* Shops do not get restocked with new items, regardless of inven-
tory depletion.
- 6. Monsters
+ 5.5. Movement feedback
- Monsters you cannot see are not displayed on the screen.
- Beware! You may suddenly come upon one in a dark place. Some
- magic items can help you locate them before they locate you
- (which some monsters can do very well).
+ Moving around the map usually provides no feedback--other
+ than drawing the hero at the new location--unless you step on an
+ object or pile of objects, or on a trap, or attempt to move onto
+ a spot where a monster is located. There are several options
+ which can be used to augment the normal feedback.
- The commands `/' and `;' may be used to obtain information
- about those monsters who are displayed on the screen. The com-
- mand "#name" (by default bound to `C'), allows you to assign a
- name to a monster, which may be useful to help distinguish one
+ The pile_limit option controls how many objects can be in a
+ pile--sharing the same map location--for the game to state "there
+ are objects here" instead of listing them. The default is 5.
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ Setting it to 1 would always give that message instead of listing
+ any objects. Setting it to 0 is a special case which will always
+ list all objects no matter how big a pile is. Note that the num-
+ ber refers to the count of separate stacks of objects present
+ rather than the sum of the quantities of those stacks (so 7 ar-
+ rows or 25 gold pieces will each count as 1 rather than as 7 and
+ 25, respectively, and total to 2 when both are at the same loca-
+ tion).
+
+ The "nopickup" command prefix (default `m') before a move-
+ ment direction can be used to step on objects without attempting
+ auto-pickup and without giving feedback about them.
+
+ The mention_walls option controls whether you get feedback
+ if you try to walk into a wall or solid stone or off the edge of
+ the map. Normally nothing happens (unless the hero is blind and
+ no wall is shown, then the wall that is being bumped into will be
+ drawn on the map). This option also gives feedback when the var-
+ ious rush or run variations of movement stop for some non-obvious
+ reason.
+
+ The mention_decor option controls whether you get feedback
+ when walking on "furniture." Normally stepping onto stairs or a
+ fountain or an altar or various other things doesn't elicit any-
+ thing unless it is covered by one or more objects so is obscured
+ on the map. Doorless doorways and open doors aren't considered
+ worthy of mention; closed doors (if you can move onto their
+ spots) and broken doors are. Assuming that you're able to do so,
+ moving onto water or lava or ice will give feedback if not yet on
+ that type of terrain but not repeat it (unless there has been
+ some intervening message) when moving from water to another water
+ spot, or lava to lava, or ice to ice. Moving off of any of those
+ back onto "normal" terrain will give one message too, unless
+ there is feedback about one or more objects, in which case the
+ back on land circumstance is implied.
+
+ The confirm and safe_pet options control what happens when
+ you try to move onto a peaceful monster's spot or a tame one's
+ spot.
+
+ The "nopickup" command prefix (default `m') is also the
+ move-without-attacking prefix and can be used to try to step onto
+ a visible monster's spot without the move being considered an at-
+ tack (see the Fighting subsection of Monsters below). The
+ "fight" command prefix (default `F'; also `-' if number_pad is
+ on) can be used to force an attack, when guessing where an unseen
+ monster is or when deliberately attacking a peaceful or tame
+ creature.
+
+ The run_mode option controls how frequently the map gets re-
+ drawn when moving more than one step in a single command (so when
+ rushing, running, or traveling).
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 33
+
+
+
+ 6. Monsters
+
+ Monsters you cannot see are not displayed on the screen.
+ Beware! You may suddenly come upon one in a dark place. Some
+ magic items can help you locate them before they locate you
+ (which some monsters can do very well).
+
+ The commands `/' and `;' may be used to obtain information
+ about those monsters who are displayed on the screen. The com-
+ mand "#name" (by default bound to `C'), allows you to assign a
+ name to a monster, which may be useful to help distinguish one
from another when multiple monsters are present. Assigning a
name which is just a space will remove any prior name.
feed it, too, by throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be
very useful under certain circumstances.
- Your pet also gains experience from killing monsters, and
- can grow over time, gaining hit points and doing more damage.
- Initially, your pet may even be better at killing things than
- you, which makes pets useful for low-level characters.
-
- Your pet will follow you up and down staircases if it is
- next to you when you move. Otherwise your pet will be stranded
- and may become wild. Similarly, when you trigger certain types
- of traps which alter your location (for instance, a trap door
- which drops you to a lower dungeon level), any adjacent pet will
-
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 33
+ NetHack Guidebook 34
+
+ Your pet also gains experience from killing monsters, and
+ can grow over time, gaining hit points and doing more damage.
+ Initially, your pet may even be better at killing things than
+ you, which makes pets useful for low-level characters.
+ Your pet will follow you up and down staircases if it is
+ next to you when you move. Otherwise your pet will be stranded
+ and may become wild. Similarly, when you trigger certain types
+ of traps which alter your location (for instance, a trap door
+ which drops you to a lower dungeon level), any adjacent pet will
accompany you and any non-adjacent pet will be left behind. Your
pet may trigger such traps itself; you will not be carried along
with it even if adjacent at the time.
more will result in it disappearing from your map, similarly if
it is the one who moved rather than you.
- However, if you encounter a monster which you can't see or
- sense -- perhaps it is invisible and has just tapped you on the
- noggin -- a special "remembered, unseen monster" marker will be
- displayed at the location where you think it is. That will per-
- sist until you have proven that there is no monster there, even
- if the unseen monster moves to another location or you move to a
- spot where the marker's location ordinarily wouldn't be seen any
- more.
-
-
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 34
+ NetHack Guidebook 35
+
+ However, if you encounter a monster which you can't see or
+ sense -- perhaps it is invisible and has just tapped you on the
+ noggin -- a special "remembered, unseen monster" marker will be
+ displayed at the location where you think it is. That will per-
+ sist until you have proven that there is no monster there, even
+ if the unseen monster moves to another location or you move to a
+ spot where the marker's location ordinarily wouldn't be seen any
+ more.
7. Objects
When you use one of these objects, if its effect is obvious,
NetHack will remember what it is for you. If its effect isn't
extremely obvious, you will be asked what you want to call this
- type of object so you will recognize it later. You can also use
- the "#name" command, for the same purpose at any time, to name
- all objects of a particular type or just an individual object.
- When you use "#name" on an object which has already been named,
- specifying a space as the value will remove the prior name in-
- stead of assigning a new one.
-
-
-
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 35
+ NetHack Guidebook 36
+
+ type of object so you will recognize it later. You can also use
+ the "#name" command, for the same purpose at any time, to name
+ all objects of a particular type or just an individual object.
+ When you use "#name" on an object which has already been named,
+ specifying a space as the value will remove the prior name in-
+ stead of assigning a new one.
7.1. Curses and Blessings
exception; they normally do more damage with bare (or gloved)
hands than they do with weapons.
- There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown
- weapons, like arrows and spears. To hit monsters with a weapon,
- you must wield it and attack them, or throw it at them. You can
- simply elect to throw a spear. To shoot an arrow, you should
- first wield a bow, then throw the arrow. Crossbows shoot cross-
- bow bolts. Slings hurl rocks and (other) stones (like gems).
-
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 36
+ NetHack Guidebook 37
+
+ There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown
+ weapons, like arrows and spears. To hit monsters with a weapon,
+ you must wield it and attack them, or throw it at them. You can
+ simply elect to throw a spear. To shoot an arrow, you should
+ first wield a bow, then throw the arrow. Crossbows shoot cross-
+ bow bolts. Slings hurl rocks and (other) stones (like gems).
Enchanted weapons have a "plus" (or "to hit enhancement"
which can be either positive or negative) that adds to your
`f' (fire, an alternate way of throwing), `Q' (quiver), `x' (ex-
change), `X' (twoweapon), and "#enhance" (see below).
- 7.2.1. Throwing and shooting
- You can throw just about anything via the `t' command. It
- will prompt for the item to throw; picking `?' will list things
- in your inventory which are considered likely to be thrown, or
- picking `*' will list your entire inventory. After you've chosen
- what to throw, you will be prompted for a direction rather than
- for a specific target. The distance something can be thrown de-
- pends mainly on the type of object and your strength. Arrows can
- be thrown by hand, but can be thrown much farther and will be
+
+
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 37
+ NetHack Guidebook 38
+
+ 7.2.1. Throwing and shooting
+ You can throw just about anything via the `t' command. It
+ will prompt for the item to throw; picking `?' will list things
+ in your inventory which are considered likely to be thrown, or
+ picking `*' will list your entire inventory. After you've chosen
+ what to throw, you will be prompted for a direction rather than
+ for a specific target. The distance something can be thrown de-
+ pends mainly on the type of object and your strength. Arrows can
+ be thrown by hand, but can be thrown much farther and will be
more likely to hit when thrown while you are wielding a bow.
You can simplify the throwing operation by using the `Q'
polearms. Each role has a limit on what level of proficiency a
character can achieve for each group. For instance, wizards can
become highly skilled in daggers or staves but not in swords or
- bows.
-
- The "#enhance" extended command is used to review current
- weapons proficiency (also spell proficiency) and to choose which
- skill(s) to improve when you've used one or more skills enough to
- become eligible to do so. The skill rankings are "none" (some-
- times also referred to as "restricted", because you won't be able
- to advance), "unskilled", "basic", "skilled", and "expert". Re-
- stricted skills simply will not appear in the list shown by "#en-
- hance". (Divine intervention might unrestrict a particular
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 38
+ NetHack Guidebook 39
+
+ bows.
+ The "#enhance" extended command is used to review current
+ weapons proficiency (also spell proficiency) and to choose which
+ skill(s) to improve when you've used one or more skills enough to
+ become eligible to do so. The skill rankings are "none" (some-
+ times also referred to as "restricted", because you won't be able
+ to advance), "unskilled", "basic", "skilled", and "expert". Re-
+ stricted skills simply will not appear in the list shown by "#en-
+ hance". (Divine intervention might unrestrict a particular
skill, in which case it will start at unskilled and be limited to
basic.) Some characters can enhance their barehanded combat or
martial arts skill beyond expert to "master" or "grand master".
first wield the intended secondary, swap it to off hand, and then
wield the primary.
- The whole process can be simplified via use of the push-
- weapon option. When it is enabled, then using `w' to wield some-
- thing causes the currently wielded weapon to become your alter-
- nate weapon. So the sequence `w', `w' can be used to first wield
- the weapon you intend to be secondary, and then wield the one you
- want as primary which will push the first into secondary posi-
- tion.
- When in two-weapon combat mode, using the `X' command tog-
- gles back to single-weapon mode. Throwing or dropping either of
- the weapons or having one of them be stolen or destroyed will
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 39
+ NetHack Guidebook 40
- also make you revert to single-weapon combat.
+ The whole process can be simplified via use of the push-
+ weapon option. When it is enabled, then using `w' to wield some-
+ thing causes the currently wielded weapon to become your alter-
+ nate weapon. So the sequence `w', `w' can be used to first wield
+ the weapon you intend to be secondary, and then wield the one you
+ want as primary which will push the first into secondary posi-
+ tion.
+
+ When in two-weapon combat mode, using the `X' command tog-
+ gles back to single-weapon mode. Throwing or dropping either of
+ the weapons or having one of them be stolen or destroyed will al-
+ so make you revert to single-weapon combat.
7.3. Armor (`[')
would give you better protection than normal chain mail, lowering
your armor class one unit further to 4. When you put on a piece
of armor, you immediately find out the armor class and any
- "plusses" it provides. Cursed pieces of armor usually have nega-
- tive enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.
- Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage like
- rust. Such damage can be repaired. Some types of armor may in-
- hibit spell casting.
- The commands to use armor are `W' (wear) and `T' (take off).
- The `A' command can also be used to take off armor as well as
- other worn items.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 41
- NetHack Guidebook 40
+ "plusses" it provides. Cursed pieces of armor usually have nega-
+ tive enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.
+ Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage like
+ rust. Such damage can be repaired. Some types of armor may in-
+ hibit spell casting.
+ The commands to use armor are `W' (wear) and `T' (take off).
+ The `A' command can also be used to take off armor as well as
+ other worn items.
7.4. Food (`%')
feature on versions where NetHack mail delivery is triggered by
electronic mail appearing in your system mailbox, you must let
NetHack know where to look for new mail by setting the "MAIL" en-
- vironment variable to the file name of your mailbox. You may al-
- so want to set the "MAILREADER" environment variable to the file
- name of your favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it when you
- read the scroll. On versions of NetHack where mail is randomly
- generated internal to the game, these environment variables are
- ignored. You can disable the mail daemon by turning off the mail
- option.
-
- The command to read a scroll is `r'.
-
+ vironment variable to the file name of your mailbox. You may
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 42
- NetHack Guidebook 41
+ also want to set the "MAILREADER" environment variable to the
+ file name of your favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it
+ when you read the scroll. On versions of NetHack where mail is
+ randomly generated internal to the game, these environment vari-
+ ables are ignored. You can disable the mail daemon by turning
+ off the mail option.
+ The command to read a scroll is `r'.
7.6. Potions (`!')
The command to use a wand is `z' (zap). To break one, use
the `a' (apply) command.
- 7.8. Rings (`=')
- Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively per-
- manent magic, unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions,
- scrolls, and wands.
- Putting on a ring activates its magic. You can wear only
- two rings, one on each ring finger.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 43
- NetHack Guidebook 42
+ 7.8. Rings (`=')
+ Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively per-
+ manent magic, unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions,
+ scrolls, and wands.
+ Putting on a ring activates its magic. You can wear only
+ two rings, one on each ring finger.
Most rings also cause you to grow hungry more rapidly, the
rate varying with the type of ring.
slots are shared with weapons skills. (See also the section on
"Weapon proficiency".)
- Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing
- various types of armor may interfere with that.
- The command to read a spellbook is the same as for scrolls,
- `r' (read). The `+' command lists each spell you know along with
- its level, skill category, chance of failure when casting, and an
- estimate of how strongly it is remembered. The `Z' (cast) com-
- mand casts a spell.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 44
- NetHack Guidebook 43
+ Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing
+ various types of armor may interfere with that.
+ The command to read a spellbook is the same as for scrolls,
+ `r' (read). The `+' command lists each spell you know along with
+ its level, skill category, chance of failure when casting, and an
+ estimate of how strongly it is remembered. The `Z' (cast) com-
+ mand casts a spell.
7.10. Tools (`(')
you exit.
Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are
- much less valuable. All rocks, however, can be used as projec-
- tile weapons (if you have a sling). In the most desperate of
- cases, you can still throw them by hand.
+ much less valuable. All rocks, however, can be used as
- 7.13. Large rocks (``')
- Statues and boulders are not particularly useful, and are
- generally heavy. It is rumored that some statues are not what
- they seem.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 45
- NetHack Guidebook 44
+ projectile weapons (if you have a sling). In the most desperate
+ of cases, you can still throw them by hand.
+ 7.13. Large rocks (``')
+ Statues and boulders are not particularly useful, and are
+ generally heavy. It is rumored that some statues are not what
+ they seem.
Very large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known
to use boulders as weapons.
action which breaks a challenge, it will no longer be listed.
This gives players extra "bragging rights" for winning the game
with these challenges. Note that it is perfectly acceptable to
- win the game without resorting to these restrictions and that it
- is unusual for players to adhere to challenges the first time
- they win the game.
-
- Several of the challenges are related to eating behavior.
- The most difficult of these is the foodless challenge. Although
- creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is
- a physiological need for water; thus there is no restriction on
- drinking beverages, even if they provide some minor food
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 45
+ NetHack Guidebook 46
- benefits. Calling upon your god for help with starvation does
- not violate any food challenges either.
+ win the game without resorting to these restrictions and that it
+ is unusual for players to adhere to challenges the first time
+ they win the game.
+
+ Several of the challenges are related to eating behavior.
+ The most difficult of these is the foodless challenge. Although
+ creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is
+ a physiological need for water; thus there is no restriction on
+ drinking beverages, even if they provide some minor food bene-
+ fits. Calling upon your god for help with starvation does not
+ violate any food challenges either.
A strict vegan diet is one which avoids any food derived
from animals. The primary source of nutrition is fruits and veg-
"fruits", although they could be anything from "cherries" to
"pork chops", are also assumed to be vegan.
- An atheist is one who rejects religion. This means that you
- cannot #pray, #offer sacrifices to any god, #turn undead, or
- #chat with a priest. Particularly selective readers may argue
- that playing Monk or Priest characters should violate this con-
- duct; that is a choice left to the player. Offering the Amulet
- of Yendor to your god is necessary to win the game and is not
- counted against this conduct. You are also not penalized for be-
- ing spoken to by an angry god, priest(ess), or other religious
- figure; a true atheist would hear the words but attach no special
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 46
+ NetHack Guidebook 47
+ An atheist is one who rejects religion. This means that you
+ cannot #pray, #offer sacrifices to any god, #turn undead, or
+ #chat with a priest. Particularly selective readers may argue
+ that playing Monk or Priest characters should violate this con-
+ duct; that is a choice left to the player. Offering the Amulet
+ of Yendor to your god is necessary to win the game and is not
+ counted against this conduct. You are also not penalized for be-
+ ing spoken to by an angry god, priest(ess), or other religious
+ figure; a true atheist would hear the words but attach no special
meaning to them.
Most players fight with a wielded weapon (or tool intended
NetHack should do things, there are options you can set to change
how NetHack behaves.
- 9.1. Setting the options
-
- Options may be set in a number of ways. Within the game,
- the `O' command allows you to view all options and change most of
- them. You can also set options automatically by placing them in
- a configuration file, or in the NETHACKOPTIONS environment vari-
- able. Some versions of NetHack also have front-end programs that
- allow you to set options before starting the game or a global
-
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 47
+ NetHack Guidebook 48
+
+ 9.1. Setting the options
+ Options may be set in a number of ways. Within the game,
+ the `O' command allows you to view all options and change most of
+ them. You can also set options automatically by placing them in
+ a configuration file, or in the NETHACKOPTIONS environment vari-
+ able. Some versions of NetHack also have front-end programs that
+ allow you to set options before starting the game or a global
configuration for system administrators.
9.2. Using a configuration file
"no" or `!' to turn it off. For compound options, the option
name and value are separated by a colon. Some options are per-
sistent, and apply only to new games. You can specify multiple
- OPTIONS statements, and multiple options separated by commas in
- a single OPTIONS statement. (Comma separated options are pro-
- cessed from right to left.)
- Example:
- OPTIONS=dogname:Fido
- OPTIONS=!legacy,autopickup,pickup_types:$"=/!?+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 49
- NetHack Guidebook 48
+ OPTIONS statements, and multiple options separated by commas in
+ a single OPTIONS statement. (Comma separated options are pro-
+ cessed from right to left.)
+ Example:
+ OPTIONS=dogname:Fido
+ OPTIONS=!legacy,autopickup,pickup_types:$"=/!?+
HACKDIR
Default location of files NetHack needs. On Windows HACKDIR
Change the key bindings of some special keys, menu accelera-
tors, or extended commands. You can specify multiple bindings.
Format is key followed by the command, separated by a colon.
- See the "Changing Key Bindings" section for more information.
- Example:
- BIND=^X:getpos.autodescribe
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- CHOOSE
- Chooses at random one of the comma-separated parameters as an
- active section name. Lines in other sections are ignored.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 50
- NetHack Guidebook 49
+ See the "Changing Key Bindings" section for more information.
+
+ Example:
+ BIND=^X:getpos.autodescribe
+ CHOOSE
+ Chooses at random one of the comma-separated parameters as an
+ active section name. Lines in other sections are ignored.
Example:
names, one per line, up to a maximum of 128 lines. Each line
is processed by the function that handles wishing.
- Example:
-
- WIZKIT=~/wizkit.txt
-
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- Here is an example of configuration file contents:
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 51
+ Example:
+ WIZKIT=~/wizkit.txt
- NetHack Guidebook 50
+ Here is an example of configuration file contents:
# Set your character's role, race, gender, and alignment.
OPTIONS=role:Valkyrie, race:Human, gender:female, align:lawful
The NETHACKOPTIONS value is effectively the same as a single
OPTIONS statement in a configuration file. The "OPTIONS=" prefix
is implied and comma separated options are processed from right
- to left. Other types of configuration statements such as BIND or
- MSGTYPE are not allowed.
-
- Instead of a comma-separated list of options, NETHACKOPTIONS
- can be set to the full name of a configuration file you want to
- use. If that full name doesn't start with a slash, precede it
- with `@' (at-sign) to let NetHack know that the rest is intended
- as a file name. If it does start with `/', the at-sign is
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 51
+ NetHack Guidebook 52
- optional.
+ to left. Other types of configuration statements such as BIND or
+ MSGTYPE are not allowed.
+
+ Instead of a comma-separated list of options, NETHACKOPTIONS
+ can be set to the full name of a configuration file you want to
+ use. If that full name doesn't start with a slash, precede it
+ with `@' (at-sign) to let NetHack know that the rest is intended
+ as a file name. If it does start with `/', the at-sign is op-
+ tional.
9.4. Customization options
This option controls what happens when you attempt the `f'
(fire) command when nothing is quivered or readied (default
false). When true, the computer will fill your quiver or
- quiver sack or make ready some suitable weapon. Note that it
- will not take into account the blessed/cursed status, enchant-
- ment, damage, or quality of the weapon; you are free to manual-
- ly fill your quiver or quiver sack or make ready with the `Q'
- command instead. If no weapon is found or the option is false,
- the `t' (throw) command is executed instead. Persistent.
-
-
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 52
+ NetHack Guidebook 53
+
+ quiver sack or make ready some suitable weapon. Note that it
+ will not take into account the blessed/cursed status, enchant-
+ ment, damage, or quality of the weapon; you are free to manual-
+ ly fill your quiver or quiver sack or make ready with the `Q'
+ command instead. If no weapon is found or the option is false,
+ the `t' (throw) command is executed instead. Persistent.
autounlock
Walking into a locked door or looting a locked container while
new players if it detects some anticipated mistakes (default
on).
- confirm
- Have user confirm attacks on pets, shopkeepers, and other
- peaceable creatures (default on). Persistent.
- dark_room
- Show out-of-sight areas of lit rooms (default on). Persistent.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 54
- NetHack Guidebook 53
+ confirm
+ Have user confirm attacks on pets, shopkeepers, and other
+ peaceable creatures (default on). Persistent.
+ dark_room
+ Show out-of-sight areas of lit rooms (default on). Persistent.
disclose
Controls what information the program reveals when the game
and default to no, and overview to disclose without prompting.
Note that the vanquished monsters list includes all monsters
- killed by traps and each other as well as by you. And the dun-
- geon overview shows all levels you had visited but does not re-
- veal things about them that you hadn't discovered.
+ killed by traps and each other as well as by you. And the
- dogname
- Name your starting dog (for example "dogname:Fang"). Cannot be
- set with the `O' command.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 55
- NetHack Guidebook 54
+ dungeon overview shows all levels you had visited but does not
+ reveal things about them that you hadn't discovered.
+ dogname
+ Name your starting dog (for example "dogname:Fang"). Cannot be
+ set with the `O' command.
extmenu
Changes the extended commands interface to pop-up a menu of
when "on") or U (known to be uncursed, when "off", the de-
fault). Gold is never blessed or cursed, but it is not de-
scribed as "uncursed" even when the implicit_uncursed option is
- "off".
-
- help
- If more information is available for an object looked at with
- the `/' command, ask if you want to see it (default on). Turn-
- ing help off makes just looking at things faster, since you
- aren't interrupted with the "More info?" prompt, but it also
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 55
+ NetHack Guidebook 56
+
+ "off".
+ help
+ If more information is available for an object looked at with
+ the `/' command, ask if you want to see it (default on). Turn-
+ ing help off makes just looking at things faster, since you
+ aren't interrupted with the "More info?" prompt, but it also
means that you might miss some interesting and/or important in-
formation. Persistent.
If you use menu coloring, you may want to turn this off.
- legacy
- Display an introductory message when starting the game (default
- on). Persistent.
-
- lit_corridor
- Show corridor squares seen by night vision or a light source
- held by your character as lit (default off). Persistent.
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 56
+ NetHack Guidebook 57
+
+ legacy
+ Display an introductory message when starting the game (default
+ on). Persistent.
+
+ lit_corridor
+ Show corridor squares seen by night vision or a light source
+ held by your character as lit (default off). Persistent.
lootabc
When using a menu to interact with a container, use the old
An obsolete synonym for "gender:male". Cannot be set with the
`O' command.
+ mention_decor
+ Give feedback when walking on various dungeon features such as
+ stairs, fountains, or altars which are ordinarily only de-
+ scribed when covered by one or more objects (default off).
+ Persistent.
+
mention_walls
- Give feedback when walking against a wall (default off). Per-
+ Give feedback when walking against a wall (default off). Per-
sistent.
menucolors
- Enable coloring menu lines (default off). See "Configuring
+ Enable coloring menu lines (default off). See "Configuring
Menu Colors" on how to configure the colors.
menustyle
Controls the interface used when you need to choose various ob-
- jects (in response to the Drop command, for instance). The
- value specified should be the first letter of one of the fol-
- lowing: traditional, combination, full, or partial. Tradi-
- tional was the only interface available for early versions; it
- consists of a prompt for object class characters, followed by
- an object-by-object prompt for all items matching the selected
- object class(es). Combination starts with a prompt for object
+ jects (in response to the Drop command, for instance). The
+ value specified should be the first letter of one of the fol-
+ lowing: traditional, combination, full, or partial. Tradi-
+ tional was the only interface available for early versions; it
+ consists of a prompt for object class characters, followed by
+ an object-by-object prompt for all items matching the selected
+ object class(es). Combination starts with a prompt for object
class(es) of interest, but then displays a menu of matching ob-
- jects rather than prompting one-by-one. Full displays a menu
- of object classes rather than a character prompt, and then a
- menu of matching objects for selection. Partial skips the ob-
+ jects rather than prompting one-by-one. Full displays a menu
+ of object classes rather than a character prompt, and then a
+ menu of matching objects for selection. Partial skips the ob-
ject class filtering and immediately displays a menu of all ob-
jects. Persistent.
menu_deselect_all
- Menu character accelerator to deselect all items in a menu.
+ Menu character accelerator to deselect all items in a menu.
Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `-'.
- menu_deselect_page
- Menu character accelerator to deselect all items on this page
- of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. De-
- fault `\'.
- menu_first_page
- Menu character accelerator to jump to the first page in a menu.
- Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `^'.
- menu_headings
- Controls how the headings in a menu are highlighted. Values
- are "none", "bold", "dim", "underline", "blink", or "inverse".
- Not all ports can actually display all types.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 58
- NetHack Guidebook 57
+ menu_deselect_page
+ Menu character accelerator to deselect all items on this page
+ of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. De-
+ fault `\'.
+ menu_first_page
+ Menu character accelerator to jump to the first page in a menu.
+ Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `^'.
+ menu_headings
+ Controls how the headings in a menu are highlighted. Values
+ are "none", "bold", "dim", "underline", "blink", or "inverse".
+ Not all ports can actually display all types.
menu_invert_all
- Menu character accelerator to invert all items in a menu. Im-
+ Menu character accelerator to invert all items in a menu. Im-
plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `@'.
menu_invert_page
- Menu character accelerator to invert all items on this page of
- a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default
+ Menu character accelerator to invert all items on this page of
+ a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default
`~'.
menu_last_page
- Menu character accelerator to jump to the last page in a menu.
+ Menu character accelerator to jump to the last page in a menu.
Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `|'.
menu_next_page
- Menu character accelerator to goto the next menu page. Imple-
+ Menu character accelerator to goto the next menu page. Imple-
mented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `>'.
menu_objsyms
- Show object symbols in menu headings in menus where the object
+ Show object symbols in menu headings in menus where the object
symbols act as menu accelerators (default off).
menu_overlay
- Do not clear the screen before drawing menus, and align menus
- to the right edge of the screen. Only for the tty port. (de-
+ Do not clear the screen before drawing menus, and align menus
+ to the right edge of the screen. Only for the tty port. (de-
fault on)
menu_previous_page
plemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `<'.
menu_search
- Menu character accelerator to search for a menu item. Imple-
+ Menu character accelerator to search for a menu item. Imple-
mented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `:'.
menu_select_all
- Menu character accelerator to select all items in a menu. Im-
+ Menu character accelerator to select all items in a menu. Im-
plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `.'.
menu_select_page
- Menu character accelerator to select all items on this page of
- a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default
- `,'.
+ Menu character accelerator to select all items on this page of
- monpolycontrol
- Prompt for new form whenever any monster changes shape (default
- off). Debug mode only.
- mouse_support
- Allow use of the mouse for input and travel. Valid settings
- are:
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- 0 - disabled
- 1 - enabled and make OS adjustments to support mouse use
- 2 - like 1 but does not make any OS adjustments
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 59
- NetHack Guidebook 58
+ a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default
+ `,'.
+
+ monpolycontrol
+ Prompt for new form whenever any monster changes shape (default
+ off). Debug mode only.
+ mouse_support
+ Allow use of the mouse for input and travel. Valid settings
+ are:
+ 0 - disabled
+ 1 - enabled and make OS adjustments to support mouse use
+ 2 - like 1 but does not make any OS adjustments
- Omitting a value is the same as specifying 1 and negating
- mouse_support is the same as specifying 0.
+ Omitting a value is the same as specifying 1 and negating
+ mouse_support is the same as specifying 0.
msghistory
- The number of top line messages to keep (and be able to recall
+ The number of top line messages to keep (and be able to recall
with `^P') (default 20). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
msg_window
- Allows you to change the way recalled messages are displayed.
- Currently it is only supported for tty (all four choices) and
- for curses (`f' and `r' choices, default `r'). The possible
+ Allows you to change the way recalled messages are displayed.
+ Currently it is only supported for tty (all four choices) and
+ for curses (`f' and `r' choices, default `r'). The possible
values are:
s - single message (default; only choice prior to 3.4.0);
f - full window, oldest message first;
r - full window reversed, newest message first.
- For backward compatibility, no value needs to be specified
- (which defaults to "full"), or it can be negated (which
+ For backward compatibility, no value needs to be specified
+ (which defaults to "full"), or it can be negated (which
defaults to "single").
name
- Set your character's name (defaults to your user name). You
- can also set your character's role by appending a dash and one
+ Set your character's name (defaults to your user name). You
+ can also set your character's role by appending a dash and one
or more letters of the role (that is, by suffixing one of -A -B
- -C -H -K -M -P -Ra -Ro -S -T -V -W). If -@ is used for the
- role, then a random one will be automatically chosen. Cannot
+ -C -H -K -M -P -Ra -Ro -S -T -V -W). If -@ is used for the
+ role, then a random one will be automatically chosen. Cannot
be set with the `O' command.
news
nudist
Start the character with no armor (default false). Persistent.
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 60
+
+
+
null
Send padding nulls to the terminal (default on). Persistent.
number_pad
- Use digit keys instead of letters to move (default 0 or off).
+ Use digit keys instead of letters to move (default 0 or off).
Valid settings are:
0 - move by letters; "yuhjklbn"
4 - combines 3 with 2; phone layout plus MS-DOS compatibility
-1 - by letters but use `z' to go northwest, `y' to zap wands
- For backward compatibility, omitting a value is the same as
- specifying 1 and negating number_pad is the same as specifying
+ For backward compatibility, omitting a value is the same as
+ specifying 1 and negating number_pad is the same as specifying
+ 0. (Settings 2 and 4 are for compatibility with MS-DOS or old
+ PC Hack; in addition to the different behavior for `5', `Alt-5'
+ acts as `G' and `Alt-0' acts as `I'. Setting -1 is to accommo-
+ date some QWERTZ keyboards which have the location of the `y'
+ and `z' keys swapped.) When moving by numbers, to enter a
+ count prefix for those commands which accept one (such as "12s"
+ to search twelve times), precede it with the letter `n'
+ ("n12s").
+ packorder
+ Specify the order to list object types in (default
+ "")[%?+!=/(*`0_"). The value of this option should be a string
+ containing the symbols for the various object types. Any omit-
+ ted types are filled in at the end from the previous order.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ paranoid_confirmation
+ A space separated list of specific situations where alternate
+ prompting is desired. The default is paranoid_confirma-
+ tion:pray.
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 59
-
-
-
- 0. (Settings 2 and 4 are for compatibility with MS-DOS or old
- PC Hack; in addition to the different behavior for `5', `Alt-5'
- acts as `G' and `Alt-0' acts as `I'. Setting -1 is to accommo-
- date some QWERTZ keyboards which have the location of the `y'
- and `z' keys swapped.) When moving by numbers, to enter a
- count prefix for those commands which accept one (such as "12s"
- to search twelve times), precede it with the letter `n'
- ("n12s").
-
- packorder
- Specify the order to list object types in (default
- "")[%?+!=/(*`0_"). The value of this option should be a string
- containing the symbols for the various object types. Any omit-
- ted types are filled in at the end from the previous order.
-
- paranoid_confirmation
- A space separated list of specific situations where alternate
- prompting is desired. The default is paranoid_confirma-
- tion:pray.
-
- Confirm - for any prompts which are set to require "yes"
- rather than `y', also require "no" to reject in-
+ Confirm - for any prompts which are set to require "yes"
+ rather than `y', also require "no" to reject in-
stead of accepting any non-yes response as no
quit - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm quitting
- the game or switching into non-scoring explore
+ the game or switching into non-scoring explore
mode;
- die - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm dying
- (not useful in normal play; applies to explore
+ die - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm dying
+ (not useful in normal play; applies to explore
mode);
- bones - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm saving
+ bones - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm saving
bones data when dying in debug mode;
- attack - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm attack-
+ attack - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm attack-
ing a peaceful monster;
wand-break - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm breaking
a wand;
- eating - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm whether
+ eating - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm whether
to continue eating;
Were-change - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm changing
- form due to lycanthropy when hero has polymorph
- control;
- pray - require `y' to confirm an attempt to pray rather
- than immediately praying; on by default;
- Remove - require selection from inventory for `R' and `T'
- commands even when wearing just one applicable
- item.
- all - turn on all of the above.
-
- By default, the pray choice is enabled, the others disabled.
- To disable it without setting any of the other choices, use
- "paranoid_confirmation:none". To keep it enabled while setting
- any of the others, include it in the list, such as "para-
- noid_confirmation:attack pray Remove".
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 61
- NetHack Guidebook 60
+ form due to lycanthropy when hero has polymorph
+ control;
+ pray - require `y' to confirm an attempt to pray rather
+ than immediately praying; on by default;
+ Remove - require selection from inventory for `R' and `T'
+ commands even when wearing just one applicable
+ item.
+ all - turn on all of the above.
+ By default, the pray choice is enabled, the others disabled.
+ To disable it without setting any of the other choices, use
+ "paranoid_confirmation:none". To keep it enabled while setting
+ any of the others, include it in the list, such as "para-
+ noid_confirmation:attack pray Remove".
perm_invent
- If true, always display your current inventory in a window.
- This only makes sense for windowing system interfaces that im-
+ If true, always display your current inventory in a window.
+ This only makes sense for windowing system interfaces that im-
plement this feature.
petattr
- Specifies one or more text highlighting attributes to use when
- showing pets on the map. Effectively a superset of the
+ Specifies one or more text highlighting attributes to use when
+ showing pets on the map. Effectively a superset of the
hilite_pet boolean option. Curses interface only; value is one
or more of the following letters.
l - Left line indicator
r - Right line indicator
- Some of those choices might not work, particularly the final
- three, depending upon terminal hardware or terminal emulation
+ Some of those choices might not work, particularly the final
+ three, depending upon terminal hardware or terminal emulation
software.
- Currently multiple highlight-style letters can be combined by
- simply stringing them together (for example, "bk"), but in the
- future they might require being separated by plus signs (such
- as "b+k", which works already). When using the `n' choice, it
- should be specified on its own, not in combination with any of
+ Currently multiple highlight-style letters can be combined by
+ simply stringing them together (for example, "bk"), but in the
+ future they might require being separated by plus signs (such
+ as "b+k", which works already). When using the `n' choice, it
+ should be specified on its own, not in combination with any of
the other letters.
pettype
- Specify the type of your initial pet, if you are playing a
- character class that uses multiple types of pets; or choose to
- have no initial pet at all. Possible values are "cat", "dog",
+ Specify the type of your initial pet, if you are playing a
+ character class that uses multiple types of pets; or choose to
+ have no initial pet at all. Possible values are "cat", "dog",
"horse", and "none". If the choice is not allowed for the role
- you are currently playing, it will be silently ignored. For
- example, "horse" will only be honored when playing a knight.
- Cannot be set with the `O' command.
+ you are currently playing, it will be silently ignored. For
+ example, "horse" will only be honored when playing a knight.
- pickup_burden
- When you pick up an item that would exceed this encumbrance
- level (Unencumbered, Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed,
- or overLoaded), you will be asked if you want to continue.
- (Default `S'). Persistent.
- pickup_thrown
- If this option is on and autopickup is also on, try to pick up
- things that you threw, even if they aren't in pickup_types or
- match an autopickup exception. Default is on. Persistent.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- pickup_types
- Specify the object types to be picked up when autopickup is on.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 62
- NetHack Guidebook 61
+ Cannot be set with the `O' command.
+ pickup_burden
+ When you pick up an item that would exceed this encumbrance
+ level (Unencumbered, Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed,
+ or overLoaded), you will be asked if you want to continue.
+ (Default `S'). Persistent.
+ pickup_thrown
+ If this option is on and autopickup is also on, try to pick up
+ things that you threw, even if they aren't in pickup_types or
+ match an autopickup exception. Default is on. Persistent.
+ pickup_types
+ Specify the object types to be picked up when autopickup is on.
Default is all types. You can use autopickup_exception config-
uration file lines to further refine autopickup behavior. Per-
sistent.
pile_limit
- When walking across a pile of objects on the floor, threshold
- at which the message "there are few/several/many objects here"
- is given instead of showing a popup list of those objects. A
- value of 0 means "no limit" (always list the objects); a value
- of 1 effectively means "never show the objects" since the pile
- size will always be at least that big; default value is 5.
+ When walking across a pile of objects on the floor, threshold
+ at which the message "there are few/several/many objects here"
+ is given instead of showing a popup list of those objects. A
+ value of 0 means "no limit" (always list the objects); a value
+ of 1 effectively means "never show the objects" since the pile
+ size will always be at least that big; default value is 5.
Persistent.
playmode
- Values are "normal", "explore", or "debug". Allows selection
- of explore mode (also known as discovery mode) or debug mode
+ Values are "normal", "explore", or "debug". Allows selection
+ of explore mode (also known as discovery mode) or debug mode
(also known as wizard mode) instead of normal play. Debug mode
- might only be allowed for someone logged in under a particular
- user name (on multi-user systems) or specifying a particular
+ might only be allowed for someone logged in under a particular
+ user name (on multi-user systems) or specifying a particular
character name (on single-user systems) or it might be disabled
- entirely. Requesting it when not allowed or not possible re-
+ entirely. Requesting it when not allowed or not possible re-
sults in explore mode instead. Default is normal play.
pushweapon
- Using the `w' (wield) command when already wielding something
- pushes the old item into your alternate weapon slot (default
- off). Likewise for the `a' (apply) command if it causes the
+ Using the `w' (wield) command when already wielding something
+ pushes the old item into your alternate weapon slot (default
+ off). Likewise for the `a' (apply) command if it causes the
applied item to become wielded. Persistent.
quick_farsight
- When set, usually prevents the "you sense your surroundings"
- message where play pauses to allow you to browse the map when-
+ When set, usually prevents the "you sense your surroundings"
+ message where play pauses to allow you to browse the map when-
ever clairvoyance randomly activates. Some situations, such as
- being underwater or engulfed, ignore this option. It does not
+ being underwater or engulfed, ignore this option. It does not
affect the clairvoyance spell where pausing to examine revealed
- objects or monsters is less intrusive. Default is off. Per-
+ objects or monsters is less intrusive. Default is off. Per-
sistent.
- race
- Selects your race (for example, "race:human"). Default is ran-
- dom. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no", you will ex-
- clude that race from being picked randomly. Cannot be set with
- the `O' command. Persistent.
- rest_on_space
- Make the space bar a synonym for the `.' (#wait) command (de-
- fault off). Persistent.
-
- role
- Pick your type of character (for example "role:Samurai"); syn-
- onym for "character". See "name" for an alternate method of
- specifying your role. Normally only the first letter of the
- value is examined; `r' is an exception with "Rogue", "Ranger",
- and "random" values. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no",
NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack Guidebook 62
+ NetHack Guidebook 63
+
+ race
+ Selects your race (for example, "race:human"). Default is ran-
+ dom. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no", you will ex-
+ clude that race from being picked randomly. Cannot be set with
+ the `O' command. Persistent.
+
+ rest_on_space
+ Make the space bar a synonym for the `.' (#wait) command (de-
+ fault off). Persistent.
- you will exclude that role from being picked randomly. Cannot
+ role
+ Pick your type of character (for example "role:Samurai"); syn-
+ onym for "character". See "name" for an alternate method of
+ specifying your role. Normally only the first letter of the
+ value is examined; `r' is an exception with "Rogue", "Ranger",
+ and "random" values. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no",
+ you will exclude that role from being picked randomly. Cannot
be set with the `O' command. Persistent.
roguesymset
- This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
- found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
+ This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
+ found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
screen on the rogue level.
rlecomp
When writing out a save file, perform run length compression of
- the map. Not all ports support run length compression. It has
+ the map. Not all ports support run length compression. It has
no effect on reading an existing save file.
runmode
- Controls the amount of screen updating for the map window when
- engaged in multi-turn movement (running via shift+direction or
- control+direction and so forth, or via the travel command or
+ Controls the amount of screen updating for the map window when
+ engaged in multi-turn movement (running via shift+direction or
+ control+direction and so forth, or via the travel command or
mouse click). The possible values are:
teleport - update the map after movement has finished;
crawl - like walk, but pause briefly after each step.
This option only affects the game's screen display, not the ac-
- tual results of moving. The default is "run"; versions prior
- to 3.4.1 used "teleport" only. Whether or not the effect is
+ tual results of moving. The default is "run"; versions prior
+ to 3.4.1 used "teleport" only. Whether or not the effect is
noticeable will depend upon the window port used or on the type
of terminal. Persistent.
safe_pet
- Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
+ Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
Persistent.
sanity_check
Evaluate monsters, objects, and map prior to each turn (default
off). Debug mode only.
- scores
- Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the end
- (for example "scores:5 top scores/4 around my score/own
- scores"). Only the first letter of each category (`t', `a', or
- `o') is necessary. Persistent.
- showexp
- Show your accumulated experience points on bottom line (default
- off). Persistent.
- showrace
- Display yourself as the glyph for your race, rather than the
- glyph for your role (default off). Note that this setting af-
- fects only the appearance of the display, not the way the game
- treats you. Persistent.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 64
- NetHack Guidebook 63
+ scores
+ Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the end
+ (for example "scores:5 top scores/4 around my score/own
+ scores"). Only the first letter of each category (`t', `a', or
+ `o') is necessary. Persistent.
+ showexp
+ Show your accumulated experience points on bottom line (default
+ off). Persistent.
+ showrace
+ Display yourself as the glyph for your race, rather than the
+ glyph for your role (default off). Note that this setting af-
+ fects only the appearance of the display, not the way the game
+ treats you. Persistent.
showscore
Show your approximate accumulated score on bottom line (default
sortloot
Controls the sorting behavior of the pickup lists for inventory
- and #loot commands and some others. Persistent. The possible
+ and #loot commands and some others. Persistent. The possible
values are:
full - always sort the lists;
- loot - only sort the lists that don't use inventory letters,
+ loot - only sort the lists that don't use inventory letters,
like with the #loot and pickup commands;
none - show lists the traditional way without sorting.
sortpack
- Sort the pack contents by type when displaying inventory (de-
+ Sort the pack contents by type when displaying inventory (de-
fault on). Persistent.
sparkle
Display a sparkly effect when a monster (including yourself) is
- hit by an attack to which it is resistant (default on). Per-
+ hit by an attack to which it is resistant (default on). Per-
sistent.
standout
Boldface monsters and "--More--" (default off). Persistent.
statushilites
- Controls how many turns status hilite behaviors highlight the
- field. If negated or set to zero, disables status hiliting.
+ Controls how many turns status hilite behaviors highlight the
+ field. If negated or set to zero, disables status hiliting.
See "Configuring Status Hilites" for further information.
status_updates
- Allow updates to the status lines at the bottom of the screen
+ Allow updates to the status lines at the bottom of the screen
(default true).
- suppress_alert
- This option may be set to a NetHack version level to suppress
- alert notification messages about feature changes for that and
- prior versions (for example "suppress_alert:3.3.1").
-
- symset
- This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
- found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
- screen. Use "symset:default" to explicitly select the default
- symbols.
- time
- Show the elapsed game time in turns on bottom line (default
- off). Persistent.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 65
- NetHack Guidebook 64
+ suppress_alert
+ This option may be set to a NetHack version level to suppress
+ alert notification messages about feature changes for that and
+ prior versions (for example "suppress_alert:3.3.1").
+ symset
+ This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
+ found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
+ screen. Use "symset:default" to explicitly select the default
+ symbols.
+ time
+ Show the elapsed game time in turns on bottom line (default
+ off). Persistent.
timed_delay
- When pausing momentarily for display effect, such as with ex-
- plosions and moving objects, use a timer rather than sending
- extra characters to the screen. (Applies to "tty" interface
+ When pausing momentarily for display effect, such as with ex-
+ plosions and moving objects, use a timer rather than sending
+ extra characters to the screen. (Applies to "tty" interface
only; "X11" interface always uses a timer based delay. The de-
fault is on if configured into the program.) Persistent.
toptenwin
Put the ending display in a NetHack window instead of on stdout
- (default off). Setting this option makes the score list visi-
- ble when a windowing version of NetHack is started without a
- parent window, but it no longer leaves the score list around
+ (default off). Setting this option makes the score list visi-
+ ble when a windowing version of NetHack is started without a
+ parent window, but it no longer leaves the score list around
after game end on a terminal or emulating window.
travel
Allow the travel command (default on). Turning this option off
- will prevent the game from attempting unintended moves if you
+ will prevent the game from attempting unintended moves if you
make inadvertent mouse clicks on the map window. Persistent.
verbose
- Provide more commentary during the game (default on). Persis-
+ Provide more commentary during the game (default on). Persis-
tent.
whatis_coord
- When using the `/' or `;' commands to look around on the map
- with autodescribe on, display coordinates after the descrip-
- tion. Also works in other situations where you are asked to
+ When using the `/' or `;' commands to look around on the map
+ with autodescribe on, display coordinates after the descrip-
+ tion. Also works in other situations where you are asked to
pick a location.
The possible settings are:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 66
+
+
+
c - compass ("east" or "3s" or "2n,4w");
f - full compass ("east" or "3south" or "2north,4west");
m - map <x,y> (map column x=0 is not used);
whatis_filter
When getting a location on the map, and using the keys to cycle
- through next and previous targets, allows filtering the possi-
+ through next and previous targets, allows filtering the possi-
ble targets.
n - no filtering [default]
v - in view only
a - in same area only
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 65
-
-
-
- The area-filter tries to be slightly predictive -- if you're
+ The area-filter tries to be slightly predictive -- if you're
standing on a doorway, it will consider the area on the side of
the door you were last moving towards.
- Filtering can also be changed when getting a location with the
+ Filtering can also be changed when getting a location with the
"getpos.filter" key.
whatis_menu
- When getting a location on the map, and using a key to cycle
+ When getting a location on the map, and using a key to cycle
through next and previous targets, use a menu instead to pick a
target. (default off)
whatis_moveskip
- When getting a location on the map, and using shifted movement
+ When getting a location on the map, and using shifted movement
keys or meta-digit keys to fast-move, instead of moving 8 units
at a time, move by skipping the same glyphs. (default off)
windowtype
When the program has been built to support multiple interfaces,
- select which one to use, such as "tty" or "X11" (default de-
+ select which one to use, such as "tty" or "X11" (default de-
pends on build-time settings; use "#version" to check). Cannot
be set with the `O' command.
- When used, it should be the first option set since its value
- might enable or disable the availability of various other op-
- tions. For multiple lines in a configuration file, that would
- be the first non-comment line. For a comma-separated list in
+ When used, it should be the first option set since its value
+ might enable or disable the availability of various other op-
+ tions. For multiple lines in a configuration file, that would
+ be the first non-comment line. For a comma-separated list in
NETHACKOPTIONS or an OPTIONS line in a configuration file, that
would be the rightmost option in the list.
Augment object descriptions with their objects' weight (default
off). Debug mode only.
- zerocomp
- When writing out a save file, perform zero-comp compression of
- the contents. Not all ports support zero-comp compression. It
- has no effect on reading an existing save file.
- 9.5. Window Port Customization options
- Here are explanations of the various options that are used
- to customize and change the characteristics of the windowtype
- that you have chosen. Character strings that are too long may be
- truncated. Not all window ports will adjust for all settings
- listed here. You can safely add any of these options to your
- configuration file, and if the window port is capable of adjust-
- ing to suit your preferences, it will attempt to do so. If it
- can't it will silently ignore it. You can find out if an option
- is supported by the window port that you are currently using by
- checking to see if it shows up in the Options list. Some options
- are dynamic and can be specified during the game with the `O'
- command.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 67
- NetHack Guidebook 66
+ zerocomp
+ When writing out a save file, perform zero-comp compression of
+ the contents. Not all ports support zero-comp compression. It
+ has no effect on reading an existing save file.
+
+ 9.5. Window Port Customization options
+ Here are explanations of the various options that are used
+ to customize and change the characteristics of the windowtype
+ that you have chosen. Character strings that are too long may be
+ truncated. Not all window ports will adjust for all settings
+ listed here. You can safely add any of these options to your
+ configuration file, and if the window port is capable of adjust-
+ ing to suit your preferences, it will attempt to do so. If it
+ can't it will silently ignore it. You can find out if an option
+ is supported by the window port that you are currently using by
+ checking to see if it shows up in the Options list. Some options
+ are dynamic and can be specified during the game with the `O'
+ command.
align_message
- Where to align or place the message window (top, bottom, left,
+ Where to align or place the message window (top, bottom, left,
or right)
align_status
- Where to align or place the status window (top, bottom, left,
+ Where to align or place the status window (top, bottom, left,
or right).
ascii_map
- If NetHack can, it should display an ascii character map if it
+ If NetHack can, it should display an ascii character map if it
can.
color
monsters, objects, and dungeon features.
eight_bit_tty
- If NetHack can, it should pass eight-bit character values (for
- example, specified with the traps option) straight through to
+ If NetHack can, it should pass eight-bit character values (for
+ example, specified with the traps option) straight through to
your terminal (default off).
font_map
map window.
font_menu
- If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
+ If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
menu windows.
font_message
If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the
message window.
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 68
+
+
+
font_status
If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the
status window.
font_text
- If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
+ If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
text windows.
font_size_map
- If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the map win-
+ If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the map win-
dow.
font_size_menu
If NetHack can, it should use this size font for menu windows.
font_size_message
- If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the message
+ If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the message
window.
font_size_status
- If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the status
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 67
-
-
-
+ If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the status
window.
font_size_text
If NetHack can, it should use this size font for text windows.
fullscreen
- If NetHack can, it should try and display on the entire screen
+ If NetHack can, it should try and display on the entire screen
rather than in a window.
guicolor
- Use color text and/or highlighting attributes when displaying
- some non-map data (such as menu selector letters). Curses in-
+ Use color text and/or highlighting attributes when displaying
+ some non-map data (such as menu selector letters). Curses in-
terface only; default is on.
large_font
If NetHack can, it should use a large font.
map_mode
- If NetHack can, it should display the map in the manner speci-
+ If NetHack can, it should display the map in the manner speci-
fied.
player_selection
- If NetHack can, it should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts
+ If NetHack can, it should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts
for character selection.
popup_dialog
preload_tiles
If NetHack can, it should preload tiles into memory. For exam-
- ple, in the protected mode MS-DOS version, control whether
- tiles get pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game. Doing
- so enhances performance of the tile graphics, but uses more
- memory. (default on). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
-
- scroll_amount
- If NetHack can, it should scroll the display by this number of
- cells when the hero reaches the scroll_margin.
+ ple, in the protected mode MS-DOS version, control whether
+ tiles get pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game. Doing
+ so enhances performance of the tile graphics, but uses more
- scroll_margin
- If NetHack can, it should scroll the display when the hero or
- cursor is this number of cells away from the edge of the win-
- dow.
- selectsaved
- If NetHack can, it should display a menu of existing saved
- games for the player to choose from at game startup, if it can.
- Not all ports support this option.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- softkeyboard
- Display an onscreen keyboard. Handhelds are most likely to
- support this option.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 69
+ memory. (default on). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
+ scroll_amount
+ If NetHack can, it should scroll the display by this number of
+ cells when the hero reaches the scroll_margin.
- NetHack Guidebook 68
+ scroll_margin
+ If NetHack can, it should scroll the display when the hero or
+ cursor is this number of cells away from the edge of the win-
+ dow.
+ selectsaved
+ If NetHack can, it should display a menu of existing saved
+ games for the player to choose from at game startup, if it can.
+ Not all ports support this option.
+ softkeyboard
+ Display an onscreen keyboard. Handhelds are most likely to
+ support this option.
splash_screen
If NetHack can, it should display an opening splash screen when
it starts up (default yes).
statuslines
- Number of lines for traditional below-the-map status display.
- Acceptable values are 2 and 3 (default is 2). Curses and tty
+ Number of lines for traditional below-the-map status display.
+ Acceptable values are 2 and 3 (default is 2). Curses and tty
interfaces only.
term_cols and
term_rows
- Curses interface only. Number of columns and rows to use for
+ Curses interface only. Number of columns and rows to use for
the display. Curses will attempt to resize to the values spec-
- ified but will settle for smaller sizes if they are too big.
+ ified but will settle for smaller sizes if they are too big.
Default is the current window size.
tiled_map
If NetHack can, it should display a tiled map if it can.
tile_file
- Specify the name of an alternative tile file to override the
+ Specify the name of an alternative tile file to override the
default.
tile_height
- Specify the preferred height of each tile in a tile capable
+ Specify the preferred height of each tile in a tile capable
port.
tile_width
use_darkgray
Use bold black instead of blue for black glyphs (TTY only).
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 70
+
+
+
use_inverse
- If NetHack can, it should display inverse when the game speci-
+ If NetHack can, it should display inverse when the game speci-
fies it.
vary_msgcount
- If NetHack can, it should display this number of messages at a
+ If NetHack can, it should display this number of messages at a
time in the message window.
windowborders
- Whether to draw boxes around the map, status area, message
- area, and persistent inventory window if enabled. Curses in-
+ Whether to draw boxes around the map, status area, message
+ area, and persistent inventory window if enabled. Curses in-
terface only. Acceptable values are
0 - off, never show borders
1 - on, always show borders
2 - auto, on if display is at least (24+2)x(80+2) (default)
- (The 26x82 size threshold for `2' refers to number of rows and
- columns of the display. A width of at least 110 columns
+ (The 26x82 size threshold for `2' refers to number of rows and
+ columns of the display. A width of at least 110 columns
(80+2+26+2) is needed for align_status set to left or right.)
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 69
-
-
-
windowcolors
- If NetHack can, it should display windows with the specified
+ If NetHack can, it should display windows with the specified
foreground/background colors. Windows GUI only. The format is
OPTION=windowcolors:wintype foreground/background
- where wintype is one of "menu", "message", "status", or
- "text", and foreground and background are colors, either a hexa-
- decimal \'#rrggbb', one of the named colors (black, red, green,
- brown, blue, magenta, cyan, orange, brightgreen, yellow, bright-
- blue, brightmagenta, brightcyan, white, trueblack, gray, purple,
- silver, maroon, fuchsia, lime, olive, navy, teal, aqua), or one
- of Windows UI colors (activeborder, activecaption, appworkspace,
- background, btnface, btnshadow, btntext, captiontext, graytext,
- greytext, highlight, highlighttext, inactiveborder, inactivecap-
- tion, menu, menutext, scrollbar, window, windowframe, window-
+ where wintype is one of "menu", "message", "status", or
+ "text", and foreground and background are colors, either a hexa-
+ decimal \'#rrggbb', one of the named colors (black, red, green,
+ brown, blue, magenta, cyan, orange, brightgreen, yellow, bright-
+ blue, brightmagenta, brightcyan, white, trueblack, gray, purple,
+ silver, maroon, fuchsia, lime, olive, navy, teal, aqua), or one
+ of Windows UI colors (activeborder, activecaption, appworkspace,
+ background, btnface, btnshadow, btntext, captiontext, graytext,
+ greytext, highlight, highlighttext, inactiveborder, inactivecap-
+ tion, menu, menutext, scrollbar, window, windowframe, window-
text).
wraptext
9.6. Platform-specific Customization options
- Here are explanations of options that are used by specific
+ Here are explanations of options that are used by specific
platforms or ports to customize and change the port behavior.
altkeyhandler
- Select an alternate keystroke handler dll to load (Win32 tty
- NetHack only). The name of the handler is specified without
+ Select an alternate keystroke handler dll to load (Win32 tty
+ NetHack only). The name of the handler is specified without
the .dll extension and without any path information. Cannot be
set with the `O' command.
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 71
+
+
+
altmeta
On Amiga, this option controls whether typing "Alt" plus anoth-
er key functions as a meta-shift for that key (default on).
altmeta
On other (non-Amiga) systems where this option is available, it
- can be set to tell NetHack to convert a two character sequence
- beginning with ESC into a meta-shifted version of the second
+ can be set to tell NetHack to convert a two character sequence
+ beginning with ESC into a meta-shifted version of the second
character (default off).
- This conversion is only done for commands, not for other input
+ This conversion is only done for commands, not for other input
prompts. Note that typing one or more digits as a count prefix
prior to a command -- preceded by n if the number_pad option is
- set -- is also subject to this conversion, so attempting to
- abort the count by typing ESC will leave NetHack waiting for
+ set -- is also subject to this conversion, so attempting to
+ abort the count by typing ESC will leave NetHack waiting for
another character to complete the two character sequence. Type
- a second ESC to finish cancelling such a count. At other
+ a second ESC to finish cancelling such a count. At other
prompts a single ESC suffices.
BIOS
Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly and to read
+ the keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to move) on ma-
+ chines with an IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM (default off, OS/2,
+ PC, and ST NetHack only).
+ flush
+ (default off, Amiga NetHack only).
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ MACgraphics
+ (default on, Mac NetHack only).
+ page_wait
+ (default on, Mac NetHack only).
+ rawio
+ Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more bullet-
+ proof input (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer toggle
+ without it) (default off, OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack only).
+ Note: DEC Rainbows hang if this is turned on. Cannot be set
+ with the `O' command.
+ subkeyvalue
+ (Win32 tty NetHack only). May be used to alter the value of
+ keystrokes that the operating system returns to NetHack to help
+ compensate for international keyboard issues. OPTIONS=subkey-
+ value:171/92 will return 92 to NetHack, if 171 was originally
+ going to be returned. You can use multiple subkeyvalue state-
+ ments in the configuration file if needed. Cannot be set with
+ the `O' command.
+ video
+ Set the video mode used (PC NetHack only). Values are "autode-
+ tect", "default", or "vga". Setting "vga" (or "autodetect"
+ with vga hardware present) will cause the game to display
- NetHack Guidebook 70
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- the keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to move) on ma-
- chines with an IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM (default off, OS/2,
- PC, and ST NetHack only).
- flush
- (default off, Amiga NetHack only).
- MACgraphics
- (default on, Mac NetHack only).
- page_wait
- (default on, Mac NetHack only).
+ NetHack Guidebook 72
- rawio
- Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more bullet-
- proof input (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer toggle
- without it) (default off, OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack only).
- Note: DEC Rainbows hang if this is turned on. Cannot be set
- with the `O' command.
- subkeyvalue
- (Win32 tty NetHack only). May be used to alter the value of
- keystrokes that the operating system returns to NetHack to help
- compensate for international keyboard issues. OPTIONS=subkey-
- value:171/92 will return 92 to NetHack, if 171 was originally
- going to be returned. You can use multiple subkeyvalue state-
- ments in the configuration file if needed. Cannot be set with
- the `O' command.
- video
- Set the video mode used (PC NetHack only). Values are "autode-
- tect", "default", or "vga". Setting "vga" (or "autodetect"
- with vga hardware present) will cause the game to display
tiles. Cannot be set with the `O' command.
video_height
- Set the VGA mode resolution height (MS-DOS only, with
+ Set the VGA mode resolution height (MS-DOS only, with
video:vga)
video_width
Set the VGA mode resolution width (MS-DOS only, with video:vga)
videocolors
- Set the color palette for PC systems using NO_TERMS (default
- 4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11, (PC NetHack only). The order
- of colors is red, green, brown, blue, magenta, cyan,
- bright.white, bright.red, bright.green, yellow, bright.blue,
- bright.magenta, and bright.cyan. Cannot be set with the `O'
+ Set the color palette for PC systems using NO_TERMS (default
+ 4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11, (PC NetHack only). The order
+ of colors is red, green, brown, blue, magenta, cyan,
+ bright.white, bright.red, bright.green, yellow, bright.blue,
+ bright.magenta, and bright.cyan. Cannot be set with the `O'
command.
videoshades
Set the intensity level of the three gray scales available (de-
fault dark normal light, PC NetHack only). If the game display
- is difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if this does
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 71
-
-
-
- not correct the problem, try !color. Cannot be set with the
+ is difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if this does
+ not correct the problem, try !color. Cannot be set with the
`O' command.
9.7. Regular Expressions
- Regular expressions are normally POSIX extended regular ex-
- pressions. It is possible to compile NetHack without regular ex-
- pression support on a platform where there is no regular expres-
- sion library. While this is not true of any modern platform, if
- your NetHack was built this way, patterns are instead glob pat-
+ Regular expressions are normally POSIX extended regular ex-
+ pressions. It is possible to compile NetHack without regular ex-
+ pression support on a platform where there is no regular expres-
+ sion library. While this is not true of any modern platform, if
+ your NetHack was built this way, patterns are instead glob pat-
terns. This applies to Autopickup exceptions, Message types, Menu
colors, and User sounds.
You can further refine the behavior of the autopickup option
beyond what is available through the pickup_types option.
- By placing autopickup_exception lines in your configuration
- file, you can define patterns to be checked when the game is
+ By placing autopickup_exception lines in your configuration
+ file, you can define patterns to be checked when the game is
about to autopickup something.
autopickup_exception
- Sets an exception to the pickup_types option. The autopick-
- up_exception option should be followed by a regular expression
- to be used as a pattern to match against the singular form of
+ Sets an exception to the pickup_types option. The autopick-
+ up_exception option should be followed by a regular expression
+ to be used as a pattern to match against the singular form of
the description of an object at your location.
- In addition, some characters are treated specially if they oc-
+ In addition, some characters are treated specially if they oc-
cur as the first character in the pattern, specifically:
< - always pickup an object that matches rest of pattern;
> - never pickup an object that matches rest of pattern.
- The autopickup_exception rules are processed in the order in
- which they appear in your configuration file, thus allowing a
- later rule to override an earlier rule.
- Exceptions can be set with the `O' command, but because they
- are not included in your configuration file, they won't be in
- effect if you save and then restore your game. autopickup_ex-
- ception rules and not saved with the game.
-
- Here are some examples:
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- autopickup_exception="<*arrow"
- autopickup_exception=">*corpse"
- autopickup_exception=">* cursed*"
- The first example above will result in autopickup of any
- type of arrow. The second example results in the exclusion of
- any corpse from autopickup. The last example results in the ex-
- clusion of items known to be cursed from autopickup.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 73
+ The autopickup_exception rules are processed in the order
+ in which they appear in your configuration file, thus al-
+ lowing a later rule to override an earlier rule.
+ Exceptions can be set with the `O' command, but because they
+ are not included in your configuration file, they won't be in
+ effect if you save and then restore your game. autopickup_ex-
+ ception rules and not saved with the game.
- NetHack Guidebook 72
+ Here are some examples:
+ autopickup_exception="<*arrow"
+ autopickup_exception=">*corpse"
+ autopickup_exception=">* cursed*"
+ The first example above will result in autopickup of any
+ type of arrow. The second example results in the exclusion of
+ any corpse from autopickup. The last example results in the ex-
+ clusion of items known to be cursed from autopickup.
9.9. Changing Key Bindings
- It is possible to change the default key bindings of some
- special commands, menu accelerator keys, and extended commands,
- by using BIND stanzas in the configuration file. Format is key,
- followed by the command to bind to, separated by a colon. The
+ It is possible to change the default key bindings of some
+ special commands, menu accelerator keys, and extended commands,
+ by using BIND stanzas in the configuration file. Format is key,
+ followed by the command to bind to, separated by a colon. The
key can be a single character ("x"), a control key ("^X", "C-x"),
a meta key ("M-x"), or a three-digit decimal ASCII code.
BIND=v:loot
Extended command keys
- You can bind multiple keys to the same extended command. Un-
- bind a key by using "nothing" as the extended command to bind
- to. You can also bind the "<esc>", "<enter>", and "<space>"
+ You can bind multiple keys to the same extended command. Un-
+ bind a key by using "nothing" as the extended command to bind
+ to. You can also bind the "<esc>", "<enter>", and "<space>"
keys.
Menu accelerator keys
- The menu control or accelerator keys can also be rebound via
- OPTIONS lines in the configuration file. You cannot bind ob-
+ The menu control or accelerator keys can also be rebound via
+ OPTIONS lines in the configuration file. You cannot bind ob-
ject symbols into menu accelerators.
Special command keys
- Below are the special commands you can rebind. Some of them
- can be bound to same keys with no problems, others are in the
- same "context", and if bound to same keys, only one of those
- commands will be available. Special command can only be bound
+ Below are the special commands you can rebind. Some of them
+ can be bound to same keys with no problems, others are in the
+ same "context", and if bound to same keys, only one of those
+ commands will be available. Special command can only be bound
to a single key.
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 74
+
+
+
count
- Prefix key to start a count, to repeat a command this many
+ Prefix key to start a count, to repeat a command this many
times. With number_pad only. Default is `n'.
doinv
Prefix key to force fight a direction. Default is `F'.
fight.numpad
- Prefix key to force fight a direction. With number_pad only.
+ Prefix key to force fight a direction. With number_pad only.
Default is `-'.
getdir.help
- When asked for a direction, the key to show the help. Default
+ When asked for a direction, the key to show the help. Default
is `?'.
getdir.self
- When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
+ When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
fault is `.'.
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 73
-
-
-
getdir.self2
- When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
+ When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
fault is `s'.
getpos.autodescribe
esting thing. Default is `a'.
getpos.all.prev
- When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
interesting thing. Default is `A'.
getpos.door.next
- When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest door
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest door
or doorway. Default is `d'.
getpos.door.prev
- When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
door or doorway. Default is `D'.
getpos.help
- When asked for a location, the key to show help. Default is
+ When asked for a location, the key to show help. Default is
`?'.
getpos.mon.next
- When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest mon-
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest mon-
ster. Default is `m'.
- getpos.mon.prev
- When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
- monster. Default is `M'.
- getpos.obj.next
- When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest ob-
- ject. Default is `o'.
- getpos.obj.prev
- When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
- object. Default is `O'.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- getpos.menu
- When asked for a location, and using one of the next or previ-
- ous keys to cycle through targets, toggle showing a menu in-
- stead. Default is `!'.
- getpos.moveskip
- When asked for a location, and using the shifted movement keys
- or meta-digit keys to fast-move around, move by skipping the
- same glyphs instead of by 8 units. Default is `*'.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 75
+ getpos.mon.prev
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
+ monster. Default is `M'.
+ getpos.obj.next
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest ob-
+ ject. Default is `o'.
- NetHack Guidebook 74
+ getpos.obj.prev
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
+ object. Default is `O'.
+ getpos.menu
+ When asked for a location, and using one of the next or previ-
+ ous keys to cycle through targets, toggle showing a menu in-
+ stead. Default is `!'.
+ getpos.moveskip
+ When asked for a location, and using the shifted movement keys
+ or meta-digit keys to fast-move around, move by skipping the
+ same glyphs instead of by 8 units. Default is `*'.
getpos.filter
When asked for a location, change the filtering mode when using
- one of the next or previous keys to cycle through targets.
- Toggles between no filtering, in view only, and in the same
+ one of the next or previous keys to cycle through targets.
+ Toggles between no filtering, in view only, and in the same
area only. Default is `"'.
getpos.pick
- When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
+ When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
possibly ask for more info. Default is `.'.
getpos.pick.once
- When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
+ When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
skip asking for more info. Default is `,'.
getpos.pick.quick
When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, skip
- asking for more info, and exit the location asking loop. De-
+ asking for more info, and exit the location asking loop. De-
fault is `;'.
getpos.pick.verbose
- When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
+ When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
show more info without asking. Default is `:'.
getpos.self
fault is `@'.
getpos.unexplored.next
- When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest unex-
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest unex-
plored location. Default is `x'.
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 76
+
+
+
getpos.unexplored.prev
- When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
unexplored location. Default is `X'.
getpos.valid
- When asked for a location, the key to go to show valid target
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to show valid target
locations. Default is `$'.
getpos.valid.next
- When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest valid
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest valid
location. Default is `z'.
getpos.valid.prev
- When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
+ When asked for a location, the key to go to previous closest
valid location. Default is `Z'.
nopickup
redraw
Key to redraw the screen. Default is `^R'.
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 75
-
-
-
redraw.numpad
- Key to redraw the screen. With number_pad only. Default is
+ Key to redraw the screen. With number_pad only. Default is
`^L'.
repeat
Prefix key to run towards a direction. Default is `G'.
run.nopickup
- Prefix key to run towards a direction without picking up items
+ Prefix key to run towards a direction without picking up items
on the way. Default is `M'.
run.numpad
- Prefix key to run towards a direction. With number_pad only.
+ Prefix key to run towards a direction. With number_pad only.
Default is `5'.
rush
You can change the way the messages are shown in the message
area, when the message matches a user-defined pattern.
- In general, the configuration file entries to describe the
+ In general, the configuration file entries to describe the
message types look like this: MSGTYPE=type "pattern"
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 77
+
+
+
type - how the message should be shown;
pattern - the pattern to match.
show - show message normally;
hide - never show the message;
stop - wait for user with more-prompt;
- norep - show the message once, but not again if no other mes-
+ norep - show the message once, but not again if no other mes-
sage is shown in between.
- Here's an example of message types using NetHack's internal
+ Here's an example of message types using NetHack's internal
pattern matching facility:
MSGTYPE=stop "You feel hungry."
MSGTYPE=hide "You displaced *."
- specifies that whenever a message "You feel hungry" is shown,
- the user is prompted with more-prompt, and a message matching
+ specifies that whenever a message "You feel hungry" is shown,
+ the user is prompted with more-prompt, and a message matching
"You displaced <something>." is not shown at all.
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 76
-
-
-
- The order of the defined MSGTYPE lines is important; the last
- matching rule is used. Put the general case first, exceptions
+ The order of the defined MSGTYPE lines is important; the last
+ matching rule is used. Put the general case first, exceptions
below them.
9.11. Configuring Menu Colors
Some platforms allow you to define colors used in menu lines
- when the line matches a user-defined pattern. At this time the
+ when the line matches a user-defined pattern. At this time the
tty, curses, win32tty and win32gui interfaces support this.
- In general, the configuration file entries to describe the
+ In general, the configuration file entries to describe the
menu color mappings look like this:
MENUCOLOR="pattern"=color&attribute
pattern - the pattern to match;
- color - the color to use for lines matching the pat-
+ color - the color to use for lines matching the pat-
tern;
- attribute - the attribute to use for lines matching the
- pattern. The attribute is optional, and if
+ attribute - the attribute to use for lines matching the
+ pattern. The attribute is optional, and if
left out, you must also leave out the preced-
- ing ampersand. If no attribute is defined,
+ ing ampersand. If no attribute is defined,
no attribute is used.
The pattern should be a regular expression.
- Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
- cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-ma-
- genta, light-cyan, and white. And no-color, the default fore-
- ground color, which isn't necessarily the same as any of the
+ Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
+ cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-ma-
+ genta, light-cyan, and white. And no-color, the default fore-
+ ground color, which isn't necessarily the same as any of the
other colors.
- Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink, and
- inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none". Note that the
- platform used may interpret the attributes any way it wants.
-
- Here's an example of menu colors using NetHack's internal pat-
- tern matching facility:
- MENUCOLOR="* blessed *"=green
- MENUCOLOR="* cursed *"=red
- MENUCOLOR="* cursed *(being worn)"=red&underline
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- specifies that any menu line with " blessed " contained in it
- will be shown in green color, lines with " cursed " will be
- shown in red, and lines with " cursed " followed by "(being
- worn)" on the same line will be shown in red color and under-
- lined. You can have multiple MENUCOLOR entries in your config-
- uration file, and the last MENUCOLOR line that matches a menu
- line will be used for the line.
- Note that if you intend to have one or more color specifica-
- tions match " uncursed ", you will probably want to turn the im-
- plicit_uncursed option off so that all items known to be uncursed
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 78
+ Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink, and
+ inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none". Note that the
+ platform used may interpret the attributes any way it wants.
- NetHack Guidebook 77
+ Here's an example of menu colors using NetHack's internal pat-
+ tern matching facility:
+ MENUCOLOR="* blessed *"=green
+ MENUCOLOR="* cursed *"=red
+ MENUCOLOR="* cursed *(being worn)"=red&underline
+ specifies that any menu line with " blessed " contained in it
+ will be shown in green color, lines with " cursed " will be
+ shown in red, and lines with " cursed " followed by "(being
+ worn)" on the same line will be shown in red color and under-
+ lined. You can have multiple MENUCOLOR entries in your config-
+ uration file, and the last MENUCOLOR line that matches a menu
+ line will be used for the line.
+ Note that if you intend to have one or more color specifica-
+ tions match " uncursed ", you will probably want to turn the im-
+ plicit_uncursed option off so that all items known to be uncursed
are actually displayed with the "uncursed" description.
9.12. Configuring User Sounds
- Some platforms allow you to define sound files to be played
- when a message that matches a user-defined pattern is delivered
+ Some platforms allow you to define sound files to be played
+ when a message that matches a user-defined pattern is delivered
to the message window. At this time the Qt port and the win32tty
and win32gui ports support the use of user sounds.
- The following configuration file entries are relevant to
+ The following configuration file entries are relevant to
mapping user sounds to messages:
SOUNDDIR
The directory that houses the sound files to be played.
SOUND
- An entry that maps a sound file to a user-specified message
- pattern. Each SOUND entry is broken down into the following
+ An entry that maps a sound file to a user-specified message
+ pattern. Each SOUND entry is broken down into the following
parts:
- MESG - message window mapping (the only one supported in
+ MESG - message window mapping (the only one supported in
3.6);
pattern - the pattern to match;
sound file - the sound file to play;
9.13. Configuring Status Hilites
Your copy of NetHack may have been compiled with support for
- "Status Hilites". If so, you can customize your game display by
- setting thresholds to change the color or appearance of fields in
- the status display.
+ "Status Hilites". If so, you can customize your game display by
- The format for defining status colors is:
- OPTION=hilite_status:field-name/behavior/color&attributes
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- For example, the following line in your configuration file
- will cause the hitpoints field to display in the color red if
- your hitpoints drop to or below a threshold of 30%:
- OPTION=hilite_status:hitpoints/<=30%/red/normal
- (That example is actually specifying red&normal for <=30% and no-
- color&normal for >30%.)
- For another example, the following line in your configura-
- tion file will cause wisdom to be displayed red if it drops and
- green if it rises:
- OPTION=hilite_status:wisdom/down/red/up/green
+ NetHack Guidebook 79
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ setting thresholds to change the color or appearance of fields in
+ the status display.
+ The format for defining status colors is:
+ OPTION=hilite_status:field-name/behavior/color&attributes
+ For example, the following line in your configuration file
+ will cause the hitpoints field to display in the color red if
+ your hitpoints drop to or below a threshold of 30%:
+ OPTION=hilite_status:hitpoints/<=30%/red/normal
- NetHack Guidebook 78
+ (That example is actually specifying red&normal for <=30% and no-
+ color&normal for >30%.)
+ For another example, the following line in your configura-
+ tion file will cause wisdom to be displayed red if it drops and
+ green if it rises:
+ OPTION=hilite_status:wisdom/down/red/up/green
- Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
+ Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-magen-
- ta, light-cyan, and white. And "no-color", the default fore-
+ ta, light-cyan, and white. And "no-color", the default fore-
ground color on the display, which is not necessarily the same as
black or white or any of the other colors.
- Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink,
- and inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none"; they should not
+ Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink,
+ and inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none"; they should not
be used in combination with any of the other attributes.
To specify both a color and an attribute, use `&' to combine
- them. To specify multiple attributes, use `+' to combine those.
+ them. To specify multiple attributes, use `+' to combine those.
For example: "magenta&inverse+dim".
- Note that the display may substitute or ignore particular
- attributes depending upon its capabilities, and in general may
- interpret the attributes any way it wants. For example, on some
+ Note that the display may substitute or ignore particular
+ attributes depending upon its capabilities, and in general may
+ interpret the attributes any way it wants. For example, on some
display systems a request for bold might yield blink or vice ver-
sa. On others, issuing an attribute request while another is al-
- ready set up will replace the earlier attribute rather than com-
- bine with it. Since NetHack issues attribute requests sequen-
+ ready set up will replace the earlier attribute rather than com-
+ bine with it. Since NetHack issues attribute requests sequen-
tially (at least with the tty interface) rather than all at once,
the only way a situation like that can be controlled is to speci-
fy just one attribute.
- You can adjust the appearance of the following status
+ You can adjust the appearance of the following status
fields:
title dungeon-level experience-level
strength gold experience
dexterity hitpoints HD
constitution hitpoints-max time
- intelligence power hunger
- wisdom power-max carrying-capacity
- charisma armor-class condition
- alignment score
- The pseudo-field "characteristics" can be used to set all six
- of Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha at once. "HD" is "hit
- dice", an approximation of experience level displayed when
- polymorphed. "experience", "time", and "score" are condition-
- ally displayed depending upon your other option settings.
- Instead of a behavior, "condition" takes the following condi-
- tion flags: stone, slime, strngl, foodpois, termill, blind,
- deaf, stun, conf, hallu, lev, fly, and ride. You can use "ma-
- jor_troubles" as an alias for stone through termill, "mi-
- nor_troubles" for blind through hallu, "movement" for lev, fly,
- and ride, and "all" for every condition.
- Allowed behaviors are "always", "up", "down", "changed", a per-
- centage or absolute number threshold, or text to match against.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- * "always" will set the default attributes for that field.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 80
+ intelligence power hunger
+ wisdom power-max carrying-capacity
+ charisma armor-class condition
+ alignment score
- NetHack Guidebook 79
+ The pseudo-field "characteristics" can be used to set all six
+ of Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha at once. "HD" is "hit
+ dice", an approximation of experience level displayed when
+ polymorphed. "experience", "time", and "score" are condition-
+ ally displayed depending upon your other option settings.
+ Instead of a behavior, "condition" takes the following condi-
+ tion flags: stone, slime, strngl, foodpois, termill, blind,
+ deaf, stun, conf, hallu, lev, fly, and ride. You can use "ma-
+ jor_troubles" as an alias for stone through termill, "mi-
+ nor_troubles" for blind through hallu, "movement" for lev, fly,
+ and ride, and "all" for every condition.
+ Allowed behaviors are "always", "up", "down", "changed", a per-
+ centage or absolute number threshold, or text to match against.
- * "up", "down" set the field attributes for when the field
- value changes upwards or downwards. This attribute times
+ * "always" will set the default attributes for that field.
+
+ * "up", "down" set the field attributes for when the field
+ value changes upwards or downwards. This attribute times
out after statushilites turns.
* "changed" sets the field attribute for when the field val-
- ue changes. This attribute times out after statushilites
- turns. (If a field has both a "changed" rule and an "up"
- or "down" rule which matches a change in the field's val-
+ ue changes. This attribute times out after statushilites
+ turns. (If a field has both a "changed" rule and an "up"
+ or "down" rule which matches a change in the field's val-
ue, the "up" or "down" one takes precedence.)
- * percentage sets the field attribute when the field value
- matches the percentage. It is specified as a number be-
- tween 0 and 100, followed by `%' (percent sign). If the
- percentage is prefixed with `<=' or `>=', it also matches
- when value is below or above the percentage. Use prefix
- `<' or `>' to match when strictly below or above. (The
- numeric limit is relaxed slightly for those: >-1% and
- <101% are allowed.) Only four fields support percentage
- rules. Percentages for "hitpoints" and "power" are
- straightforward; they're based on the corresponding maxi-
- mum field. Percentage highlight rules are also allowed
+ * percentage sets the field attribute when the field value
+ matches the percentage. It is specified as a number be-
+ tween 0 and 100, followed by `%' (percent sign). If the
+ percentage is prefixed with `<=' or `>=', it also matches
+ when value is below or above the percentage. Use prefix
+ `<' or `>' to match when strictly below or above. (The
+ numeric limit is relaxed slightly for those: >-1% and
+ <101% are allowed.) Only four fields support percentage
+ rules. Percentages for "hitpoints" and "power" are
+ straightforward; they're based on the corresponding maxi-
+ mum field. Percentage highlight rules are also allowed
for "experience level" and "experience points" (valid when
the showexp option is enabled). For those, the percentage
is based on the progress from the start of the current ex-
perience level to the start of the next level. So if lev-
- el 2 starts at 20 points and level 3 starts at 40 points,
- having 30 points is 50% and 35 points is 75%. 100% is
- unattainable for experience because you'll gain a level
+ el 2 starts at 20 points and level 3 starts at 40 points,
+ having 30 points is 50% and 35 points is 75%. 100% is
+ unattainable for experience because you'll gain a level
and the calculations will be reset for that new level, but
- a rule for =100% is allowed and matches the special case
- of being exactly 1 experience point short of the next lev-
- el.
-
- * absolute value sets the attribute when the field value
- matches that number. The number must be 0 or higher, ex-
- cept for "armor-class' which allows negative values, and
- may optionally be preceded by `='. If the number is pre-
- ceded by `<=' or `>=' instead, it also matches when value
- is below or above. If the prefix is `<' or `>', only
- match when strictly above or below.
+ a rule for =100% is allowed and matches the special case
+ of being exactly 1 experience point short of the next
- * text match sets the attribute when the field value matches
- the text. Text matches can only be used for "alignment",
- "carrying-capacity", "hunger", "dungeon-level", and "ti-
- tle". For title, only the role's rank title is tested;
- the character's name is ignored.
- The in-game options menu can help you determine the correct
- syntax for a configuration file.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- The whole feature can be disabled by setting option sta-
- tushilites to 0.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 81
+ level.
+ * absolute value sets the attribute when the field value
+ matches that number. The number must be 0 or higher, ex-
+ cept for "armor-class' which allows negative values, and
+ may optionally be preceded by `='. If the number is pre-
+ ceded by `<=' or `>=' instead, it also matches when value
+ is below or above. If the prefix is `<' or `>', only
+ match when strictly above or below.
- NetHack Guidebook 80
+ * text match sets the attribute when the field value matches
+ the text. Text matches can only be used for "alignment",
+ "carrying-capacity", "hunger", "dungeon-level", and "ti-
+ tle". For title, only the role's rank title is tested;
+ the character's name is ignored.
+ The in-game options menu can help you determine the correct
+ syntax for a configuration file.
+ The whole feature can be disabled by setting option sta-
+ tushilites to 0.
Example hilites:
NetHack can load entire symbol sets from the symbol file.
- The options that are used to select a particular symbol set
+ The options that are used to select a particular symbol set
from the symbol file are:
symset
Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load.
roguesymset
- Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load for dis-
+ Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load for dis-
play on the rogue level.
- You can also override one or more symbols using the SYMBOLS
- and ROGUESYMBOLS configuration file options. Symbols are speci-
+ You can also override one or more symbols using the SYMBOLS
+ and ROGUESYMBOLS configuration file options. Symbols are speci-
fied as name:value pairs. Note that NetHack escape-processes the
- value string in conventional C fashion. This means that \ is a
- prefix to take the following character literally. Thus \ needs
- to be represented as \\. The special prefix form \m switches on
- the meta bit in the symbol value, and the ^ prefix causes the
+ value string in conventional C fashion. This means that \ is a
+ prefix to take the following character literally. Thus \ needs
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 82
+
+
+
+ to be represented as \\. The special prefix form \m switches on
+ the meta bit in the symbol value, and the ^ prefix causes the
following character to be treated as a control character.
NetHack Symbols
B S_bat (bat or bird)
^ S_bear_trap (bear trap)
- S_blcorn (bottom left corner)
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 81
-
-
-
b S_blob (blob)
+ S_book (spellbook)
) S_boomleft (boomerang open left)
\ S_explode7 (explosion bottom left)
- S_explode8 (explosion bottom center)
/ S_explode9 (explosion bottom right)
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 83
+
+
+
e S_eye (eye or sphere)
^ S_falling_rock_trap (falling rock trap)
f S_feline (cat or other feline)
. S_hodbridge (horizontal lowered drawbridge)
| S_hodoor (open door in horizontal wall)
^ S_hole (hole)
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 82
-
-
-
@ S_human (human or elf)
h S_humanoid (humanoid)
- S_hwall (horizontal wall)
p S_piercer (piercer)
^ S_pit (pit)
# S_poisoncloud (poison cloud)
- ^ S_polymorph_trap (polymorph trap)
- } S_pool (water)
- ! S_potion (potion)
- P S_pudding (pudding or ooze)
- q S_quadruped (quadruped)
- Q S_quantmech (quantum mechanic)
- = S_ring (ring)
- ` S_rock (boulder or statue)
- r S_rodent (rodent)
- ^ S_rolling_boulder_trap (rolling boulder trap)
- . S_room (floor of a room)
- / S_rslant (diagonal beam [zap animation])
- ^ S_rust_trap (rust trap)
- R S_rustmonst (rust monster or disenchanter)
- ? S_scroll (scroll)
- # S_sink (sink)
- ^ S_sleeping_gas_trap (sleeping gas trap)
- S S_snake (snake)
- s S_spider (arachnid or centipede)
- ^ S_spiked_pit (spiked pit)
- ^ S_squeaky_board (squeaky board)
- NetHack Guidebook 83
+ NetHack Guidebook 84
+ ^ S_polymorph_trap (polymorph trap)
+ } S_pool (water)
+ ! S_potion (potion)
+ P S_pudding (pudding or ooze)
+ q S_quadruped (quadruped)
+ Q S_quantmech (quantum mechanic)
+ = S_ring (ring)
+ ` S_rock (boulder or statue)
+ r S_rodent (rodent)
+ ^ S_rolling_boulder_trap (rolling boulder trap)
+ . S_room (floor of a room)
+ / S_rslant (diagonal beam [zap animation])
+ ^ S_rust_trap (rust trap)
+ R S_rustmonst (rust monster or disenchanter)
+ ? S_scroll (scroll)
+ # S_sink (sink)
+ ^ S_sleeping_gas_trap (sleeping gas trap)
+ S S_snake (snake)
+ s S_spider (arachnid or centipede)
+ ^ S_spiked_pit (spiked pit)
+ ^ S_squeaky_board (squeaky board)
0 S_ss1 (magic shield 1 of 4)
# S_ss2 (magic shield 2 of 4)
@ S_ss3 (magic shield 3 of 4)
U S_umber (umber hulk)
u S_unicorn (unicorn or horse)
< S_upladder (ladder up)
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 85
+
+
+
< S_upstair (staircase up)
V S_vampire (vampire)
| S_vbeam (vertical beam [zap animation])
x S_xan (xan or other extraordinary insect)
X S_xorn (xorn)
Y S_yeti (apelike creature)
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 84
-
-
-
Z S_zombie (zombie)
z S_zruty (zruty)
S_pet_override (any pet if ACCESSIBILITY=1 is set)
Notes:
* Several symbols in this table appear to be blank. They are the
- space character, except for S_pet_override and S_hero_override
- which don't have any default value and can only be used if en-
+ space character, except for S_pet_override and S_hero_override
+ which don't have any default value and can only be used if en-
abled in the "sysconf" file.
- * S_rock is misleadingly named; rocks and stones use S_gem.
- Statues and boulders are the rock being referred to, but since
- version 3.6.0, statues are displayed as the monster they de-
- pict. So S_rock is only used for boulders and not used at all
+ * S_rock is misleadingly named; rocks and stones use S_gem.
+ Statues and boulders are the rock being referred to, but since
+ version 3.6.0, statues are displayed as the monster they de-
+ pict. So S_rock is only used for boulders and not used at all
if overridden by the more specific S_boulder.
9.15. Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind
- NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII characters
- for making maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions
- of NetHack completely accessible to the blind who use speech
- and/or Braille access technologies. Players will require a good
- working knowledge of their screen-reader's review features, and
- will have to know how to navigate horizontally and vertically
- character by character. They will also find the search capabili-
- ties of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to
- examine this Guidebook before playing so you have an idea what
- the screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate
- the PC cursor. It is always where your character is located.
- Merely searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac-
+ NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII characters
+ for making maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions
+ of NetHack completely accessible to the blind who use speech
+ and/or Braille access technologies. Players will require a good
+ working knowledge of their screen-reader's review features, and
+ will have to know how to navigate horizontally and vertically
+ character by character. They will also find the search capabili-
+ ties of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to
+ examine this Guidebook before playing so you have an idea what
+ the screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate
+ the PC cursor. It is always where your character is located.
+ Merely searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac-
ter since there are other humanoids represented by the same sign.
- Your screen-reader should also have a function which gives you
- the row and column of your review cursor and the PC cursor.
- These co-ordinates are often useful in giving players a better
- sense of the overall location of items on the screen.
- NetHack can also be compiled with support for sending the
- game messages to an external program, such as a text-to-speech
- synthesizer. If the "#version" extended command shows "external
- program as a message handler", your NetHack has been compiled
- with the capability. When compiling NetHack from source on Linux
- and other POSIX systems, define MSGHANDLER to enable it. To use
- the capability, set the environment variable NETHACK_MSGHANDLER
- to an executable, which will be executed with the game message as
- the program's only parameter.
- While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
- defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find this task
- somewhat daunting. Included within the "symbols" file of all of-
- ficial distributions of NetHack is a symset called NHAccess. Se-
- lecting that symset in your configuration file will cause the
- game to run in a manner accessible to the blind. After you have
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 86
- NetHack Guidebook 85
+ Your screen-reader should also have a function which gives you
+ the row and column of your review cursor and the PC cursor.
+ These co-ordinates are often useful in giving players a better
+ sense of the overall location of items on the screen.
+ NetHack can also be compiled with support for sending the
+ game messages to an external program, such as a text-to-speech
+ synthesizer. If the "#version" extended command shows "external
+ program as a message handler", your NetHack has been compiled
+ with the capability. When compiling NetHack from source on Linux
+ and other POSIX systems, define MSGHANDLER to enable it. To use
+ the capability, set the environment variable NETHACK_MSGHANDLER
+ to an executable, which will be executed with the game message as
+ the program's only parameter.
- gained some experience with the game and with editing files, you
+ While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
+ defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find this task
+ somewhat daunting. Included within the "symbols" file of all of-
+ ficial distributions of NetHack is a symset called NHAccess. Se-
+ lecting that symset in your configuration file will cause the
+ game to run in a manner accessible to the blind. After you have
+ gained some experience with the game and with editing files, you
may want to alter settings via SYMBOLS= and ROGUESYMBOLS= in your
configuration file to better suit your preferences. See the pre-
- vious section for the special symbols S_pet_override to force a
- consistent symbol for all pets and S_hero_override to force a
- unique symbol for the player character if accessibility is en-
+ vious section for the special symbols S_pet_override to force a
+ consistent symbol for all pets and S_hero_override to force a
+ unique symbol for the player character if accessibility is en-
abled in the sysconf file.
- The most crucial settings to make the game more accessible
+ The most crucial settings to make the game more accessible
are:
symset:NHAccess
Load a symbol set appropriate for use by blind players.
roguesymset:NHAccess
- Load a symbol set for the rogue level that is appropriate for
+ Load a symbol set for the rogue level that is appropriate for
use by blind players.
menustyle:traditional
Show menus on a cleared screen and aligned to the left edge.
number_pad
- A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
+ A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
the screen. If this is the case, disable the number_pad option
and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.
autodescribe
- Automatically describe the terrain under the cursor when tar-
+ Automatically describe the terrain under the cursor when tar-
geting.
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 87
+
+
+
mention_walls
- Give feedback messages when walking towards a wall or when
+ Give feedback messages when walking towards a wall or when
travel command was interrupted.
whatis_coord:compass
- When targeting with cursor, describe the cursor position with
+ When targeting with cursor, describe the cursor position with
coordinates relative to your character.
whatis_filter:area
- When targeting with cursor, filter possible locations so only
- those in the same area (eg. same room, or same corridor) are
+ When targeting with cursor, filter possible locations so only
+ those in the same area (eg. same room, or same corridor) are
considered.
whatis_moveskip
- When targeting with cursor and using fast-move, skip the same
+ When targeting with cursor and using fast-move, skip the same
glyphs instead of moving 8 units at a time.
nostatus_updates
- Prevent updates to the status lines at the bottom of the
- screen, if your screen-reader reads those lines. The same in-
+ Prevent updates to the status lines at the bottom of the
+ screen, if your screen-reader reads those lines. The same in-
formation can be seen via the "#attributes" command.
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 86
-
-
-
9.16. Global Configuration for System Administrators
- If NetHack is compiled with the SYSCF option, a system ad-
- ministrator should set up a global configuration; this is a file
+ If NetHack is compiled with the SYSCF option, a system ad-
+ ministrator should set up a global configuration; this is a file
in the same format as the traditional per-user configuration file
(see above). This file should be named sysconf and placed in the
- same directory as the other NetHack support files. The options
+ same directory as the other NetHack support files. The options
recognized in this file are listed below. Any option not set us-
- es a compiled-in default (which may not be appropriate for your
+ es a compiled-in default (which may not be appropriate for your
system).
- WIZARDS = A space-separated list of user names who are allowed
+ WIZARDS = A space-separated list of user names who are allowed
to play in debug mode (commonly referred to as wizard mode). A
value of a single asterisk (*) allows anyone to start a game in
debug mode.
SHELLERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the shell es-
cape command (!). The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
- EXPLORERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the explore
+ EXPLORERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the explore
mode. The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
MAXPLAYERS = Limit the maximum number of games that can be run-
ning at the same time.
SAVEFORMAT = A list of up to two save file formats separated by
- space. The first format in the list will written as well as
- read. The second format will be read only if no save file in
- the first format exists. Valid choices are "historical" for
- binary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing
- of each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
+ space. The first format in the list will written as well as
+ read. The second format will be read only if no save file in
+ the first format exists. Valid choices are "historical" for
+ binary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing
+ of each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
save file content in ascii text.
- BONESFORMAT = A list of up to two bones file formats separated
- by space. The first format in the list will written as well as
- read. The second format will be read only if no bones files in
- the first format exist. Valid choices are "historical" for bi-
- nary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing of
- each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
- bones file content in ascii text.
-
- SUPPORT = A string explaining how to get local support (no de-
- fault value).
- RECOVER = A string explaining how to recover a game on this
- system (no default value).
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- SEDUCE = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
- option. When disabled, incubi and succubi behave like nymphs.
- CHECK_PLNAME = Setting this to 1 will make the EXPLORERS, WIZ-
- ARDS, and SHELLERS check for the player name instead of the us-
- er's login name.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 88
+ BONESFORMAT = A list of up to two bones file formats separated
+ by space. The first format in the list will written as well as
+ read. The second format will be read only if no bones files in
+ the first format exist. Valid choices are "historical" for bi-
+ nary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing of
+ each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
+ bones file content in ascii text.
+ SUPPORT = A string explaining how to get local support (no de-
+ fault value).
- NetHack Guidebook 87
+ RECOVER = A string explaining how to recover a game on this
+ system (no default value).
+ SEDUCE = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
+ option. When disabled, incubi and succubi behave like nymphs.
+ CHECK_PLNAME = Setting this to 1 will make the EXPLORERS, WIZ-
+ ARDS, and SHELLERS check for the player name instead of the us-
+ er's login name.
CHECK_SAVE_UID = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
- UID (used identification number) checking for save files (to
- verify that the user who is restoring is the same one who
+ UID (used identification number) checking for save files (to
+ verify that the user who is restoring is the same one who
saved).
The following options affect the score file:
ENTRYMAX = Maximum number of entries in the score file.
- POINTSMIN = Minimum number of points to get an entry in the
+ POINTSMIN = Minimum number of points to get an entry in the
score file.
- PERS_IS_UID = 0 or 1 to use user names or numeric userids, re-
+ PERS_IS_UID = 0 or 1 to use user names or numeric userids, re-
spectively, to identify unique people for the score file.
- MAX_STATUENAME_RANK = Maximum number of score file entries to
+ MAX_STATUENAME_RANK = Maximum number of score file entries to
use for random statue names (default is 10).
- ACCESSIBILITY = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
- ability for players to set S_pet_override and S_hero_override
+ ACCESSIBILITY = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
+ ability for players to set S_pet_override and S_hero_override
symbols in their configuration file.
- PORTABLE_DEVICE_PATHS = 0 or 1 Windows OS only, the game will
- look for all of its external files, and write to all of its
- output files in one place rather than at the standard loca-
+ PORTABLE_DEVICE_PATHS = 0 or 1 Windows OS only, the game will
+ look for all of its external files, and write to all of its
+ output files in one place rather than at the standard loca-
tions.
DUMPLOGFILE = A filename where the end-of-game dumplog is
- saved. Not defining this will prevent dumplog from being cre-
+ saved. Not defining this will prevent dumplog from being cre-
ated. Only available if your game is compiled with DUMPLOG. Al-
lows the following placeholders:
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 89
+
+
+
%% - literal `%'
%v - version (eg. "3.6.3-0")
%u - game UID
10. Scoring
- NetHack maintains a list of the top scores or scorers on
+ NetHack maintains a list of the top scores or scorers on
your machine, depending on how it is set up. In the latter case,
- each account on the machine can post only one non-winning score
- on this list. If you score higher than someone else on this
- list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in the
- proper place under your current name. How many scores are kept
+ each account on the machine can post only one non-winning score
+ on this list. If you score higher than someone else on this
+ list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in the
+ proper place under your current name. How many scores are kept
can also be set up when NetHack is compiled.
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 88
-
-
-
- Your score is chiefly based upon how much experience you
+ Your score is chiefly based upon how much experience you
gained, how much loot you accumulated, how deep you explored, and
how the game ended. If you quit the game, you escape with all of
- your gold intact. If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of
+ your gold intact. If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of
Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your
- corpse is discovered (adventurers have been known to collect
- finder's fees). So, consider whether you want to take one last
- hit at that monster and possibly live, or quit and stop with
- whatever you have. If you quit, you keep all your gold, but if
+ corpse is discovered (adventurers have been known to collect
+ finder's fees). So, consider whether you want to take one last
+ hit at that monster and possibly live, or quit and stop with
+ whatever you have. If you quit, you keep all your gold, but if
you swing and live, you might find more.
- If you just want to see what the current top players/games
+ If you just want to see what the current top players/games
list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.
11. Explore mode
- NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
+ NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
falter in fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive.
Well, fear not. Your dungeon comes equipped with an "explore" or
- "discovery" mode that enables you to keep old save files and
- cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the high score
+ "discovery" mode that enables you to keep old save files and
+ cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the high score
list.
- There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to
- start the game with the -X command-line switch or with the play-
- mode:explore option. The other is to issue the "#exploremode"
- extended command while already playing the game. Starting a new
+ There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to
+ start the game with the -X command-line switch or with the play-
+ mode:explore option. The other is to issue the "#exploremode"
+ extended command while already playing the game. Starting a new
game in explore mode provides your character with a wand of wish-
- ing in initial inventory; switching during play does not. The
- other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
+ ing in initial inventory; switching during play does not. The
+ other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
discover.
- 11.1. Debug mode
-
- Debug mode, also known as wizard mode, is undocumented aside
- from this brief description and the various "debug mode only"
- commands listed among the command descriptions. It is intended
- for tracking down problems within the program rather than to pro-
- vide god-like powers to your character, and players who attempt
- debugging are expected to figure out how to use it themselves.
- It is initiated by starting the game with the -D command-line
- switch or with the playmode:debug option.
- For some systems, the player must be logged in under a par-
- ticular user name to be allowed to use debug mode; for others,
- the hero must be given a particular character name (but may be
- any role; there's no connection between "wizard mode" and the
- Wizard role). Attempting to start a game in debug mode when not
- allowed or not available will result in falling back to explore
- mode instead.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 90
- NetHack Guidebook 89
+ 11.1. Debug mode
+ Debug mode, also known as wizard mode, is undocumented aside
+ from this brief description and the various "debug mode only"
+ commands listed among the command descriptions. It is intended
+ for tracking down problems within the program rather than to pro-
+ vide god-like powers to your character, and players who attempt
+ debugging are expected to figure out how to use it themselves.
+ It is initiated by starting the game with the -D command-line
+ switch or with the playmode:debug option.
+ For some systems, the player must be logged in under a par-
+ ticular user name to be allowed to use debug mode; for others,
+ the hero must be given a particular character name (but may be
+ any role; there's no connection between "wizard mode" and the
+ Wizard role). Attempting to start a game in debug mode when not
+ allowed or not available will result in falling back to explore
+ mode instead.
12. Credits
- The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
- rogue game. Large portions of this paper were shamelessly
- cribbed from A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
- and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. Small portions were adapted from
+ The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
+ rogue game. Large portions of this paper were shamelessly
+ cribbed from A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
+ and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. Small portions were adapted from
Further Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by Ken Arromdee.
NetHack is the product of literally dozens of people's work.
- Main events in the course of the game development are described
+ Main events in the course of the game development are described
below:
- Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
+ Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne.
Andries Brouwer did a major re-write, transforming Hack into
- a very different game, and published (at least) three versions
+ a very different game, and published (at least) three versions
(1.0.1, 1.0.2, and 1.0.3) for UNIX machines to the Usenet.
- Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and MS-DOS,
- producing PC HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
- in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more ver-
+ Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and MS-DOS,
+ producing PC HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
+ in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more ver-
sions (3.0, 3.2, 3.51, and 3.6).
- R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
+ R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
520/1040ST, producing ST Hack 1.03.
Mike Stephenson merged these various versions back together,
- incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack
- 1.4. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in enhancing and
+ incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack
+ 1.4. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in enhancing and
debugging NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.
Later, Mike coordinated a major rewrite of the game, heading
a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet, Steve
- Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, John Rupley, Mike Threep-
- oint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack 3.0c.
+ Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, John Rupley, Mike
- NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
- OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel. The three
- of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main NetHack Development
- Team to produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.
- Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga. Norm
- Meluch, Stephen Spackman and Pierre Martineau designed overlay
- code for PC NetHack 3.0. Johnny Lee ported NetHack 3.0 to the
- Macintosh. Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued
- to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through the later
- revisions of 3.0.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
- and Janet Walz, the NetHack Development Team which now included
- Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy,
- Matt Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin,
- Eric Raymond, and Eric Smith undertook a radical revision of 3.0.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 91
- NetHack Guidebook 90
+ Threepoint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack 3.0c.
+ NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
+ OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel. The three
+ of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main NetHack Development
+ Team to produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.
+ Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga. Norm
+ Meluch, Stephen Spackman and Pierre Martineau designed overlay
+ code for PC NetHack 3.0. Johnny Lee ported NetHack 3.0 to the
+ Macintosh. Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued
+ to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through the later
+ revisions of 3.0.
+ Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
+ and Janet Walz, the NetHack Development Team which now included
+ Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy,
+ Matt Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin,
+ Eric Raymond, and Eric Smith undertook a radical revision of 3.0.
They re-structured the game's design, and re-wrote major parts of
- the code. They added multiple dungeons, a new display, special
- individual character quests, a new endgame and many other new
+ the code. They added multiple dungeons, a new display, special
+ individual character quests, a new endgame and many other new
features, and produced NetHack 3.1.
- Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
- Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti, and Olaf Seibert, developed
+ Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
+ Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti, and Olaf Seibert, developed
NetHack 3.1 for the Amiga.
- Norm Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
+ Norm Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
lin, Stephen Spackman, Steve VanDevender, and Paul Winner, ported
NetHack 3.1 to the PC.
Jon W{tte and Hao-yang Wang, with help from Ross Brown, Mike
- Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny
- Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
+ Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny
+ Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW. Building on their de-
velopment, Bart House added a Think C port.
Timo Hakulinen ported NetHack 3.1 to OS/2. Eric Smith port-
- ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari. Pat Rankin, with help from Joshua
- Delahunty, was responsible for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
+ ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari. Pat Rankin, with help from Joshua
+ Delahunty, was responsible for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
Michael Allison ported NetHack 3.1 to Windows NT.
- Dean Luick, with help from David Cohrs, developed NetHack
- 3.1 for X11. Warwick Allison wrote a tiled version of NetHack
- for the Atari; he later contributed the tiles to the NetHack De-
- velopment Team and tile support was then added to other plat-
+ Dean Luick, with help from David Cohrs, developed NetHack
+ 3.1 for X11. Warwick Allison wrote a tiled version of NetHack
+ for the Atari; he later contributed the tiles to the NetHack De-
+ velopment Team and tile support was then added to other plat-
forms.
The 3.2 NetHack Development Team, comprised of Michael Alli-
son, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin
Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Er-
- ic Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
+ ic Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
version 3.2 in April of 1996.
- Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of
- the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
- game, all thirteen members of the original NetHack Development
- Team remained on the team at the start of work on that release.
- During the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2, one of
- the founding members of the NetHack Development Team, Dr. Izchak
- Miller, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. That release
- of the game was dedicated to him by the development and porting
- teams.
-
- During the lifespan of NetHack 3.1 and 3.2, several enthusi-
- asts of the game added their own modifications to the game and
- made these "variants" publicly available:
- Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created NetHack++, which was
- quickly renamed NetHack--. Working independently, Stephen White
- wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot later merged NetHack Plus and
- his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH. Larry Stewart-Zerba and
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 92
- NetHack Guidebook 91
+ Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of
+ the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
+ game, all thirteen members of the original NetHack Development
+ Team remained on the team at the start of work on that release.
+ During the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2, one of
+ the founding members of the NetHack Development Team, Dr. Izchak
+ Miller, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. That release
+ of the game was dedicated to him by the development and porting
+ teams.
+ During the lifespan of NetHack 3.1 and 3.2, several enthusi-
+ asts of the game added their own modifications to the game and
+ made these "variants" publicly available:
- Warwick Allison improved the spell casting system with the Wizard
- Patch. Warwick Allison also ported NetHack to use the Qt inter-
+ Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created NetHack++, which was
+ quickly renamed NetHack--. Working independently, Stephen White
+ wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot later merged NetHack Plus and
+ his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH. Larry Stewart-Zerba and War-
+ wick Allison improved the spell casting system with the Wizard
+ Patch. Warwick Allison also ported NetHack to use the Qt inter-
face.
- Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch to pro-
- duce Slash'EM, and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
- tures. Kevin later joined the NetHack Development Team and in-
+ Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch to pro-
+ duce Slash'EM, and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
+ tures. Kevin later joined the NetHack Development Team and in-
corporated the best of these ideas in NetHack 3.3.
The final update to 3.2 was the bug fix release 3.2.3, which
- was released simultaneously with 3.3.0 in December 1999 just in
+ was released simultaneously with 3.3.0 in December 1999 just in
time for the Year 2000.
- The 3.3 NetHack Development Team, consisting of Michael Al-
- lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,
- Kevin Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lor-
- ber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet
- Walz, and Paul Winner, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1
+ The 3.3 NetHack Development Team, consisting of Michael Al-
+ lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,
+ Kevin Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lor-
+ ber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet
+ Walz, and Paul Winner, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1
in August of 2000.
Version 3.3 offered many firsts. It was the first version to
- separate race and profession. The Elf class was removed in pref-
+ separate race and profession. The Elf class was removed in pref-
erence to an elf race, and the races of dwarves, gnomes, and orcs
- made their first appearance in the game alongside the familiar
- human race. Monk and Ranger roles joined Archeologists, Barbar-
- ians, Cavemen, Healers, Knights, Priests, Rogues, Samurai,
- Tourists, Valkyries and of course, Wizards. It was also the
- first version to allow you to ride a steed, and was the first
- version to have a publicly available web-site listing all the
- bugs that had been discovered. Despite that constantly growing
- bug list, 3.3 proved stable enough to last for more than a year
+ made their first appearance in the game alongside the familiar
+ human race. Monk and Ranger roles joined Archeologists, Barbar-
+ ians, Cavemen, Healers, Knights, Priests, Rogues, Samurai,
+ Tourists, Valkyries and of course, Wizards. It was also the
+ first version to allow you to ride a steed, and was the first
+ version to have a publicly available web-site listing all the
+ bugs that had been discovered. Despite that constantly growing
+ bug list, 3.3 proved stable enough to last for more than a year
and a half.
- The 3.4 NetHack Development Team initially consisted of
- Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Kevin
- Hugo, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet
- Walz, and Paul Winner, with Warwick Allison joining just before
- the release of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.
+ The 3.4 NetHack Development Team initially consisted of
+ Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Kevin
+ Hugo, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet
- As with version 3.3, various people contributed to the game
- as a whole as well as supporting ports on the different platforms
- that NetHack runs on:
- Pat Rankin maintained 3.4 for VMS.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- Michael Allison maintained NetHack 3.4 for the MS-DOS plat-
- form. Paul Winner and Yitzhak Sapir provided encouragement.
- Dean Luick, Mark Modrall, and Kevin Hugo maintained and en-
- hanced the Macintosh port of 3.4.
- Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas,
- and Yitzhak Sapir maintained and enhanced 3.4 for the Microsoft
- Windows platform. Alex Kompel contributed a new graphical
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 93
+ Walz, and Paul Winner, with Warwick Allison joining just before
+ the release of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.
+ As with version 3.3, various people contributed to the game
+ as a whole as well as supporting ports on the different platforms
+ that NetHack runs on:
- NetHack Guidebook 92
+ Pat Rankin maintained 3.4 for VMS.
+ Michael Allison maintained NetHack 3.4 for the MS-DOS plat-
+ form. Paul Winner and Yitzhak Sapir provided encouragement.
+ Dean Luick, Mark Modrall, and Kevin Hugo maintained and en-
+ hanced the Macintosh port of 3.4.
- interface for the Windows port. Alex Kompel also contributed a
- Windows CE port for 3.4.1.
+ Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas,
+ and Yitzhak Sapir maintained and enhanced 3.4 for the Microsoft
+ Windows platform. Alex Kompel contributed a new graphical inter-
+ face for the Windows port. Alex Kompel also contributed a Win-
+ dows CE port for 3.4.1.
Ron Van Iwaarden was the sole maintainer of NetHack for OS/2
- the past several releases. Unfortunately Ron's last OS/2 machine
- stopped working in early 2006. A great many thanks to Ron for
+ the past several releases. Unfortunately Ron's last OS/2 machine
+ stopped working in early 2006. A great many thanks to Ron for
keeping NetHack alive on OS/2 all these years.
- Janne Salmijarvi and Teemu Suikki maintained and enhanced
- the Amiga port of 3.4 after Janne Salmijarvi resurrected it for
+ Janne Salmijarvi and Teemu Suikki maintained and enhanced
+ the Amiga port of 3.4 after Janne Salmijarvi resurrected it for
3.3.1.
Christian "Marvin" Bressler maintained 3.4 for the Atari af-
The release of NetHack 3.4.3 in December 2003 marked the be-
ginning of a long release hiatus. 3.4.3 proved to be a remarkably
stable version that provided continued enjoyment by the community
- for more than a decade. The NetHack Development Team slowly and
- quietly continued to work on the game behind the scenes during
- the tenure of 3.4.3. It was during that same period that several
+ for more than a decade. The NetHack Development Team slowly and
+ quietly continued to work on the game behind the scenes during
+ the tenure of 3.4.3. It was during that same period that several
new variants emerged within the NetHack community. Notably
sporkhack by Derek S. Ray, unnethack by Patric Mueller, nitrohack
- and its successors originally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex
- Smith, and Dynahack by Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants con-
- tinue to be developed, maintained, and enjoyed by the community
+ and its successors originally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex
+ Smith, and Dynahack by Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants con-
+ tinue to be developed, maintained, and enjoyed by the community
to this day.
In September 2014, an interim snapshot of the code under de-
velopment was released publicly by other parties. Since that code
- was a work-in-progress and had not gone through the process of
- debugging it as a suitable release, it was decided that the ver-
- sion numbers present on that code snapshot would be retired and
- never used in an official NetHack release. An announcement was
- posted on the NetHack Development Team's official nethack.org
- website to that effect, stating that there would never be a
- 3.4.4, 3.5, or 3.5.0 official release version.
+ was a work-in-progress and had not gone through the process of
+ debugging it as a suitable release, it was decided that the ver-
+ sion numbers present on that code snapshot would be retired and
+ never used in an official NetHack release. An announcement was
+ posted on the NetHack Development Team's official nethack.org
+ website to that effect, stating that there would never be a
- In January 2015, preparation began for the release of
- NetHack 3.6.
- At the beginning of development for what would eventually
- get released as 3.6.0, the NetHack Development Team consisted of
- Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs,
- Jessie Collet, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephen-
- son, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner. In early 2015, ahead of the
- release of 3.6.0, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and Derek
- S. Ray joined the NetHack Development Team.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- Near the end of the development of 3.6.0, one of the signif-
- icant inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features
- found in the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. NetHack
- 3.6.0 introduced a tribute to him.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 94
+ 3.4.4, 3.5, or 3.5.0 official release version.
- NetHack Guidebook 93
+ In January 2015, preparation began for the release of
+ NetHack 3.6.
+ At the beginning of development for what would eventually
+ get released as 3.6.0, the NetHack Development Team consisted of
+ Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs,
+ Jessie Collet, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephen-
+ son, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner. In early 2015, ahead of the
+ release of 3.6.0, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and Derek
+ S. Ray joined the NetHack Development Team.
+ Near the end of the development of 3.6.0, one of the signif-
+ icant inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features
+ found in the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. NetHack
+ 3.6.0 introduced a tribute to him.
3.6.0 was released in December 2015, and merged work done by
- the development team since the release of 3.4.3 with some of the
+ the development team since the release of 3.4.3 with some of the
beloved community patches. Many bugs were fixed and some code was
restructured.
- The NetHack Development Team, as well as Steve VanDevender
+ The NetHack Development Team, as well as Steve VanDevender
and Kevin Smolkowski, ensured that NetHack 3.6 continued to oper-
ate on various UNIX flavors and maintained the X11 interface.
- Ken Lorber, Haoyang Wang, Pat Rankin, and Dean Luick main-
+ Ken Lorber, Haoyang Wang, Pat Rankin, and Dean Luick main-
tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Mac OSX.
- Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Bart House, Pasi Kallinen,
- Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas, Derek S. Ray and Yitzhak Sapir main-
+ Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Bart House, Pasi Kallinen,
+ Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas, Derek S. Ray and Yitzhak Sapir main-
tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Microsoft Windows.
- Pat Rankin attempted to keep the VMS port running for
+ Pat Rankin attempted to keep the VMS port running for
NetHack 3.6, hindered by limited access. Kevin Smolkowski has up-
- dated and tested it for the most recent version of OpenVMS (V8.4
+ dated and tested it for the most recent version of OpenVMS (V8.4
as of this writing) on Alpha and Integrity (aka Itanium aka IA64)
but not VAX.
- Ray Chason resurrected the msdos port for 3.6 and contrib-
+ Ray Chason resurrected the msdos port for 3.6 and contrib-
uted the necessary updates to the community at large.
- In late April 2018, several hundred bug fixes for 3.6.0 and
- some new features were assembled and released as NetHack 3.6.1.
+ In late April 2018, several hundred bug fixes for 3.6.0 and
+ some new features were assembled and released as NetHack 3.6.1.
The NetHack Development Team at the time of release of 3.6.1 con-
- sisted of Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David
- Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Pasi Kallinen, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick,
- Patric Mueller, Pat Rankin, Derek S. Ray, Alex Smith, Mike
+ sisted of Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David
+ Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Pasi Kallinen, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick,
+ Patric Mueller, Pat Rankin, Derek S. Ray, Alex Smith, Mike
Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner.
In early May 2019, another 320 bug fixes along with some en-
- hancements and the adopted curses window port, were released as
+ hancements and the adopted curses window port, were released as
3.6.2.
- Bart House, who had contributed to the game as a porting
- team participant for decades, joined the NetHack Development Team
- in late May 2019.
-
- NetHack 3.6.3 was released on December 5, 2019 containing
- over 190 bug fixes to NetHack 3.6.2.
-
- NetHack 3.6.4 was released on December 18, 2019 containing a
- security fix and a few bug fixes.
- NetHack 3.6.5 was released on January 27, 2020 containing
- some security fixes and a small number of bug fixes.
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
- The official NetHack web site is maintained by Ken Lorber at
- https://www.nethack.org/.
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+ NetHack Guidebook 95
+ Bart House, who had contributed to the game as a porting
+ team participant for decades, joined the NetHack Development Team
+ in late May 2019.
+ NetHack 3.6.3 was released on December 5, 2019 containing
+ over 190 bug fixes to NetHack 3.6.2.
- NetHack Guidebook 94
+ NetHack 3.6.4 was released on December 18, 2019 containing a
+ security fix and a few bug fixes.
+ NetHack 3.6.5 was released on January 27, 2020 containing
+ some security fixes and a small number of bug fixes.
+ The official NetHack web site is maintained by Ken Lorber at
+ https://www.nethack.org/.
12.1. SPECIAL THANKS
On behalf of the NetHack community, thank you very much once
- again to M. Drew Streib and Pasi Kallinen for providing a public
- NetHack server at nethack.alt.org. Thanks to Keith Simpson and
+ again to M. Drew Streib and Pasi Kallinen for providing a public
+ NetHack server at nethack.alt.org. Thanks to Keith Simpson and
Andy Thomson for hardfought.org. Thanks to all those unnamed dun-
- geoneers who invest their time and effort into annual NetHack
- tournaments such as Junethack, The November NetHack Tournament
+ geoneers who invest their time and effort into annual NetHack
+ tournaments such as Junethack, The November NetHack Tournament
and in days past, devnull.net (gone for now, but not forgotten).
- - - - - - - - - -
- From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
- netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
+ From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
+ netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
with the game. The NetHack Development Team sometimes makes note
- of the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list
+ of the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list
of Dungeoneers:
Adam Aronow J. Ali Harlow Mikko Juola
Alex Kompel Janet Walz Nathan Eady
David Cohrs Ken Arromdee Roderick Schertler
David Damerell Ken Lorber Roland McGrath
David Gentzel Ken Washikita Ron Van Iwaarden
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 96
+
+
+
David Hairston Kevin Darcy Ronnen Miller
Dean Luick Kevin Hugo Ross Brown
Del Lamb Kevin Sitze Sascha Wostmann
Frederick Roeber Merlyn LeRoy Tim Lennan
Gil Neiger Michael Allison Timo Hakulinen
Greg Laskin Michael Feir Tom Almy
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 January 27, 2020
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 95
-
-
-
Greg Olson Michael Hamel Tom West
Gregg Wonderly Michael Sokolov Warren Cheung
Hao-yang Wang Mike Engber Warwick Allison
Irina Rempt-Drijfhout Mike Passaretti
Izchak Miller Mike Stephenson
- Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trade-
+ Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trade-
marks of their respective holders.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
projects / nethack / commitdiff