Fragmentation Chance in Escape from Tarkov: What the Ammo Stat Means

Fragmentation chance is a stat on Escape from Tarkov ammunition: the odds that a bullet breaks into pieces once it hits, which adds damage beyond the single wound channel. Community ammo charts list it next to damage, penetration and armor damage. It is a roll, so a high number raises the odds of extra wounds but never promises them.

The official wiki's ammo tables and item pages carry no fragmentation percentage, so the values below come from the tarkov.dev game-data export (updated 2 November 2026), which lists identical ammo stats for PvP and PvE.

What the stat is not

Three terms are mixed up constantly, and the official wiki's Ballistics page separates the first two.

Term	What it decides
Penetration	Whether the bullet gets through armor. The wiki says the chance is calculated from the armor's class, its remaining durability and the ammo's penetration power; the angle of impact does not change it
Ricochet	Whether the bullet bounces off a surface. See the ricochet chance entry
Fragmentation	Whether the bullet splits after impact

The same page explains that armor in Tarkov stops bullets completely and that a stopped bullet applies only blunt damage, a low share of its damage set by the armor's blunt throughput. The wiki does not say how fragmentation interacts with armor, so do not assume it adds damage through a plate.

Rounds built to fragment

The wiki describes two pistol-caliber rounds as frangible:

• 9x19mm RIP: a 6 gram bullet with eight copper petals that fragment quickly and move in different directions. Its wiki stats are damage 102, penetration 2 and armor damage 11, with light bleed +30 and heavy bleed +10.
• 5.7x28mm R37.F: a 2.4 gram copper bullet that opens into three petals. The wiki lists damage 98, penetration 8 and armor damage 7, and bleed +20 for both light and heavy.

Both pay for this with penetration, which the wiki states in plain terms for the R37.F ("at the cost of penetration capabilities"). The wiki lists RIP at Mechanic loyalty level 4 and R37.F at Mechanic loyalty level 3 after the task Secrets of Polikhim.

Fragmentation chance of common rounds

Round	Fragmentation	Penetration	Damage
9x19mm RIP	100%	2	102
5.7x28mm R37.F	100%	8	98
5.56x45mm Warmageddon	90%	3	88
5.56x45mm M855A1	44%	44	49
5.56x45mm M995	42%	53	42
5.45x39mm PS gs	40%	28	56
7.62x39mm PS gzh	20%	35	61
7.62x51mm M80	17%	43	80
5.45x39mm BS gs	17%	54	45
7.62x51mm M61	14%	60	73
7.62x39mm BP gzh	12%	47	58
7.62x54mm R BS gs	8%	70	72
9x19mm PBP gzh	5%	39	44
5.45x39mm 7N40	2%	42	55
12/70 buckshot (all types)	0%	1 to 3	35 to 50 per pellet

The pattern is clear: soft and hollow-point rounds sit at the top, most armor-piercing rounds near the bottom, and buckshot is listed at 0%. 5.56x45mm breaks the pattern: even M855A1 and M995 keep fragmentation above 40%. The same is true of every 5.8x42mm and 9.3x64mm round (50% each).

Older revisions of the official wiki (2021 and 2022) said that a fragmenting bullet dealt 50% bonus damage to the body part, and noted a bug: bullets below 20 penetration did not fragment at all, whatever their listed chance. The current wiki no longer mentions either point and Battlestate has not confirmed them, so treat them as history. If that rule still applied, the three rounds at the top of the table would never fragment, and their high damage, not the 100% figure, would be what you actually buy.

What changed over time

The ballistics rework of 30 June 2021 (0.12.11.0) covered penetration chances, bullet deviation and fragmentation for objects on all locations. The patch notes collected on the wiki contain no later change to a fragmentation setting, up to 1.3.0.

Related terms

• Ballistics and settings glossary: ricochet, arm stamina and inertia.
• Zeroing distance: matching a sight to your fight range.
• Inertia: the movement system.

The best armor guide compares helmets and plates.

FAQ

What does fragmentation chance do in Tarkov?

It is the odds that a bullet splits after hitting, which can add extra damage to the target. It is a random roll.

Is fragmentation the same as penetration?

No. Penetration decides whether a bullet gets through armor, while fragmentation decides whether it breaks up after impact.

Which ammo is designed to fragment?

The wiki describes 9x19mm RIP and 5.7x28mm R37.F as frangible, and tarkov.dev lists both at 100% fragmentation with very low penetration (2 and 8).

Which rifle ammo fragments most?

Among common rifle rounds, 5.56x45mm stands out: M855A1 is at 44% and M995 at 42% despite high penetration. Most 7.62 mm and 5.45x39mm armor-piercing rounds sit between 2% and 17%.