11 A Guide to the Mazes of Menace
12 (Guidebook for NetHack)
15 Original version - Eric S. Raymond
16 (Edited and expanded for 3.6 by Mike Stephenson and others)
22 Recently, you have begun to find yourself unfulfilled and
23 distant in your daily occupation. Strange dreams of prospecting,
24 stealing, crusading, and combat have haunted you in your sleep
25 for many months, but you aren't sure of the reason. You wonder
26 whether you have in fact been having those dreams all your life,
27 and somehow managed to forget about them until now. Some nights
28 you awaken suddenly and cry out, terrified at the vivid recollec-
29 tion of the strange and powerful creatures that seem to be lurk-
30 ing behind every corner of the dungeon in your dream. Could
31 these details haunting your dreams be real? As each night pass-
32 es, you feel the desire to enter the mysterious caverns near the
33 ruins grow stronger. Each morning, however, you quickly put the
34 idea out of your head as you recall the tales of those who en-
35 tered the caverns before you and did not return. Eventually you
36 can resist the yearning to seek out the fantastic place in your
37 dreams no longer. After all, when other adventurers came back
38 this way after spending time in the caverns, they usually seemed
39 better off than when they passed through the first time. And who
40 was to say that all of those who did not return had not just kept
43 Asking around, you hear about a bauble, called the Amulet of
44 Yendor by some, which, if you can find it, will bring you great
45 wealth. One legend you were told even mentioned that the one who
46 finds the amulet will be granted immortality by the gods. The
47 amulet is rumored to be somewhere beyond the Valley of Gehennom,
48 deep within the Mazes of Menace. Upon hearing the legends, you
49 immediately realize that there is some profound and undiscovered
50 reason that you are to descend into the caverns and seek out that
51 amulet of which they spoke. Even if the rumors of the amulet's
52 powers are untrue, you decide that you should at least be able to
53 sell the tales of your adventures to the local minstrels for a
54 tidy sum, especially if you encounter any of the terrifying and
55 magical creatures of your dreams along the way. You spend one
56 last night fortifying yourself at the local inn, becoming more
57 and more depressed as you watch the odds of your success being
58 posted on the inn's walls getting lower and lower.
73 In the morning you awake, collect your belongings, and set
74 off for the dungeon. After several days of uneventful travel,
75 you see the ancient ruins that mark the entrance to the Mazes of
76 Menace. It is late at night, so you make camp at the entrance
77 and spend the night sleeping under the open skies. In the morn-
78 ing, you gather your gear, eat what may be your last meal out-
79 side, and enter the dungeon...
81 2. What is going on here?
83 You have just begun a game of NetHack. Your goal is to grab
84 as much treasure as you can, retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, and
85 escape the Mazes of Menace alive.
87 Your abilities and strengths for dealing with the hazards of
88 adventure will vary with your background and training:
90 Archeologists understand dungeons pretty well; this enables
91 them to move quickly and sneak up on the local nasties. They
92 start equipped with the tools for a proper scientific expedition.
94 Barbarians are warriors out of the hinterland, hardened to
95 battle. They begin their quests with naught but uncommon
96 strength, a trusty hauberk, and a great two-handed sword.
98 Cavemen and Cavewomen start with exceptional strength but,
99 unfortunately, with neolithic weapons.
101 Healers are wise in medicine and apothecary. They know the
102 herbs and simples that can restore vitality, ease pain, anes-
103 thetize, and neutralize poisons; and with their instruments, they
104 can divine a being's state of health or sickness. Their medical
105 practice earns them quite reasonable amounts of money, with which
106 they enter the dungeon.
108 Knights are distinguished from the common skirmisher by
109 their devotion to the ideals of chivalry and by the surpassing
110 excellence of their armor.
112 Monks are ascetics, who by rigorous practice of physical and
113 mental disciplines have become capable of fighting as effectively
114 without weapons as with. They wear no armor but make up for it
115 with increased mobility.
117 Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders ad-
118 vancing the cause of righteousness with arms, armor, and arts
119 thaumaturgic. Their ability to commune with deities via prayer
120 occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in
123 Rangers are most at home in the woods, and some say slightly
124 out of place in a dungeon. They are, however, experts in archery
125 as well as tracking and stealthy movement.
129 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
139 Rogues are agile and stealthy thieves, with knowledge of
140 locks, traps, and poisons. Their advantage lies in surprise,
141 which they employ to great advantage.
143 Samurai are the elite warriors of feudal Nippon. They are
144 lightly armored and quick, and wear the dai-sho, two swords of
145 the deadliest keenness.
147 Tourists start out with lots of gold (suitable for shopping
148 with), a credit card, lots of food, some maps, and an expensive
149 camera. Most monsters don't like being photographed.
151 Valkyries are hardy warrior women. Their upbringing in the
152 harsh Northlands makes them strong, inures them to extremes of
153 cold, and instills in them stealth and cunning.
155 Wizards start out with a knowledge of magic, a selection of
156 magical items, and a particular affinity for dweomercraft. Al-
157 though seemingly weak and easy to overcome at first sight, an ex-
158 perienced Wizard is a deadly foe.
160 You may also choose the race of your character (within lim-
161 its; most roles have restrictions on which races are eligible for
164 Dwarves are smaller than humans or elves, but are stocky and
165 solid individuals. Dwarves' most notable trait is their great
166 expertise in mining and metalwork. Dwarvish armor is said to be
167 second in quality not even to the mithril armor of the Elves.
169 Elves are agile, quick, and perceptive; very little of what
170 goes on will escape an Elf. The quality of Elven craftsmanship
171 often gives them an advantage in arms and armor.
173 Gnomes are smaller than but generally similar to dwarves.
174 Gnomes are known to be expert miners, and it is known that a se-
175 cret underground mine complex built by this race exists within
176 the Mazes of Menace, filled with both riches and danger.
178 Humans are by far the most common race of the surface world,
179 and are thus the norm to which other races are often compared.
180 Although they have no special abilities, they can succeed in any
183 Orcs are a cruel and barbaric race that hate every living
184 thing (including other orcs). Above all others, Orcs hate Elves
185 with a passion unequalled, and will go out of their way to kill
186 one at any opportunity. The armor and weapons fashioned by the
187 Orcs are typically of inferior quality.
189 3. What do all those things on the screen mean?
191 On the screen is kept a map of where you have been and what
192 you have seen on the current dungeon level; as you explore more
195 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
205 of the level, it appears on the screen in front of you.
207 When NetHack's ancestor rogue first appeared, its screen
208 orientation was almost unique among computer fantasy games.
209 Since then, screen orientation has become the norm rather than
210 the exception; NetHack continues this fine tradition. Unlike
211 text adventure games that accept commands in pseudo-English sen-
212 tences and explain the results in words, NetHack commands are all
213 one or two keystrokes and the results are displayed graphically
214 on the screen. A minimum screen size of 24 lines by 80 columns
215 is recommended; if the screen is larger, only a 21x80 section
216 will be used for the map.
218 NetHack can even be played by blind players, with the assis-
219 tance of Braille readers or speech synthesisers. Instructions
220 for configuring NetHack for the blind are included later in this
223 NetHack generates a new dungeon every time you play it; even
224 the authors still find it an entertaining and exciting game de-
225 spite having won several times.
227 NetHack offers a variety of display options. The options
228 available to you will vary from port to port, depending on the
229 capabilities of your hardware and software, and whether various
230 compile-time options were enabled when your executable was creat-
231 ed. The three possible display options are: a monochrome charac-
232 ter interface, a color character interface, and a graphical in-
233 terface using small pictures called tiles. The two character in-
234 terfaces allow fonts with other characters to be substituted, but
235 the default assignments use standard ASCII characters to repre-
236 sent everything. There is no difference between the various dis-
237 play options with respect to game play. Because we cannot repro-
238 duce the tiles or colors in the Guidebook, and because it is com-
239 mon to all ports, we will use the default ASCII characters from
240 the monochrome character display when referring to things you
241 might see on the screen during your game.
243 In order to understand what is going on in NetHack, first
244 you must understand what NetHack is doing with the screen. The
245 NetHack screen replaces the "You see ..." descriptions of text
246 adventure games. Figure 1 is a sample of what a NetHack screen
247 might look like. The way the screen looks for you depends on
261 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
271 +----------------------------------------------------------------+
275 | |....| ---------- |
276 | |.<..|####...@...$.| |
277 | |....-# |...B....+ |
278 | |....| |.d......| |
279 | ------ -------|-- |
283 |Player the Rambler St:12 Dx:7 Co:18 In:11 Wi:9 Ch:15 Neutral |
284 |Dlvl:1 $:0 HP:9(12) Pw:3(3) AC:10 Exp:1/19 T:257 Weak |
285 +---------------------------Figure-1-----------------------------+
287 3.1. The status lines (bottom)
289 The bottom two lines of the screen contain several cryptic
290 pieces of information describing your current status. If either
291 status line becomes longer than the width of the screen, you
292 might not see all of it. Here are explanations of what the vari-
293 ous status items mean (though your configuration may not have all
294 the status items listed below):
297 Your character's name and professional ranking (based on the
298 experience level, see below).
301 A measure of your character's strength; one of your six ba-
302 sic attributes. A human character's attributes can range
303 from 3 to 18 inclusive; non-humans may exceed these limits
304 (occasionally you may get super-strengths of the form 18/xx,
305 and magic can also cause attributes to exceed the normal
306 limits). The higher your strength, the stronger you are.
307 Strength affects how successfully you perform physical
308 tasks, how much damage you do in combat, and how much loot
312 Dexterity affects your chances to hit in combat, to avoid
313 traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or manipulation
317 Constitution affects your ability to recover from injuries
318 and other strains on your stamina. When strength is low or
319 modest, constitution also affects how much you can carry.
320 With sufficiently high strength, the contribution to carry-
321 ing capacity from your constitution no longer matters.
324 Intelligence affects your ability to cast spells and read
327 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
340 Wisdom comes from your practical experience (especially when
341 dealing with magic). It affects your magical energy.
344 Charisma affects how certain creatures react toward you. In
345 particular, it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.
348 Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Often, Lawful is taken as good
349 and Chaotic as evil, but legal and ethical do not always co-
350 incide. Your alignment influences how other monsters react
351 toward you. Monsters of a like alignment are more likely to
352 be non-aggressive, while those of an opposing alignment are
353 more likely to be seriously offended at your presence.
356 How deep you are in the dungeon. You start at level one and
357 the number increases as you go deeper into the dungeon.
358 Some levels are special, and are identified by a name and
359 not a number. The Amulet of Yendor is reputed to be some-
360 where beneath the twentieth level.
363 The number of gold pieces you are openly carrying. Gold
364 which you have concealed in containers is not counted.
367 Your current and maximum hit points. Hit points indicate
368 how much damage you can take before you die. The more you
369 get hit in a fight, the lower they get. You can regain hit
370 points by resting, or by using certain magical items or
371 spells. The number in parentheses is the maximum number
372 your hit points can reach.
375 Spell points. This tells you how much mystic energy (mana)
376 you have available for spell casting. Again, resting will
377 regenerate the amount available.
380 A measure of how effectively your armor stops blows from un-
381 friendly creatures. The lower this number is, the more ef-
382 fective the armor; it is quite possible to have negative ar-
386 Your current experience level and experience points. As you
387 adventure, you gain experience points. At certain experi-
388 ence point totals, you gain an experience level. The more
389 experienced you are, the better you fight and withstand mag-
390 ical attacks. Many dungeons show only your experience level
393 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
406 The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed if you have
410 Hunger: your current hunger status. Values are Satiated,
411 Not Hungry (or Normal), Hungry, Weak, and Fainting. Not
414 Encumbrance: an indication of how what you are carrying af-
415 fects your ability to move. Values are Unencumbered, Encum-
416 bered, Stressed, Strained, Overtaxed, and Overloaded. Not
417 shown when Unencumbered.
419 Fatal conditions: Stone (aka Petrifying, turning to stone),
420 Slime (turning into green slime), Strngl (being strangled),
421 FoodPois (suffering from acute food poisoning), TermIll
422 (suffering from a terminal illness).
424 Non-fatal conditions: Blind (can't see), Deaf (can't hear),
425 Stun (stunned), Conf (confused), Hallu (hallucinating).
427 Movement modifiers: Lev (levitating), Fly (flying), Ride
430 Other conditions and modifiers exist, but there isn't enough
431 room to display them with the other status fields. The `^X'
432 command shows all relevant status conditions.
434 3.2. The message line (top)
436 The top line of the screen is reserved for messages that de-
437 scribe things that are impossible to represent visually. If you
438 see a "--More--" on the top line, this means that NetHack has an-
439 other message to display on the screen, but it wants to make cer-
440 tain that you've read the one that is there first. To read the
441 next message, just press the space bar.
443 To change how and what messages are shown on the message
444 line, see "Configuring Message Types" and the verbose option.
446 3.3. The map (rest of the screen)
448 The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have
449 explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents some-
450 thing. You can set various graphics options to change some of
451 the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default
452 symbols. Here is a list of what the default symbols mean:
455 The walls of a room, or an open door. Or a grave (|).
459 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
469 . The floor of a room, ice, or a doorless doorway.
471 # A corridor, or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly a kitchen
472 sink (if your dungeon has sinks), or a drawbridge.
474 > Stairs down: a way to the next level.
476 < Stairs up: a way to the previous level.
478 + A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell you may be
481 @ Your character or a human.
485 ^ A trap (once you have detected it).
489 [ A suit or piece of armor.
491 % Something edible (not necessarily healthy).
501 ( A useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp...).
503 " An amulet or a spider web.
505 * A gem or rock (possibly valuable, possibly worthless).
507 ` A boulder or statue.
511 _ An altar, or an iron chain.
515 } A pool of water or moat or a pool of lava.
519 a-zA-Z and other symbols
520 Letters and certain other symbols represent the various in-
521 habitants of the Mazes of Menace. Watch out, they can be
522 nasty and vicious. Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.
525 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
535 I This marks the last known location of an invisible or other-
536 wise unseen monster. Note that the monster could have
537 moved. The `F' and `m' commands may be useful here.
539 You need not memorize all these symbols; you can ask the
540 game what any symbol represents with the `/' command (see the
541 next section for more info).
545 Commands can be initiated by typing one or two characters to
546 which the command is bound to, or typing the command name in the
547 extended commands entry. Some commands, like "search", do not
548 require that any more information be collected by NetHack. Other
549 commands might require additional information, for example a di-
550 rection, or an object to be used. For those commands that re-
551 quire additional information, NetHack will present you with ei-
552 ther a menu of choices or with a command line prompt requesting
553 information. Which you are presented with will depend chiefly on
554 how you have set the menustyle option.
556 For example, a common question, in the form "What do you
557 want to use? [a-zA-Z ?*]", asks you to choose an object you are
558 carrying. Here, "a-zA-Z" are the inventory letters of your pos-
559 sible choices. Typing `?' gives you an inventory list of these
560 items, so you can see what each letter refers to. In this exam-
561 ple, there is also a `*' indicating that you may choose an object
562 not on the list, if you wanted to use something unexpected. Typ-
563 ing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the inven-
564 tory letters of every object you're carrying. Finally, if you
565 change your mind and decide you don't want to do this command af-
566 ter all, you can press the ESC key to abort the command.
568 You can put a number before some commands to repeat them
569 that many times; for example, "10s" will search ten times. If
570 you have the number_pad option set, you must type `n' to prefix a
571 count, so the example above would be typed "n10s" instead. Com-
572 mands for which counts make no sense ignore them. In addition,
573 movement commands can be prefixed for greater control (see be-
574 low). To cancel a count or a prefix, press the ESC key.
576 The list of commands is rather long, but it can be read at
577 any time during the game through the `?' command, which accesses
578 a menu of helpful texts. Here are the default key bindings for
581 ? Help menu: display one of several help texts available.
583 / The "whatis" command, to tell what a symbol represents. You
584 may choose to specify a location or type a symbol (or even a
585 whole word) to explain. Specifying a location is done by
586 moving the cursor to a particular spot on the map and then
587 pressing one of `.', `,', `;', or `:'. `.' will explain the
588 symbol at the chosen location, conditionally check for "More
591 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
601 info?" depending upon whether the help option is on, and
602 then you will be asked to pick another location; `,' will
603 explain the symbol but skip any additional information, then
604 let you pick another location; `;' will skip additional info
605 and also not bother asking you to choose another location to
606 examine; `:' will show additional info, if any, without ask-
607 ing for confirmation. When picking a location, pressing the
608 ESC key will terminate this command, or pressing `?' will
609 give a brief reminder about how it works.
611 If the autodescribe option is on, a short description of
612 what you see at each location is shown as you move the cur-
613 sor. Typing `#' while picking a location will toggle that
614 option on or off. The whatis_coord option controls whether
615 the short description includes map coordinates.
617 Specifying a name rather than a location always gives any
618 additional information available about that name.
620 You may also request a description of nearby monsters, all
621 monsters currently displayed, nearby objects, or all ob-
622 jects. The whatis_coord option controls which format of map
623 coordinate is included with their descriptions.
625 & Tell what a command does.
627 < Go up to the previous level (if you are on a staircase or
630 > Go down to the next level (if you are on a staircase or lad-
634 Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure 2). If
635 you sense or remember a monster there, you will fight the
636 monster instead. Only these one-step movement commands
637 cause you to fight monsters; the others (below) are "safe."
644 (if number_pad is set)
649 Go in that direction until you hit a wall or run into some-
653 Prefix: move without picking up objects or fighting (even
654 if you remember a monster there).
657 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
667 A few non-movement commands use the `m' prefix to request
668 operating via menu (to temporarily override the
669 menustyle:Traditional option). Primarily useful for `,'
670 (pickup) when there is only one class of objects present
671 (where there won't be any "what kinds of objects?" prompt,
672 so no opportunity to answer `m' at that prompt).
674 A few other commands (eat food, offer sacrifice, apply tin-
675 ning-kit) use the `m' prefix to skip checking for applicable
676 objects on the floor and go straight to checking inventory,
677 or (for "#loot" to remove a saddle), skip containers and go
678 straight to adjacent monsters. The prefix will make "#trav-
679 el" command show a menu of interesting targets in sight. In
680 debug mode (aka "wizard mode"), the `m' prefix may also be
681 used with the "#teleport" and "#wizlevelport" commands.
684 Prefix: fight a monster (even if you only guess one is
688 Prefix: move far, no pickup.
691 Prefix: move until something interesting is found.
693 G[yuhjklbn] or <CONTROL->[yuhjklbn]
694 Prefix: same as `g', but forking of corridors is not con-
697 _ Travel to a map location via a shortest-path algorithm.
699 The shortest path is computed over map locations the hero
700 knows about (e.g. seen or previously traversed). If there
701 is no known path, a guess is made instead. Stops on most of
702 the same conditions as the `G' command, but without picking
703 up objects, similar to the `M' command. For ports with
704 mouse support, the command is also invoked when a mouse-
705 click takes place on a location other than the current posi-
708 . Wait or rest, do nothing for one turn.
710 a Apply (use) a tool (pick-axe, key, lamp...).
712 If used on a wand, that wand will be broken, releasing its
713 magic in the process. Confirmation is required.
715 A Remove one or more worn items, such as armor.
717 Use `T' (take off) to take off only one piece of armor or
718 `R' (remove) to take off only one accessory.
723 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
733 ^A Redo the previous command.
737 C Call (name) a monster, an individual object, or a type of
740 Same as extended command "#name".
742 ^C Panic button. Quit the game.
746 For example "d7a" means drop seven items of object a.
748 D Drop several things.
750 In answer to the question
752 "What kinds of things do you want to drop? [!%= BUCXaium]"
754 you should type zero or more object symbols possibly fol-
755 lowed by `a' and/or `i' and/or `u' and/or `m'. In addition,
756 one or more of the blessed/uncursed/cursed groups may be
759 DB - drop all objects known to be blessed.
760 DU - drop all objects known to be uncursed.
761 DC - drop all objects known to be cursed.
762 DX - drop all objects of unknown B/U/C status.
763 Da - drop all objects, without asking for confirmation.
764 Di - examine your inventory before dropping anything.
765 Du - drop only unpaid objects (when in a shop).
766 Dm - use a menu to pick which object(s) to drop.
767 D%u - drop only unpaid food.
769 The last example shows a combination. There are three cate-
770 gories of object filtering: class (`!' for potions, `?' for
771 scrolls, and so on), shop status (`u' for unpaid, in other
772 words, owned by the shop), and bless/curse state (`B', `U',
773 `C', and `X' as shown above). If you specify more than one
774 value in a category (such as "!?" for potions and scrolls or
775 "BU" for blessed and uncursed), an inventory object will
776 meet the criteria if it matches any of the specified values
777 (so "!?" means `!' or `?'). If you specify more than one
778 category, an inventory object must meet each of the category
779 criteria (so "%u" means class `%' and unpaid `u'). Lastly,
780 you may specify multiple values within multiple categories:
781 "!?BU" will select all potions and scrolls which are known
782 to be blessed or uncursed. (In versions prior to 3.6, fil-
783 ter combinations behaved differently.)
785 ^D Kick something (usually a door).
789 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
801 Normally checks for edible item(s) on the floor, then if
802 none are found or none are chosen, checks for edible item(s)
803 in inventory. Precede `e' with the `m' prefix to bypass at-
804 tempting to eat anything off the floor.
806 E Engrave a message on the floor.
808 E- - write in the dust with your fingers.
810 Engraving the word "Elbereth" will cause most monsters to
811 not attack you hand-to-hand (but if you attack, you will rub
812 it out); this is often useful to give yourself a breather.
814 f Fire (shoot or throw) one of the objects placed in your
815 quiver (or quiver sack, or that you have at the ready). You
816 may select ammunition with a previous `Q' command, or let
817 the computer pick something appropriate if autoquiver is
820 See also `t' (throw) for more general throwing and shooting.
822 i List your inventory (everything you're carrying).
824 I List selected parts of your inventory, usually be specifying
825 the character for a particular set of objects, like `[' for
826 armor or `!' for potions.
828 I* - list all gems in inventory;
829 Iu - list all unpaid items;
830 Ix - list all used up items that are on your shopping bill;
831 IB - list all items known to be blessed;
832 IU - list all items known to be uncursed;
833 IC - list all items known to be cursed;
834 IX - list all items whose bless/curse status is unknown;
835 I$ - count your money.
841 A menu showing the current option values will be displayed.
842 You can change most values simply by selecting the menu en-
843 try for the given option (ie, by typing its letter or click-
844 ing upon it, depending on your user interface). For the
845 non-boolean choices, a further menu or prompt will appear
846 once you've closed this menu. The available options are
847 listed later in this Guidebook. Options are usually set be-
848 fore the game rather than with the `O' command; see the sec-
849 tion on options below.
855 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
865 Shortcut for "#overview": list interesting dungeon levels
868 (Prior to 3.6.0, `^O' was a debug mode command which listed
869 the placement of all special levels. Use "#wizwhere" to run
872 p Pay your shopping bill.
874 P Put on an accessory (ring, amulet, or blindfold).
876 This command may also be used to wear armor. The prompt for
877 which inventory item to use will only list accessories, but
878 choosing an unlisted item of armor will attempt to wear it.
879 (See the `W' command below. It lists armor as the inventory
880 choices but will accept an accessory and attempt to put that
883 ^P Repeat previous message.
885 Subsequent `^P's repeat earlier messages. For some inter-
886 faces, the behavior can be varied via the msg_window option.
888 q Quaff (drink) something (potion, water, etc).
890 Q Select an object for your quiver, quiver sack, or just gen-
891 erally at the ready (only one of these is available at a
892 time). You can then throw this (or one of these) using the
895 (In versions prior to 3.3 this was the command to quit the
896 game, which has been moved to "#quit".)
898 r Read a scroll or spellbook.
900 R Remove a worn accessory (ring, amulet, or blindfold).
902 If you're wearing more than one, you'll be prompted for
903 which one to remove. When you're only wearing one, then by
904 default it will be removed without asking, but you can set
905 the paranoid_confirmation option to require a prompt.
907 This command may also be used to take off armor. The prompt
908 for which inventory item to remove only lists worn acces-
909 sories, but an item of worn armor can be chosen. (See the
910 `T' command below. It lists armor as the inventory choices
911 but will accept an accessory and attempt to remove it.)
913 ^R Redraw the screen.
915 s Search for secret doors and traps around you. It usually
916 takes several tries to find something.
921 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
931 Can also be used to figure out whether there is still a mon-
932 ster at an adjacent "remembered, unseen monster" marker.
934 S Save the game (which suspends play and exits the program).
935 The saved game will be restored automatically the next time
936 you play using the same character name.
938 In normal play, once a saved game is restored the file used
939 to hold the saved data is deleted. In explore mode, once
940 restoration is accomplished you are asked whether to keep or
941 delete the file. Keeping the file makes it feasible to play
942 for a while then quit without saving and later restore
945 There is no "save current game state and keep playing" com-
946 mand, not even in explore mode where saved game files can be
949 t Throw an object or shoot a projectile.
951 There's no separate "shoot" command. If you throw an arrow
952 while wielding a bow, you are shooting that arrow and any
953 weapon skill bonus or penalty for bow applies. If you throw
954 an arrow while not wielding a bow, you are throwing it by
955 hand and it will generally be less effective than when shot.
957 See also `f' (fire) for throwing or shooting an item pre-se-
958 lected via the `Q' (quiver) command.
962 If you're wearing more than one piece, you'll be prompted
963 for which one to take off. (Note that this treats a cloak
964 covering a suit and/or a shirt, or a suit covering a shirt,
965 as if the underlying items weren't there.) When you're only
966 wearing one, then by default it will be taken off without
967 asking, but you can set the paranoid_confirmation option to
970 This command may also be used to remove accessories. The
971 prompt for which inventory item to take off only lists worn
972 armor, but a worn accessory can be chosen. (See the `R'
973 command above. It lists accessories as the inventory choic-
974 es but will accept an item of armor and attempt to take it
977 ^T Teleport, if you have the ability.
979 v Display version number.
981 V Display the game history.
987 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
997 w- - wield nothing, use your bare (or gloved) hands.
999 Some characters can wield two weapons at once; use the `X'
1000 command (or the "#twoweapon" extended command) to do so.
1004 This command may also be used to put on an accessory (ring,
1005 amulet, or blindfold). The prompt for which inventory item
1006 to use will only list armor, but choosing an unlisted acces-
1007 sory will attempt to put it on. (See the `P' command above.
1008 It lists accessories as the inventory choices but will ac-
1009 cept an item of armor and attempt to wear it.)
1011 x Exchange your wielded weapon with the item in your alternate
1014 The latter is used as your secondary weapon when engaging in
1015 two-weapon combat. Note that if one of these slots is emp-
1016 ty, the exchange still takes place.
1018 X Toggle two-weapon combat, if your character can do it. Also
1019 available via the "#twoweapon" extended command.
1021 (In versions prior to 3.6 this was the command to switch
1022 from normal play to "explore mode", also known as "discovery
1023 mode", which has now been moved to "#exploremode".)
1025 ^X Display basic information about your character.
1027 Displays name, role, race, gender (unless role name makes
1028 that redundant, such as Caveman or Priestess), and align-
1029 ment, along with your patron deity and his or her opposi-
1030 tion. It also shows most of the various items of informa-
1031 tion from the status line(s) in a less terse form, including
1032 several additional things which don't appear in the normal
1033 status display due to space considerations.
1035 In normal play, that's all that `^X' displays. In explore
1036 mode, the role and status feedback is augmented by the in-
1037 formation provided by enlightenment magic.
1041 z. - to aim at yourself, use `.' for the direction.
1043 Z Zap (cast) a spell.
1045 Z. - to cast at yourself, use `.' for the direction.
1050 (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.
1053 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1059 NetHack Guidebook 17
1063 ^Z Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).
1065 : Look at what is here.
1067 ; Show what type of thing a visible symbol corresponds to.
1069 , Pick up some things from the floor beneath you.
1071 May be preceded by `m' to force a selection menu.
1073 @ Toggle the autopickup option on and off.
1075 ^ Ask for the type of an adjacent trap you found earlier.
1077 ) Tell what weapon you are wielding.
1079 [ Tell what armor you are wearing.
1081 = Tell what rings you are wearing.
1083 " Tell what amulet you are wearing.
1085 ( Tell what tools you are using.
1087 * Tell what equipment you are using.
1089 Combines the preceding five type-specific commands into one.
1091 $ Count your gold pieces.
1093 + List the spells you know.
1095 Using this command, you can also rearrange the order in
1096 which your spells are listed, either by sorting the entire
1097 list or by picking one spell from the menu then picking an-
1098 other to swap places with it. Swapping pairs of spells
1099 changes their casting letters, so the change lasts after the
1100 current `+' command finishes. Sorting the whole list is
1101 temporary. To make the most recent sort order persist be-
1102 yond the current `+' command, choose the sort option again
1103 and then pick "reassign casting letters". (Any spells
1104 learned after that will be added to the end of the list
1105 rather than be inserted into the sorted ordering.)
1107 \ Show what types of objects have been discovered.
1109 ` Show discovered types for one class of objects.
1111 ! Escape to a shell.
1113 # Perform an extended command.
1119 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1125 NetHack Guidebook 18
1129 As you can see, the authors of NetHack used up all the let-
1130 ters, so this is a way to introduce the less frequently used com-
1131 mands. What extended commands are available depends on what fea-
1132 tures the game was compiled with.
1135 Adjust inventory letters (most useful when the fixinv option
1136 is "on"). Autocompletes. Default key is `M-a'.
1138 This command allows you to move an item from one particular
1139 inventory slot to another so that it has a letter which is
1140 more meaningful for you or that it will appear in a particu-
1141 lar location when inventory listings are displayed. You can
1142 move to a currently empty slot, or if the destination is oc-
1143 cupied -- and won't merge -- the item there will swap slots
1144 with the one being moved. "#adjust" can also be used to
1145 split a stack of objects; when choosing the item to adjust,
1146 enter a count prior to its letter.
1148 Adjusting without a count used to collect all compatible
1149 stacks when moving to the destination. That behavior has
1150 been changed; to gather compatible stacks, "#adjust" a stack
1151 into its own inventory slot. If it has a name assigned,
1152 other stacks with the same name or with no name will merge
1153 provided that all their other attributes match. If it does
1154 not have a name, only other stacks with no name are eligi-
1155 ble. In either case, otherwise compatible stacks with a
1156 different name will not be merged. This contrasts with us-
1157 ing "#adjust" to move from one slot to a different slot. In
1158 that situation, moving (no count given) a compatible stack
1159 will merge if either stack has a name when the other doesn't
1160 and give that name to the result, while splitting (count
1161 given) will ignore the source stack's name when deciding
1162 whether to merge with the destination stack.
1165 Allows you to specify one line of text to associate with the
1166 current dungeon level. All levels with annotations are dis-
1167 played by the "#overview" command. Autocompletes. Default
1168 key is `M-A', and also `^N' if number_pad is on.
1171 Apply (use) a tool such as a pick-axe, a key, or a lamp.
1174 If the tool used acts on items on the floor, using the `m'
1175 prefix skips those items.
1177 If used on a wand, that wand will be broken, releasing its
1178 magic in the process. Confirmation is required.
1181 Show your attributes. Default key is `^X'.
1185 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1191 NetHack Guidebook 19
1196 Toggle the autopickup option on/off. Default key is `@'.
1199 Call (name) a monster, or an object in inventory, on the
1200 floor, or in the discoveries list, or add an annotation for
1201 the current level (same as "#annotate"). Default key is
1205 Cast a spell. Default key is `Z'.
1208 Talk to someone. Default key is `M-c'.
1211 Close a door. Default key is `c'.
1214 List voluntary challenges you have maintained. Autocom-
1215 pletes. Default key is `M-C'.
1217 See the section below entitled "Conduct" for details.
1220 Dip an object into something. Autocompletes. Default key
1224 Go down a staircase. Default key is `>'.
1227 Drop an item. Default key is `d'.
1230 Drop specific item types. Default key is `D'.
1233 Eat something. Default key is `e'. The `m' prefix skips
1234 eating items on the floor.
1237 Engrave writing on the floor. Default key is `E'.
1240 Advance or check weapon and spell skills. Autocompletes.
1241 Default key is `M-e'.
1244 Enter the explore mode.
1247 Fire ammunition from quiver. Default key is `f'.
1251 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1257 NetHack Guidebook 20
1262 Force a lock. Autocompletes. Default key is `M-f'.
1265 Show what type of thing a map symbol corresponds to. De-
1269 Show the help menu. Default key is `?', and also `h' if
1273 Show a menu of possible actions in your current location.
1276 Show long version and game history. Default key is `V'.
1279 Show your inventory. Default key is `i'.
1282 Inventory specific item types. Default key is `I'.
1285 Invoke an object's special powers. Autocompletes. Default
1289 Jump to another location. Autocompletes. Default key is
1290 `M-j', and also `j' if number_pad is on.
1293 Kick something. Default key is `^D', and `k' if number_pad
1297 Show what object types have been discovered. Default key is
1301 Show discovered types for one class of objects. Default key
1305 Change your experience level. Autocompletes. Debug mode
1309 Show mobile light sources. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1312 Look at what is here, under you. Default key is `:'.
1317 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1323 NetHack Guidebook 21
1328 Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you, or the saddle
1329 from a steed standing next to you. Autocompletes. Precede
1330 with the `m' prefix to skip containers at your location and
1331 go directly to removing a saddle. Default key is `M-l', and
1332 also `l' if number_pad is on.
1335 Use a monster's special ability (when polymorphed into mon-
1336 ster form). Autocompletes. Default key is `M-m'.
1339 Name a monster, an individual object, or a type of object.
1340 Same as "#call". Autocompletes. Default keys are `N', `M-
1344 Offer a sacrifice to the gods. Autocompletes. Default key
1347 You'll need to find an altar to have any chance at success.
1348 Corpses of recently killed monsters are the fodder of
1351 The `m' prefix skips offering any items which are on the al-
1355 Open a door. Default key is `o'.
1358 Show and change option settings. Default key is `O'.
1361 Display information you've discovered about the dungeon.
1362 Any visited level (unless forgotten due to amnesia) with an
1363 annotation is included, and many things (altars, thrones,
1364 fountains, and so on; extra stairs leading to another dun-
1365 geon branch) trigger an automatic annotation. If dungeon
1366 overview is chosen during end-of-game disclosure, every vis-
1367 ited level will be included regardless of annotations. Au-
1368 tocompletes. Default keys are `^O', and `M-O'.
1371 Test the panic routine. Terminates the current game. Auto-
1372 completes. Debug mode only.
1375 Pay your shopping bill. Default key is `p'.
1378 Pick up things at the current location. Default key is `,'.
1379 The `m' prefix forces use of a menu.
1383 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1389 NetHack Guidebook 22
1394 Polymorph self. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1397 Pray to the gods for help. Autocompletes. Default key is
1400 Praying too soon after receiving prior help is a bad idea.
1401 (Hint: entering the dungeon alive is treated as having re-
1402 ceived help. You probably shouldn't start off a new game by
1403 praying right away.) Since using this command by accident
1404 can cause trouble, there is an option to make you confirm
1405 your intent before praying. It is enabled by default, and
1406 you can reset the paranoid_confirmation option to disable
1410 Show previously displayed game messages. Default key is
1414 Put on an accessory (ring, amulet, etc). Default key is
1418 Quaff (drink) something. Default key is `q'.
1421 Quit the program without saving your game. Autocompletes.
1422 Default key is `M-q'.
1424 Since using this command by accident would throw away the
1425 current game, you are asked to confirm your intent before
1426 quitting. By default a response of `y' acknowledges that
1427 intent. You can set the paranoid_confirmation option to re-
1428 quire a response of "yes" instead.
1431 Select ammunition for quiver. Default key is `Q'.
1434 Read a scroll, a spellbook, or something else. Default key
1438 Redraw the screen. Default key is `^R', and also `^L' if
1442 Remove an accessory (ring, amulet, etc). Default key is
1446 Ride (or stop riding) a saddled creature. Autocompletes.
1449 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1455 NetHack Guidebook 23
1459 Default key is `M-R'.
1462 Rub a lamp or a stone. Autocompletes. Default key is `M-
1466 Save the game and exit the program. Default key is `S'.
1469 Search for traps and secret doors around you. Default key
1473 Show all equipment in use. Default key is `*'.
1476 Show the amulet currently worn. Default key is `"'.
1479 Show the armor currently worn. Default key is `['.
1482 Count your gold. Default key is `$'.
1485 Show seen vectors. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1488 Show the ring(s) currently worn. Default key is `='.
1491 List and reorder known spells. Default key is `+'.
1494 Show the tools currently in use. Default key is `('.
1497 Show the type of an adjacent trap. Default key is `^'.
1500 Show the weapon currently wielded. Default key is `)'.
1503 Do a shell escape. Default key is `!'.
1506 Sit down. Autocompletes. Default key is `M-s'.
1509 Show memory usage statistics. Autocompletes. Debug mode
1515 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1521 NetHack Guidebook 24
1526 Suspend the game. Default key is `^Z'.
1529 Swap wielded and secondary weapons. Default key is `x'.
1532 Take off one piece of armor. Default key is `T'.
1535 Remove all armor. Default key is `A'.
1538 Teleport around the level. Default key is `^T'.
1541 Show bare map without displaying monsters, objects, or
1542 traps. Autocompletes.
1545 Show a menu of possible actions in a location next to you.
1548 Throw something. Default key is `t'.
1551 Look at the timeout queue. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1554 Tip over a container (bag or box) to pour out its contents.
1555 Autocompletes. Default key is `M-T'. The `m' prefix makes
1556 the command use a menu.
1559 Travel to a specific location on the map. Default key is
1560 `_'. Using the "request menu" prefix shows a menu of inter-
1561 esting targets in sight without asking to move the cursor.
1562 When picking a target with cursor and the autodescribe op-
1563 tion is on, the top line will show "(no travel path)" if
1564 your character does not know of a path to that location.
1567 Turn undead away. Autocompletes. Default key is `M-t'.
1570 Toggle two-weapon combat on or off. Autocompletes. Default
1571 key is `X', and also `M-2' if number_pad is off.
1573 Note that you must use suitable weapons for this type of
1574 combat, or it will be automatically turned off.
1577 Untrap something (trap, door, or chest). Default key is `M-
1578 u', and `u' if number_pad is on.
1581 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1587 NetHack Guidebook 25
1591 In some circumstances it can also be used to rescue trapped
1595 Go up a staircase. Default key is `<'.
1598 List vanquished monsters. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1601 Print compile time options for this version of NetHack. Au-
1602 tocompletes. Default key is `M-v'.
1605 Show version string. Default key is `v'.
1608 Show vision array. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1611 Rest one move while doing nothing. Default key is `.', and
1612 also ` ' if rest_on_space is on.
1615 Wear a piece of armor. Default key is `W'.
1618 Tell what a key does. Default key is `&'.
1621 Show what type of thing a symbol corresponds to. Default
1625 Wield a weapon. Default key is `w'.
1628 Wipe off your face. Autocompletes. Default key is `M-w'.
1631 Bury objects under and around you. Autocompletes. Debug
1635 Search for hidden things (secret doors or traps or unseen
1636 monsters) within a modest radius. Autocompletes. Debug
1637 mode only. Default key is `^E'.
1640 Create a monster. May be prefixed by a count to create more
1641 than one. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Default key is
1647 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1653 NetHack Guidebook 26
1658 Identify all items in inventory. Autocompletes. Debug mode
1659 only. Default key is `^I'.
1662 Set one or more intrinsic attributes. Autocompletes. Debug
1666 Teleport to another level. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1667 Default key is `^V'.
1670 Map the level. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Default
1674 Verify rumor boundaries. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1677 Smell monster. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1680 Show locations of special levels. Autocompletes. Debug
1684 Wish for something. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. De-
1688 Show wall modes. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
1691 Zap a wand. Default key is `z'.
1694 Help menu: get the list of available extended commands.
1698 If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in com-
1699 bination with another key, modifies it by setting the "meta"
1700 [8th, or "high"] bit), you can invoke many extended commands by
1701 meta-ing the first letter of the command.
1703 In NT, OS/2, PC and ST NetHack, the "Alt" key can be used in
1704 this fashion; on the Amiga, set the altmeta option to get this
1705 behavior. On other systems, if typing "Alt" plus another key
1706 transmits a two character sequence consisting of an Escape fol-
1707 lowed by the other key, you may set the altmeta option to have
1708 NetHack combine them into meta+key.
1713 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1719 NetHack Guidebook 27
1723 M-? #? (not supported by all platforms)
1725 M-2 #twoweapon (unless the number_pad option is enabled)
1779 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1785 NetHack Guidebook 28
1789 If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter com-
1790 mands are available:
1804 5. Rooms and corridors
1806 Rooms and corridors in the dungeon are either lit or dark.
1807 Any lit areas within your line of sight will be displayed; dark
1808 areas are only displayed if they are within one space of you.
1809 Walls and corridors remain on the map as you explore them.
1811 Secret corridors are hidden. You can find them with the `s'
1816 Doorways connect rooms and corridors. Some doorways have no
1817 doors; you can walk right through. Others have doors in them,
1818 which may be open, closed, or locked. To open a closed door, use
1819 the `o' (open) command; to close it again, use the `c' (close)
1822 You can get through a locked door by using a tool to pick
1823 the lock with the `a' (apply) command, or by kicking it open with
1824 the `^D' (kick) command.
1826 Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you must approach
1827 them straight on, horizontally or vertically. Doorways without
1828 doors are not restricted in this fashion.
1830 Doors can be useful for shutting out monsters. Most mon-
1831 sters cannot open doors, although a few don't need to (for exam-
1832 ple, ghosts can walk through doors).
1834 Secret doors are hidden. You can find them with the `s'
1835 (search) command. Once found they are in all ways equivalent to
1840 There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare the unwary
1841 delver. For example, you may suddenly fall into a pit and be
1842 stuck for a few turns trying to climb out. Traps don't appear on
1845 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1851 NetHack Guidebook 29
1855 your map until you see one triggered by moving onto it, see some-
1856 thing fall into it, or you discover it with the `s' (search) com-
1857 mand. Monsters can fall prey to traps, too, which can be a very
1858 useful defensive strategy.
1860 There is a special pre-mapped branch of the dungeon based on
1861 the classic computer game "Sokoban." The goal is to push the
1862 boulders into the pits or holes. With careful foresight, it is
1863 possible to complete all of the levels according to the tradi-
1864 tional rules of Sokoban. Some allowances are permitted in case
1865 the player gets stuck; however, they will lower your luck.
1867 5.3. Stairs and ladders (`<', `>')
1869 In general, each level in the dungeon will have a staircase
1870 going up (`<') to the previous level and another going down (`>')
1871 to the next level. There are some exceptions though. For in-
1872 stance, fairly early in the dungeon you will find a level with
1873 two down staircases, one continuing into the dungeon and the oth-
1874 er branching into an area known as the Gnomish Mines. Those
1875 mines eventually hit a dead end, so after exploring them (if you
1876 choose to do so), you'll need to climb back up to the main dun-
1879 When you traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a trap which
1880 sends you to another level, the level you're leaving will be de-
1881 activated and stored in a file on disk. If you're moving to a
1882 previously visited level, it will be loaded from its file on disk
1883 and reactivated. If you're moving to a level which has not yet
1884 been visited, it will be created (from scratch for most random
1885 levels, from a template for some "special" levels, or loaded from
1886 the remains of an earlier game for a "bones" level as briefly de-
1887 scribed below). Monsters are only active on the current level;
1888 those on other levels are essentially placed into stasis.
1890 Ordinarily when you climb a set of stairs, you will arrive
1891 on the corresponding staircase at your destination. However,
1892 pets (see below) and some other monsters will follow along if
1893 they're close enough when you travel up or down stairs, and occa-
1894 sionally one of these creatures will displace you during the
1895 climb. When that occurs, the pet or other monster will arrive on
1896 the staircase and you will end up nearby.
1898 Ladders serve the same purpose as staircases, and the two
1899 types of inter-level connections are nearly indistinguishable
1902 5.4. Shops and shopping
1904 Occasionally you will run across a room with a shopkeeper
1905 near the door and many items lying on the floor. You can buy
1906 items by picking them up and then using the `p' command. You can
1907 inquire about the price of an item prior to picking it up by us-
1908 ing the "#chat" command while standing on it. Using an item
1911 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1917 NetHack Guidebook 30
1921 prior to paying for it will incur a charge, and the shopkeeper
1922 won't allow you to leave the shop until you have paid any debt
1925 You can sell items to a shopkeeper by dropping them to the
1926 floor while inside a shop. You will either be offered an amount
1927 of gold and asked whether you're willing to sell, or you'll be
1928 told that the shopkeeper isn't interested (generally, your item
1929 needs to be compatible with the type of merchandise carried by
1932 If you drop something in a shop by accident, the shopkeeper
1933 will usually claim ownership without offering any compensation.
1934 You'll have to buy it back if you want to reclaim it.
1936 Shopkeepers sometimes run out of money. When that happens,
1937 you'll be offered credit instead of gold when you try to sell
1938 something. Credit can be used to pay for purchases, but it is
1939 only good in the shop where it was obtained; other shopkeepers
1940 won't honor it. (If you happen to find a "credit card" in the
1941 dungeon, don't bother trying to use it in shops; shopkeepers will
1944 The `$' command, which reports the amount of gold you are
1945 carrying (in inventory, not inside bags or boxes), will also show
1946 current shop debt or credit, if any. The "Iu" command lists un-
1947 paid items (those which still belong to the shop) if you are car-
1948 rying any. The "Ix" command shows an inventory-like display of
1949 any unpaid items which have been used up, along with other shop
1952 5.4.1. Shop idiosyncrasies
1954 Several aspects of shop behavior might be unexpected.
1956 * The price of a given item can vary due to a variety of factors.
1958 * A shopkeeper treats the spot immediately inside the door as if
1959 it were outside the shop.
1961 * While the shopkeeper watches you like a hawk, he will generally
1962 ignore any other customers.
1964 * If a shop is "closed for inventory," it will not open of its
1967 * Shops do not get restocked with new items, regardless of inven-
1972 Monsters you cannot see are not displayed on the screen.
1973 Beware! You may suddenly come upon one in a dark place. Some
1974 magic items can help you locate them before they locate you
1977 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
1983 NetHack Guidebook 31
1987 (which some monsters can do very well).
1989 The commands `/' and `;' may be used to obtain information
1990 about those monsters who are displayed on the screen. The com-
1991 mand "#name" (by default bound to `C'), allows you to assign a
1992 name to a monster, which may be useful to help distinguish one
1993 from another when multiple monsters are present. Assigning a
1994 name which is just a space will remove any prior name.
1996 The extended command "#chat" can be used to interact with an
1997 adjacent monster. There is no actual dialog (in other words, you
1998 don't get to choose what you'll say), but chatting with some mon-
1999 sters such as a shopkeeper or the Oracle of Delphi can produce
2004 If you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just attempt
2005 to walk into it. Many monsters you find will mind their own
2006 business unless you attack them. Some of them are very dangerous
2007 when angered. Remember: discretion is the better part of valor.
2009 In most circumstances, if you attempt to attack a peaceful
2010 monster by moving into its location, you'll be asked to confirm
2011 your intent. By default an answer of `y' acknowledges that in-
2012 tent, which can be error prone if you're using `y' to move. You
2013 can set the paranoid_confirmation option to require a response of
2016 If you can't see a monster (if it is invisible, or if you
2017 are blinded), the symbol `I' will be shown when you learn of its
2018 presence. If you attempt to walk into it, you will try to fight
2019 it just like a monster that you can see; of course, if the mon-
2020 ster has moved, you will attack empty air. If you guess that the
2021 monster has moved and you don't wish to fight, you can use the
2022 `m' command to move without fighting; likewise, if you don't re-
2023 member a monster but want to try fighting anyway, you can use the
2028 You start the game with a little dog (`d'), kitten (`f'), or
2029 pony (`u'), which follows you about the dungeon and fights mon-
2030 sters with you. Like you, your pet needs food to survive. Dogs
2031 and cats usually feed themselves on fresh carrion and other
2032 meats; horses need vegetarian food which is harder to come by.
2033 If you're worried about your pet or want to train it, you can
2034 feed it, too, by throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be
2035 very useful under certain circumstances.
2037 Your pet also gains experience from killing monsters, and
2038 can grow over time, gaining hit points and doing more damage.
2039 Initially, your pet may even be better at killing things than
2040 you, which makes pets useful for low-level characters.
2043 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2049 NetHack Guidebook 32
2053 Your pet will follow you up and down staircases if it is
2054 next to you when you move. Otherwise your pet will be stranded
2055 and may become wild. Similarly, when you trigger certain types
2056 of traps which alter your location (for instance, a trap door
2057 which drops you to a lower dungeon level), any adjacent pet will
2058 accompany you and any non-adjacent pet will be left behind. Your
2059 pet may trigger such traps itself; you will not be carried along
2060 with it even if adjacent at the time.
2064 Some types of creatures in the dungeon can actually be rid-
2065 den if you have the right equipment and skill. Convincing a wild
2066 beast to let you saddle it up is difficult to say the least.
2067 Many a dungeoneer has had to resort to magic and wizardry in or-
2068 der to forge the alliance. Once you do have the beast under your
2069 control however, you can easily climb in and out of the saddle
2070 with the "#ride" command. Lead the beast around the dungeon when
2071 riding, in the same manner as you would move yourself. It is the
2072 beast that you will see displayed on the map.
2074 Riding skill is managed by the "#enhance" command. See the
2075 section on Weapon proficiency for more information about that.
2077 Use the `a' (apply) command and pick a saddle in your inven-
2078 tory to attempt to put that saddle on an adjacent creature. If
2079 successful, it will be transferred to that creature's inventory.
2081 Use the "#loot" command while adjacent to a saddled creature
2082 to try to remove the saddle from that creature. If successful,
2083 it will be transferred to your inventory.
2087 You may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventur-
2088 ers (or even former incarnations of yourself!) and their personal
2089 effects. Ghosts are hard to kill, but easy to avoid, since
2090 they're slow and do little damage. You can plunder the deceased
2091 adventurer's possessions; however, they are likely to be cursed.
2092 Beware of whatever killed the former player; it is probably still
2093 lurking around, gloating over its last victory.
2095 6.5. Persistence of Monsters
2097 Monsters (a generic reference which also includes humans and
2098 pets) are only shown while they can be seen or otherwise sensed.
2099 Moving to a location where you can't see or sense a monster any
2100 more will result in it disappearing from your map, similarly if
2101 it is the one who moved rather than you.
2103 However, if you encounter a monster which you can't see or
2104 sense -- perhaps it is invisible and has just tapped you on the
2105 noggin -- a special "remembered, unseen monster" marker will be
2106 displayed at the location where you think it is. That will
2109 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2115 NetHack Guidebook 33
2119 persist until you have proven that there is no monster there,
2120 even if the unseen monster moves to another location or you move
2121 to a spot where the marker's location ordinarily wouldn't be seen
2126 When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want
2127 to pick it up. In NetHack, this is accomplished automatically by
2128 walking over the object (unless you turn off the autopickup op-
2129 tion (see below), or move with the `m' prefix (see above)), or
2130 manually by using the `,' command.
2132 If you're carrying too many items, NetHack will tell you so
2133 and you won't be able to pick up anything more. Otherwise, it
2134 will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you what you just
2137 As you add items to your inventory, you also add the weight
2138 of that object to your load. The amount that you can carry de-
2139 pends on your strength and your constitution. The stronger and
2140 sturdier you are, the less the additional load will affect you.
2141 There comes a point, though, when the weight of all of that stuff
2142 you are carrying around with you through the dungeon will encum-
2143 ber you. Your reactions will get slower and you'll burn calories
2144 faster, requiring food more frequently to cope with it. Eventu-
2145 ally, you'll be so overloaded that you'll either have to discard
2146 some of what you're carrying or collapse under its weight.
2148 NetHack will tell you how badly you have loaded yourself.
2149 If you are encumbered, one of the conditions "Burdened",
2150 "Stressed", "Strained", "Overtaxed" or "Overloaded" will be shown
2151 on the bottom line status display.
2153 When you pick up an object, it is assigned an inventory let-
2154 ter. Many commands that operate on objects must ask you to find
2155 out which object you want to use. When NetHack asks you to
2156 choose a particular object you are carrying, you are usually pre-
2157 sented with a list of inventory letters to choose from (see Com-
2160 Some objects, such as weapons, are easily differentiated.
2161 Others, like scrolls and potions, are given descriptions which
2162 vary according to type. During a game, any two objects with the
2163 same description are the same type. However, the descriptions
2164 will vary from game to game.
2166 When you use one of these objects, if its effect is obvious,
2167 NetHack will remember what it is for you. If its effect isn't
2168 extremely obvious, you will be asked what you want to call this
2169 type of object so you will recognize it later. You can also use
2170 the "#name" command, for the same purpose at any time, to name
2171 all objects of a particular type or just an individual object.
2172 When you use "#name" on an object which has already been named,
2175 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2181 NetHack Guidebook 34
2185 specifying a space as the value will remove the prior name in-
2186 stead of assigning a new one.
2188 7.1. Curses and Blessings
2190 Any object that you find may be cursed, even if the object
2191 is otherwise helpful. The most common effect of a curse is being
2192 stuck with (and to) the item. Cursed weapons weld themselves to
2193 your hand when wielded, so you cannot unwield them. Any cursed
2194 item you wear is not removable by ordinary means. In addition,
2195 cursed arms and armor usually, but not always, bear negative en-
2196 chantments that make them less effective in combat. Other cursed
2197 objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.
2199 Objects can also be blessed. Blessed items usually work
2200 better or more beneficially than normal uncursed items. For ex-
2201 ample, a blessed weapon will do more damage against demons.
2203 Objects which are neither cursed nor blessed are referred to
2204 as uncursed. They could just as easily have been described as
2205 unblessed, but the uncursed designation is what you will see
2206 within the game. A "glass half full versus glass half empty"
2207 situation; make of that what you will.
2209 There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon
2210 objects, so even if you are stuck with one, you can still have
2211 the curse lifted and the item removed. Priests and Priestesses
2212 have an innate sensitivity to this property in any object, so
2213 they can more easily avoid cursed objects than other character
2216 An item with unknown status will be reported in your inven-
2217 tory with no prefix. An item which you know the state of will be
2218 distinguished in your inventory by the presence of the word
2219 "cursed", "uncursed" or "blessed" in the description of the item.
2220 In some cases "uncursed" will be omitted as being redundant when
2221 enough other information is displayed. The implicit_uncursed op-
2222 tion can be used to control this; toggle it off to have "un-
2223 cursed" be displayed even when that can be deduced from other at-
2228 Given a chance, most monsters in the Mazes of Menace will
2229 gratuitously try to kill you. You need weapons for self-defense
2230 (killing them first). Without a weapon, you do only 1-2 hit
2231 points of damage (plus bonuses, if any). Monk characters are an
2232 exception; they normally do more damage with bare (or gloved)
2233 hands than they do with weapons.
2235 There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown
2236 weapons, like arrows and spears. To hit monsters with a weapon,
2237 you must wield it and attack them, or throw it at them. You can
2238 simply elect to throw a spear. To shoot an arrow, you should
2241 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2247 NetHack Guidebook 35
2251 first wield a bow, then throw the arrow. Crossbows shoot cross-
2252 bow bolts. Slings hurl rocks and (other) stones (like gems).
2254 Enchanted weapons have a "plus" (or "to hit enhancement"
2255 which can be either positive or negative) that adds to your
2256 chance to hit and the damage you do to a monster. The only way
2257 to determine a weapon's enchantment is to have it magically iden-
2258 tified somehow. Most weapons are subject to some type of damage
2259 like rust. Such "erosion" damage can be repaired.
2261 The chance that an attack will successfully hit a monster,
2262 and the amount of damage such a hit will do, depends upon many
2263 factors. Among them are: type of weapon, quality of weapon (en-
2264 chantment and/or erosion), experience level, strength, dexterity,
2265 encumbrance, and proficiency (see below). The monster's armor
2266 class -- a general defense rating, not necessarily due to wearing
2267 of armor -- is a factor too; also, some monsters are particularly
2268 vulnerable to certain types of weapons.
2270 Many weapons can be wielded in one hand; some require both
2271 hands. When wielding a two-handed weapon, you can not wear a
2272 shield, and vice versa. When wielding a one-handed weapon, you
2273 can have another weapon ready to use by setting things up with
2274 the `x' command, which exchanges your primary (the one being
2275 wielded) and alternate weapons. And if you have proficiency in
2276 the "two weapon combat" skill, you may wield both weapons simul-
2277 taneously as primary and secondary; use the `X' command to engage
2278 or disengage that. Only some types of characters (barbarians,
2279 for instance) have the necessary skill available. Even with that
2280 skill, using two weapons at once incurs a penalty in the chance
2281 to hit your target compared to using just one weapon at a time.
2283 There might be times when you'd rather not wield any weapon
2284 at all. To accomplish that, wield `-', or else use the `A' com-
2285 mand which allows you to unwield the current weapon in addition
2286 to taking off other worn items.
2288 Those of you in the audience who are AD&D players, be aware
2289 that each weapon which existed in AD&D does roughly the same dam-
2290 age to monsters in NetHack. Some of the more obscure weapons
2291 (such as the aklys, lucern hammer, and bec-de-corbin) are defined
2292 in an appendix to Unearthed Arcana, an AD&D supplement.
2294 The commands to use weapons are `w' (wield), `t' (throw),
2295 `f' (fire, an alternate way of throwing), `Q' (quiver), `x' (ex-
2296 change), `X' (twoweapon), and "#enhance" (see below).
2298 7.2.1. Throwing and shooting
2300 You can throw just about anything via the `t' command. It
2301 will prompt for the item to throw; picking `?' will list things
2302 in your inventory which are considered likely to be thrown, or
2303 picking `*' will list your entire inventory. After you've chosen
2304 what to throw, you will be prompted for a direction rather than
2307 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2313 NetHack Guidebook 36
2317 for a specific target. The distance something can be thrown de-
2318 pends mainly on the type of object and your strength. Arrows can
2319 be thrown by hand, but can be thrown much farther and will be
2320 more likely to hit when thrown while you are wielding a bow.
2322 You can simplify the throwing operation by using the `Q'
2323 command to select your preferred "missile", then using the `f'
2324 command to throw it. You'll be prompted for a direction as
2325 above, but you don't have to specify which item to throw each
2326 time you use `f'. There is also an option, autoquiver, which has
2327 NetHack choose another item to automatically fill your quiver (or
2328 quiver sack, or have at the ready) when the inventory slot used
2331 Some characters have the ability to fire a volley of multi-
2332 ple items in a single turn. Knowing how to load several rounds
2333 of ammunition at once -- or hold several missiles in your hand --
2334 and still hit a target is not an easy task. Rangers are among
2335 those who are adept at this task, as are those with a high level
2336 of proficiency in the relevant weapon skill (in bow skill if
2337 you're wielding one to shoot arrows, in crossbow skill if you're
2338 wielding one to shoot bolts, or in sling skill if you're wielding
2339 one to shoot stones). The number of items that the character has
2340 a chance to fire varies from turn to turn. You can explicitly
2341 limit the number of shots by using a numeric prefix before the
2342 `t' or `f' command. For example, "2f" (or "n2f" if using num-
2343 ber_pad mode) would ensure that at most 2 arrows are shot even if
2344 you could have fired 3. If you specify a larger number than
2345 would have been shot ("4f" in this example), you'll just end up
2346 shooting the same number (3, here) as if no limit had been speci-
2347 fied. Once the volley is in motion, all of the items will travel
2348 in the same direction; if the first ones kill a monster, the oth-
2349 ers can still continue beyond that spot.
2351 7.2.2. Weapon proficiency
2353 You will have varying degrees of skill in the weapons avail-
2354 able. Weapon proficiency, or weapon skills, affect how well you
2355 can use particular types of weapons, and you'll be able to im-
2356 prove your skills as you progress through a game, depending on
2357 your role, your experience level, and use of the weapons.
2359 For the purposes of proficiency, weapons have been divided
2360 up into various groups such as daggers, broadswords, and
2361 polearms. Each role has a limit on what level of proficiency a
2362 character can achieve for each group. For instance, wizards can
2363 become highly skilled in daggers or staves but not in swords or
2366 The "#enhance" extended command is used to review current
2367 weapons proficiency (also spell proficiency) and to choose which
2368 skill(s) to improve when you've used one or more skills enough to
2369 become eligible to do so. The skill rankings are "none" (some-
2370 times also referred to as "restricted", because you won't be able
2373 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2379 NetHack Guidebook 37
2383 to advance), "unskilled", "basic", "skilled", and "expert". Re-
2384 stricted skills simply will not appear in the list shown by "#en-
2385 hance". (Divine intervention might unrestrict a particular
2386 skill, in which case it will start at unskilled and be limited to
2387 basic.) Some characters can enhance their barehanded combat or
2388 martial arts skill beyond expert to "master" or "grand master".
2390 Use of a weapon in which you're restricted or unskilled will
2391 incur a modest penalty in the chance to hit a monster and also in
2392 the amount of damage done when you do hit; at basic level, there
2393 is no penalty or bonus; at skilled level, you receive a modest
2394 bonus in the chance to hit and amount of damage done; at expert
2395 level, the bonus is higher. A successful hit has a chance to
2396 boost your training towards the next skill level (unless you've
2397 already reached the limit for this skill). Once such training
2398 reaches the threshold for that next level, you'll be told that
2399 you feel more confident in your skills. At that point you can
2400 use "#enhance" to increase one or more skills. Such skills are
2401 not increased automatically because there is a limit to your to-
2402 tal overall skills, so you need to actively choose which skills
2403 to enhance and which to ignore.
2405 7.2.3. Two-Weapon combat
2407 Some characters can use two weapons at once. Setting things
2408 up to do so can seem cumbersome but becomes second nature with
2409 use. To wield two weapons, you need to use the "#twoweapon" com-
2410 mand. But first you need to have a weapon in each hand. (Note
2411 that your two weapons are not fully equal; the one in the hand
2412 you normally wield with is considered primary and the other one
2413 is considered secondary. The most noticeable difference is after
2414 you stop -- or before you begin, for that matter -- wielding two
2415 weapons at once. The primary is your wielded weapon and the sec-
2416 ondary is just an item in your inventory that's been designated
2417 as alternate weapon.)
2419 If your primary weapon is wielded but your off hand is empty
2420 or has the wrong weapon, use the sequence `x', `w', `x' to first
2421 swap your primary into your off hand, wield whatever you want as
2422 secondary weapon, then swap them both back into the intended
2423 hands. If your secondary or alternate weapon is correct but your
2424 primary one is not, simply use `w' to wield the primary. Lastly,
2425 if neither hand holds the correct weapon, use `w', `x', `w' to
2426 first wield the intended secondary, swap it to off hand, and then
2429 The whole process can be simplified via use of the push-
2430 weapon option. When it is enabled, then using `w' to wield some-
2431 thing causes the currently wielded weapon to become your alter-
2432 nate weapon. So the sequence `w', `w' can be used to first wield
2433 the weapon you intend to be secondary, and then wield the one you
2434 want as primary which will push the first into secondary posi-
2439 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2445 NetHack Guidebook 38
2449 When in two-weapon combat mode, using the `X' command tog-
2450 gles back to single-weapon mode. Throwing or dropping either of
2451 the weapons or having one of them be stolen or destroyed will al-
2452 so make you revert to single-weapon combat.
2456 Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to pro-
2457 tect yourself from their blows. Some types of armor offer better
2458 protection than others. Your armor class is a measure of this
2459 protection. Armor class (AC) is measured as in AD&D, with 10 be-
2460 ing the equivalent of no armor, and lower numbers meaning better
2461 armor. Each suit of armor which exists in AD&D gives the same
2462 protection in NetHack. Here is an (incomplete) list of the armor
2463 classes provided by various suits of armor:
2466 crystal plate mail 3
2470 dwarvish mithril-coat 4
2471 elven mithril-coat 5
2476 studded leather armor 7
2483 You can also wear other pieces of armor (for example hel-
2484 mets, boots, shields, cloaks) to lower your armor class even fur-
2485 ther, but you can only wear one item of each category (one suit
2486 of armor, one cloak, one helmet, one shield, and so on) at a
2489 If a piece of armor is enchanted, its armor protection will
2490 be better (or worse) than normal, and its "plus" (or minus) will
2491 subtract from your armor class. For example, a +1 chain mail
2492 would give you better protection than normal chain mail, lowering
2493 your armor class one unit further to 4. When you put on a piece
2494 of armor, you immediately find out the armor class and any
2495 "plusses" it provides. Cursed pieces of armor usually have nega-
2496 tive enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.
2498 Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage like
2499 rust. Such damage can be repaired. Some types of armor may in-
2500 hibit spell casting.
2505 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2511 NetHack Guidebook 39
2515 The commands to use armor are `W' (wear) and `T' (take off).
2516 The `A' command can also be used to take off armor as well as
2521 Food is necessary to survive. If you go too long without
2522 eating you will faint, and eventually die of starvation. Some
2523 types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy to eat, if not
2524 protected. Food stored in ice boxes or tins ("cans") will usual-
2525 ly stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a while to
2528 When you kill monsters, they usually leave corpses which are
2529 also "food." Many, but not all, of these are edible; some also
2530 give you special powers when you eat them. A good rule of thumb
2531 is "you are what you eat."
2533 Some character roles and some monsters are vegetarian. Veg-
2534 etarian monsters will typically never eat animal corpses, while
2535 vegetarian players can, but with some rather unpleasant side-ef-
2538 You can name one food item after something you like to eat
2539 with the fruit option.
2541 The command to eat food is `e'.
2545 Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen by
2546 ancient wizards for their amusement value (for example "READ ME,"
2547 or "THANX MAUD" backwards). Scrolls disappear after you read
2548 them (except for blank ones, without magic spells on them).
2550 One of the most useful of these is the scroll of identify,
2551 which can be used to determine what another object is, whether it
2552 is cursed or blessed, and how many uses it has left. Some ob-
2553 jects of subtle enchantment are difficult to identify without
2556 A mail daemon may run up and deliver mail to you as a scroll
2557 of mail (on versions compiled with this feature). To use this
2558 feature on versions where NetHack mail delivery is triggered by
2559 electronic mail appearing in your system mailbox, you must let
2560 NetHack know where to look for new mail by setting the "MAIL" en-
2561 vironment variable to the file name of your mailbox. You may al-
2562 so want to set the "MAILREADER" environment variable to the file
2563 name of your favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it when you
2564 read the scroll. On versions of NetHack where mail is randomly
2565 generated internal to the game, these environment variables are
2566 ignored. You can disable the mail daemon by turning off the mail
2571 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2577 NetHack Guidebook 40
2581 The command to read a scroll is `r'.
2585 Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid inside
2586 the flask. They disappear after you quaff them.
2588 Clear potions are potions of water. Sometimes these are
2589 blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water. Holy water
2590 is the bane of the undead, so potions of holy water are good
2591 things to throw (`t') at them. It is also sometimes very useful
2592 to dip ("#dip") an object into a potion.
2594 The command to drink a potion is `q' (quaff).
2598 Wands usually have multiple magical charges. Some types of
2599 wands require a direction in which to zap them. You can also zap
2600 them at yourself (just give a `.' or `s' for the direction). Be
2601 warned, however, for this is often unwise. Other types of wands
2602 don't require a direction. The number of charges in a wand is
2603 random and decreases by one whenever you use it.
2605 When the number of charges left in a wand becomes zero, at-
2606 tempts to use the wand will usually result in nothing happening.
2607 Occasionally, however, it may be possible to squeeze the last few
2608 mana points from an otherwise spent wand, destroying it in the
2609 process. A wand may be recharged by using suitable magic, but
2610 doing so runs the risk of causing it to explode. The chance for
2611 such an explosion starts out very small and increases each time
2612 the wand is recharged.
2614 In a truly desperate situation, when your back is up against
2615 the wall, you might decide to go for broke and break your wand.
2616 This is not for the faint of heart. Doing so will almost cer-
2617 tainly cause a catastrophic release of magical energies.
2619 When you have fully identified a particular wand, inventory
2620 display will include additional information in parentheses: the
2621 number of times it has been recharged followed by a colon and
2622 then by its current number of charges. A current charge count of
2623 -1 is a special case indicating that the wand has been cancelled.
2625 The command to use a wand is `z' (zap). To break one, use
2626 the `a' (apply) command.
2630 Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively per-
2631 manent magic, unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions,
2637 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2643 NetHack Guidebook 41
2647 Putting on a ring activates its magic. You can wear only
2648 two rings, one on each ring finger.
2650 Most rings also cause you to grow hungry more rapidly, the
2651 rate varying with the type of ring.
2653 The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).
2655 7.9. Spellbooks (`+')
2657 Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic. When studied with the
2658 `r' (read) command, they transfer to the reader the knowledge of
2659 a spell (and therefore eventually become unreadable) -- unless
2660 the attempt backfires. Reading a cursed spellbook or one with
2661 mystic runes beyond your ken can be harmful to your health!
2663 A spell (even when learned) can also backfire when you cast
2664 it. If you attempt to cast a spell well above your experience
2665 level, or if you have little skill with the appropriate spell
2666 type, or cast it at a time when your luck is particularly bad,
2667 you can end up wasting both the energy and the time required in
2670 Casting a spell calls forth magical energies and focuses
2671 them with your naked mind. Some of the magical energy released
2672 comes from within you. Casting temporarily drains your magical
2673 power, which will slowly be recovered, and causes you to need ad-
2674 ditional food. Casting of spells also requires practice. With
2675 practice, your skill in each category of spell casting will im-
2676 prove. Over time, however, your memory of each spell will dim,
2677 and you will need to relearn it.
2679 Some spells require a direction in which to cast them, simi-
2680 lar to wands. To cast one at yourself, just give a `.' or `s'
2681 for the direction. A few spells require you to pick a target lo-
2682 cation rather than just specify a particular direction. Other
2683 spells don't require any direction or target.
2685 Just as weapons are divided into groups in which a character
2686 can become proficient (to varying degrees), spells are similarly
2687 grouped. Successfully casting a spell exercises its skill group;
2688 using the "#enhance" command to advance a sufficiently exercised
2689 skill will affect all spells within the group. Advanced skill
2690 may increase the potency of spells, reduce their risk of failure
2691 during casting attempts, and improve the accuracy of the estimate
2692 for how much longer they will be retained in your memory. Skill
2693 slots are shared with weapons skills. (See also the section on
2694 "Weapon proficiency".)
2696 Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing
2697 various types of armor may interfere with that.
2699 The command to read a spellbook is the same as for scrolls,
2700 `r' (read). The `+' command lists each spell you know along with
2703 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2709 NetHack Guidebook 42
2713 its level, skill category, chance of failure when casting, and an
2714 estimate of how strongly it is remembered. The `Z' (cast) com-
2719 Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes. Some
2720 tools have a limited number of uses, akin to wand charges. For
2721 example, lamps burn out after a while. Other tools are contain-
2722 ers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.
2724 The command to use a tool is `a' (apply).
2728 You may encounter bags, boxes, and chests in your travels.
2729 A tool of this sort can be opened with the "#loot" extended com-
2730 mand when you are standing on top of it (that is, on the same
2731 floor spot), or with the `a' (apply) command when you are carry-
2732 ing it. However, chests are often locked, and are in any case
2733 unwieldy objects. You must set one down before unlocking it by
2734 using a key or lock-picking tool with the `a' (apply) command, by
2735 kicking it with the `^D' command, or by using a weapon to force
2736 the lock with the "#force" extended command.
2738 Some chests are trapped, causing nasty things to happen when
2739 you unlock or open them. You can check for and try to deactivate
2740 traps with the "#untrap" extended command.
2744 Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more powerful.
2745 Like rings, amulets have various magical properties, some benefi-
2746 cial, some harmful, which are activated by putting them on.
2748 Only one amulet may be worn at a time, around your neck.
2750 The commands to use amulets are the same as for rings, `P'
2751 (put on) and `R' (remove).
2755 Some gems are valuable, and can be sold for a lot of gold.
2756 They are also a far more efficient way of carrying your riches.
2757 Valuable gems increase your score if you bring them with you when
2760 Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are
2761 much less valuable. All rocks, however, can be used as projec-
2762 tile weapons (if you have a sling). In the most desperate of
2763 cases, you can still throw them by hand.
2769 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2775 NetHack Guidebook 43
2779 7.13. Large rocks (``')
2781 Statues and boulders are not particularly useful, and are
2782 generally heavy. It is rumored that some statues are not what
2785 Very large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known
2786 to use boulders as weapons.
2788 For some configurations of the program, statues are no
2789 longer shown as ``' but by the letter representing the monster
2790 they depict instead.
2794 Gold adds to your score, and you can buy things in shops
2795 with it. There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may
2796 be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers
2799 7.15. Persistence of Objects
2801 Normally, if you have seen an object at a particular map lo-
2802 cation and move to another location where you can't directly see
2803 that object any more, if will continue to be displayed on your
2804 map. That remains the case even if it is not actually there any
2805 more -- perhaps a monster has picked it up or it has rotted away
2806 -- until you can see or feel that location again. One notable
2807 exception is that if the object gets covered by the "remembered,
2808 unseen monster" marker. When that marker is later removed after
2809 you've verified that no monster is there, you will forget that
2810 there was any object there regardless of whether the unseen mon-
2811 ster actually took the object. If the object is still there,
2812 then once you see or feel that location again you will re-discov-
2813 er the object and resume remembering it.
2815 The situation is the same for a pile of objects, except that
2816 only the top item of the pile is displayed. The hilite_pile op-
2817 tion can be enabled in order to show an item differently when it
2818 is the top one of a pile.
2822 As if winning NetHack were not difficult enough, certain
2823 players seek to challenge themselves by imposing restrictions on
2824 the way they play the game. The game automatically tracks some
2825 of these challenges, which can be checked at any time with the
2826 #conduct command or at the end of the game. When you perform an
2827 action which breaks a challenge, it will no longer be listed.
2828 This gives players extra "bragging rights" for winning the game
2829 with these challenges. Note that it is perfectly acceptable to
2830 win the game without resorting to these restrictions and that it
2831 is unusual for players to adhere to challenges the first time
2835 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2841 NetHack Guidebook 44
2845 Several of the challenges are related to eating behavior.
2846 The most difficult of these is the foodless challenge. Although
2847 creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is
2848 a physiological need for water; thus there is no restriction on
2849 drinking beverages, even if they provide some minor food bene-
2850 fits. Calling upon your god for help with starvation does not
2851 violate any food challenges either.
2853 A strict vegan diet is one which avoids any food derived
2854 from animals. The primary source of nutrition is fruits and veg-
2855 etables. The corpses and tins of blobs (`b'), jellies (`j'), and
2856 fungi (`F') are also considered to be vegetable matter. Certain
2857 human food is prepared without animal products; namely, lembas
2858 wafers, cram rations, food rations (gunyoki), K-rations, and C-
2859 rations. Metal or another normally indigestible material eaten
2860 while polymorphed into a creature that can digest it is also con-
2861 sidered vegan food. Note however that eating such items still
2862 counts against foodless conduct.
2864 Vegetarians do not eat animals; however, they are less se-
2865 lective about eating animal byproducts than vegans. In addition
2866 to the vegan items listed above, they may eat any kind of pudding
2867 (`P') other than the black puddings, eggs and food made from eggs
2868 (fortune cookies and pancakes), food made with milk (cream pies
2869 and candy bars), and lumps of royal jelly. Monks are expected to
2870 observe a vegetarian diet.
2872 Eating any kind of meat violates the vegetarian, vegan, and
2873 foodless conducts. This includes tripe rations, the corpses or
2874 tins of any monsters not mentioned above, and the various other
2875 chunks of meat found in the dungeon. Swallowing and digesting a
2876 monster while polymorphed is treated as if you ate the creature's
2877 corpse. Eating leather, dragon hide, or bone items while poly-
2878 morphed into a creature that can digest it, or eating monster
2879 brains while polymorphed into a mind flayer, is considered eating
2880 an animal, although wax is only an animal byproduct.
2882 Regardless of conduct, there will be some items which are
2883 indigestible, and others which are hazardous to eat. Using a
2884 swallow-and-digest attack against a monster is equivalent to eat-
2885 ing the monster's corpse. Please note that the term "vegan" is
2886 used here only in the context of diet. You are still free to
2887 choose not to use or wear items derived from animals (e.g.
2888 leather, dragon hide, bone, horns, coral), but the game will not
2889 keep track of this for you. Also note that "milky" potions may
2890 be a translucent white, but they do not contain milk, so they are
2891 compatible with a vegan diet. Slime molds or player-defined
2892 "fruits", although they could be anything from "cherries" to
2893 "pork chops", are also assumed to be vegan.
2895 An atheist is one who rejects religion. This means that you
2896 cannot #pray, #offer sacrifices to any god, #turn undead, or
2897 #chat with a priest. Particularly selective readers may argue
2898 that playing Monk or Priest characters should violate this
2901 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2907 NetHack Guidebook 45
2911 conduct; that is a choice left to the player. Offering the
2912 Amulet of Yendor to your god is necessary to win the game and is
2913 not counted against this conduct. You are also not penalized for
2914 being spoken to by an angry god, priest(ess), or other religious
2915 figure; a true atheist would hear the words but attach no special
2918 Most players fight with a wielded weapon (or tool intended
2919 to be wielded as a weapon). Another challenge is to win the game
2920 without using such a wielded weapon. You are still permitted to
2921 throw, fire, and kick weapons; use a wand, spell, or other type
2922 of item; or fight with your hands and feet.
2924 In NetHack, a pacifist refuses to cause the death of any
2925 other monster (i.e. if you would get experience for the death).
2926 This is a particularly difficult challenge, although it is still
2927 possible to gain experience by other means.
2929 An illiterate character cannot read or write. This includes
2930 reading a scroll, spellbook, fortune cookie message, or t-shirt;
2931 writing a scroll; or making an engraving of anything other than a
2932 single "X" (the traditional signature of an illiterate person).
2933 Reading an engraving, or any item that is absolutely necessary to
2934 win the game, is not counted against this conduct. The identity
2935 of scrolls and spellbooks (and knowledge of spells) in your
2936 starting inventory is assumed to be learned from your teachers
2937 prior to the start of the game and isn't counted.
2939 There are several other challenges tracked by the game. It
2940 is possible to eliminate one or more species of monsters by geno-
2941 cide; playing without this feature is considered a challenge.
2942 When the game offers you an opportunity to genocide monsters, you
2943 may respond with the monster type "none" if you want to decline.
2944 You can change the form of an item into another item of the same
2945 type ("polypiling") or the form of your own body into another
2946 creature ("polyself") by wand, spell, or potion of polymorph;
2947 avoiding these effects are each considered challenges. Polymor-
2948 phing monsters, including pets, does not break either of these
2949 challenges. Finally, you may sometimes receive wishes; a game
2950 without an attempt to wish for any items is a challenge, as is a
2951 game without wishing for an artifact (even if the artifact imme-
2952 diately disappears). When the game offers you an opportunity to
2953 make a wish for an item, you may choose "nothing" if you want to
2958 Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of how
2959 NetHack should do things, there are options you can set to change
2960 how NetHack behaves.
2967 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
2973 NetHack Guidebook 46
2977 9.1. Setting the options
2979 Options may be set in a number of ways. Within the game,
2980 the `O' command allows you to view all options and change most of
2981 them. You can also set options automatically by placing them in
2982 a configuration file, or in the NETHACKOPTIONS environment vari-
2983 able. Some versions of NetHack also have front-end programs that
2984 allow you to set options before starting the game or a global
2985 configuration for system administrators.
2987 9.2. Using a configuration file
2989 The default name of the configuration file varies on differ-
2990 ent operating systems. On MS-DOS and Windows, it is
2991 "defaults.nh" in the same folder as nethack.exe or nethackW.exe.
2992 On UNIX, Linux, and Mac OS X it is ".nethackrc" in the user's
2993 home directory. The file may not exist, but it is a normal ASCII
2994 text file and can be created with any text editor.
2996 Any line in the configuration file starting with `#' is
2997 treated as a comment. Empty lines are ignored.
2999 Any line beginning with `[' and ending in `]' is considered
3000 a section marker. The text between the square brackets is the
3001 section name. Lines after a section marker belong to that sec-
3002 tion, and are ignored unless a CHOOSE statement was used to se-
3003 lect that section. Section names are case insensitive.
3005 You can use different configuration statements in the file,
3006 some of which can be used multiple times. In general, the state-
3007 ments are written in capital letters, followed by an equals sign,
3008 followed by settings particular to that statement. Here is a
3009 list of allowed statements:
3012 There are two types of options, boolean and compound options.
3013 Boolean options toggle a setting on or off, while compound op-
3014 tions take more diverse values. Prefix a boolean option with
3015 "no" or `!' to turn it off. For compound options, the option
3016 name and value are separated by a colon. Some options are per-
3017 sistent, and apply only to new games. You can specify multiple
3018 OPTIONS statements, and multiple options separated by commas in
3019 a single OPTIONS statement. (Comma separated options are pro-
3020 cessed from right to left.)
3024 OPTIONS=dogname:Fido
3025 OPTIONS=!legacy,autopickup,pickup_types:$"=/!?+
3028 Default location of files NetHack needs. On Windows HACKDIR
3029 defaults to the location of the NetHack.exe or NetHackw.exe
3030 file so setting HACKDIR to override that is not usually
3033 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3039 NetHack Guidebook 47
3043 necessary or recommended.
3046 The location that in-progress level files are stored. Defaults
3047 to HACKDIR, must be writable.
3050 The location where saved games are kept. Defaults to HACKDIR,
3054 The location that bones files are kept. Defaults to HACKDIR,
3058 The location that file synchronization locks are stored.
3059 Defaults to HACKDIR, must be writable.
3062 The location that a record of game aborts and self-diagnosed
3063 game problems is kept. Defaults to HACKDIR, must be writable.
3066 Enable or disable an extended command autocompletion. Autocom-
3067 pletion has no effect for the X11 windowport. You can specify
3068 multiple autocompletions. To enable autocompletion, list the
3069 extended command. Prefix the command with "!" to disable the
3070 autocompletion for that command.
3074 AUTOCOMPLETE=zap,!annotate
3076 AUTOPICKUP_EXCEPTION
3077 Set exceptions to the pickup_types option. See the "Configur-
3078 ing Autopickup Exceptions" section.
3081 Change the key bindings of some special keys, menu accelera-
3082 tors, or extended commands. You can specify multiple bindings.
3083 Format is key followed by the command, separated by a colon.
3084 See the "Changing Key Bindings" section for more information.
3088 BIND=^X:getpos.autodescribe
3091 Chooses at random one of the comma-separated parameters as an
3092 active section name. Lines in other sections are ignored.
3099 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3105 NetHack Guidebook 48
3110 CHOOSE=char A,char B
3112 OPTIONS=role:arc,race:dwa,align:law,gender:fem
3114 OPTIONS=role:wiz,race:elf,align:cha,gender:mal
3117 Change the way messages are shown in the top status line. See
3118 the "Configuring Message Types" section.
3121 Highlight menu lines with different colors. See the "Configur-
3122 ing Menu Colors" section.
3125 Override one or more symbols in the symbols files. See the
3126 "Modifying NetHack Symbols" section.
3133 Debug mode only: extra items to add to initial inventory.
3134 Value is the name of a text file containing a list of item
3135 names, one per line, up to a maximum of 128 lines. Each line
3136 is processed by the function that handles wishing.
3143 Define the directory that contains the sound files. See the
3144 "Configuring User Sounds" section.
3147 Define a sound mapping. See the "Configuring User Sounds" sec-
3150 Here is a short example of config file contents:
3165 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3171 NetHack Guidebook 49
3175 # Set your character's role, race, gender, and alignment.
3176 OPTIONS=role:Valkyrie, race:Human, gender:female, align:lawful
3178 # Turn on autopickup, set automatically picked up object types
3179 OPTIONS=autopickup,pickup_types:$"=/!?+
3180 # Show colored text if possible
3182 # Show lit corridors differently
3183 OPTIONS=lit_corridor
3185 # No startup splash screen. Windows GUI only.
3186 OPTIONS=!splash_screen
3188 9.3. Using the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable
3190 The NETHACKOPTIONS variable is a comma-separated list of
3191 initial values for the various options. Some can only be turned
3192 on or off. You turn one of these on by adding the name of the
3193 option to the list, and turn it off by typing a `!' or "no" be-
3194 fore the name. Others take a character string as a value. You
3195 can set string options by typing the option name, a colon or
3196 equals sign, and then the value of the string. The value is ter-
3197 minated by the next comma or the end of string.
3199 For example, to set up an environment variable so that color
3200 is on, legacy is off, character name is set to "Blue Meanie", and
3201 named fruit is set to "lime", you would enter the command
3203 % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "color,\!leg,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:lime"
3205 in csh (note the need to escape the `!' since it's special to
3206 that shell), or the pair of commands
3208 $ NETHACKOPTIONS="color,!leg,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:lime"
3209 $ export NETHACKOPTIONS
3211 in sh, ksh, or bash.
3213 The NETHACKOPTIONS value is effectively the same as a single
3214 OPTIONS statement in a configuration file. The "OPTIONS=" prefix
3215 is implied and comma separated options are processed from right
3216 to left. Other types of configuration statements such as BIND or
3217 MSGTYPE are not allowed.
3219 Instead of a comma-separated list of options, NETHACKOPTIONS
3220 can be set to the full name of a configuration file you want to
3221 use. If that full name doesn't start with a slash, precede it
3222 with `@' (at-sign) to let NetHack know that the rest is intended
3223 as a file name. If it does start with `/', the at-sign is op-
3231 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3237 NetHack Guidebook 50
3241 9.4. Customization options
3243 Here are explanations of what the various options do. Char-
3244 acter strings that are too long may be truncated. Some of the
3245 options listed may be inactive in your dungeon.
3247 Some options are persistent, and are saved and reloaded
3248 along with the game. Changing a persistent option in the config-
3249 uration file applies only to new games.
3252 Enable messages about what your character hears (default on).
3253 Note that this has nothing to do with your computer's audio ca-
3254 pabilities. Persistent.
3257 Your starting alignment (align:lawful, align:neutral, or
3258 align:chaotic). You may specify just the first letter. The
3259 default is to randomly pick an appropriate alignment. If you
3260 prefix the value with `!' or "no", you will exclude that align-
3261 ment from being picked randomly. Cannot be set with the `O'
3262 command. Persistent.
3265 Automatically describe the terrain under cursor when asked to
3266 get a location on the map (default true). The whatis_coord op-
3267 tion controls whether the description includes map coordinates.
3270 Automatically dig if you are wielding a digging tool and moving
3271 into a place that can be dug (default false). Persistent.
3274 Walking into a door attempts to open it (default true). Persis-
3278 Automatically pick up things onto which you move (default on).
3279 Persistent. See pickup_types to refine the behavior.
3282 This option controls what happens when you attempt the `f'
3283 (fire) command when nothing is quivered or readied (default
3284 false). When true, the computer will fill your quiver or
3285 quiver sack or make ready some suitable weapon. Note that it
3286 will not take into account the blessed/cursed status, enchant-
3287 ment, damage, or quality of the weapon; you are free to manual-
3288 ly fill your quiver or quiver sack or make ready with the `Q'
3289 command instead. If no weapon is found or the option is false,
3290 the `t' (throw) command is executed instead. Persistent.
3293 Start the character permanently blind (default false). Persis-
3297 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3303 NetHack Guidebook 51
3308 Allow saving and loading bones files (default true). Persis-
3312 Set the character used to display boulders (default is the
3313 "large rock" class symbol, ``').
3316 Name your starting cat (for example "catname:Morris"). Cannot
3317 be set with the `O' command.
3320 Synonym for "role" to pick the type of your character (for ex-
3321 ample "character:Monk"). See role for more details.
3324 Save game state after each level change, for possible recovery
3325 after program crash (default on). Persistent.
3328 Check free disk space before writing files to disk (default
3329 on). You may have to turn this off if you have more than 2 GB
3330 free space on the partition used for your save and level files
3331 (because too much space might overflow the calculation and end
3332 up looking like insufficient space). Only applies when MFLOPPY
3333 was defined during compilation.
3336 Allows looking at things on the screen by navigating the mouse
3337 over them and clicking the right mouse button (default off).
3340 Have the game provide some additional command assistance for
3341 new players if it detects some anticipated mistakes (default
3345 Have user confirm attacks on pets, shopkeepers, and other
3346 peaceable creatures (default on). Persistent.
3349 Show out-of-sight areas of lit rooms (default on). Persistent.
3352 Controls what information the program reveals when the game
3353 ends. Value is a space separated list of prompting/category
3354 pairs (default is "ni na nv ng nc no", prompt with default re-
3355 sponse of `n' for each candidate). Persistent. The possibili-
3363 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3369 NetHack Guidebook 52
3373 i - disclose your inventory;
3374 a - disclose your attributes;
3375 v - summarize monsters that have been vanquished;
3376 g - list monster species that have been genocided;
3377 c - display your conduct;
3378 o - display dungeon overview.
3380 Each disclosure possibility can optionally be preceded by a
3381 prefix which lets you refine how it behaves. Here are the
3384 y - prompt you and default to yes on the prompt;
3385 n - prompt you and default to no on the prompt;
3386 + - disclose it without prompting;
3387 - - do not disclose it and do not prompt.
3389 The listing of vanquished monsters can be sorted, so there are
3390 two additional choices for `v':
3392 ? - prompt you and default to ask on the prompt;
3393 # - disclose it without prompting, ask for sort order.
3395 Asking refers to picking one of the orderings from a menu. The
3396 `+' disclose without prompting choice, or being prompted and
3397 answering `y' rather than `a', will default to showing monsters
3398 in the traditional order, from high level to low level.
3400 Omitted categories are implicitly added with `n' prefix. Spec-
3401 ified categories with omitted prefix implicitly use `+' prefix.
3402 Order of the disclosure categories does not matter, program
3403 display for end-of-game disclosure follows a set sequence.
3405 (for example "disclose:yi na +v -g o") The example sets inven-
3406 tory to prompt and default to yes, attributes to prompt and de-
3407 fault to no, vanquished to disclose without prompting, genocid-
3408 ed to not disclose and not prompt, conduct to implicitly prompt
3409 and default to no, and overview to disclose without prompting.
3411 Note that the vanquished monsters list includes all monsters
3412 killed by traps and each other as well as by you. And the dun-
3413 geon overview shows all levels you had visited but does not re-
3414 veal things about them that you hadn't discovered.
3417 Name your starting dog (for example "dogname:Fang"). Cannot be
3418 set with the `O' command.
3421 Changes the extended commands interface to pop-up a menu of
3422 available commands. It is keystroke compatible with the tradi-
3423 tional interface except that it does not require that you hit
3424 Enter. It is implemented for the tty interface (default off).
3429 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3435 NetHack Guidebook 53
3439 For the X11 interface, which always uses a menu for choosing an
3440 extended command, it controls whether the menu shows all avail-
3441 able commands (on) or just the subset of commands which have
3442 traditionally been considered extended ones (off).
3445 An obsolete synonym for "gender:female". Cannot be set with
3449 An object's inventory letter sticks to it when it's dropped
3450 (default on). If this is off, dropping an object shifts all
3451 the remaining inventory letters. Persistent.
3454 Commands asking for an inventory item show a menu instead of a
3455 text query with possible menu letters. Default is off.
3458 Name a fruit after something you enjoy eating (for example
3459 "fruit:mango") (default "slime mold"). Basically a nostalgic
3460 whimsy that NetHack uses from time to time. You should set
3461 this to something you find more appetizing than slime mold.
3462 Apples, oranges, pears, bananas, and melons already exist in
3463 NetHack, so don't use those.
3466 Your starting gender (gender:male or gender:female). You may
3467 specify just the first letter. Although you can still denote
3468 your gender using the "male" and "female" options, the "gender"
3469 option will take precedence. The default is to randomly pick
3470 an appropriate gender. If you prefix the value with `!' or
3471 "no", you will exclude that gender from being picked randomly.
3472 Cannot be set with the `O' command. Persistent.
3475 When filtering objects based on bless/curse state (BUCX),
3476 whether to treat gold pieces as X (unknown bless/curse state,
3477 when "on") or U (known to be uncursed, when "off", the de-
3478 fault). Gold is never blessed or cursed, but it is not de-
3479 scribed as "uncursed" even when the implicit_uncursed option is
3483 If more information is available for an object looked at with
3484 the `/' command, ask if you want to see it (default on). Turn-
3485 ing help off makes just looking at things faster, since you
3486 aren't interrupted with the "More info?" prompt, but it also
3487 means that you might miss some interesting and/or important in-
3488 formation. Persistent.
3491 When using a windowport that supports mouse and clicking on
3492 yourself or next to you, show a menu of possible actions for
3495 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3501 NetHack Guidebook 54
3505 the location. Same as "#herecmdmenu" and "#therecmdmenu" com-
3509 Visually distinguish pets from similar animals (default off).
3510 The behavior of this option depends on the type of windowing
3511 you use. In text windowing, text highlighting or inverse video
3512 is often used; with tiles, generally displays a heart symbol
3515 With the curses interface, the petattr option controls how to
3516 highlight pets and setting it will turn the hilite_pet option
3517 on or off as warranted.
3520 Visually distinguish piles of objects from individual objects
3521 (default off). The behavior of this option depends on the type
3522 of windowing you use. In text windowing, text highlighting or
3523 inverse video is often used; with tiles, generally displays a
3524 small plus-symbol beside the object on the top of the pile.
3527 Show a hit point bar graph behind your name and title. Only
3528 available for TTY and Windows GUI, and only when statushilites
3532 Name your starting horse (for example "horsename:Trigger").
3533 Cannot be set with the `O' command.
3536 Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off). Per-
3540 Omit "uncursed" from inventory lists, if possible (default on).
3543 Display an introductory message when starting the game (default
3547 Show corridor squares seen by night vision or a light source
3548 held by your character as lit (default off). Persistent.
3551 When using a menu to interact with a container, use the old
3552 `a', `b', and `c' keyboard shortcuts rather than the mnemonics
3553 `o', `i', and `b' (default off). Persistent.
3556 Enable mail delivery during the game (default on). Persistent.
3561 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3567 NetHack Guidebook 55
3572 An obsolete synonym for "gender:male". Cannot be set with the
3576 Give feedback when walking against a wall (default off).
3579 Enable coloring menu lines (default off). See "Configuring
3580 Menu Colors" on how to configure the colors.
3583 Controls the interface used when you need to choose various ob-
3584 jects (in response to the Drop command, for instance). The
3585 value specified should be the first letter of one of the fol-
3586 lowing: traditional, combination, full, or partial. Tradi-
3587 tional was the only interface available for early versions; it
3588 consists of a prompt for object class characters, followed by
3589 an object-by-object prompt for all items matching the selected
3590 object class(es). Combination starts with a prompt for object
3591 class(es) of interest, but then displays a menu of matching ob-
3592 jects rather than prompting one-by-one. Full displays a menu
3593 of object classes rather than a character prompt, and then a
3594 menu of matching objects for selection. Partial skips the ob-
3595 ject class filtering and immediately displays a menu of all ob-
3599 Menu character accelerator to deselect all items in a menu.
3600 Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `-'.
3603 Menu character accelerator to deselect all items on this page
3604 of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. De-
3608 Menu character accelerator to jump to the first page in a menu.
3609 Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `^'.
3612 Controls how the headings in a menu are highlighted. Values
3613 are "none", "bold", "dim", "underline", "blink", or "inverse".
3614 Not all ports can actually display all types.
3617 Menu character accelerator to invert all items in a menu. Im-
3618 plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `@'.
3621 Menu character accelerator to invert all items on this page of
3622 a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default
3627 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3633 NetHack Guidebook 56
3638 Menu character accelerator to jump to the last page in a menu.
3639 Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `|'.
3642 Menu character accelerator to goto the next menu page. Imple-
3643 mented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `>'.
3646 Show object symbols in menu headings in menus where the object
3647 symbols act as menu accelerators (default off).
3650 Do not clear the screen before drawing menus, and align menus
3651 to the right edge of the screen. Only for the tty port. (de-
3655 Menu character accelerator to goto the previous menu page. Im-
3656 plemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `<'.
3659 Menu character accelerator to search for a menu item. Imple-
3660 mented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `:'.
3663 Menu character accelerator to select all items in a menu. Im-
3664 plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `.'.
3667 Menu character accelerator to select all items on this page of
3668 a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default
3672 Prompt for new form whenever any monster changes shape (default
3673 off). Debug mode only.
3676 Allow use of the mouse for input and travel. Valid settings
3680 1 - enabled and make OS adjustments to support mouse use in the game
3681 2 - like 1 but does not make any OS adjustments
3683 Omitting a value is the same as specifying 1 and negating
3684 mouse_support is the same as specifying 0.
3687 The number of top line messages to keep (and be able to recall
3688 with `^P') (default 20). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
3693 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3699 NetHack Guidebook 57
3704 Allows you to change the way recalled messages are displayed.
3705 Currently it is only supported for tty (all four choices) and
3706 for curses (`f' and `r' choices, default `r'). The possible
3709 s - single message (default; only choice prior to 3.4.0);
3710 c - combination, two messages as "single", then as "full";
3711 f - full window, oldest message first;
3712 r - full window reversed, newest message first.
3714 For backward compatibility, no value needs to be specified
3715 (which defaults to "full"), or it can be negated (which
3716 defaults to "single").
3719 Set your character's name (defaults to your user name). You
3720 can also set your character's role by appending a dash and one
3721 or more letters of the role (that is, by suffixing one of -A -B
3722 -C -H -K -M -P -Ra -Ro -S -T -V -W). If -@ is used for the
3723 role, then a random one will be automatically chosen. Cannot
3724 be set with the `O' command.
3727 Read the NetHack news file, if present (default on). Since the
3728 news is shown at the beginning of the game, there's no point in
3729 setting this with the `O' command.
3732 Start the character with no armor (default false). Persistent.
3735 Send padding nulls to the terminal (default on). Persistent.
3738 Use digit keys instead of letters to move (default 0 or off).
3741 0 - move by letters; "yuhjklbn"
3742 1 - move by numbers; digit `5' acts as `G' movement prefix
3743 2 - like 1 but `5' works as `g' prefix instead of as `G'
3744 3 - by numbers using phone key layout; 123 above, 789 below
3745 4 - combines 3 with 2; phone layout plus MS-DOS compatibility
3746 -1 - by letters but use `z' to go northwest, `y' to zap wands
3748 For backward compatibility, omitting a value is the same as
3749 specifying 1 and negating number_pad is the same as specifying
3750 0. (Settings 2 and 4 are for compatibility with MS-DOS or old
3751 PC Hack; in addition to the different behavior for `5', `Alt-5'
3752 acts as `G' and `Alt-0' acts as `I'. Setting -1 is to accommo-
3753 date some QWERTZ keyboards which have the location of the `y'
3754 and `z' keys swapped.) When moving by numbers, to enter a
3755 count prefix for those commands which accept one (such as "12s"
3756 to search twelve times), precede it with the letter `n'
3759 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3765 NetHack Guidebook 58
3772 Specify the order to list object types in (default
3773 "")[%?+!=/(*`0_"). The value of this option should be a string
3774 containing the symbols for the various object types. Any omit-
3775 ted types are filled in at the end from the previous order.
3777 paranoid_confirmation
3778 A space separated list of specific situations where alternate
3779 prompting is desired. The default is paranoid_confirma-
3782 Confirm - for any prompts which are set to require "yes"
3783 rather than `y', also require "no" to reject in-
3784 stead of accepting any non-yes response as no
3785 quit - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm quitting
3786 the game or switching into non-scoring explore
3788 die - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm dying
3789 (not useful in normal play; applies to explore
3791 bones - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm saving
3792 bones data when dying in debug mode;
3793 attack - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm attack-
3794 ing a peaceful monster;
3795 wand-break - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm breaking
3797 Were-change - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm changing
3798 form due to lycanthropy when hero has polymorph
3800 pray - require `y' to confirm an attempt to pray rather
3801 than immediately praying; on by default;
3802 Remove - require selection from inventory for `R' and `T'
3803 commands even when wearing just one applicable
3805 all - turn on all of the above.
3807 By default, the pray choice is enabled, the others disabled.
3808 To disable it without setting any of the other choices, use
3809 "paranoid_confirmation:none". To keep it enabled while setting
3810 any of the others, include it in the list, such as "para-
3811 noid_confirmation:attack pray Remove".
3814 If true, always display your current inventory in a window.
3815 This only makes sense for windowing system interfaces that im-
3816 plement this feature.
3819 Specifies one or more text highlighting attributes to use when
3820 showing pets on the map. Effectively a superset of the
3821 hilite_pet boolean option. Curses interface only; value is one
3822 or more of the following letters.
3825 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3831 NetHack Guidebook 59
3835 n - Normal text (no highlighting)
3836 i - Inverse video (default)
3842 l - Left line indicator
3843 r - Right line indicator
3845 Some of those choices might not work, particularly the final
3846 three, depending upon terminal hardware or terminal emulation
3849 Currently multiple highlight-style letters can be combined by
3850 simply stringing them together (for example, "bk"), but in the
3851 future they might require being separated by plus signs (such
3852 as "b+k", which works already). When using the `n' choice, it
3853 should be specified on its own, not in combination with any of
3857 Specify the type of your initial pet, if you are playing a
3858 character class that uses multiple types of pets; or choose to
3859 have no initial pet at all. Possible values are "cat", "dog",
3860 "horse", and "none". If the choice is not allowed for the role
3861 you are currently playing, it will be silently ignored. For
3862 example, "horse" will only be honored when playing a knight.
3863 Cannot be set with the `O' command.
3866 When you pick up an item that would exceed this encumbrance
3867 level (Unencumbered, Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed,
3868 or overLoaded), you will be asked if you want to continue.
3869 (Default `S'). Persistent.
3872 If this option is on and autopickup is also on, try to pick up
3873 things that you threw, even if they aren't in pickup_types or
3874 match an autopickup exception. Default is on. Persistent.
3877 Specify the object types to be picked up when autopickup is on.
3878 Default is all types. You can use autopickup_exception config-
3879 uration file lines to further refine autopickup behavior. Per-
3883 When walking across a pile of objects on the floor, threshold
3884 at which the message "there are few/several/many objects here"
3885 is given instead of showing a popup list of those objects. A
3886 value of 0 means "no limit" (always list the objects); a value
3887 of 1 effectively means "never show the objects" since the pile
3888 size will always be at least that big; default value is 5.
3891 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3897 NetHack Guidebook 60
3904 Values are "normal", "explore", or "debug". Allows selection
3905 of explore mode (also known as discovery mode) or debug mode
3906 (also known as wizard mode) instead of normal play. Debug mode
3907 might only be allowed for someone logged in under a particular
3908 user name (on multi-user systems) or specifying a particular
3909 character name (on single-user systems) or it might be disabled
3910 entirely. Requesting it when not allowed or not possible re-
3911 sults in explore mode instead. Default is normal play.
3914 Using the `w' (wield) command when already wielding something
3915 pushes the old item into your alternate weapon slot (default
3916 off). Likewise for the `a' (apply) command if it causes the
3917 applied item to become wielded. Persistent.
3920 Selects your race (for example, "race:human"). Default is ran-
3921 dom. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no", you will ex-
3922 clude that race from being picked randomly. Cannot be set with
3923 the `O' command. Persistent.
3926 Make the space bar a synonym for the `.' (#wait) command (de-
3927 fault off). Persistent.
3930 Pick your type of character (for example "role:Samurai"); syn-
3931 onym for "character". See "name" for an alternate method of
3932 specifying your role. Normally only the first letter of the
3933 value is examined; `r' is an exception with "Rogue", "Ranger",
3934 and "random" values. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no",
3935 you will exclude that role from being picked randomly. Cannot
3936 be set with the `O' command. Persistent.
3939 This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
3940 found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
3941 screen on the rogue level.
3944 When writing out a save file, perform run length compression of
3945 the map. Not all ports support run length compression. It has
3946 no effect on reading an existing save file.
3949 Controls the amount of screen updating for the map window when
3950 engaged in multi-turn movement (running via shift+direction or
3951 control+direction and so forth, or via the travel command or
3952 mouse click). The possible values are:
3954 teleport - update the map after movement has finished;
3957 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
3963 NetHack Guidebook 61
3967 run - update the map after every seven or so steps;
3968 walk - update the map after each step;
3969 crawl - like walk, but pause briefly after each step.
3971 This option only affects the game's screen display, not the ac-
3972 tual results of moving. The default is "run"; versions prior
3973 to 3.4.1 used "teleport" only. Whether or not the effect is
3974 noticeable will depend upon the window port used or on the type
3975 of terminal. Persistent.
3978 Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
3982 Evaluate monsters, objects, and map prior to each turn (default
3983 off). Debug mode only.
3986 Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the end
3987 (for example "scores:5 top scores/4 around my score/own
3988 scores"). Only the first letter of each category (`t', `a', or
3989 `o') is necessary. Persistent.
3992 Show your accumulated experience points on bottom line (default
3996 Display yourself as the glyph for your race, rather than the
3997 glyph for your role (default off). Note that this setting af-
3998 fects only the appearance of the display, not the way the game
3999 treats you. Persistent.
4002 Show your approximate accumulated score on bottom line (default
4006 Suppress terminal beeps (default on). Persistent.
4009 Controls the sorting behavior of the pickup lists for inventory
4010 and #loot commands and some others. Persistent. The possible
4013 full - always sort the lists;
4014 loot - only sort the lists that don't use inventory letters,
4015 like with the #loot and pickup commands;
4016 none - show lists the traditional way without sorting.
4019 Sort the pack contents by type when displaying inventory (de-
4020 fault on). Persistent.
4023 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4029 NetHack Guidebook 62
4034 Display a sparkly effect when a monster (including yourself) is
4035 hit by an attack to which it is resistant (default on). Per-
4039 Boldface monsters and "--More--" (default off). Persistent.
4042 Controls how many turns status hilite behaviors highlight the
4043 field. If negated or set to zero, disables status hiliting.
4044 See "Configuring Status Hilites" for further information.
4047 Allow updates to the status lines at the bottom of the screen
4051 This option may be set to a NetHack version level to suppress
4052 alert notification messages about feature changes for that and
4053 prior versions (for example "suppress_alert:3.3.1").
4056 This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
4057 found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
4058 screen. Use "symset:default" to explicitly select the default
4062 Show the elapsed game time in turns on bottom line (default
4066 When pausing momentarily for display effect, such as with ex-
4067 plosions and moving objects, use a timer rather than sending
4068 extra characters to the screen. (Applies to "tty" interface
4069 only; "X11" interface always uses a timer based delay. The de-
4070 fault is on if configured into the program.) Persistent.
4073 Draw a tombstone graphic upon your death (default on). Persis-
4077 Put the ending display in a NetHack window instead of on stdout
4078 (default off). Setting this option makes the score list visi-
4079 ble when a windowing version of NetHack is started without a
4080 parent window, but it no longer leaves the score list around
4081 after game end on a terminal or emulating window.
4084 Allow the travel command (default on). Turning this option off
4085 will prevent the game from attempting unintended moves if you
4086 make inadvertent mouse clicks on the map window. Persistent.
4089 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4095 NetHack Guidebook 63
4100 Provide more commentary during the game (default on). Persis-
4104 When using the `/' or `;' commands to look around on the map
4105 with autodescribe on, display coordinates after the descrip-
4106 tion. Also works in other situations where you are asked to
4109 The possible settings are:
4111 c - compass ("east" or "3s" or "2n,4w");
4112 f - full compass ("east" or "3south" or "2north,4west");
4113 m - map <x,y> (map column x=0 is not used);
4114 s - screen [row,column] (row is offset to match tty usage);
4115 n - none (no coordinates shown) [default].
4117 The whatis_coord option is also used with the "/m", "/M", "/o",
4118 and "/O" sub-commands of `/', where the "none" setting is over-
4122 When getting a location on the map, and using the keys to cycle
4123 through next and previous targets, allows filtering the possi-
4126 n - no filtering [default]
4128 a - in same area only
4130 The area-filter tries to be slightly predictive -- if you're
4131 standing on a doorway, it will consider the area on the side of
4132 the door you were last moving towards.
4134 Filtering can also be changed when getting a location with the
4135 "getpos.filter" key.
4138 When getting a location on the map, and using a key to cycle
4139 through next and previous targets, use a menu instead to pick a
4140 target. (default off)
4143 When getting a location on the map, and using shifted movement
4144 keys or meta-digit keys to fast-move, instead of moving 8 units
4145 at a time, move by skipping the same glyphs. (default off)
4148 When the program has been built to support multiple interfaces,
4149 select which one to use, such as "tty" or "X11" (default de-
4150 pends on build-time settings; use "#version" to check). Cannot
4151 be set with the `O' command.
4155 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4161 NetHack Guidebook 64
4165 When used, it should be the first option set since its value
4166 might enable or disable the availability of various other op-
4167 tions. For multiple lines in a configuration file, that would
4168 be the first non-comment line. For a comma-separated list in
4169 NETHACKOPTIONS or an OPTIONS line in a configuration file, that
4170 would be the rightmost option in the list.
4173 Augment object descriptions with their objects' weight (default
4174 off). Debug mode only.
4177 When writing out a save file, perform zero-comp compression of
4178 the contents. Not all ports support zero-comp compression. It
4179 has no effect on reading an existing save file.
4181 9.5. Window Port Customization options
4183 Here are explanations of the various options that are used
4184 to customize and change the characteristics of the windowtype
4185 that you have chosen. Character strings that are too long may be
4186 truncated. Not all window ports will adjust for all settings
4187 listed here. You can safely add any of these options to your
4188 config file, and if the window port is capable of adjusting to
4189 suit your preferences, it will attempt to do so. If it can't it
4190 will silently ignore it. You can find out if an option is sup-
4191 ported by the window port that you are currently using by check-
4192 ing to see if it shows up in the Options list. Some options are
4193 dynamic and can be specified during the game with the `O' com-
4197 Where to align or place the message window (top, bottom, left,
4201 Where to align or place the status window (top, bottom, left,
4205 If NetHack can, it should display an ascii character map if it
4209 If NetHack can, it should display color if it can for different
4210 monsters, objects, and dungeon features.
4213 If NetHack can, it should pass eight-bit character values (for
4214 example, specified with the traps option) straight through to
4215 your terminal (default off).
4218 if NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the
4221 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4227 NetHack Guidebook 65
4234 If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
4238 If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the
4242 If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the
4246 If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
4250 If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the map win-
4254 If NetHack can, it should use this size font for menu windows.
4257 If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the message
4261 If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the status
4265 If NetHack can, it should use this size font for text windows.
4268 If NetHack can, it should try and display on the entire screen
4269 rather than in a window.
4272 Use color text and/or highlighting attributes when displaying
4273 some non-map data (such as menu selector letters). Curses in-
4274 terface only; default is on.
4277 If NetHack can, it should use a large font.
4280 If NetHack can, it should display the map in the manner speci-
4284 If NetHack can, it should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts
4287 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4293 NetHack Guidebook 66
4297 for character selection.
4300 If NetHack can, it should pop up dialog boxes for input.
4303 If NetHack can, it should preload tiles into memory. For exam-
4304 ple, in the protected mode MS-DOS version, control whether
4305 tiles get pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game. Doing
4306 so enhances performance of the tile graphics, but uses more
4307 memory. (default on). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
4310 If NetHack can, it should scroll the display by this number of
4311 cells when the hero reaches the scroll_margin.
4314 If NetHack can, it should scroll the display when the hero or
4315 cursor is this number of cells away from the edge of the win-
4319 If NetHack can, it should display a menu of existing saved
4320 games for the player to choose from at game startup, if it can.
4321 Not all ports support this option.
4324 Display an onscreen keyboard. Handhelds are most likely to
4325 support this option.
4328 If NetHack can, it should display an opening splash screen when
4329 it starts up (default yes).
4332 Number of lines for traditional below-the-map status display.
4333 Acceptable values are 2 and 3 (default is 2). Curses and tty
4339 Curses interface only. Number of columns and rows to use for
4340 the display. Curses will attempt to resize to the values spec-
4341 ified but will settle for smaller sizes if they are too big.
4342 Default is the current window size.
4345 If NetHack can, it should display a tiled map if it can.
4348 Specify the name of an alternative tile file to override the
4353 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4359 NetHack Guidebook 67
4364 Specify the preferred height of each tile in a tile capable
4368 Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable port
4371 Use bold black instead of blue for black glyphs (TTY only).
4374 If NetHack can, it should display inverse when the game speci-
4378 If NetHack can, it should display this number of messages at a
4379 time in the message window.
4382 Whether to draw boxes around the map, status area, message
4383 area, and persistent inventory window if enabled. Curses in-
4384 terface only. Acceptable values are
4386 0 - off, never show borders
4387 1 - on, always show borders
4388 2 - auto, on if display is at least (24+2)x(80+2) (default)
4390 (The 26x82 size threshold for `2' refers to number of rows and
4391 columns of the display. A width of at least 110 columns
4392 (80+2+26+2) is needed for align_status set to left or right.)
4395 If NetHack can, it should display windows with the specified
4396 foreground/background colors. Windows GUI only. The format is
4398 OPTION=windowcolors:wintype foreground/background
4400 where wintype is one of "menu", "message", "status", or
4401 "text", and foreground and background are colors, either a hexa-
4402 decimal \'#rrggbb', one of the named colors (black, red, green,
4403 brown, blue, magenta, cyan, orange, brightgreen, yellow, bright-
4404 blue, brightmagenta, brightcyan, white, trueblack, gray, purple,
4405 silver, maroon, fuchsia, lime, olive, navy, teal, aqua), or one
4406 of Windows UI colors (activeborder, activecaption, appworkspace,
4407 background, btnface, btnshadow, btntext, captiontext, graytext,
4408 greytext, highlight, highlighttext, inactiveborder, inactivecap-
4409 tion, menu, menutext, scrollbar, window, windowframe, window-
4413 If NetHack can, it should wrap long lines of text if they don't
4414 fit in the visible area of the window.
4419 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4425 NetHack Guidebook 68
4429 9.6. Platform-specific Customization options
4431 Here are explanations of options that are used by specific
4432 platforms or ports to customize and change the port behavior.
4435 Select an alternate keystroke handler dll to load (Win32 tty
4436 NetHack only). The name of the handler is specified without
4437 the .dll extension and without any path information. Cannot be
4438 set with the `O' command.
4441 On Amiga, this option controls whether typing "Alt" plus anoth-
4442 er key functions as a meta-shift for that key (default on).
4445 On other (non-Amiga) systems where this option is available, it
4446 can be set to tell NetHack to convert a two character sequence
4447 beginning with ESC into a meta-shifted version of the second
4448 character (default off).
4450 This conversion is only done for commands, not for other input
4451 prompts. Note that typing one or more digits as a count prefix
4452 prior to a command -- preceded by n if the number_pad option is
4453 set -- is also subject to this conversion, so attempting to
4454 abort the count by typing ESC will leave NetHack waiting for
4455 another character to complete the two character sequence. Type
4456 a second ESC to finish cancelling such a count. At other
4457 prompts a single ESC suffices.
4460 Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly and to read
4461 the keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to move) on ma-
4462 chines with an IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM (default off, OS/2,
4463 PC, and ST NetHack only).
4466 (default off, Amiga NetHack only).
4469 (default on, Mac NetHack only).
4472 (default on, Mac NetHack only).
4475 Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more bullet-
4476 proof input (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer toggle
4477 without it) (default off, OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack only).
4478 Note: DEC Rainbows hang if this is turned on. Cannot be set
4479 with the `O' command.
4482 (default on, PC NetHack only). Cannot be set with the `O'
4485 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4491 NetHack Guidebook 69
4498 (Win32 tty NetHack only). May be used to alter the value of
4499 keystrokes that the operating system returns to NetHack to help
4500 compensate for international keyboard issues. OPTIONS=subkey-
4501 value:171/92 will return 92 to NetHack, if 171 was originally
4502 going to be returned. You can use multiple subkeyvalue state-
4503 ments in the config file if needed. Cannot be set with the `O'
4507 Set the video mode used (PC NetHack only). Values are "autode-
4508 tect", "default", or "vga". Setting "vga" (or "autodetect"
4509 with vga hardware present) will cause the game to display
4510 tiles. Cannot be set with the `O' command.
4513 Set the color palette for PC systems using NO_TERMS (default
4514 4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11, (PC NetHack only). The order
4515 of colors is red, green, brown, blue, magenta, cyan,
4516 bright.white, bright.red, bright.green, yellow, bright.blue,
4517 bright.magenta, and bright.cyan. Cannot be set with the `O'
4521 Set the intensity level of the three gray scales available (de-
4522 fault dark normal light, PC NetHack only). If the game display
4523 is difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if this does
4524 not correct the problem, try !color. Cannot be set with the
4527 9.7. Regular Expressions
4529 Regular expressions are normally POSIX extended regular ex-
4530 pressions. It is possible to compile NetHack without regular ex-
4531 pression support on a platform where there is no regular expres-
4532 sion library. While this is not true of any modern platform, if
4533 your NetHack was built this way, patterns are instead glob pat-
4534 terns. This applies to Autopickup exceptions, Message types, Menu
4535 colors, and User sounds.
4537 9.8. Configuring Autopickup Exceptions
4539 You can further refine the behavior of the autopickup option
4540 beyond what is available through the pickup_types option.
4542 By placing autopickup_exception lines in your configuration
4543 file, you can define patterns to be checked when the game is
4544 about to autopickup something.
4546 autopickup_exception
4547 Sets an exception to the pickup_types option. The autopick-
4548 up_exception option should be followed by a regular expression
4551 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4557 NetHack Guidebook 70
4561 to be used as a pattern to match against the singular form of
4562 the description of an object at your location.
4564 In addition, some characters are treated specially if they oc-
4565 cur as the first character in the pattern, specifically:
4567 < - always pickup an object that matches rest of pattern;
4568 > - never pickup an object that matches rest of pattern.
4570 A "never pickup" rule takes precedence over an "always pickup"
4573 Exceptions can be set with the `O' command, but ones set that
4574 way will not be preserved across saves and restores.
4576 Here are some examples:
4578 autopickup_exception="<*arrow"
4579 autopickup_exception=">*corpse"
4580 autopickup_exception=">* cursed*"
4582 The first example above will result in autopickup of any
4583 type of arrow. The second example results in the exclusion of
4584 any corpse from autopickup. The last example results in the ex-
4585 clusion of items known to be cursed from autopickup.
4587 9.9. Changing Key Bindings
4589 It is possible to change the default key bindings of some
4590 special commands, menu accelerator keys, and extended commands,
4591 by using BIND stanzas in the configuration file. Format is key,
4592 followed by the command to bind to, separated by a colon. The
4593 key can be a single character ("x"), a control key ("^X", "C-x"),
4594 a meta key ("M-x"), or a three-digit decimal ASCII code.
4598 BIND=^X:getpos.autodescribe
4599 BIND={:menu_first_page
4602 Extended command keys
4603 You can bind multiple keys to the same extended command. Un-
4604 bind a key by using "nothing" as the extended command to bind
4605 to. You can also bind the "<esc>", "<enter>", and "<space>"
4608 Menu accelerator keys
4609 The menu control or accelerator keys can also be rebound via
4610 OPTIONS-lines in the config file. You cannot bind object sym-
4611 bols into menu accelerators.
4613 Special command keys
4614 Below are the special commands you can rebind. Some of them
4617 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4623 NetHack Guidebook 71
4627 can be bound to same keys with no problems, others are in the
4628 same "context", and if bound to same keys, only one of those
4629 commands will be available. Special command can only be bound
4633 Prefix key to start a count, to repeat a command this many
4634 times. With number_pad only. Default is `n'.
4637 Show inventory. With number_pad only. Default is `0'.
4640 Prefix key to force fight a direction. Default is `F'.
4643 Prefix key to force fight a direction. With number_pad only.
4647 When asked for a direction, the key to show the help. Default
4651 When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
4655 When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
4659 When asked for a location, the key to toggle autodescribe. De-
4663 When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest inter-
4664 esting thing. Default is `a'.
4667 When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
4668 interesting thing. Default is `A'.
4671 When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest door
4672 or doorway. Default is `d'.
4675 When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
4676 door or doorway. Default is `D'.
4679 When asked for a location, the key to show help. Default is
4683 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4689 NetHack Guidebook 72
4694 When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest mon-
4695 ster. Default is `m'.
4698 When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
4699 monster. Default is `M'.
4702 When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest ob-
4703 ject. Default is `o'.
4706 When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
4707 object. Default is `O'.
4710 When asked for a location, and using one of the next or previ-
4711 ous keys to cycle through targets, toggle showing a menu in-
4712 stead. Default is `!'.
4715 When asked for a location, and using the shifted movement keys
4716 or meta-digit keys to fast-move around, move by skipping the
4717 same glyphs instead of by 8 units. Default is `*'.
4720 When asked for a location, change the filtering mode when using
4721 one of the next or previous keys to cycle through targets.
4722 Toggles between no filtering, in view only, and in the same
4723 area only. Default is `"'.
4726 When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
4727 possibly ask for more info. Default is `.'.
4730 When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
4731 skip asking for more info. Default is `,'.
4734 When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, skip
4735 asking for more info, and exit the location asking loop. De-
4739 When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
4740 show more info without asking. Default is `:'.
4743 When asked for a location, the key to go to your location. De-
4749 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4755 NetHack Guidebook 73
4759 getpos.unexplored.next
4760 When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest unex-
4761 plored location. Default is `x'.
4763 getpos.unexplored.prev
4764 When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
4765 unexplored location. Default is `X'.
4768 When asked for a location, the key to go to show valid target
4769 locations. Default is `$'.
4772 When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest valid
4773 location. Default is `z'.
4776 When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
4777 valid location. Default is `Z'.
4780 Prefix key to move without picking up items. Default is `m'.
4783 Key to redraw the screen. Default is `^R'.
4786 Key to redraw the screen. With number_pad only. Default is
4790 Key to repeat previous command. Default is `^A'.
4793 Prefix key to request menu from some commands. Default is `m'.
4796 Prefix key to run towards a direction. Default is `G'.
4799 Prefix key to run towards a direction without picking up items
4800 on the way. Default is `M'.
4803 Prefix key to run towards a direction. With number_pad only.
4807 Prefix key to rush towards a direction. Default is `g'.
4809 9.10. Configuring Message Types
4811 You can change the way the messages are shown in the message
4812 area, when the message matches a user-defined pattern.
4815 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4821 NetHack Guidebook 74
4825 In general, the config file entries to configure the message
4826 types look like this: MSGTYPE=type "pattern"
4828 type - how the message should be shown;
4829 pattern - the pattern to match.
4831 The pattern should be a regular expression.
4835 show - show message normally;
4836 hide - never show the message;
4837 stop - wait for user with more-prompt;
4838 norep - show the message once, but not again if no other mes-
4839 sage is shown in between.
4841 Here's an example of message types using NetHack's internal
4842 pattern matching facility:
4844 MSGTYPE=stop "You feel hungry."
4845 MSGTYPE=hide "You displaced *."
4847 specifies that whenever a message "You feel hungry" is shown,
4848 the user is prompted with more-prompt, and a message matching
4849 "You displaced <something>." is not shown at all.
4851 The order of the defined MSGTYPE-lines is important; the last
4852 matching rule is used. Put the general case first, exceptions
4855 9.11. Configuring Menu Colors
4857 Some platforms allow you to define colors used in menu lines
4858 when the line matches a user-defined pattern. At this time the
4859 tty, win32tty and win32gui support this.
4861 In general, the config file entries to configure the menu
4862 color mappings look like this:
4864 MENUCOLOR="pattern"=color&attribute
4866 pattern - the pattern to match;
4867 color - the color to use for lines matching the pat-
4869 attribute - the attribute to use for lines matching the
4870 pattern. The attribute is optional, and if
4871 left out, you must also leave out the preced-
4872 ing ampersand. If no attribute is defined,
4873 no attribute is used.
4875 The pattern should be a regular expression.
4877 Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
4878 cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-
4881 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4887 NetHack Guidebook 75
4891 magenta, light-cyan, and white. And no-color, the default
4892 foreground color, which isn't necessarily the same as any of
4895 Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink, and
4896 inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none". Note that the
4897 platform used may interpret the attributes any way it wants.
4899 Here's an example of menu colors using NetHack's internal pat-
4900 tern matching facility:
4902 MENUCOLOR="* blessed *"=green
4903 MENUCOLOR="* cursed *"=red
4904 MENUCOLOR="* cursed *(being worn)"=red&underline
4906 specifies that any menu line with " blessed " contained in it
4907 will be shown in green color, lines with " cursed " will be
4908 shown in red, and lines with " cursed " followed by "(being
4909 worn)" on the same line will be shown in red color and under-
4910 lined. You can have multiple MENUCOLOR entries in your config
4911 file, and the last MENUCOLOR-line in your config file that
4912 matches a menu line will be used for the line.
4914 Note that if you intend to have one or more color specifica-
4915 tions match " uncursed ", you will probably want to turn the im-
4916 plicit_uncursed option off so that all items known to be uncursed
4917 are actually displayed with the "uncursed" description.
4919 9.12. Configuring User Sounds
4921 Some platforms allow you to define sound files to be played
4922 when a message that matches a user-defined pattern is delivered
4923 to the message window. At this time the Qt port and the win32tty
4924 and win32gui ports support the use of user sounds.
4926 The following config file entries are relevant to mapping
4927 user sounds to messages:
4930 The directory that houses the sound files to be played.
4933 An entry that maps a sound file to a user-specified message
4934 pattern. Each SOUND entry is broken down into the following
4937 MESG - message window mapping (the only one supported in
4939 pattern - the pattern to match;
4940 sound file - the sound file to play;
4941 volume - the volume to be set while playing the sound file.
4943 The pattern should be a POSIX extended regular expression.
4947 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
4953 NetHack Guidebook 76
4957 9.13. Configuring Status Hilites
4959 Your copy of NetHack may have been compiled with support for
4960 "Status Hilites". If so, you can customize your game display by
4961 setting thresholds to change the color or appearance of fields in
4964 The format for defining status colors is:
4966 OPTION=hilite_status:field-name/behavior/color&attributes
4968 For example, the following line in your configuration file
4969 will cause the hitpoints field to display in the color red if
4970 your hitpoints drop to or below a threshold of 30%:
4972 OPTION=hilite_status:hitpoints/<=30%/red/normal
4974 (That example is actually specifying red&normal for <=30% and no-
4975 color&normal for >30%.)
4977 For another example, the following line in your configura-
4978 tion file will cause wisdom to be displayed red if it drops and
4981 OPTION=hilite_status:wisdom/down/red/up/green
4983 Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
4984 cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-magen-
4985 ta, light-cyan, and white. And "no-color", the default fore-
4986 ground color on the display, which is not necessarily the same as
4987 black or white or any of the other colors.
4989 Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink,
4990 and inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none"; they should not
4991 be used in combination with any of the other attributes.
4993 To specify both a color and an attribute, use `&' to combine
4994 them. To specify multiple attributes, use `+' to combine those.
4995 For example: "magenta&inverse+dim".
4997 Note that the display may substitute or ignore particular
4998 attributes depending upon its capabilities, and in general may
4999 interpret the attributes any way it wants. For example, on some
5000 display systems a request for bold might yield blink or vice ver-
5001 sa. On others, issuing an attribute request while another is al-
5002 ready set up will replace the earlier attribute rather than com-
5003 bine with it. Since NetHack issues attribute requests sequen-
5004 tially (at least with the tty interface) rather than all at once,
5005 the only way a situation like that can be controlled is to speci-
5006 fy just one attribute.
5008 You can adjust the appearance of the following status
5013 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5019 NetHack Guidebook 77
5023 title dungeon-level experience-level
5024 strength gold experience
5025 dexterity hitpoints HD
5026 constitution hitpoints-max time
5027 intelligence power hunger
5028 wisdom power-max carrying-capacity
5029 charisma armor-class condition
5032 The pseudo-field "characteristics" can be used to set all six
5033 of Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha at once. "HD" is "hit
5034 dice", an approximation of experience level displayed when
5035 polymorphed. "experience", "time", and "score" are condition-
5036 ally displayed depending upon your other option settings.
5038 Instead of a behavior, "condition" takes the following condi-
5039 tion flags: stone, slime, strngl, foodpois, termill, blind,
5040 deaf, stun, conf, hallu, lev, fly, and ride. You can use "ma-
5041 jor_troubles" as an alias for stone through termill, "mi-
5042 nor_troubles" for blind through hallu, "movement" for lev, fly,
5043 and ride, and "all" for every condition.
5045 Allowed behaviors are "always", "up", "down", "changed", a per-
5046 centage or absolute number threshold, or text to match against.
5048 * "always" will set the default attributes for that field.
5050 * "up" and "down" set the field attributes for when the
5051 field value changes upwards or downwards. This attribute
5052 times out after statushilites turns.
5054 * "changed" sets the field attribute for when the field val-
5055 ue changes. This attribute times out after statushilites
5056 turns. (If a field has both a "changed" rule and an "up"
5057 or "down" rule which matches a change in the field's val-
5058 ue, the "up" or "down" one takes precedence.)
5060 * percentage sets the field attribute when the field value
5061 matches the percentage. It is specified as a number be-
5062 tween 0 and 100, followed by `%' (percent sign). If the
5063 percentage is prefixed with `<=' or `>=', it also matches
5064 when value is below or above the percentage. Use prefix
5065 `<' or `>' to match when strictly below or above. (The
5066 numeric limit is relaxed slightly for those: >-1% and
5067 <101% are allowed.) Only valid for "hitpoints" and "pow-
5070 * absolute value sets the attribute when the field value
5071 matches that number. The number must be 0 or higher, ex-
5072 cept for "armor-class' which allows negative values, and
5073 may optionally be preceded by `='. If the number is pre-
5074 ceded by `<=' or `>=' instead, it also matches when value
5075 is below or above. If the prefix is `<' or `>', only
5076 match when strictly above or below.
5079 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5085 NetHack Guidebook 78
5089 * text match sets the attribute when the field value matches
5090 the text. Text matches can only be used for "alignment",
5091 "carrying-capacity", "hunger", "dungeon-level", and "ti-
5092 tle". For title, only the role's rank title is tested;
5093 the character's name is ignored.
5095 The in-game options menu can help you determine the correct
5096 syntax for a config file.
5098 The whole feature can be disabled by setting option sta-
5103 OPTION=hilite_status: gold/up/yellow/down/brown
5104 OPTION=hilite_status: characteristics/up/green/down/red
5105 OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/100%/gray&normal
5106 OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<100%/green&normal
5107 OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<66%/yellow&normal
5108 OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<50%/orange&normal
5109 OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<33%/red&bold
5110 OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<15%/red&inverse
5111 OPTION=hilite_status: condition/major/orange&inverse
5112 OPTION=hilite_status: condition/lev+fly/red&inverse
5114 9.14. Modifying NetHack Symbols
5116 NetHack can load entire symbol sets from the symbol file.
5118 The options that are used to select a particular symbol set
5119 from the symbol file are:
5122 Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load.
5125 Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load for dis-
5126 play on the rogue level.
5128 You can also override one or more symbols using the SYMBOLS
5129 config file option. Symbols are specified as name:value pairs.
5130 Note that NetHack escape-processes the value string in conven-
5131 tional C fashion. This means that \ is a prefix to take the fol-
5132 lowing character literally. Thus \ needs to be represented as
5133 \\. The special prefix form \m switches on the meta bit in the
5134 symbol value, and the ^ prefix causes the following character to
5135 be treated as a control character.
5138 Default Symbol Name Description
5139 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
5145 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5151 NetHack Guidebook 79
5156 A S_angel (angelic being)
5157 a S_ant (ant or other insect)
5158 ^ S_anti_magic_trap (anti-magic field)
5159 [ S_armor (suit or piece of armor)
5160 [ S_armour (suit or piece of armor)
5161 ^ S_arrow_trap (arrow trap)
5162 0 S_ball (iron ball)
5163 # S_bars (iron bars)
5164 B S_bat (bat or bird)
5165 ^ S_bear_trap (bear trap)
5166 - S_blcorn (bottom left corner)
5168 + S_book (spellbook)
5169 ) S_boomleft (boomerang open left)
5170 ( S_boomright (boomerang open right)
5171 ` S_boulder (boulder)
5172 - S_brcorn (bottom right corner)
5173 C S_centaur (centaur)
5174 _ S_chain (iron chain)
5176 c S_cockatrice (cockatrice)
5177 $ S_coin (pile of coins)
5180 # S_darkroom (dark room)
5181 ^ S_dart_trap (dart trap)
5182 & S_demon (major demon)
5183 * S_digbeam (dig beam)
5184 > S_dnladder (ladder down)
5185 > S_dnstair (staircase down)
5186 d S_dog (dog or other canine)
5188 ; S_eel (sea monster)
5189 E S_elemental (elemental)
5190 / S_explode1 (explosion top left)
5191 - S_explode2 (explosion top center)
5192 \ S_explode3 (explosion top right)
5193 | S_explode4 (explosion middle left)
5194 S_explode5 (explosion middle center)
5195 | S_explode6 (explosion middle right)
5196 \ S_explode7 (explosion bottom left)
5197 - S_explode8 (explosion bottom center)
5198 / S_explode9 (explosion bottom right)
5199 e S_eye (eye or sphere)
5200 ^ S_falling_rock_trap (falling rock trap)
5201 f S_feline (cat or other feline)
5202 ^ S_fire_trap (fire trap)
5203 ! S_flashbeam (flash beam)
5204 % S_food (piece of food)
5205 { S_fountain (fountain)
5206 F S_fungus (fungus or mold)
5207 * S_gem (gem or rock)
5211 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5217 NetHack Guidebook 80
5222 H S_giant (giant humanoid)
5226 g S_gremlin (gremlin)
5227 - S_hbeam (horizontal beam [zap animation])
5228 # S_hcdbridge (horizontal raised drawbridge)
5229 + S_hcdoor (closed door in horizontal wall)
5230 . S_hodbridge (horizontal lowered drawbridge)
5231 | S_hodoor (open door in horizontal wall)
5233 @ S_human (human or elf)
5234 h S_humanoid (humanoid)
5235 - S_hwall (horizontal wall)
5237 i S_imp (imp or minor demon)
5238 I S_invisible (invisible monster)
5239 J S_jabberwock (jabberwock)
5242 K S_kop (Keystone Kop)
5243 ^ S_land_mine (land mine)
5244 } S_lava (molten lava)
5245 l S_leprechaun (leprechaun)
5246 ^ S_level_teleporter (level teleporter)
5249 # S_litcorr (lit corridor)
5251 \ S_lslant (diagonal beam [zap animation])
5252 ^ S_magic_portal (magic portal)
5253 ^ S_magic_trap (magic trap)
5255 ] S_mimic_def (mimic)
5258 . S_ndoor (doorway without door)
5262 p S_piercer (piercer)
5264 # S_poisoncloud (poison cloud)
5265 ^ S_polymorph_trap (polymorph trap)
5268 P S_pudding (pudding or ooze)
5269 q S_quadruped (quadruped)
5270 Q S_quantmech (quantum mechanic)
5272 ` S_rock (boulder or statue)
5277 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5283 NetHack Guidebook 81
5287 ^ S_rolling_boulder_trap (rolling boulder trap)
5288 . S_room (floor of a room)
5289 / S_rslant (diagonal beam [zap animation])
5290 ^ S_rust_trap (rust trap)
5291 R S_rustmonst (rust monster or disenchanter)
5294 ^ S_sleeping_gas_trap (sleeping gas trap)
5296 s S_spider (arachnid or centipede)
5297 ^ S_spiked_pit (spiked pit)
5298 ^ S_squeaky_board (squeaky board)
5299 0 S_ss1 (magic shield 1 of 4)
5300 # S_ss2 (magic shield 2 of 4)
5301 @ S_ss3 (magic shield 3 of 4)
5302 * S_ss4 (magic shield 4 of 4)
5303 ^ S_statue_trap (statue trap)
5304 S_stone (dark part of a room)
5305 ] S_strange_obj (strange object)
5306 - S_sw_bc (swallow bottom center)
5307 \ S_sw_bl (swallow bottom left)
5308 / S_sw_br (swallow bottom right)
5309 | S_sw_ml (swallow middle left)
5310 | S_sw_mr (swallow middle right)
5311 - S_sw_tc (swallow top center)
5312 / S_sw_tl (swallow top left)
5313 \ S_sw_tr (swallow top right)
5315 ^ S_teleportation_trap (teleportation trap)
5316 \ S_throne (opulent throne)
5317 - S_tlcorn (top left corner)
5319 ( S_tool (useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp...))
5320 ^ S_trap_door (trap door)
5321 t S_trapper (trapper or lurker above)
5322 - S_trcorn (top right corner)
5327 U S_umber (umber hulk)
5328 u S_unicorn (unicorn or horse)
5329 < S_upladder (ladder up)
5330 < S_upstair (staircase up)
5331 V S_vampire (vampire)
5332 | S_vbeam (vertical beam [zap animation])
5333 # S_vcdbridge (vertical raised drawbridge)
5334 + S_vcdoor (closed door in vertical wall)
5335 . S_venom (splash of venom)
5336 ^ S_vibrating_square (vibrating square)
5337 . S_vodbridge (vertical lowered drawbridge)
5338 - S_vodoor (open door in vertical wall)
5343 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5349 NetHack Guidebook 82
5353 | S_vwall (vertical wall)
5359 ~ S_worm_tail (long worm tail)
5361 x S_xan (xan or other mythical/fantastic insect)
5363 Y S_yeti (apelike creature)
5367 There is one additional class of object, described as
5368 "strange object", which will occasionally be the shape taken on
5369 by mimics and shown as `]' for maps displayed as text characters.
5370 Although the displayed character is the same as the default value
5371 for "S_mimic_def", it is a different symbol and there is no cor-
5372 responding "S_strange_object" symbol nor any way to assign an al-
5373 ternate value for it.
5375 9.15. Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind
5377 NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII characters
5378 for making maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions
5379 of NetHack completely accessible to the blind who use speech
5380 and/or Braille access technologies. Players will require a good
5381 working knowledge of their screen-reader's review features, and
5382 will have to know how to navigate horizontally and vertically
5383 character by character. They will also find the search capabili-
5384 ties of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to
5385 examine this Guidebook before playing so you have an idea what
5386 the screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate
5387 the PC cursor. It is always where your character is located.
5388 Merely searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac-
5389 ter since there are other humanoids represented by the same sign.
5390 Your screen-reader should also have a function which gives you
5391 the row and column of your review cursor and the PC cursor.
5392 These co-ordinates are often useful in giving players a better
5393 sense of the overall location of items on the screen.
5395 NetHack can also be compiled with support for sending the
5396 game messages to an external program, such as a text-to-speech
5397 synthesizer. If the "#version" extended command shows "external
5398 program as a message handler", your NetHack has been compiled
5399 with the capability. When compiling NetHack from source on Linux
5400 and other POSIX systems, define MSGHANDLER to enable it. To use
5401 the capability, set the environment variable NETHACK_MSGHANDLER
5402 to an executable, which will be executed with the game message as
5403 the program's only parameter.
5405 While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
5406 defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find this task
5409 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5415 NetHack Guidebook 83
5419 somewhat daunting. Included within the "symbols" file of all of-
5420 ficial distributions of NetHack is a symset called NHAccess. Se-
5421 lecting that symset in your configuration file will cause the
5422 game to run in a manner accessible to the blind. After you have
5423 gained some experience with the game and with editing files, you
5424 may want to alter settings via SYMBOLS= in your configuration
5425 file to better suit your preferences. The most crucial settings
5426 to make the game accessible are:
5429 Load a symbol set appropriate for use by blind players.
5431 roguesymset:NHAccess
5432 Load a symbol set for the rogue level that is appropriate for
5433 use by blind players.
5435 menustyle:traditional
5436 This will assist in the interface to speech synthesizers.
5439 Show menus on a cleared screen and aligned to the left edge.
5442 A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
5443 the screen. If this is the case, disable the number_pad option
5444 and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.
5447 Automatically describe the terrain under the cursor when tar-
5451 Give feedback messages when walking towards a wall or when
5452 travel command was interrupted.
5454 whatis_coord:compass
5455 When targeting with cursor, describe the cursor position with
5456 coordinates relative to your character.
5459 When targeting with cursor, filter possible locations so only
5460 those in the same area (eg. same room, or same corridor) are
5464 When targeting with cursor and using fast-move, skip the same
5465 glyphs instead of moving 8 units at a time.
5468 Prevent updates to the status lines at the bottom of the
5469 screen, if your screen-reader reads those lines. The same in-
5470 formation can be seen via the #attributes command.
5475 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5481 NetHack Guidebook 84
5485 9.16. Global Configuration for System Administrators
5487 If NetHack is compiled with the SYSCF option, a system ad-
5488 ministrator should set up a global configuration; this is a file
5489 in the same format as the traditional per-user configuration file
5490 (see above). This file should be named sysconf and placed in the
5491 same directory as the other NetHack support files. The options
5492 recognized in this file are listed below. Any option not set us-
5493 es a compiled-in default (which may not be appropriate for your
5496 WIZARDS = A space-separated list of user names who are allowed
5497 to play in debug mode (commonly referred to as wizard mode). A
5498 value of a single asterisk (*) allows anyone to start a game in
5501 SHELLERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the shell es-
5502 cape command (!). The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
5504 EXPLORERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the explore
5505 mode. The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
5507 MAXPLAYERS = Limit the maximum number of games that can be run-
5508 ning at the same time.
5510 SUPPORT = A string explaining how to get local support (no de-
5513 RECOVER = A string explaining how to recover a game on this
5514 system (no default value).
5516 SEDUCE = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
5517 option. When disabled, incubi and succubi behave like nymphs.
5519 CHECK_PLNAME = Setting this to 1 will make the EXPLORERS, WIZ-
5520 ARDS, and SHELLERS check for the player name instead of the us-
5523 CHECK_SAVE_UID = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
5524 UID (used identification number) checking for save files (to
5525 verify that the user who is restoring is the same one who
5528 The following options affect the score file:
5530 PERSMAX = Maximum number of entries for one person.
5532 ENTRYMAX = Maximum number of entries in the score file.
5534 POINTSMIN = Minimum number of points to get an entry in the
5537 PERS_IS_UID = 0 or 1 to use user names or numeric userids, re-
5538 spectively, to identify unique people for the score file.
5541 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5547 NetHack Guidebook 85
5551 MAX_STATUENAME_RANK = Maximum number of score file entries to
5552 use for random statue names (default is 10).
5554 DUMPLOGFILE = A filename where the end-of-game dumplog is
5555 saved. Not defining this will prevent dumplog from being cre-
5556 ated. Only available if your game is compiled with DUMPLOG. Al-
5557 lows the following placeholders:
5560 %v - version (eg. "3.6.2-0")
5562 %t - game start time, UNIX timestamp format
5563 %T - current time, UNIX timestamp format
5564 %d - game start time, YYYYMMDDhhmmss format
5565 %D - current time, YYYYMMDDhhmmss format
5567 %N - first character of player name
5571 NetHack maintains a list of the top scores or scorers on
5572 your machine, depending on how it is set up. In the latter case,
5573 each account on the machine can post only one non-winning score
5574 on this list. If you score higher than someone else on this
5575 list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in the
5576 proper place under your current name. How many scores are kept
5577 can also be set up when NetHack is compiled.
5579 Your score is chiefly based upon how much experience you
5580 gained, how much loot you accumulated, how deep you explored, and
5581 how the game ended. If you quit the game, you escape with all of
5582 your gold intact. If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of
5583 Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your
5584 corpse is discovered (adventurers have been known to collect
5585 finder's fees). So, consider whether you want to take one last
5586 hit at that monster and possibly live, or quit and stop with
5587 whatever you have. If you quit, you keep all your gold, but if
5588 you swing and live, you might find more.
5590 If you just want to see what the current top players/games
5591 list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.
5595 NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
5596 falter in fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive.
5597 Well, fear not. Your dungeon comes equipped with an "explore" or
5598 "discovery" mode that enables you to keep old save files and
5599 cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the high score
5602 There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to
5603 start the game with the -X command-line switch or with the play-
5604 mode:explore option. The other is to issue the "#exploremode"
5607 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5613 NetHack Guidebook 86
5617 extended command while already playing the game. Starting a new
5618 game in explore mode provides your character with a wand of wish-
5619 ing in initial inventory; switching during play does not. The
5620 other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
5625 Debug mode, also known as wizard mode, is undocumented aside
5626 from this brief description and the various "debug mode only"
5627 commands listed among the command descriptions. It is intended
5628 for tracking down problems within the program rather than to pro-
5629 vide god-like powers to your character, and players who attempt
5630 debugging are expected to figure out how to use it themselves.
5631 It is initiated by starting the game with the -D command-line
5632 switch or with the playmode:debug option.
5634 For some systems, the player must be logged in under a par-
5635 ticular user name to be allowed to use debug mode; for others,
5636 the hero must be given a particular character name (but may be
5637 any role; there's no connection between "wizard mode" and the
5638 Wizard role). Attempting to start a game in debug mode when not
5639 allowed or not available will result in falling back to explore
5644 The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
5645 rogue game. Large portions of this paper were shamelessly
5646 cribbed from A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
5647 and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. Small portions were adapted from
5648 Further Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by Ken Arromdee.
5650 NetHack is the product of literally dozens of people's work.
5651 Main events in the course of the game development are described
5654 Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
5655 Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne.
5657 Andries Brouwer did a major re-write, transforming Hack into
5658 a very different game, and published (at least) three versions
5659 (1.0.1, 1.0.2, and 1.0.3) for UNIX machines to the Usenet.
5661 Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and MS-DOS,
5662 producing PC HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
5663 in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more ver-
5664 sions (3.0, 3.2, 3.51, and 3.6).
5666 R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
5667 520/1040ST, producing ST Hack 1.03.
5669 Mike Stephenson merged these various versions back together,
5670 incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack
5673 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5679 NetHack Guidebook 87
5683 1.4. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in enhancing and
5684 debugging NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.
5686 Later, Mike coordinated a major rewrite of the game, heading
5687 a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet, Steve
5688 Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, John Rupley, Mike Threep-
5689 oint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack 3.0c.
5691 NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
5692 OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel. The three
5693 of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main NetHack Development
5694 Team to produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.
5696 Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga. Norm
5697 Meluch, Stephen Spackman and Pierre Martineau designed overlay
5698 code for PC NetHack 3.0. Johnny Lee ported NetHack 3.0 to the
5699 Macintosh. Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued
5700 to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through the later
5703 Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
5704 and Janet Walz, the NetHack Development Team which now included
5705 Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy,
5706 Matt Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin,
5707 Eric Raymond, and Eric Smith undertook a radical revision of 3.0.
5708 They re-structured the game's design, and re-wrote major parts of
5709 the code. They added multiple dungeons, a new display, special
5710 individual character quests, a new endgame and many other new
5711 features, and produced NetHack 3.1.
5713 Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
5714 Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti, and Olaf Seibert, developed
5715 NetHack 3.1 for the Amiga.
5717 Norm Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
5718 lin, Stephen Spackman, Steve VanDevender, and Paul Winner, ported
5719 NetHack 3.1 to the PC.
5721 Jon W{tte and Hao-yang Wang, with help from Ross Brown, Mike
5722 Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny
5723 Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
5724 3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW. Building on their de-
5725 velopment, Barton House added a Think C port.
5727 Timo Hakulinen ported NetHack 3.1 to OS/2. Eric Smith port-
5728 ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari. Pat Rankin, with help from Joshua
5729 Delahunty, was responsible for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
5730 Michael Allison ported NetHack 3.1 to Windows NT.
5732 Dean Luick, with help from David Cohrs, developed NetHack
5733 3.1 for X11. Warwick Allison wrote a tiled version of NetHack
5734 for the Atari; he later contributed the tiles to the NetHack De-
5735 velopment Team and tile support was then added to other plat-
5739 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5745 NetHack Guidebook 88
5749 The 3.2 NetHack Development Team, comprised of Michael Alli-
5750 son, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin
5751 Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Er-
5752 ic Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
5753 version 3.2 in April of 1996.
5755 Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of
5756 the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
5757 game, all thirteen members of the original NetHack Development
5758 Team remained on the team at the start of work on that release.
5759 During the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2, one of
5760 the founding members of the NetHack Development Team, Dr. Izchak
5761 Miller, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. That release
5762 of the game was dedicated to him by the development and porting
5765 During the lifespan of NetHack 3.1 and 3.2, several enthusi-
5766 asts of the game added their own modifications to the game and
5767 made these "variants" publicly available:
5769 Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created NetHack++, which was
5770 quickly renamed NetHack--. Working independently, Stephen White
5771 wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot later merged NetHack Plus and
5772 his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH. Larry Stewart-Zerba and War-
5773 wick Allison improved the spell casting system with the Wizard
5774 Patch. Warwick Allison also ported NetHack to use the Qt inter-
5777 Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch to pro-
5778 duce Slash'EM, and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
5779 tures. Kevin later joined the NetHack Development Team and in-
5780 corporated the best of these ideas in NetHack 3.3.
5782 The final update to 3.2 was the bug fix release 3.2.3, which
5783 was released simultaneously with 3.3.0 in December 1999 just in
5784 time for the Year 2000.
5786 The 3.3 NetHack Development Team, consisting of Michael Al-
5787 lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,
5788 Kevin Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lor-
5789 ber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet
5790 Walz, and Paul Winner, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1
5793 Version 3.3 offered many firsts. It was the first version to
5794 separate race and profession. The Elf class was removed in pref-
5795 erence to an elf race, and the races of dwarves, gnomes, and orcs
5796 made their first appearance in the game alongside the familiar
5797 human race. Monk and Ranger roles joined Archeologists, Barbar-
5798 ians, Cavemen, Healers, Knights, Priests, Rogues, Samurai,
5799 Tourists, Valkyries and of course, Wizards. It was also the
5800 first version to allow you to ride a steed, and was the first
5801 version to have a publicly available web-site listing all the
5802 bugs that had been discovered. Despite that constantly growing
5805 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5811 NetHack Guidebook 89
5815 bug list, 3.3 proved stable enough to last for more than a year
5818 The 3.4 NetHack Development Team initially consisted of
5819 Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Kevin
5820 Hugo, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet
5821 Walz, and Paul Winner, with Warwick Allison joining just before
5822 the release of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.
5824 As with version 3.3, various people contributed to the game
5825 as a whole as well as supporting ports on the different platforms
5826 that NetHack runs on:
5828 Pat Rankin maintained 3.4 for VMS.
5830 Michael Allison maintained NetHack 3.4 for the MS-DOS plat-
5831 form. Paul Winner and Yitzhak Sapir provided encouragement.
5833 Dean Luick, Mark Modrall, and Kevin Hugo maintained and en-
5834 hanced the Macintosh port of 3.4.
5836 Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas,
5837 and Yitzhak Sapir maintained and enhanced 3.4 for the Microsoft
5838 Windows platform. Alex Kompel contributed a new graphical inter-
5839 face for the Windows port. Alex Kompel also contributed a Win-
5840 dows CE port for 3.4.1.
5842 Ron Van Iwaarden was the sole maintainer of NetHack for OS/2
5843 the past several releases. Unfortunately Ron's last OS/2 machine
5844 stopped working in early 2006. A great many thanks to Ron for
5845 keeping NetHack alive on OS/2 all these years.
5847 Janne Salmijarvi and Teemu Suikki maintained and enhanced
5848 the Amiga port of 3.4 after Janne Salmijarvi resurrected it for
5851 Christian "Marvin" Bressler maintained 3.4 for the Atari af-
5852 ter he resurrected it for 3.3.1.
5854 The release of NetHack 3.4.3 in December 2003 marked the be-
5855 ginning of a long release hiatus. 3.4.3 proved to be a remarkably
5856 stable version that provided continued enjoyment by the community
5857 for more than a decade. The NetHack Development Team slowly and
5858 quietly continued to work on the game behind the scenes during
5859 the tenure of 3.4.3. It was during that same period that several
5860 new variants emerged within the NetHack community. Notably
5861 sporkhack by Derek S. Ray, unnethack by Patric Mueller, nitrohack
5862 and its successors originally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex
5863 Smith, and Dynahack by Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants con-
5864 tinue to be developed, maintained, and enjoyed by the community
5867 In September 2014, an interim snapshot of the code under de-
5868 velopment was released publicly by other parties. Since that code
5871 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5877 NetHack Guidebook 90
5881 was a work-in-progress and had not gone through the process of
5882 debugging it as a suitable release, it was decided that the ver-
5883 sion numbers present on that code snapshot would be retired and
5884 never used in an official NetHack release. An announcement was
5885 posted on the NetHack Development Team's official nethack.org
5886 website to that effect, stating that there would never be a
5887 3.4.4, 3.5, or 3.5.0 official release version.
5889 In January 2015, preparation began for the release of
5892 At the beginning of development for what would eventually
5893 get released as 3.6.0, the NetHack Development Team consisted of
5894 Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs,
5895 Jessie Collet, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephen-
5896 son, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner. In early 2015, ahead of the
5897 release of 3.6.0, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and Derek
5898 S. Ray joined the NetHack Development Team.
5900 Near the end of the development of 3.6.0, one of the signif-
5901 icant inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features
5902 found in the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. NetHack
5903 3.6.0 introduced a tribute to him.
5905 3.6.0 was released in December 2015, and merged work done by
5906 the development team since the release of 3.4.3 with some of the
5907 beloved community patches. Many bugs were fixed and some code was
5910 The NetHack Development Team, as well as Steve VanDevender
5911 and Kevin Smolkowski, ensured that NetHack 3.6 continued to oper-
5912 ate on various UNIX flavors and maintained the X11 interface.
5914 Ken Lorber, Haoyang Wang, Pat Rankin, and Dean Luick main-
5915 tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Mac OSX.
5917 Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Barton House, Pasi Kallinen,
5918 Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas, Derek S. Ray and Yitzhak Sapir main-
5919 tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Microsoft Windows.
5921 Pat Rankin attempted to keep the VMS port running for
5922 NetHack 3.6, hindered by limited access. Kevin Smolkowski has up-
5923 dated and tested it for the most recent version of OpenVMS (V8.4
5924 as of this writing) on Alpha and Integrity (aka Itanium aka IA64)
5927 Ray Chason resurrected the msdos port for 3.6 and contrib-
5928 uted the necessary updates to the community at large.
5930 In late April 2018, several hundred bug fixes for 3.6.0 and
5931 some new features were assembled and released as NetHack 3.6.1.
5932 The NetHack Development Team at the time of release of 3.6.1 con-
5933 sisted of Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David
5934 Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Pasi Kallinen, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick,
5937 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
5943 NetHack Guidebook 91
5947 Patric Mueller, Pat Rankin, Derek S. Ray, Alex Smith, Mike
5948 Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner.
5950 In early May 2019, another 320 bug fixes along with some en-
5951 hancements and the adopted curses window port, were released as
5954 The official NetHack web site is maintained by Ken Lorber at
5955 http://www.nethack.org/.
5957 12.1. SPECIAL THANKS
5959 On behalf of the NetHack community, thank you very much once
5960 again to M. Drew Streib and Pasi Kallinen for providing a public
5961 NetHack server at nethack.alt.org. Thanks to Keith Simpson and
5962 Andy Thomson for hardfought.org. Thanks to all those unnamed dun-
5963 geoneers who invest their time and effort into annual NetHack
5964 tournaments such as Junethack, The November NetHack Tournament
5965 and in days past, devnull.net (gone for now, but not forgotten).
5969 From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
5970 netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
5971 with the game. The NetHack Development Team sometimes makes note
5972 of the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list
5974 Adam Aronow Janet Walz Nathan Eady
5975 Alex Kompel Janne Salmijarvi Norm Meluch
5976 Alex Smith Jean-Christophe Collet Olaf Seibert
5977 Andreas Dorn Jeff Bailey Pasi Kallinen
5978 Andy Church Jochen Erwied Pat Rankin
5979 Andy Swanson John Kallen Patric Mueller
5980 Ari Huttunen John Rupley Paul Winner
5981 Barton House John S. Bien Pierre Martineau
5982 Benson I. Margulies Johnny Lee Ralf Brown
5983 Bill Dyer Jon W{tte Ray Chason
5984 Boudewijn Waijers Jonathan Handler Richard Addison
5985 Bruce Cox Joshua Delahunty Richard Beigel
5986 Bruce Holloway Karl Garrison Richard P. Hughey
5987 Bruce Mewborne Keizo Yamamoto Rob Menke
5988 Carl Schelin Ken Arnold Robin Bandy
5989 Chris Russo Ken Arromdee Robin Johnson
5990 David Cohrs Ken Lorber Roderick Schertler
5991 David Damerell Ken Washikita Roland McGrath
5992 David Gentzel Kevin Darcy Ron Van Iwaarden
5993 David Hairston Kevin Hugo Ronnen Miller
5994 Dean Luick Kevin Sitze Ross Brown
5995 Del Lamb Kevin Smolkowski Sascha Wostmann
5996 Derek S. Ray Kevin Sweet Scott Bigham
5997 Deron Meranda Lars Huttar Scott R. Turner
5998 Dion Nicolaas Leon Arnott Sean Hunt
5999 Dylan O'Donnell M. Drew Streib Stephen Spackman
6003 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
6009 NetHack Guidebook 92
6013 Eric Backus Malcolm Ryan Stefan Thielscher
6014 Eric Hendrickson Mark Gooderum Stephen White
6015 Eric R. Smith Mark Modrall Steve Creps
6016 Eric S. Raymond Marvin Bressler Steve Linhart
6017 Erik Andersen Matthew Day Steve VanDevender
6018 Frederick Roeber Merlyn LeRoy Teemu Suikki
6019 Gil Neiger Michael Allison Tim Lennan
6020 Greg Laskin Michael Feir Timo Hakulinen
6021 Greg Olson Michael Hamel Tom Almy
6022 Gregg Wonderly Michael Sokolov Tom West
6023 Hao-yang Wang Mike Engber Warren Cheung
6024 Helge Hafting Mike Gallop Warwick Allison
6025 Irina Rempt-Drijfhout Mike Passaretti Yitzhak Sapir
6026 Izchak Miller Mike Stephenson
6027 J. Ali Harlow Mikko Juola
6029 Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trade-
6030 marks of their respective holders.
6069 NetHack 3.6 May 7, 2019
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