Elevator hacking

Calling this a hack is way too generous, but TheDamnBlog has a little tip for getting the most out of your next elevator ride. Apparently lots of elevators have an express mode that lets you override everyone else's selections and go straight to the floor you're going to.  You just press "Door Close" and the button for your floor at the same time. Should work on most Otis elvators, as well as a few other models that are out there, but don't blame us when you accidentally go plunging to your death (blame TheDamnBlog, if you must).

[Via Digg]

[Adam @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

awesome! muahaha

[Alcaron @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

lol I wanna go take an elevator ride just to test this! I'll wait till my co-worker gets back though.

Hahaha, forget falling to your death, try being beaten to a bloody pulp by a bunch of angry elevator goers. :)

[Chaz @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Very cool that this is here. Having worked in construction before my current occupation as a networking geek I know of this but rarely used it for fear of getting my @$$ kicked by the other people on the elevator.

[Justin Turner @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Ummm...I remember hearing about this, oh I don't know, 8 years ago? This is hardly new news, and sorry to say I've yet to come across an elevator where this actually works...

[Wootage++IRL @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Shit, this is the stuff they should tech in schools. Useful information owns.

[Kyle K. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Haha, I've been doing this for a while now.

http://www.eeggs.com/items/12697.html

[sam @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

LOL, I'll have to try this on my way down for lunch. It would also work if nobody else was in the elevator yet and you just wanted to get from A to B without stopping, yes?

Haha, its so annoying when you get in the elevator and you're only going to the 7th floor in 18 floor building, and then someone enters and presses "5", and then someone "4", and then "3", and then "6". That has actually happened to me. Well, I wouldnt have the balls to pull this track then anyway, but at least when I'm going from 7 down to 2, i can use it and not have to stop at 5 and 3.

[vidGuy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Move in day will be so much easier at my university this year! Fantastic!

[Cakalusa @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

IT WORKS!

And I also have a bruise from an umbrella whacking me in the head.

[stump @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

doesn't work in the Prudential complex in Boston :(

[tLo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

damn... our elevators have no door close button =(

[J @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I used to do this all the time in school.

Some elevators will still make the stops, but never open the doors. If you hold the "Close" and the floor you want to go to, the elevator may stop on the floor, but the doors stay shut. After a few seconds the elevator will start moving back towards the floor you pressed.

This is very amusing because the doors are not sound proof. We could always hear people yelling that the doors wouldn't open as we were holding the buttons.

[S @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

wait, do you have to HOLD the close door button the whole trip? or only when you punch in your floor #?

And, if you enter an elevator where people are already going to different floors, coes it override, or just work when you enter a "fresh" elevator and want to bypass stops?

[Captain Obvious @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I'd like to try this, but we only have two floors in the building. Think it will still work?

[Mad Gerald @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

It doesn't work on our "Porn & Dunwoody" lifts as we don't have a close button either.

[Henry @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Cool! and make me wonder this may be possible after all.
Crosswalk Button Hacks
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2005/06/crosswalk_button_hacks.html

[Seth @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Completely off topic, but why does the picture have a 0 floor and a -1 floor?

[andy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Thanks, now that this is on all teh internets the feature will be disabled.

[ipodman715 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Umm, maybe basement level? :P

[TheSniperZERO @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I started doing this as a bike messenger 14 years ago. It's been around for a while.

[Pat @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

#4 Maybe they should start with spelling? *wink*

Great to know this. My friend actually build elevators for one of two company's who do it in the state of Washington. I'm guessing he knows this but I'm not sure. I'll have to ask him. Can't wait to use this and tick people off lol.

[Wolf @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Seth-

In Europe the ground floor is 0 instead of 1.

[Philip Hutchins @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

The sad fact that most of think your time and your purpose in daily life is SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than the rest of the world around you only shows you all to be a bunch of selfish schmucks. Old Guy Philip

[olderty @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Old Balls Philip:

It's called survival of the fittest.

[cnpalmer @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I also know in some Otis elevators some floors require a passcode to get to, depends on the nature of the bldg. and floor I guess. In order to select the floor, you are required to enter a 3 button code then press the button for the restricted floor you want to go to.

What really sucks is if you mess up the code you are headed to all 3 floors. Bring a Snickers for the ride.

[yuppicide @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

That's awesome. I have to find some elevators now.

[karmaghost @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

So, do you push the buttons Ctrl+Alt+del style or do you have to push both buttons at the exact same time? I tried the former method and it didn't work for me.

then again, i work at a mental health facility, so it would make sense if the feature was disabled here.

[Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

All fairness aside... I knew a bike messenger in NYC who had a fireman's elevator key, which supposedly is universal and usable in every elevator made. It allowed him to put the elevator in non-stop mode and go directly to the floor he wants & saving a lot of time. Of course if he knew about this he wouldn't need a key most of the time. I wonder if other messengers & delivery people who would benefit greatly (again, fairness aside) from this know about the trick.

[robbie schmelzer @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

This is the coolest thing ever, going in the "Be a Pirate 101" book.

[Your Sister's ex-Boyfriend @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

What do messengers do when they're other people in the elevator with them? Do they still use the key or just wait until the elev. is clear?

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

"Thanks, now that this is on all teh internets the feature will be disabled."

Fear not 'andy', this a gadget (read: GEEK) blog. Even in 2005, even post Bill Gates financial explosion to hell-god-emperor-billionaire people STILL don't take us geeks all that seriously.

The vulgar masses will get nothing from this posting...

Besides, judging by all the URL's in the comments this is a known 'hack' and it's ALREADY on the nets. No biggy...

Thanks (again) engadget!

[Tom @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Reminds me of the elevator in my college door (we lived on the 14th floor, at the top.) You could "bump" it, which meant pushing the stop button momentarily just as it started to slow to stop at a floor where someone had pushed the button, thereby skipping the floor entirely.

All of which worked great until about 15 people got stuck in there for an hour one night, I suspect because they were trying to bump floors.

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Now I am not saying you should do this, but another elevator hack I have seen used (don't remember the elevator brand and I have been on elevators where it hasn't worked but if you press any 3 floor buttons simultaneously it will clear everyones elevator choices. It is especially fun to get in an elevator with one person and then press all the buttons for every floor have the person look at you like you are crazy and then press 3 buttons to undo what you have done....it is important when doing this trick to make sure you remember which floors were selected before doing this so that you can laugh with the other rider rather than get your @ss kicked

[eddie @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

#30,

The first place that I saw this was on www.collegehumor.com so I think there may be a greater amount of people that have learned about this trick than you think.

[Michael Levy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

If some spammer messed with your hard drive so it would respond first to his adware program's requests instead of reading other programs' requests along the way, you'd all freak out.

But you think wasting other peoples' time in real life is funny?

[Snappy! @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Some lifts support "double-click" ... it toggles the button selection! ;)

[Eric @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

All the close door buttons here at work are covered to keep people from using this trick.

[brice @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

i work for otis elevator and can honestly say this will not work on most elevators, its in the software but is only turned on if the customer wants it which they usually dont. there is something called independent service which u have to hold the door close button to close the door then push the floor and go non stop which is probably what this person who wrote the article witnessed, but you have to have a key to turn it on :) which i have all of them. i go express every trip.

[Craig Shergold @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Ya wanna hack? Try elevator surfing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_surfing

[er_or @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

so brice, where could you think the most possible place, that the owner would leave it on.

is this safe?. what about other brands?

good stuff TheDamnBlog. I already put that

http://errortest.blogspot.com/2005/07/try-ar-hack-day-elevators.html

[Florian SEROUSSI @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

i just love this trick....works perfect for me!!

[jdtaylor @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

This does not help people like myself, as I have eyesight problems and I am reliant on lifts, and doing this does not help much unless I want to use them when it can be of benefit but really it should not be done as it could issues for people like myself as well as wheelchair users.

[Rob @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

That is a bunch of BS!! I work for OTIS. I know.