the two platforms are running different builds for a week.
What PUBG update 43.1 changes for your first drop
The kick has a standing version and a jump version, and both do more damage than a bare fist. It also doubles as a traversal tool: you can boot a window frame out rather than shooting it and giving away your position.
Water combat has been reworked. Swimming and diving speeds are up 25 percent, and you can now use sidearms and throwables while stationary on the surface, which closes a long-standing gap where anyone caught mid-crossing was defenceless.
Two inventory changes matter more than they sound. Certain items — attachments, healing items and armour — can now be carried in hand without taking up inventory space, and thrown directly to a teammate. Separately, ground items can be used instantly without picking them up first, which is the fix for the moment your bag is full and you are bleeding out next to a first aid kit.
The LMG nerf players will feel first
Light machine guns take the biggest hit in this patch. The list:
- ADS transition time up from 0.30 to 0.37 seconds, so LMGs are slower to bring up
- Vehicle damage multipliers cut — the M249 and RPD drop from 1.1x to 1.0x, the MG3 from 1.25x to 1.1x
- Recoil control effects reduced by between 10 and 27 percent depending on stance
- Spawn rates down 30 percent, so you will find fewer of them on the ground
Parachutes were rebalanced too, with automatic deployment standardised at 250m across the board. Preset outfit slots go from 5 to 10.
Ranked Season 43, leaderboards and Duo Rumble
Ranked Season 43 starts with the patch, and the minimum performance requirements for Gold and above have been adjusted. A new leaderboard system tracks the top 500 players in separate Wins, Kills and Clans categories.
PC also gets Duo Rumble, a limited-time competitive mode running from 12 September to 14 October with up to 10,000 G-Coin in rewards. It is PC-only, so console players do not get it in this cycle.
On the technical side, PC picks up NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 and AMD FSR 4.1 support. Console gets expanded character hitboxes, which Krafton has framed as a hit-detection improvement rather than a balance change.
Map rotation and the Jujutsu Kaisen crossover
PC map rotations restart on 10 September and then change every Wednesday at 02:00 UTC; console rotations change every Thursday at 07:00 UTC. Erangel stays fixed in the NA, SA, EU, RU and console pools, while Taego is the fixed map on AS, SEA and KAKAO servers. Ranked is an even split across four maps — Erangel, Miramar, Taego and Rondo, at 25 percent each on every platform.
The patch also carries the world features for the Jujutsu Kaisen crossover that starts 10 September on PC and 17 September on console, matching the same platform gap as the update itself. The Intense Battle Royale match results screen has been expanded with per-team and per-player stats.
Does any of this affect PUBG Mobile?
No. Update 43.1 is the PC and console build only. The mobile game runs on its own version track and is currently rolling out the 4.6 update with the Midnight Hunters mode, which shares nothing with the kick system or the LMG changes described here. If you play on a phone, none of the numbers above apply to your game.
Krafton has not published a download size for 43.1 on either platform. PUBG patches of this scale have historically landed in the low single-digit gigabytes on PC, but that is an expectation rather than a confirmed figure, and the client will report the real number when the servers come back.
If you are still working through the game's older objectives, our guide to the 'The First Rule Is...' achievement is unaffected by this patch. For anyone drifting between battle royales this month, both Marvel Rivals Season 10 on 11 September and the Delta Force Reorientation season land in the same window.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does PUBG update 43.1 go live?
On PC, maintenance runs from 00:00 to 08:30 UTC on 10 September 2026, so servers return at 08:30 UTC. Console maintenance is a week later, from 01:00 to 09:00 UTC on 17 September. Both windows are scheduled downtime, not an outage.
Why is PUBG update 43.1 coming to console a week after PC?
Krafton has run staggered PC and console rollouts for its monthly patches for years, giving the PC build a week of live testing first. It means PlayStation and Xbox players stay on update 43.0 until 17 September and will not see the kick, the water changes or Ranked Season 43 until then.
How big is the PUBG 43.1 download?
Krafton did not list a download size in the patch notes for either platform. The size will show in the Steam, PlayStation or Xbox client once the update is pushed after maintenance ends. Recent PUBG monthly patches have generally been a few gigabytes on PC.
What changed for LMGs in PUBG 43.1?
LMGs were nerfed across four areas. ADS transition time rose from 0.30 to 0.37 seconds, vehicle damage dropped for the M249 and RPD from 1.1x to 1.0x and for the MG3 from 1.25x to 1.1x, recoil control was reduced by 10 to 27 percent depending on stance, and LMG spawn rates fell by 30 percent.
Does update 43.1 apply to PUBG Mobile?
No. Update 43.1 is only for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. PUBG Mobile uses a separate version numbering and is on the 4.6 update, so none of the kick, water or LMG changes carry over to the phone version.
