(Guidebook for NetHack)
- Eric S. Raymond
- (Edited and expanded for 3.6)
+ Original version ‐ Eric S. Raymond
+ (Edited and expanded for 3.6 by Mike Stephenson and others)
+ Preface ‐ Version 3.6
+
+ This version of the game is special in a particular way.
+ Near the end of the development of 3.6, one of the significant
+ inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features found in
+ the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. We have dedicated
+ this version of the game in his memory.
+
1. Introduction
- Recently, you have begun to find yourself unfulfilled and distant
- in your daily occupation. Strange dreams of prospecting, steal‐
- ing, crusading, and combat have haunted you in your sleep for
- many months, but you aren’t sure of the reason. You wonder
+ Recently, you have begun to find yourself unfulfilled and
+ distant in your daily occupation. Strange dreams of prospecting,
+ stealing, crusading, and combat have haunted you in your sleep
+ for many months, but you aren’t sure of the reason. You wonder
whether you have in fact been having those dreams all your life,
and somehow managed to forget about them until now. Some nights
you awaken suddenly and cry out, terrified at the vivid recollec‐
immediately realize that there is some profound and undiscovered
reason that you are to descend into the caverns and seek out that
amulet of which they spoke. Even if the rumors of the amulet’s
- powers are untrue, you decide that you should at least be able to
- sell the tales of your adventures to the local minstrels for a
- tidy sum, especially if you encounter any of the terrifying and
- magical creatures of your dreams along the way. You spend one
- last night fortifying yourself at the local inn, becoming more
- and more depressed as you watch the odds of your success being
- posted on the inn’s walls getting lower and lower.
-
NetHack Guidebook 1
+ powers are untrue, you decide that you should at least be able to
+ sell the tales of your adventures to the local minstrels for a
+ tidy sum, especially if you encounter any of the terrifying and
+ magical creatures of your dreams along the way. You spend one
+ last night fortifying yourself at the local inn, becoming more
+ and more depressed as you watch the odds of your success being
+ posted on the inn’s walls getting lower and lower.
+
+
In the morning you awake, collect your belongings, and set
off for the dungeon. After several days of uneventful travel,
you see the ancient ruins that mark the entrance to the Mazes of
them to move quickly and sneak up on the local nasties. They
start equipped with the tools for a proper scientific expedition.
- Barbarians are warriors out of the hinterland, hardened to
+ Barbarians are warriors out of the hinterland, hardened to
battle. They begin their quests with naught but uncommon
strength, a trusty hauberk, and a great two‐handed sword.
- Cavemen and Cavewomen start with exceptional strength but,
+ Cavemen and Cavewomen start with exceptional strength but,
unfortunately, with neolithic weapons.
- Healers are wise in medicine and apothecary. They know the
- herbs and simples that can restore vitality, ease pain, anes‐
+ Healers are wise in medicine and apothecary. They know the
+ herbs and simples that can restore vitality, ease pain, anes‐
thetize, and neutralize poisons; and with their instruments, they
- can divine a being’s state of health or sickness. Their medical
+ can divine a being’s state of health or sickness. Their medical
practice earns them quite reasonable amounts of money, with which
they enter the dungeon.
- Knights are distinguished from the common skirmisher by
- their devotion to the ideals of chivalry and by the surpassing
+ Knights are distinguished from the common skirmisher by
+ their devotion to the ideals of chivalry and by the surpassing
excellence of their armor.
Monks are ascetics, who by rigorous practice of physical and
mental disciplines have become capable of fighting as effectively
- without weapons as with. They wear no armor but make up for it
+ without weapons as with. They wear no armor but make up for it
with increased mobility.
- Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders ad‐
- vancing the cause of righteousness with arms, armor, and arts
- thaumaturgic. Their ability to commune with deities via prayer
- occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in
- it.
-
- Rangers are most at home in the woods, and some say slightly
- out of place in a dungeon. They are, however, experts in archery
- as well as tracking and stealthy movement.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- Rogues are agile and stealthy thieves, with knowledge of
- locks, traps, and poisons. Their advantage lies in surprise,
+ Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders ad‐
+ vancing the cause of righteousness with arms, armor, and arts
+ thaumaturgic. Their ability to commune with deities via prayer
+ occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in
+ it.
+
+ Rangers are most at home in the woods, and some say slightly
+ out of place in a dungeon. They are, however, experts in archery
+ as well as tracking and stealthy movement.
+
+ Rogues are agile and stealthy thieves, with knowledge of
+ locks, traps, and poisons. Their advantage lies in surprise,
which they employ to great advantage.
- Samurai are the elite warriors of feudal Nippon. They are
- lightly armored and quick, and wear the dai‐sho, two swords of
+ Samurai are the elite warriors of feudal Nippon. They are
+ lightly armored and quick, and wear the dai‐sho, two swords of
the deadliest keenness.
- Tourists start out with lots of gold (suitable for shopping
- with), a credit card, lots of food, some maps, and an expensive
+ Tourists start out with lots of gold (suitable for shopping
+ with), a credit card, lots of food, some maps, and an expensive
camera. Most monsters don’t like being photographed.
- Valkyries are hardy warrior women. Their upbringing in the
- harsh Northlands makes them strong, inures them to extremes of
+ Valkyries are hardy warrior women. Their upbringing in the
+ harsh Northlands makes them strong, inures them to extremes of
cold, and instills in them stealth and cunning.
- Wizards start out with a knowledge of magic, a selection of
- magical items, and a particular affinity for dweomercraft. Al‐
+ Wizards start out with a knowledge of magic, a selection of
+ magical items, and a particular affinity for dweomercraft. Al‐
though seemingly weak and easy to overcome at first sight, an ex‐
perienced Wizard is a deadly foe.
You may also choose the race of your character:
Dwarves are smaller than humans or elves, but are stocky and
- solid individuals. Dwarves’ most notable trait is their great
- expertise in mining and metalwork. Dwarvish armor is said to be
+ solid individuals. Dwarves’ most notable trait is their great
+ expertise in mining and metalwork. Dwarvish armor is said to be
second in quality not even to the mithril armor of the Elves.
- Elves are agile, quick, and perceptive; very little of what
- goes on will escape an Elf. The quality of Elven craftsmanship
+ Elves are agile, quick, and perceptive; very little of what
+ goes on will escape an Elf. The quality of Elven craftsmanship
often gives them an advantage in arms and armor.
- Gnomes are smaller than but generally similar to dwarves.
- Gnomes are known to be expert miners, and it is known that a se‐
- cret underground mine complex built by this race exists within
+ Gnomes are smaller than but generally similar to dwarves.
+ Gnomes are known to be expert miners, and it is known that a se‐
+ cret underground mine complex built by this race exists within
the Mazes of Menace, filled with both riches and danger.
Humans are by far the most common race of the surface world,
- and are thus the norm to which other races are often compared.
- Although they have no special abilities, they can succeed in any
+ and are thus the norm to which other races are often compared.
+ Although they have no special abilities, they can succeed in any
role.
- Orcs are a cruel and barbaric race that hate every living
- thing (including other orcs). Above all others, Orcs hate Elves
- with a passion unequalled, and will go out of their way to kill
- one at any opportunity. The armor and weapons fashioned by the
- Orcs are typically of inferior quality.
+ Orcs are a cruel and barbaric race that hate every living
+ thing (including other orcs). Above all others, Orcs hate Elves
- 3. What do all those things on the screen mean?
- On the screen is kept a map of where you have been and what
- you have seen on the current dungeon level; as you explore more
- of the level, it appears on the screen in front of you.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 4
- NetHack Guidebook 4
+ with a passion unequalled, and will go out of their way to kill
+ one at any opportunity. The armor and weapons fashioned by the
+ Orcs are typically of inferior quality.
+ 3. What do all those things on the screen mean?
+ On the screen is kept a map of where you have been and what
+ you have seen on the current dungeon level; as you explore more
+ of the level, it appears on the screen in front of you.
- When NetHack’s ancestor rogue first appeared, its screen
- orientation was almost unique among computer fantasy games.
- Since then, screen orientation has become the norm rather than
- the exception; NetHack continues this fine tradition. Unlike
- text adventure games that accept commands in pseudo‐English sen‐
+ When NetHack’s ancestor rogue first appeared, its screen
+ orientation was almost unique among computer fantasy games.
+ Since then, screen orientation has become the norm rather than
+ the exception; NetHack continues this fine tradition. Unlike
+ text adventure games that accept commands in pseudo‐English sen‐
tences and explain the results in words, NetHack commands are all
- one or two keystrokes and the results are displayed graphically
- on the screen. A minimum screen size of 24 lines by 80 columns
- is recommended; if the screen is larger, only a 21x80 section
+ one or two keystrokes and the results are displayed graphically
+ on the screen. A minimum screen size of 24 lines by 80 columns
+ is recommended; if the screen is larger, only a 21x80 section
will be used for the map.
NetHack can even be played by blind players, with the assis‐
- tance of Braille readers or speech synthesisers. Instructions
- for configuring NetHack for the blind are included later in this
+ tance of Braille readers or speech synthesisers. Instructions
+ for configuring NetHack for the blind are included later in this
document.
NetHack generates a new dungeon every time you play it; even
- the authors still find it an entertaining and exciting game de‐
+ the authors still find it an entertaining and exciting game de‐
spite having won several times.
- NetHack offers a variety of display options. The options
- available to you will vary from port to port, depending on the
- capabilities of your hardware and software, and whether various
+ NetHack offers a variety of display options. The options
+ available to you will vary from port to port, depending on the
+ capabilities of your hardware and software, and whether various
compile‐time options were enabled when your executable was creat‐
ed. The three possible display options are: a monochrome charac‐
- ter interface, a color character interface, and a graphical in‐
+ ter interface, a color character interface, and a graphical in‐
terface using small pictures called tiles. The two character in‐
terfaces allow fonts with other characters to be substituted, but
- the default assignments use standard ASCII characters to repre‐
+ the default assignments use standard ASCII characters to repre‐
sent everything. There is no difference between the various dis‐
play options with respect to game play. Because we cannot repro‐
duce the tiles or colors in the Guidebook, and because it is com‐
- mon to all ports, we will use the default ASCII characters from
- the monochrome character display when referring to things you
+ mon to all ports, we will use the default ASCII characters from
+ the monochrome character display when referring to things you
might see on the screen during your game.
- In order to understand what is going on in NetHack, first
- you must understand what NetHack is doing with the screen. The
- NetHack screen replaces the ‘‘You see ...’’ descriptions of text
- adventure games. Figure 1 is a sample of what a NetHack screen
- might look like. The way the screen looks for you depends on
+ In order to understand what is going on in NetHack, first
+ you must understand what NetHack is doing with the screen. The
+ NetHack screen replaces the ‘‘You see ...’’ descriptions of text
+ adventure games. Figure 1 is a sample of what a NetHack screen
+ might look like. The way the screen looks for you depends on
your platform.
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- The bat bites!
- ‐‐‐‐‐‐
- |....| ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
- |.<..|####...@...$.|
- |....‐# |...B....+
- |....| |.d......|
- ‐‐‐‐‐‐ ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐|‐‐
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 5
- NetHack Guidebook 5
+ ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ The bat bites!
+ ‐‐‐‐‐‐
+ |....| ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
+ |.<..|####...@...$.|
+ |....‐# |...B....+
+ |....| |.d......|
+ ‐‐‐‐‐‐ ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐|‐‐
3.1. The status lines (bottom)
- The bottom two lines of the screen contain several cryptic
- pieces of information describing your current status. If either
- status line becomes longer than the width of the screen, you
+ The bottom two lines of the screen contain several cryptic
+ pieces of information describing your current status. If either
+ status line becomes longer than the width of the screen, you
might not see all of it. Here are explanations of what the vari‐
ous status items mean (though your configuration may not have all
the status items listed below):
experience level, see below).
Strength
- A measure of your character’s strength; one of your six ba‐
- sic attributes. A human character’s attributes can range
- from 3 to 18 inclusive; non‐humans may exceed these limits
+ A measure of your character’s strength; one of your six ba‐
+ sic attributes. A human character’s attributes can range
+ from 3 to 18 inclusive; non‐humans may exceed these limits
(occasionally you may get super‐strengths of the form 18/xx,
- and magic can also cause attributes to exceed the normal
- limits). The higher your strength, the stronger you are.
+ and magic can also cause attributes to exceed the normal
+ limits). The higher your strength, the stronger you are.
Strength affects how successfully you perform physical
- tasks, how much damage you do in combat, and how much loot
+ tasks, how much damage you do in combat, and how much loot
you can carry.
Dexterity
- Dexterity affects your chances to hit in combat, to avoid
- traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or manipulation
+ Dexterity affects your chances to hit in combat, to avoid
+ traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or manipulation
of objects.
Constitution
- Constitution affects your ability to recover from injuries
+ Constitution affects your ability to recover from injuries
and other strains on your stamina.
Intelligence
- Intelligence affects your ability to cast spells and read
- spellbooks.
+ Intelligence affects your ability to cast spells and read
- Wisdom
- Wisdom comes from your practical experience (especially when
- dealing with magic). It affects your magical energy.
- Charisma
- Charisma affects how certain creatures react toward you. In
- particular, it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 6
- NetHack Guidebook 6
+ spellbooks.
+ Wisdom
+ Wisdom comes from your practical experience (especially when
+ dealing with magic). It affects your magical energy.
+ Charisma
+ Charisma affects how certain creatures react toward you. In
+ particular, it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.
Alignment
Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Often, Lawful is taken as good
ence point totals, you gain an experience level. The more
experienced you are, the better you fight and withstand mag‐
ical attacks. Many dungeons show only your experience level
- here.
- Time
- The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed if you have
- the time option set.
- Hunger status
- Your current hunger status, ranging from Satiated down to
- Fainting. If your hunger status is normal, it is not dis‐
- played.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 7
- NetHack Guidebook 7
+ here.
+ Time
+ The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed if you have
+ the time option set.
+ Hunger status
+ Your current hunger status, ranging from Satiated down to
+ Fainting. If your hunger status is normal, it is not dis‐
+ played.
Additional status flags may appear after the hunger status:
Conf when you’re confused, FoodPois or Ill when sick, Blind when
certain that you’ve read the one that is there first. To read
the next message, just press the space bar.
+ To change how and what messages are shown on the message
+ line, see ‘‘Configuring Message Types‘‘ and the verbose option.
+
3.3. The map (rest of the screen)
- The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have
- explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents some‐
- thing. You can set various graphics options to change some of
- the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default
+ The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have
+ explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents some‐
+ thing. You can set various graphics options to change some of
+ the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default
symbols. Here is a list of what the default symbols mean:
‐ and |
. The floor of a room, ice, or a doorless doorway.
- # A corridor, or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly a kitchen
+ # A corridor, or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly a kitchen
sink (if your dungeon has sinks), or a drawbridge.
> Stairs down: a way to the next level.
< Stairs up: a way to the previous level.
- + A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell you may be
+ + A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell you may be
able to learn.
@ Your character or a human.
$ A pile of gold.
- ^ A trap (once you have detected it).
- ) A weapon.
- [ A suit or piece of armor.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- % Something edible (not necessarily healthy).
- ? A scroll.
- / A wand.
- = A ring.
+ NetHack Guidebook 8
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ ^ A trap (once you have detected it).
+ ) A weapon.
+ [ A suit or piece of armor.
+ % Something edible (not necessarily healthy).
- NetHack Guidebook 8
+ ? A scroll.
+ / A wand.
+ = A ring.
! A potion.
\ An opulent throne.
a‐zA‐Z and other symbols
- Letters and certain other symbols represent the various in‐
- habitants of the Mazes of Menace. Watch out, they can be
+ Letters and certain other symbols represent the various in‐
+ habitants of the Mazes of Menace. Watch out, they can be
nasty and vicious. Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.
I This marks the last known location of an invisible or other‐
Some commands, like ‘‘search’’, do not require that any more in‐
formation be collected by NetHack. Other commands might require
additional information, for example a direction, or an object to
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 9
+
+
+
be used. For those commands that require additional information,
NetHack will present you with either a menu of choices or with a
command line prompt requesting information. Which you are pre‐
example, there is also a ‘*’ indicating that you may choose an
object not on the list, if you wanted to use something unexpect‐
ed. Typing a ‘*’ lists your entire inventory, so you can see the
-
-
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 9
-
-
-
inventory letters of every object you’re carrying. Finally, if
you change your mind and decide you don’t want to do this command
after all, you can press the ESC key to abort the command.
& Tell what a command does.
- < Go up to the previous level (if you are on a staircase or
- ladder).
-
- > Go down to the next level (if you are on a staircase or lad‐
- der).
- [yuhjklbn]
- Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure 2). If
- you sense or remember a monster there, you will fight the
- monster instead. Only these one‐step movement commands
- cause you to fight monsters; the others (below) are
- ‘‘safe.’’
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 10
- NetHack Guidebook 10
+ < Go up to the previous level (if you are on a staircase or
+ ladder).
+ > Go down to the next level (if you are on a staircase or lad‐
+ der).
+ [yuhjklbn]
+ Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure 2). If
+ you sense or remember a monster there, you will fight the
+ monster instead. Only these one‐step movement commands
+ cause you to fight monsters; the others (below) are
+ ‘‘safe.’’
y k u 7 8 9
\ | / \ | /
the same conditions as the ‘G’ command, but without picking
up objects, similar to the ‘M’ command. For ports with
mouse support, the command is also invoked when a mouse‐
- click takes place on a location other than the current posi‐
- tion.
+ click takes place on a location other than the current
- . Rest, do nothing for one turn.
- a Apply (use) a tool (pick‐axe, key, lamp...).
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- A Remove one or more worn items, such as armor.
- Use ‘T’ (take off) to take off only one piece of armor or
- ‘R’ (remove) to take off only one accessory.
- ^A Redo the previous command.
+ NetHack Guidebook 11
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ position.
+ . Rest, do nothing for one turn.
+ a Apply (use) a tool (pick‐axe, key, lamp...).
- NetHack Guidebook 11
+ A Remove one or more worn items, such as armor.
+ Use ‘T’ (take off) to take off only one piece of armor or
+ ‘R’ (remove) to take off only one accessory.
+ ^A Redo the previous command.
c Close a door.
‘‘What kinds of things do you want to drop? [!%= BUCXaium]’’
- you should type zero or more object symbols possibly fol‐
+ you should type zero or more object symbols possibly fol‐
lowed by ‘a’ and/or ‘i’ and/or ‘u’ and/or ‘m’. In addition,
- one or more of the blessed/uncursed/cursed groups may be
+ one or more of the blessed/uncursed/cursed groups may be
typed.
DB ‐ drop all objects known to be blessed.
E‐ ‐ write in the dust with your fingers.
- Engraving the word ‘‘Elbereth’’ will cause most monsters to
- not attack you hand‐to‐hand (but if you attack, you will rub
- it out); this is often useful to give yourself a breather.
- (This feature may be compiled out of the game, so your ver‐
- sion might not have it.)
-
- f Fire one of the objects placed in your quiver (or quiver
- sack, or that you have at the ready). You may select ammu‐
- nition with a previous ‘Q’ command, or let the computer pick
- something appropriate if autoquiver is true.
-
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 12
- NetHack Guidebook 12
+ Engraving the word ‘‘Elbereth’’ will cause most monsters to
+ not attack you hand‐to‐hand (but if you attack, you will rub
+ it out); this is often useful to give yourself a breather.
+ (This feature may be compiled out of the game, so your ver‐
+ sion might not have it.)
+ f Fire one of the objects placed in your quiver (or quiver
+ sack, or that you have at the ready). You may select ammu‐
+ nition with a previous ‘Q’ command, or let the computer pick
+ something appropriate if autoquiver is true.
i List your inventory (everything you’re carrying).
- I List selected parts of your inventory.
+ I List selected parts of your inventory, usually be specifying
+ the character for a particular set of objects, like ‘[’ for
+ armor or ‘!’ for potions.
I* ‐ list all gems in inventory;
Iu ‐ list all unpaid items;
Ix ‐ list all used up items that are on your shopping bill;
+ IB ‐ list all items known to be blessed;
+ IU ‐ list all items known to be uncursed;
+ IC ‐ list all items known to be cursed;
+ IX ‐ list all items whose bless/curse status is known;
I$ ‐ count your money.
o Open a door.
O Set options.
- A menu showing the current option values will be displayed.
- You can change most values simply by selecting the menu en‐
+ A menu showing the current option values will be displayed.
+ You can change most values simply by selecting the menu en‐
try for the given option (ie, by typing its letter or click‐
- ing upon it, depending on your user interface). For the
- non‐boolean choices, a further menu or prompt will appear
- once you’ve closed this menu. The available options are
+ ing upon it, depending on your user interface). For the
+ non‐boolean choices, a further menu or prompt will appear
+ once you’ve closed this menu. The available options are
listed later in this Guidebook. Options are usually set be‐
fore the game rather than with the ‘O’ command; see the sec‐
tion on options below.
p Pay your shopping bill.
- P Put on a ring or other accessory (amulet, blindfold).
+ P Put on an accessory (ring, amulet, or blindfold).
- Use the ’W’ command to wear armor.
+ This command may also be used to wear armor. The prompt for
+ which inventory item to use will only list accessories, but
+ choosing an unlisted item of armor will attempt to wear it.
+ (See the ‘W’ command below. It lists armor as the inventory
+ choices but will accept an accessory and attempt to put that
+ on.)
^P Repeat previous message.
- Subsequent ^P’s repeat earlier messages. The behavior can
- be varied via the msg_window option.
- q Quaff (drink) something (potion, water, etc).
- Q Select an object for your quiver, quiver sack, or just gen‐
- erally at the ready (only one of these is available at a
- time). You can then throw this (or one of these) using the
- ‘f’ command. (In versions prior to 3.3 this was the command
- to quit the game, which has now been moved to ‘#quit’.)
- r Read a scroll or spellbook.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- R Remove an accessory (ring, amulet, etc).
- If you’re wearing more than one, you’ll be prompted for
- which one to remove. If you’re only wearing one, then by
- default it will be removed without asking, but you can set
- the paranoid_confirmation option to require a prompt.
- Use the ’T’ command to take off armor.
+ NetHack Guidebook 13
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ Subsequent ^P’s repeat earlier messages. The behavior can
+ be varied via the msg_window option.
+ q Quaff (drink) something (potion, water, etc).
+ Q Select an object for your quiver, quiver sack, or just gen‐
+ erally at the ready (only one of these is available at a
+ time). You can then throw this (or one of these) using the
+ ‘f’ command.
+ (In versions prior to 3.3 this was the command to quit the
+ game, which has been moved to ‘‘#quit’’.)
- NetHack Guidebook 13
+ r Read a scroll or spellbook.
+
+ R Remove a worn accessory (ring, amulet, or blindfold).
+ If you’re wearing more than one, you’ll be prompted for
+ which one to remove. When you’re only wearing one, then by
+ default it will be removed without asking, but you can set
+ the paranoid_confirmation option to require a prompt.
+ This command may also be used to take off armor. The prompt
+ for which inventory item to remove only lists worn acces‐
+ sories, but an item of worn armor can be chosen. (See the
+ ‘T’ command below. It lists armor as the inventory choices
+ but will accept an accessory and attempt to remove it.)
^R Redraw the screen.
T Take off armor.
If you’re wearing more than one piece, you’ll be prompted
- for which one to take off. If you’re only wearing one, then
- by default it will be taken off without asking, but you can
- set the paranoid_confirmation option to require a prompt.
+ for which one to take off. (Note that this treats a cloak
+ covering a suit and/or a shirt, or a suit covering a shirt,
+ as if the underlying items weren’t there.) When you’re only
+ wearing one, then by default it will be taken off without
+ asking, but you can set the paranoid_confirmation option to
+ require a prompt.
+
+ This command may also be used to remove accessories. The
+ prompt for which inventory item to take off only lists worn
+ armor, but a worn accessory can be chosen. (See the ‘R’
+ command above. It lists accessories as the inventory choic‐
+ es but will accept an item of armor and attempt to take it
+ off.)
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 14
+
- Use the ’R’ command to remove accessories.
^T Teleport, if you have the ability.
w‐ ‐ wield nothing, use your bare hands.
- Some characters can wield two weapons and once; use the
- ‘‘#twoweapon’’ extended command to do so.
+ Some characters can wield two weapons at once; use the ‘X’
+ command (or the ‘‘#twoweapon’’ extended command) to do so.
W Wear armor.
- Use the ’P’ command to put on accessories.
+ This command may also be used to put on an accessory (ring,
+ amulet, or blindfold). The prompt for which inventory item
+ to use will only list armor, but choosing an unlisted acces‐
+ sory will attempt to put it on. (See the ‘P’ command above.
+ It lists accessories as the inventory choices but will ac‐
+ cept an item of armor and attempt to wear it.)
x Exchange your wielded weapon with the item in your alternate
weapon slot.
The latter is used as your secondary weapon when engaging in
- two‐weapon combat. Note that if one of these slots is emp‐
+ two‐weapon combat. Note that if one of these slots is emp‐
ty, the exchange still takes place.
X Toggle two‐weapon combat, if your character can do it. Also
- available via the ‘‘#twoweapon’’ extended command
+ available via the ‘‘#twoweapon’’ extended command.
+
+ (In versions prior to 3.6 this was the command to switch
+ from normal play to "explore mode", also known as "discovery
+ mode", which has now been moved to ‘‘#explore’’.)
^X Display basic information about your character.
- Displays name, role, race, gender (unless role name makes
- that redundant, such as Caveman or Priestess), and align‐
- ment, along with your patron deity and his or her opposi‐
- tion. It also shows most of the various items of informa‐
+ Displays name, role, race, gender (unless role name makes
+ that redundant, such as Caveman or Priestess), and align‐
+ ment, along with your patron deity and his or her opposi‐
+ tion. It also shows most of the various items of informa‐
tion from the status line(s) in a less terse form, including
- several additional things which don’t appear in the normal
+ several additional things which don’t appear in the normal
+ status display due to space considerations.
+ z Zap a wand.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ z. ‐ to aim at yourself, use ‘.’ for the direction.
+ Z Zap (cast) a spell.
+ Z. ‐ to cast at yourself, use ‘.’ for the direction.
- NetHack Guidebook 14
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- status display due to space considerations.
- z Zap a wand.
- z. ‐ to aim at yourself, use ‘.’ for the direction.
+ NetHack Guidebook 15
- Z Zap (cast) a spell.
- Z. ‐ to cast at yourself, use ‘.’ for the direction.
^Z Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).
temporary. To make the most recent sort order persist be‐
yond the current ‘+’ command, choose the sort option again
and then pick "reassign casting letters". (Any spells
+ learned after that will be added to the end of the list
+ rather than be inserted into the sorted ordering.)
- __________
- (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.
+ \ Show what types of objects have been discovered.
+ ‘ Show discovered types for one class of objects.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ ! Escape to a shell.
+ __________
+ (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.
- NetHack Guidebook 15
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- learned after that will be added to the end of the list
- rather than be inserted into the sorted ordering.)
- \ Show what types of objects have been discovered.
- ‘ Show discovered types for one class of objects.
+ NetHack Guidebook 16
+
- ! Escape to a shell.
# Perform an extended command.
Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you, or the saddle
from a steed standing next to you.
+ #monster
+ Use a monster’s special ability (when polymorphed into mon‐
+ ster form).
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ #name
+ Name a monster, an individual object, or a type of object.
+ Same as ‘C’.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 16
- #monster
- Use a monster’s special ability (when polymorphed into mon‐
- ster form).
+ NetHack Guidebook 17
+
- #name
- Name a monster, an individual object, or a type of object.
- Same as ‘C’.
#offer
Offer a sacrifice to the gods.
traps.
#tip
- Tip over a container (bag or box) to pour out its contents.
+ Tip over a container (bag or box) to pour out its contents.
#turn
Turn undead.
+ #twoweapon
+ Toggle two‐weapon combat on or off.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ Note that you must use suitable weapons for this type of
+ combat, or it will be automatically turned off.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 17
- #twoweapon
- Toggle two‐weapon combat on or off.
- Note that you must use suitable weapons for this type of
- combat, or it will be automatically turned off.
+ NetHack Guidebook 18
+
+
#untrap
Untrap something (trap, door, or chest).
- In some circumstances it can also be used to rescue trapped
+ In some circumstances it can also be used to rescue trapped
monsters.
#version
Help menu: get the list of available extended commands.
If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in com‐
- bination with another key, modifies it by setting the ‘meta’
- [8th, or ‘high’] bit), you can invoke many extended commands by
+ bination with another key, modifies it by setting the ‘meta’
+ [8th, or ‘high’] bit), you can invoke many extended commands by
meta‐ing the first letter of the command. In NT, OS/2, PC and ST
NetHack, the ‘Alt’ key can be used in this fashion; on the Amiga,
- set the altmeta option to get this behavior. On other systems,
- if typing ‘Alt’ plus another key transmits a two character se‐
+ set the altmeta option to get this behavior. On other systems,
+ if typing ‘Alt’ plus another key transmits a two character se‐
quence consisting of an Escape followed by the other key, you may
set the altmeta option to have nethack combine them into
meta+key.
M‐j #jump
+ M‐l #loot
+ M‐m #monster
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ M‐n #name
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 18
- M‐l #loot
+ NetHack Guidebook 19
- M‐m #monster
- M‐n #name
M‐o #offer
M‐w #wipe
- If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter com‐
+ If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter com‐
mands are available:
- h Help menu: display one of several help texts available,
+ h Help menu: display one of several help texts available,
like ‘‘?’’.
j Jump to another location. Same as ‘‘#jump’’ or ‘‘M‐j’’.
k Kick something (usually a door). Same as ‘^D’.
- l Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you, or the saddle
- from a steed standing next to you. Same as ‘‘#loot’’ or
+ l Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you, or the saddle
+ from a steed standing next to you. Same as ‘‘#loot’’ or
‘‘M‐l’’.
- N Name a monster, an individual object, or a type of object.
- Same as ‘‘#name’’ (or ‘‘M‐n’’) which is the same as the ‘C’
+ N Name a monster, an individual object, or a type of object.
+ Same as ‘‘#name’’ (or ‘‘M‐n’’) which is the same as the ‘C’
command.
- u Untrap a trap, door, or chest. Same as ‘‘#untrap’’ or ‘‘M‐
+ u Untrap a trap, door, or chest. Same as ‘‘#untrap’’ or ‘‘M‐
u’’.
+ 5. Rooms and corridors
+ Rooms and corridors in the dungeon are either lit or dark.
+ Any lit areas within your line of sight will be displayed; dark
+ areas are only displayed if they are within one space of you.
+ Walls and corridors remain on the map as you explore them.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
-
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 19
+ NetHack Guidebook 20
- 5. Rooms and corridors
- Rooms and corridors in the dungeon are either lit or dark.
- Any lit areas within your line of sight will be displayed; dark
- areas are only displayed if they are within one space of you.
- Walls and corridors remain on the map as you explore them.
Secret corridors are hidden. You can find them with the ‘s’
(search) command.
5.1. Doorways
Doorways connect rooms and corridors. Some doorways have no
- doors; you can walk right through. Others have doors in them,
+ doors; you can walk right through. Others have doors in them,
which may be open, closed, or locked. To open a closed door, use
- the ‘o’ (open) command; to close it again, use the ‘c’ (close)
+ the ‘o’ (open) command; to close it again, use the ‘c’ (close)
command.
- You can get through a locked door by using a tool to pick
+ You can get through a locked door by using a tool to pick
the lock with the ‘a’ (apply) command, or by kicking it open with
the ‘^D’ (kick) command.
- Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you must approach
- them straight on, horizontally or vertically. Doorways without
+ Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you must approach
+ them straight on, horizontally or vertically. Doorways without
doors are not restricted in this fashion.
- Doors can be useful for shutting out monsters. Most mon‐
+ Doors can be useful for shutting out monsters. Most mon‐
sters cannot open doors, although a few don’t need to (ex. ghosts
can walk through doors).
- Secret doors are hidden. You can find them with the ‘s’
- (search) command. Once found they are in all ways equivalent to
+ Secret doors are hidden. You can find them with the ‘s’
+ (search) command. Once found they are in all ways equivalent to
normal doors.
5.2. Traps (‘^’)
- There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare the unwary
- delver. For example, you may suddenly fall into a pit and be
+ There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare the unwary
+ delver. For example, you may suddenly fall into a pit and be
stuck for a few turns trying to climb out. Traps don’t appear on
your map until you see one triggered by moving onto it, see some‐
thing fall into it, or you discover it with the ‘s’ (search) com‐
- mand. Monsters can fall prey to traps, too, which can be a very
+ mand. Monsters can fall prey to traps, too, which can be a very
useful defensive strategy.
There is a special pre‐mapped branch of the dungeon based on
- the classic computer game ‘‘Sokoban.’’ The goal is to push the
- boulders into the pits or holes. With careful foresight, it is
- possible to complete all of the levels according to the tradi‐
- tional rules of Sokoban. Some allowances are permitted in case
+ the classic computer game ‘‘Sokoban.’’ The goal is to push the
+ boulders into the pits or holes. With careful foresight, it is
+ possible to complete all of the levels according to the tradi‐
+ tional rules of Sokoban. Some allowances are permitted in case
the player gets stuck; however, they will lower your luck.
+ 5.3. Stairs (‘<’, ‘>’)
+ In general, each level in the dungeon will have a staircase
+ going up (‘<’) to the previous level and another going down (‘>’)
+ to the next level. There are some exceptions though. For in‐
+ stance, fairly early in the dungeon you will find a level with
+ two down staircases, one continuing into the dungeon and the oth‐
+ er branching into an area known as the Gnomish Mines. Those
+ mines eventually hit a dead end, so after exploring them (if you
+ choose to do so), you’ll need to climb back up to the main
-
-
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 20
+ NetHack Guidebook 21
- 5.3. Stairs (‘<’, ‘>’)
+ dungeon.
- In general, each level in the dungeon will have a staircase
- going up (‘<’) to the previous level and another going down (‘>’)
- to the next level. There are some exceptions though. For in‐
- stance, fairly early in the dungeon you will find a level with
- two down staircases, one continuing into the dungeon and the oth‐
- er branching into an area known as the Gnomish Mines. Those
- mines eventually hit a dead end, so after exploring them (if you
- choose to do so), you’ll need to climb back up to the main dun‐
- geon.
-
- When you traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a trap which
- sends you to another level, the level you’re leaving will be de‐
- activated and stored in a file on disk. If you’re moving to a
+ When you traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a trap which
+ sends you to another level, the level you’re leaving will be de‐
+ activated and stored in a file on disk. If you’re moving to a
previously visited level, it will be loaded from its file on disk
- and reactivated. If you’re moving to a level which has not yet
- been visited, it will be created (from scratch for most random
- levels, from a template for some ‘‘special’’ levels, or loaded
- from the remains of an earlier game for a ‘‘bones’’ level as
- briefly described below). Monsters are only active on the cur‐
- rent level; those on other levels are essentially placed into
+ and reactivated. If you’re moving to a level which has not yet
+ been visited, it will be created (from scratch for most random
+ levels, from a template for some ‘‘special’’ levels, or loaded
+ from the remains of an earlier game for a ‘‘bones’’ level as
+ briefly described below). Monsters are only active on the cur‐
+ rent level; those on other levels are essentially placed into
stasis.
- Ordinarily when you climb a set of stairs, you will arrive
- on the corresponding staircase at your destination. However,
- pets (see below) and some other monsters will follow along if
+ Ordinarily when you climb a set of stairs, you will arrive
+ on the corresponding staircase at your destination. However,
+ pets (see below) and some other monsters will follow along if
they’re close enough when you travel up or down stairs, and occa‐
- sionally one of these creatures will displace you during the
+ sionally one of these creatures will displace you during the
climb. When that occurs, the pet or other monster will arrive on
the staircase and you will end up nearby.
5.4. Ladders (‘<’, ‘>’)
- Ladders serve the same purpose as staircases, and the two
- types of inter‐level connections are nearly indistinguishable
+ Ladders serve the same purpose as staircases, and the two
+ types of inter‐level connections are nearly indistinguishable
during game play.
5.5. Shops and shopping
- Occasionally you will run across a room with a shopkeeper
- near the door and many items lying on the floor. You can buy
+ Occasionally you will run across a room with a shopkeeper
+ near the door and many items lying on the floor. You can buy
items by picking them up and then using the ‘p’ command. You can
- inquire about the price of an item prior to picking it up by us‐
- ing the ‘‘#chat’’ command while standing on it. Using an item
- prior to paying for it will incur a charge, and the shopkeeper
- won’t allow you to leave the shop until you have paid any debt
+ inquire about the price of an item prior to picking it up by us‐
+ ing the ‘‘#chat’’ command while standing on it. Using an item
+ prior to paying for it will incur a charge, and the shopkeeper
+ won’t allow you to leave the shop until you have paid any debt
you owe.
- You can sell items to a shopkeeper by dropping them to the
- floor while inside a shop. You will either be offered an amount
- of gold and asked whether you’re willing to sell, or you’ll be
- told that the shopkeeper isn’t interested (generally, your item
- needs to be compatible with the type of merchandise carried by
+ You can sell items to a shopkeeper by dropping them to the
+ floor while inside a shop. You will either be offered an amount
+ of gold and asked whether you’re willing to sell, or you’ll be
+ told that the shopkeeper isn’t interested (generally, your item
+ needs to be compatible with the type of merchandise carried by
+ the shop).
+ If you drop something in a shop by accident, the shopkeeper
+ will usually claim ownership without offering any compensation.
+ You’ll have to buy it back if you want to reclaim it.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ Shopkeepers sometimes run out of money. When that happens,
+ you’ll be offered credit instead of gold when you try to sell
+ something. Credit can be used to pay for purchases, but it is
+ only good in the shop where it was obtained; other shopkeepers
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 21
+ NetHack Guidebook 22
- the shop).
- If you drop something in a shop by accident, the shopkeeper
- will usually claim ownership without offering any compensation.
- You’ll have to buy it back if you want to reclaim it.
- Shopkeepers sometimes run out of money. When that happens,
- you’ll be offered credit instead of gold when you try to sell
- something. Credit can be used to pay for purchases, but it is
- only good in the shop where it was obtained; other shopkeepers
- won’t honor it. (If you happen to find a "credit card" in the
+ won’t honor it. (If you happen to find a "credit card" in the
dungeon, don’t bother trying to use it in shops; shopkeepers will
not accept it.)
- The ‘$’ command, which reports the amount of gold you are
+ The ‘$’ command, which reports the amount of gold you are
carrying (in inventory, not inside bags or boxes), will also show
- current shop debt or credit, if any. The ‘Iu’ command lists un‐
+ current shop debt or credit, if any. The ‘Iu’ command lists un‐
paid items (those which still belong to the shop) if you are car‐
- rying any. The ‘Ix’ command shows an inventory‐like display of
- any unpaid items which have been used up, along with other shop
+ rying any. The ‘Ix’ command shows an inventory‐like display of
+ any unpaid items which have been used up, along with other shop
fees, if any.
5.5.1. Shop idiosyncracies
another when multiple monsters are present. Assigning a name
which is just a space will remove any prior name.
+ The extended command ‘‘#chat’’ can be used to interact with
+ an adjacent monster. There is no actual dialog (in other words,
+ you don’t get to choose what you’ll say), but chatting with some
+ monsters such as a shopkeeper or the Oracle of Delphi can produce
+ useful results.
+
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 22
- The extended command ‘‘#chat’’ can be used to interact with
- an adjacent monster. There is no actual dialog (in other words,
- you don’t get to choose what you’ll say), but chatting with some
- monsters such as a shopkeeper or the Oracle of Delphi can produce
- useful results.
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 23
+
+
6.1. Fighting
business unless you attack them. Some of them are very dangerous
when angered. Remember: discretion is the better part of valor.
- In most circumstances, if you attempt to attack a peaceful
- monster by moving into its location, you’ll be asked to confirm
- your intent. By default an answer of ’y’ acknowledges that in‐
- tent, which can be error prone if you’re using ’y’ to move. You
+ In most circumstances, if you attempt to attack a peaceful
+ monster by moving into its location, you’ll be asked to confirm
+ your intent. By default an answer of ’y’ acknowledges that in‐
+ tent, which can be error prone if you’re using ’y’ to move. You
can set the paranoid_confirmation option to require a response of
"yes" instead.
- If you can’t see a monster (if it is invisible, or if you
- are blinded), the symbol ‘I’ will be shown when you learn of its
- presence. If you attempt to walk into it, you will try to fight
- it just like a monster that you can see; of course, if the mon‐
+ If you can’t see a monster (if it is invisible, or if you
+ are blinded), the symbol ‘I’ will be shown when you learn of its
+ presence. If you attempt to walk into it, you will try to fight
+ it just like a monster that you can see; of course, if the mon‐
ster has moved, you will attack empty air. If you guess that the
- monster has moved and you don’t wish to fight, you can use the
- ‘m’ command to move without fighting; likewise, if you don’t re‐
+ monster has moved and you don’t wish to fight, you can use the
+ ‘m’ command to move without fighting; likewise, if you don’t re‐
member a monster but want to try fighting anyway, you can use the
‘F’ command.
6.2. Your pet
- You start the game with a little dog (‘d’), cat (‘f’), or
- pony (‘u’), which follows you about the dungeon and fights mon‐
- sters with you. Like you, your pet needs food to survive. It
+ You start the game with a little dog (‘d’), cat (‘f’), or
+ pony (‘u’), which follows you about the dungeon and fights mon‐
+ sters with you. Like you, your pet needs food to survive. It
usually feeds itself on fresh carrion and other meats. If you’re
- worried about it or want to train it, you can feed it, too, by
- throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be very useful un‐
+ worried about it or want to train it, you can feed it, too, by
+ throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be very useful un‐
der 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
+ 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
+ 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
+ pet may trigger such traps itself; you will not be carried along
with it even if adjacent at the time.
+ 6.3. Steeds
+ Some types of creatures in the dungeon can actually be rid‐
+ den if you have the right equipment and skill. Convincing a wild
+ beast to let you saddle it up is difficult to say the least.
+ Many a dungeoneer has had to resort to magic and wizardry in
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 23
+ NetHack Guidebook 24
- 6.3. Steeds
- Some types of creatures in the dungeon can actually be rid‐
- den if you have the right equipment and skill. Convincing a wild
- beast to let you saddle it up is difficult to say the least.
- Many a dungeoneer has had to resort to magic and wizardry in or‐
- der to forge the alliance. Once you do have the beast under your
- control however, you can easily climb in and out of the saddle
- with the ‘#ride’ command. Lead the beast around the dungeon when
- riding, in the same manner as you would move yourself. It is the
- beast that you will see displayed on the map.
-
- Riding skill is managed by the ‘#enhance’ command. See the
+ order to forge the alliance. Once you do have the beast under
+ your control however, you can easily climb in and out of the sad‐
+ dle with the ‘#ride’ command. Lead the beast around the dungeon
+ when riding, in the same manner as you would move yourself. It
+ is the beast that you will see displayed on the map.
+
+ Riding skill is managed by the ‘#enhance’ command. See the
section on Weapon proficiency for more information about that.
6.4. Bones levels
- You may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventur‐
+ You may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventur‐
ers (or even former incarnations of yourself!) and their personal
- effects. Ghosts are hard to kill, but easy to avoid, since
- they’re slow and do little damage. You can plunder the deceased
- adventurer’s possessions; however, they are likely to be cursed.
+ effects. Ghosts are hard to kill, but easy to avoid, since
+ they’re slow and do little damage. You can plunder the deceased
+ adventurer’s possessions; however, they are likely to be cursed.
Beware of whatever killed the former player; it is probably still
lurking around, gloating over its last victory.
When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want
to pick it up. In NetHack, this is accomplished automatically by
- walking over the object (unless you turn off the autopickup op‐
- tion (see below), or move with the ‘m’ prefix (see above)), or
+ walking over the object (unless you turn off the autopickup op‐
+ tion (see below), or move with the ‘m’ prefix (see above)), or
manually by using the ‘,’ command.
- If you’re carrying too many items, NetHack will tell you so
- and you won’t be able to pick up anything more. Otherwise, it
- will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you what you just
+ If you’re carrying too many items, NetHack will tell you so
+ and you won’t be able to pick up anything more. Otherwise, it
+ will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you what you just
picked up.
- As you add items to your inventory, you also add the weight
- of that object to your load. The amount that you can carry de‐
- pends on your strength and your constitution. The stronger you
+ As you add items to your inventory, you also add the weight
+ of that object to your load. The amount that you can carry de‐
+ pends on your strength and your constitution. The stronger you
are, the less the additional load will affect you. There comes a
- point, though, when the weight of all of that stuff you are car‐
- rying around with you through the dungeon will encumber you.
- Your reactions will get slower and you’ll burn calories faster,
- requiring food more frequently to cope with it. Eventually,
- you’ll be so overloaded that you’ll either have to discard some
+ point, though, when the weight of all of that stuff you are car‐
+ rying around with you through the dungeon will encumber you.
+ Your reactions will get slower and you’ll burn calories faster,
+ requiring food more frequently to cope with it. Eventually,
+ you’ll be so overloaded that you’ll either have to discard some
of what you’re carrying or collapse under its weight.
- NetHack will tell you how badly you have loaded yourself.
- The symbols ‘Burdened’, ‘Stressed’, ‘Strained’, ‘Overtaxed’ and
+ NetHack will tell you how badly you have loaded yourself.
+ The symbols ‘Burdened’, ‘Stressed’, ‘Strained’, ‘Overtaxed’ and
‘Overloaded’ are displayed on the bottom line display to indicate
your condition.
+ When you pick up an object, it is assigned an inventory let‐
+ ter. Many commands that operate on objects must ask you to find
+ out which object you want to use. When NetHack asks you to
+ choose a particular object you are carrying, you are usually pre‐
+ sented with a list of inventory letters to choose from (see
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 24
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 25
- When you pick up an object, it is assigned an inventory let‐
- ter. Many commands that operate on objects must ask you to find
- out which object you want to use. When NetHack asks you to
- choose a particular object you are carrying, you are usually pre‐
- sented with a list of inventory letters to choose from (see Com‐
- mands, above).
+ Commands, above).
- Some objects, such as weapons, are easily differentiated.
- Others, like scrolls and potions, are given descriptions which
- vary according to type. During a game, any two objects with the
- same description are the same type. However, the descriptions
+ Some objects, such as weapons, are easily differentiated.
+ Others, like scrolls and potions, are given descriptions which
+ vary according to type. During a game, any two objects with the
+ same description are the same type. However, the descriptions
will vary from game to game.
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, or its synonym ‘C’, for the same purpose
- at any time, to name all objects of a particular type or just an
+ 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, or its synonym ‘C’, 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
+ already been named, specifying a space as the value will remove
the prior name instead of assigning a new one.
7.1. Curses and Blessings
- Any object that you find may be cursed, even if the object
+ Any object that you find may be cursed, even if the object
is otherwise helpful. The most common effect of a curse is being
- stuck with (and to) the item. Cursed weapons weld themselves to
- your hand when wielded, so you cannot unwield them. Any cursed
- item you wear is not removable by ordinary means. In addition,
- cursed arms and armor usually, but not always, bear negative en‐
+ stuck with (and to) the item. Cursed weapons weld themselves to
+ your hand when wielded, so you cannot unwield them. Any cursed
+ item you wear is not removable by ordinary means. In addition,
+ cursed arms and armor usually, but not always, bear negative en‐
chantments that make them less effective in combat. Other cursed
objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.
- Objects can also be blessed. Blessed items usually work
- better or more beneficially than normal uncursed items. For ex‐
+ Objects can also be blessed. Blessed items usually work
+ better or more beneficially than normal uncursed items. For ex‐
ample, a blessed weapon will do more damage against demons.
+ Objects which are neither cursed nor blessed are referred to
+ as uncursed. They could just as easily have been described as
+ unblessed, but the uncursed designation is what you will see
+ within the game. A ‘‘glass half full versus glass half empty’’
+ situation; make of that what you will.
+
There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon
- objects, so even if you are stuck with one, you can still have
- the curse lifted and the item removed. Priests and Priestesses
- have an innate sensitivity to this property in any object, so
- they can more easily avoid cursed objects than other character
+ objects, so even if you are stuck with one, you can still have
+ the curse lifted and the item removed. Priests and Priestesses
+ have an innate sensitivity to this property in any object, so
+ they can more easily avoid cursed objects than other character
roles.
- An item with unknown status will be reported in your inven‐
+ An item with unknown status will be reported in your inven‐
tory with no prefix. An item which you know the state of will be
- distinguished in your inventory by the presence of the word
+ distinguished in your inventory by the presence of the word
‘‘cursed’’, ‘‘uncursed’’ or ‘‘blessed’’ in the description of the
- item.
+ item. In some cases ‘‘uncursed’’ will be omitted as being redun‐
+ dant when enough other information is displayed.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 25
+ NetHack Guidebook 26
age to monsters in NetHack. Some of the more obscure weapons
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 26
+ NetHack Guidebook 27
prove your skills as you progress through a game, depending on
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 27
+ NetHack Guidebook 28
swap your primary into your off hand, wield whatever you want as
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 28
+ NetHack Guidebook 29
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 29
+ NetHack Guidebook 30
any ‘‘plusses’’ it provides. Cursed pieces of armor usually have
negative 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‐
+ 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
+ The ‘A’ command can also be used to take off armor as well as
other worn items.
7.4. Food (‘%’)
- Food is necessary to survive. If you go too long without
- eating you will faint, and eventually die of starvation. Some
- types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy to eat, if not
+ Food is necessary to survive. If you go too long without
+ eating you will faint, and eventually die of starvation. Some
+ types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy to eat, if not
protected. Food stored in ice boxes or tins (‘‘cans’’) will usu‐
- ally stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a while
+ ally stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a while
to open.
When you kill monsters, they usually leave corpses which are
also ‘‘food.’’ Many, but not all, of these are edible; some also
- give you special powers when you eat them. A good rule of thumb
+ give you special powers when you eat them. A good rule of thumb
is ‘‘you are what you eat.’’
Some character roles and some monsters are vegetarian. Veg‐
- etarian monsters will typically never eat animal corpses, while
- vegetarian players can, but with some rather unpleasant side‐ef‐
+ etarian monsters will typically never eat animal corpses, while
+ vegetarian players can, but with some rather unpleasant side‐ef‐
fects.
- You can name one food item after something you like to eat
+ You can name one food item after something you like to eat
with the fruit option.
The command to eat food is ‘e’.
7.5. Scrolls (‘?’)
- Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen by
- ancient wizards for their amusement value (ex. ‘‘READ ME,’’ or
+ Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen by
+ ancient wizards for their amusement value (ex. ‘‘READ ME,’’ or
‘‘THANX MAUD’’ backwards). Scrolls disappear after you read them
(except for blank ones, without magic spells on them).
- One of the most useful of these is the scroll of identify,
+ One of the most useful of these is the scroll of identify,
which can be used to determine what another object is, whether it
- is cursed or blessed, and how many uses it has left. Some ob‐
- jects of subtle enchantment are difficult to identify without
+ is cursed or blessed, and how many uses it has left. Some ob‐
+ jects of subtle enchantment are difficult to identify without
these.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 30
+ NetHack Guidebook 31
A mail daemon may run up and deliver mail to you as a scroll
- of mail (on versions compiled with this feature). To use this
- 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’’
- environment variable to the file name of your mailbox. You may
- 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
+ of mail (on versions compiled with this feature). To use this
+ 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’’
+ environment variable to the file name of your mailbox. You may
+ 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 (‘!’)
- Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid inside
+ Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid inside
the flask. They disappear after you quaff them.
- Clear potions are potions of water. Sometimes these are
+ Clear potions are potions of water. Sometimes these are
blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water. Holy water
- is the bane of the undead, so potions of holy water are good
- things to throw (‘t’) at them. It is also sometimes very useful
+ is the bane of the undead, so potions of holy water are good
+ things to throw (‘t’) at them. It is also sometimes very useful
to dip (‘‘#dip’’) an object into a potion.
The command to drink a potion is ‘q’ (quaff).
7.7. Wands (‘/’)
- Magic wands usually have multiple magical charges. Some
- wands are directional—you must give a direction in which to zap
- them. You can also zap them at yourself (just give a ‘.’ or ‘s’
+ Magic wands usually have multiple magical charges. Some
+ wands are directional—you must give a direction in which to zap
+ them. You can also zap them at yourself (just give a ‘.’ or ‘s’
for the direction). Be warned, however, for this is often unwise.
- Other wands are nondirectional—they don’t require a direction.
- The number of charges in a wand is random and decreases by one
+ Other wands are nondirectional—they don’t require a direction.
+ The number of charges in a wand is random and decreases by one
whenever you use it.
- When the number of charges left in a wand becomes zero, at‐
- tempts to use the wand will usually result in nothing happening.
+ When the number of charges left in a wand becomes zero, at‐
+ tempts to use the wand will usually result in nothing happening.
Occasionally, however, it may be possible to squeeze the last few
- mana points from an otherwise spent wand, destroying it in the
- process. A wand may be recharged by using suitable magic, but
- doing so runs the risk of causing it to explode. The chance for
- such an explosion starts out very small and increases each time
+ mana points from an otherwise spent wand, destroying it in the
+ process. A wand may be recharged by using suitable magic, but
+ doing so runs the risk of causing it to explode. The chance for
+ such an explosion starts out very small and increases each time
the wand is recharged.
In a truly desperate situation, when your back is up against
- the wall, you might decide to go for broke and break your wand.
- This is not for the faint of heart. Doing so will almost cer‐
+ the wall, you might decide to go for broke and break your wand.
+ This is not for the faint of heart. Doing so will almost cer‐
tainly cause a catastrophic release of magical energies.
- When you have fully identified a particular wand, inventory
- display will include additional information in parentheses: the
+ When you have fully identified a particular wand, inventory
+ display will include additional information in parentheses: the
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 31
+ NetHack Guidebook 32
- number of times it has been recharged followed by a colon and
+ number of times it has been recharged followed by a colon and
then by its current number of charges. A current charge count of
‐1 is a special case indicating that the wand has been cancelled.
7.9. Spellbooks (‘+’)
Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic. When studied with the
- ‘r’ (read) command, they transfer to the reader the knowledge of
+ ‘r’ (read) command, they transfer to the reader the knowledge of
a spell (and therefore eventually become unreadable) — unless the
attempt backfires. Reading a cursed spellbook or one with mystic
runes beyond your ken can be harmful to your health!
- A spell (even when learned) can also backfire when you cast
- it. If you attempt to cast a spell well above your experience
- level, or if you have little skill with the appropriate spell
- type, or cast it at a time when your luck is particularly bad,
- you can end up wasting both the energy and the time required in
+ A spell (even when learned) can also backfire when you cast
+ it. If you attempt to cast a spell well above your experience
+ level, or if you have little skill with the appropriate spell
+ type, or cast it at a time when your luck is particularly bad,
+ you can end up wasting both the energy and the time required in
casting.
- Casting a spell calls forth magical energies and focuses
- them with your naked mind. Some of the magical energy released
- comes from within you, and casting several spells in a row may
- tire you. Casting of spells also requires practice. With prac‐
- tice, your skill in each category of spell casting will improve.
- Over time, however, your memory of each spell will dim, and you
+ Casting a spell calls forth magical energies and focuses
+ them with your naked mind. Some of the magical energy released
+ comes from within you, and casting several spells in a row may
+ tire you. Casting of spells also requires practice. With prac‐
+ tice, your skill in each category of spell casting will improve.
+ Over time, however, your memory of each spell will dim, and you
will need to relearn it.
- Some spells are directional—you must give a direction in
- which to cast them. You can also cast them at yourself (just
- give a ‘.’ or ‘s’ for the direction). Be warned, however, for
+ Some spells are directional—you must give a direction in
+ which to cast them. You can also cast them at yourself (just
+ give a ‘.’ or ‘s’ for the direction). Be warned, however, for
this is often unwise. Other spells are nondirectional—they don’t
require a direction.
Just as weapons are divided into groups in which a character
- can become proficient (to varying degrees), spells are similarly
+ can become proficient (to varying degrees), spells are similarly
grouped. Successfully casting a spell exercises its skill group;
- using the ‘#enhance’ command to advance a sufficiently exercised
+ using the ‘#enhance’ command to advance a sufficiently exercised
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 32
+ NetHack Guidebook 33
- skill will affect all spells within the group. Advanced skill
- may increase the potency of spells, reduce their risk of failure
+ skill will affect all spells within the group. Advanced skill
+ may increase the potency of spells, reduce their risk of failure
during casting attempts, and improve the accuracy of the estimate
- for how much longer they will be retained in your memory. Skill
- slots are shared with weapons skills. (See also the section on
+ for how much longer they will be retained in your memory. Skill
+ 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,
+ 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‐
+ estimate of how strongly it is remembered. The ‘Z’ (cast) com‐
mand casts a spell.
7.10. Tools (‘(’)
Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes. Some
- tools have a limited number of uses, akin to wand charges. For
- example, lamps burn out after a while. Other tools are contain‐
+ tools have a limited number of uses, akin to wand charges. For
+ example, lamps burn out after a while. Other tools are contain‐
ers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.
The command to use tools is ‘a’ (apply).
7.10.1. Containers
- You may encounter bags, boxes, and chests in your travels.
- A tool of this sort can be opened with the ‘‘#loot’’ extended
- command when you are standing on top of it (that is, on the same
- floor spot), or with the ‘a’ (apply) command when you are carry‐
- ing it. However, chests are often locked, and are in any case
- unwieldy objects. You must set one down before unlocking it by
+ You may encounter bags, boxes, and chests in your travels.
+ A tool of this sort can be opened with the ‘‘#loot’’ extended
+ command when you are standing on top of it (that is, on the same
+ floor spot), or with the ‘a’ (apply) command when you are carry‐
+ ing it. However, chests are often locked, and are in any case
+ unwieldy objects. You must set one down before unlocking it by
using a key or lock‐picking tool with the ‘a’ (apply) command, by
- kicking it with the ‘^D’ command, or by using a weapon to force
+ kicking it with the ‘^D’ command, or by using a weapon to force
the lock with the ‘‘#force’’ extended command.
Some chests are trapped, causing nasty things to happen when
7.11. Amulets (‘"’)
- Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more powerful.
+ Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more powerful.
Like rings, amulets have various magical properties, some benefi‐
cial, some harmful, which are activated by putting them on.
Only one amulet may be worn at a time, around your neck.
- The commands to use amulets are the same as for rings, ‘P’
+ The commands to use amulets are the same as for rings, ‘P’
(put on) and ‘R’ (remove).
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 33
+ NetHack Guidebook 34
7.12. Gems (‘*’)
- Some gems are valuable, and can be sold for a lot of gold.
- They are also a far more efficient way of carrying your riches.
+ Some gems are valuable, and can be sold for a lot of gold.
+ They are also a far more efficient way of carrying your riches.
Valuable gems increase your score if you bring them with you when
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
+ 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.
7.13. Large rocks (‘`’)
- Statues and boulders are not particularly useful, and are
- generally heavy. It is rumored that some statues are not what
+ 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
+ Very large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known
to use boulders as weapons.
7.14. Gold (‘$’)
- Gold adds to your score, and you can buy things in shops
- with it. There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may
+ Gold adds to your score, and you can buy things in shops
+ with it. There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may
be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers
aside).
8. Conduct
- As if winning NetHack were not difficult enough, certain
- players seek to challenge themselves by imposing restrictions on
- the way they play the game. The game automatically tracks some
- of these challenges, which can be checked at any time with the
- #conduct command or at the end of the game. When you perform an
- action which breaks a challenge, it will no longer be listed.
+ As if winning NetHack were not difficult enough, certain
+ players seek to challenge themselves by imposing restrictions on
+ the way they play the game. The game automatically tracks some
+ of these challenges, which can be checked at any time with the
+ #conduct command or at the end of the game. When you perform an
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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
+ A strict vegan diet is one which avoids any food derived
from animals. The primary source of nutrition is fruits and veg‐
etables. The corpses and tins of blobs (‘b’), jellies (‘j’), and
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 34
+ NetHack Guidebook 35
- fungi (‘F’) are also considered to be vegetable matter. Certain
- human food is prepared without animal products; namely, lembas
- wafers, cram rations, food rations (gunyoki), K‐rations, and C‐
- rations. Metal or another normally indigestible material eaten
+ fungi (‘F’) are also considered to be vegetable matter. Certain
+ human food is prepared without animal products; namely, lembas
+ wafers, cram rations, food rations (gunyoki), K‐rations, and C‐
+ rations. Metal or another normally indigestible material eaten
while polymorphed into a creature that can digest it is also con‐
- sidered vegan food. Note however that eating such items still
+ sidered vegan food. Note however that eating such items still
counts against foodless conduct.
- Vegetarians do not eat animals; however, they are less se‐
- lective about eating animal byproducts than vegans. In addition
+ Vegetarians do not eat animals; however, they are less se‐
+ lective about eating animal byproducts than vegans. In addition
to the vegan items listed above, they may eat any kind of pudding
(‘P’) other than the black puddings, eggs and food made from eggs
- (fortune cookies and pancakes), food made with milk (cream pies
+ (fortune cookies and pancakes), food made with milk (cream pies
and candy bars), and lumps of royal jelly. Monks are expected to
observe a vegetarian diet.
- Eating any kind of meat violates the vegetarian, vegan, and
- foodless conducts. This includes tripe rations, the corpses or
- tins of any monsters not mentioned above, and the various other
- chunks of meat found in the dungeon. Swallowing and digesting a
+ Eating any kind of meat violates the vegetarian, vegan, and
+ foodless conducts. This includes tripe rations, the corpses or
+ tins of any monsters not mentioned above, and the various other
+ chunks of meat found in the dungeon. Swallowing and digesting a
monster while polymorphed is treated as if you ate the creature’s
- corpse. Eating leather, dragon hide, or bone items while poly‐
- morphed into a creature that can digest it, or eating monster
+ corpse. Eating leather, dragon hide, or bone items while poly‐
+ morphed into a creature that can digest it, or eating monster
brains while polymorphed into a mind flayer, is considered eating
an animal, although wax is only an animal byproduct.
- Regardless of conduct, there will be some items which are
- indigestible, and others which are hazardous to eat. Using a
+ Regardless of conduct, there will be some items which are
+ indigestible, and others which are hazardous to eat. Using a
swallow‐and‐digest attack against a monster is equivalent to eat‐
ing the monster’s corpse. Please note that the term ‘‘vegan’’ is
- used here only in the context of diet. You are still free to
- choose not to use or wear items derived from animals (e.g.
- leather, dragon hide, bone, horns, coral), but the game will not
+ used here only in the context of diet. You are still free to
+ choose not to use or wear items derived from animals (e.g.
+ leather, dragon hide, bone, horns, coral), but the game will not
keep track of this for you. Also note that ‘‘milky’’ potions may
be a translucent white, but they do not contain milk, so they are
- compatible with a vegan diet. Slime molds or player‐defined
- ‘‘fruits’’, although they could be anything from ‘‘cherries’’ to
+ compatible with a vegan diet. Slime molds or player‐defined
+ ‘‘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
+ 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
+ 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
+ Most players fight with a wielded weapon (or tool intended
to be wielded as a weapon). Another challenge is to win the game
- without using such a wielded weapon. You are still permitted to
- throw, fire, and kick weapons; use a wand, spell, or other type
+ without using such a wielded weapon. You are still permitted to
+ throw, fire, and kick weapons; use a wand, spell, or other type
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 35
+ NetHack Guidebook 36
of item; or fight with your hands and feet.
- In NetHack, a pacifist refuses to cause the death of any
- other monster (i.e. if you would get experience for the death).
- This is a particularly difficult challenge, although it is still
+ In NetHack, a pacifist refuses to cause the death of any
+ other monster (i.e. if you would get experience for the death).
+ This is a particularly difficult challenge, although it is still
possible to gain experience by other means.
An illiterate character cannot read or write. This includes
- reading a scroll, spellbook, fortune cookie message, or t‐shirt;
+ reading a scroll, spellbook, fortune cookie message, or t‐shirt;
writing a scroll; or making an engraving of anything other than a
single ‘‘x’’ (the traditional signature of an illiterate person).
Reading an engraving, or any item that is absolutely necessary to
- win the game, is not counted against this conduct. The identity
- of scrolls and spellbooks (and knowledge of spells) in your
- starting inventory is assumed to be learned from your teachers
+ win the game, is not counted against this conduct. The identity
+ of scrolls and spellbooks (and knowledge of spells) in your
+ starting inventory is assumed to be learned from your teachers
prior to the start of the game and isn’t counted.
- There are several other challenges tracked by the game. It
+ There are several other challenges tracked by the game. It
is possible to eliminate one or more species of monsters by geno‐
- cide; playing without this feature is considered a challenge.
+ cide; playing without this feature is considered a challenge.
When the game offers you an opportunity to genocide monsters, you
- may respond with the monster type ‘‘none’’ if you want to de‐
- cline. You can change the form of an item into another item of
- the same type (‘‘polypiling’’) or the form of your own body into
- another creature (‘‘polyself’’) by wand, spell, or potion of
+ may respond with the monster type ‘‘none’’ if you want to de‐
+ cline. You can change the form of an item into another item of
+ the same type (‘‘polypiling’’) or the form of your own body into
+ another creature (‘‘polyself’’) by wand, spell, or potion of
polymorph; avoiding these effects are each considered challenges.
- Polymorphing monsters, including pets, does not break either of
- these challenges. Finally, you may sometimes receive wishes; a
- game without an attempt to wish for any items is a challenge, as
- is a game without wishing for an artifact (even if the artifact
+ Polymorphing monsters, including pets, does not break either of
+ these challenges. Finally, you may sometimes receive wishes; a
+ game without an attempt to wish for any items is a challenge, as
+ is a game without wishing for an artifact (even if the artifact
immediately disappears). When the game offers you an opportunity
- to make a wish for an item, you may choose ‘‘nothing’’ if you
+ to make a wish for an item, you may choose ‘‘nothing’’ if you
want to decline.
9. Options
- Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of how
+ Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of how
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,
+ 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
- the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable or in a configuration
+ them. You can also set options automatically by placing them in
+ the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable or in a configuration
file. Some versions of NetHack also have front‐end programs that
- allow you to set options before starting the game or a global
+ allow you to set options before starting the game or a global
configuration for system administrators.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 36
+ NetHack Guidebook 37
9.2. Using the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable
- The NETHACKOPTIONS variable is a comma‐separated list of
- initial values for the various options. Some can only be turned
- on or off. You turn one of these on by adding the name of the
+ The NETHACKOPTIONS variable is a comma‐separated list of
+ initial values for the various options. Some can only be turned
+ on or off. You turn one of these on by adding the name of the
option to the list, and turn it off by typing a ‘!’ or ‘‘no’’ be‐
- fore the name. Others take a character string as a value. You
- can set string options by typing the option name, a colon or
+ fore the name. Others take a character string as a value. You
+ can set string options by typing the option name, a colon or
equals sign, and then the value of the string. The value is ter‐
minated by the next comma or the end of string.
For example, to set up an environment variable so that ‘‘au‐
- toquiver’’ is on, ‘‘autopickup’’ is off, the name is set to
- ‘‘Blue Meanie’’, and the fruit is set to ‘‘papaya’’, you would
+ toquiver’’ is on, ‘‘autopickup’’ is off, the name is set to
+ ‘‘Blue Meanie’’, and the fruit is set to ‘‘papaya’’, you would
enter the command
% setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "autoquiver,\!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
- in csh (note the need to escape the ! since it’s special to the
+ in csh (note the need to escape the ! since it’s special to the
shell), or
$ NETHACKOPTIONS="autoquiver,!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
9.3. Using a configuration file
- Any line in the configuration file starting with ‘#’ is
- treated as a comment. Any line in the configuration file start‐
- ing with ‘‘OPTIONS=’’ may be filled out with options in the same
+ Any line in the configuration file starting with ‘#’ is
+ treated as a comment. Any line in the configuration file start‐
+ ing with ‘‘OPTIONS=’’ may be filled out with options in the same
syntax as in NETHACKOPTIONS. Any line starting with ‘‘SYMBOLS=’’
is taken as defining the corresponding symbol in a different syn‐
- tax, a sequence of decimal numbers giving the character position
- in the current font to be used in displaying each entry. Such a
- sequence can be continued to multiple lines by putting a ‘\’ at
+ tax, a sequence of decimal numbers giving the character position
+ in the current font to be used in displaying each entry. Such a
+ sequence can be continued to multiple lines by putting a ‘\’ at
the end of each line to be continued.
Any line starting with ‘‘AUTOPICKUP_EXCEPTION=’’ is taken as
- defining an exception to the pickup_types option. There is a
+ defining an exception to the pickup_types option. There is a
section of this Guidebook that discusses that.
The default name of the configuration file varies on differ‐
- ent operating systems, but NETHACKOPTIONS can also be set to the
- full name of a file you want to use (possibly preceded by an
+ ent operating systems, but NETHACKOPTIONS can also be set to the
+ full name of a file you want to use (possibly preceded by an
‘@’).
9.4. Customization options
Here are explanations of what the various options do. Char‐
- acter strings that are too long may be truncated. Some of the
+ acter strings that are too long may be truncated. Some of the
options listed may be inactive in your dungeon.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 37
+ NetHack Guidebook 38
+ Some options are persistent, and are saved and reloaded
+ along with the game. Changing a persistent option in the config‐
+ uration file applies only to new games.
+
acoustics
- Enable messages about what your character hears (default on).
+ Enable messages about what your character hears (default on).
Note that this has nothing to do with your computer’s audio ca‐
- pabilities.
+ pabilities. Persistent.
align
- Your starting alignment (align:lawful, align:neutral, or
- align:chaotic). You may specify just the first letter. The
- default is to randomly pick an appropriate alignment. If you
- prefix a ‘!’ or ‘‘no’’ to the value, you can exclude that
- alignment from being picked randomly. Cannot be set with the
- ‘O’ command.
+ Your starting alignment (align:lawful, align:neutral, or
+ align:chaotic). You may specify just the first letter. The
+ default is to randomly pick an appropriate alignment. If you
+ prefix a ‘!’ or ‘‘no’’ to the value, you can exclude that
+ alignment from being picked randomly. Cannot be set with the
+ ‘O’ command. Persistent.
autodig
Automatically dig if you are wielding a digging tool and moving
- into a place that can be dug (default false).
+ into a place that can be dug (default false). Persistent.
+
+ autoopen
+ Walking into a door attempts to open it (default true). Persis‐
+ tent.
autopickup
Automatically pick up things onto which you move (default on).
- See pickup_types to refine the behavior.
+ Persistent. See pickup_types to refine the behavior.
autoquiver
This option controls what happens when you attempt the ‘f’
enchantment, damage, or quality of the weapon; you are free to
manually 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. (default
+ false, the ‘t’ (throw) command is executed instead. Persis‐
+ tent. (default false)
+
+ blind
+ Start the character permanently blind. Persistent. (default
false)
bones
- Allow saving and loading bones files. (default true)
+ Allow saving and loading bones files. Persistent. (default
+ true)
boulder
Set the character used to display boulders (default is rock
class symbol).
- catname
- Name your starting cat (ex. ‘‘catname:Morris’’). Cannot be set
- with the ‘O’ command.
- character
- Pick your type of character (ex. ‘‘character:Monk’’); synonym
- for ‘‘role’’. See ‘‘name’’ for an alternate method of specify‐
- ing your role. Normally only the first letter of the value is
- examined; the string ‘‘random’’ is an exception.
- checkpoint
- Save game state after each level change, for possible recovery
- after program crash (default on).
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 39
- NetHack Guidebook 38
+ catname
+ Name your starting cat (ex. ‘‘catname:Morris’’). Cannot be set
+ with the ‘O’ command.
+
+ character
+ Pick your type of character (ex. ‘‘character:Monk’’); synonym
+ for ‘‘role’’. See ‘‘name’’ for an alternate method of specify‐
+ ing your role. Normally only the first letter of the value is
+ examined; the string ‘‘random’’ is an exception.
+ checkpoint
+ Save game state after each level change, for possible recovery
+ after program crash (default on). Persistent.
checkspace
Check free disk space before writing files to disk (default
confirm
Have user confirm attacks on pets, shopkeepers, and other
- peaceable creatures (default on).
+ peaceable creatures (default on). Persistent.
+
+ dark_room
+ Show out‐of‐sight areas of lit rooms (default off). Persis‐
+ tent.
disclose
- Controls what information the program reveals when the game
- ends. Value is a space separated list of prompting/category
- pairs (default is ‘ni na nv ng nc no’, prompt with default re‐
- sponse of ‘n’ for each candidate). The possibilities are:
+ Controls what information the program reveals when the game
+ ends. Value is a space separated list of prompting/category
+ pairs (default is ‘ni na nv ng nc no’, prompt with default re‐
+ sponse of ‘n’ for each candidate). Persistent. The possibili‐
+ ties are:
i ‐ disclose your inventory;
a ‐ disclose your attributes;
prefix which lets you refine how it behaves. Here are the
valid prefixes:
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 40
+
+
+
y ‐ prompt you and default to yes on the prompt;
n ‐ prompt you and default to no on the prompt;
+ ‐ disclose it without prompting;
fault 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
-
-
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 39
-
-
-
- dungeon overview shows all levels you had visited but does not
- reveal things about them that you hadn’t discovered.
+ 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.
dogname
Name your starting dog (ex. ‘‘dogname:Fang’’). Cannot be set
fixinv
An object’s inventory letter sticks to it when it’s dropped
(default on). If this is off, dropping an object shifts all
- the remaining inventory letters.
+ the remaining inventory letters. Persistent.
fruit
Name a fruit after something you enjoy eating (ex. ‘‘fruit:man‐
Your starting gender (gender:male or gender:female). You may
specify just the first letter. Although you can still denote
your gender using the ‘‘male’’ and ‘‘female’’ options, the
- ‘‘gender’’ option will take precedence. The default is to ran‐
- domly pick an appropriate gender. If you prefix a ‘!’ or
- ‘‘no’’ to the value, you can exclude that gender from being
- picked randomly. Cannot be set with the ‘O’ command.
+ ‘‘gender’’ option will take precedence. The default is to
- 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.
- horsename
- Name your starting horse (ex. ‘‘horsename:Trigger’’). Cannot
- be set with the ‘O’ command.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
- ignintr
- Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off).
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 41
+ randomly pick an appropriate gender. If you prefix a ‘!’ or
+ ‘‘no’’ to the value, you can exclude that gender from being
+ picked randomly. Cannot be set with the ‘O’ command. Persis‐
+ tent.
- NetHack Guidebook 40
+ 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.
+
+ hilite_pet
+ Visually distinguish pets from similar animals (default off).
+ The behavior of this option depends on the type of windowing
+ you use. In text windowing, text highlighting or inverse video
+ is often used; with tiles, generally displays a heart symbol
+ near pets.
+
+ hilite_pile
+ Visually distinguish piles of objects from individual objects
+ (default off). The behavior of this option depends on the type
+ of windowing you use. In text windowing, text highlighting or
+ inverse video is often used; with tiles, generally displays a
+ small plus‐symbol beside the object on the top of the pile.
+
+ horsename
+ Name your starting horse (ex. ‘‘horsename:Trigger’’). Cannot
+ be set with the ‘O’ command.
+ ignintr
+ Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off). Per‐
+ sistent.
+ implicit_uncursed
+ Omit "uncursed" from inventory lists, if possible (default on).
legacy
Display an introductory message when starting the game (default
- on).
+ on). Persistent.
lit_corridor
Show corridor squares seen by night vision or a light source
- held by your character as lit (default off).
+ held by your character as lit (default off). Persistent.
lootabc
Use the old ‘a’, ‘b’, and ‘c’ keyboard shortcuts when looting,
- rather than the mnemonics ‘o’, ‘i’, and ‘b’ (default off).
+ rather than the mnemonics ‘o’, ‘i’, and ‘b’ (default off).
+ Persistent.
mail
- Enable mail delivery during the game (default on).
+ Enable mail delivery during the game (default on). Persistent.
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 42
+
+
male
- An obsolete synonym for ‘‘gender:male’’. Cannot be set with
+ An obsolete synonym for ‘‘gender:male’’. Cannot be set with
the ‘O’ command.
mention_walls
Give feedback when walking against a wall (default off).
+ menucolors
+ 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, partial, or full. Tradi‐
- tional was the only interface available for earlier versions;
- it consists of a prompt for object class characters, followed
- by an object‐by‐object prompt for all items matching the se‐
- lected object class(es). Combination starts with a prompt for
- object class(es) of interest, but then displays a menu of
- matching objects rather than prompting one‐by‐one. Partial
- skips the object class filtering and immediately displays a
- menu of all objects. Full displays a menu of object classes
- rather than a character prompt, and then a menu of matching ob‐
- jects for selection.
+ 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‐
+ 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.
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‐
+ 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
Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default ’^’.
menu_headings
- Controls how the headings in a menu are highlighted. Values
- are ’bold’, ’inverse’, or ’underline’. Not all ports can
+ 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‐
+ plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default ’@’.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ 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
+ ’~’.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 41
- actually display all three types.
+ NetHack Guidebook 43
- menu_invert_all
- 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_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_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
+ a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default
’,’.
msghistory
- The number of top line messages to save (and recall with ^P)
+ The number of top line messages to save (and recall with ^P)
(default 20). Cannot be set with the ‘O’ command.
msg_window
- Allows you to change the way recalled messages are displayed.
- (It is currently implemented for tty only.) The possible val‐
+ Allows you to change the way recalled messages are displayed.
+ (It is currently implemented for tty only.) The possible val‐
ues 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 de‐
+ faults to ‘single’).
-
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ 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
+ 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
+ be set with the ‘O’ command.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 42
+ NetHack Guidebook 44
- For backward compatibility, no value needs to be specified
- (which defaults to ‘full’), or it can be negated (which de‐
- faults 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
- 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
- be set with the ‘O’ command.
news
Read the NetHack news file, if present (default on). Since the
news is shown at the beginning of the game, there’s no point in
setting this with the ‘O’ command.
+ nudist
+ Start the character with no armor (default false). Persistent.
+
null
- Send padding nulls to the terminal (default on).
+ 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 MSDOS 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
- 0. (Settings 2 and 4 are for compatibility with MSDOS or old
+ 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 MSDOS 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 German 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
+ date some German 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 omitted types are filled in at the end from the previous
+ 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 omitted 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‐
+ 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 instead of ac‐
+ cepting any non‐yes response as no
+ quit ‐ require "yes" rather than ’y’ to confirm quitting 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 mode);
+ bones ‐ require "yes" rather than ’y’ to confirm saving bones
+ data when dying in debug mode;
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 43
+ NetHack Guidebook 45
- Confirm ‐ for any prompts which are set to require "yes" rather
- than ’y’, also require "no" to reject instead of ac‐
- cepting any non‐yes response as no
- quit ‐ require "yes" rather than ’y’ to confirm quitting 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 mode);
- bones ‐ require "yes" rather than ’y’ to confirm saving bones
- data when dying in debug mode;
- attack ‐ require "yes" rather than ’y’ to confirm attacking a
+ attack ‐ require "yes" rather than ’y’ to confirm attacking a
peaceful monster;
pray ‐ require ’y’ to confirm an attempt to pray rather than
immediately praying; on by default;
+ wand ‐ require "yes" rather than ’y’ to confirm breaking a
+ wand;
Remove ‐ require selection from inventory for ’R’ and ’T’ com‐
mands even when wearing just one applicable item.
perm_invent
If true, always display your current inventory in a window.
This only makes sense for windowing system interfaces that im‐
- plement this feature.
+ plement this feature. Persistent.
pettype
Specify the type of your initial pet, if you are playing a
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’).
+ (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.
+ 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.
+ uration file lines to further refine autopickup behavior. Per‐
+ sistent.
pile_limit
- When walking across a pile of objects on the floor, threshold
-
+ 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.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 44
+ NetHack Guidebook 46
- 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.
playmode
Values are ‘normal’, ‘explore’, or ‘debug’. Allows selection
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.
+ applied item to become wielded. Persistent.
race
Selects your race (for example, ‘‘race:human’’). Default is
random. If you prefix a ‘!’ or ‘‘no’’ to the value, you can
exclude that race from being picked randomly. Cannot be set
- with the ‘O’ command.
+ with the ‘O’ command. Persistent.
rest_on_space
Make the space bar a synonym for the ‘.’ (rest) command (de‐
- fault off).
+ fault off). Persistent.
role
Pick your type of character (ex. ‘‘role:Samurai’’); synonym for
fying 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 a ‘!’ or ‘‘no’’ to the
- value, you can exclude that role from being picked randomly.
+ value, you can exclude that role from being picked randomly.
+ 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;
+ run ‐ update the map after every seven or so steps;
+ walk ‐ update the map after each step;
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 45
+ NetHack Guidebook 47
- mouse click). The possible values are:
- teleport ‐ update the map after movement has finished;
- run ‐ update the map after every seven or so steps;
- walk ‐ update the map after each step;
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.
+ of terminal. Persistent.
safe_pet
- Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
+ Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
+ Persistent.
scores
- Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the end
- (ex. ‘‘scores:5 top scores/4 around my score/own scores’’).
- Only the first letter of each category (‘t’, ‘a’, or ‘o’) is
- necessary.
+ Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the end
+ (ex. ‘‘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).
+ 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.
+ 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
- off).
+ off). Persistent.
silent
- Suppress terminal beeps (default on).
+ Suppress terminal beeps (default on). Persistent.
+
+ sortloot
+ Controls the sorting behavior of the pickup lists for inventory
+ 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,
+ 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‐
- fault on).
+ 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).
+ hit by an attack to which it is resistant (default on). Per‐
+ sistent.
- standout
- Boldface monsters and ‘‘‐‐More‐‐’’ (default off).
- 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 (ex. ‘‘suppress_alert:3.3.1’’).
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 48
- NetHack Guidebook 46
+ standout
+ Boldface monsters and ‘‘‐‐More‐‐’’ (default off). Persistent.
- 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.
+ statushilites
+ Enable coloring of status fields (default off). See ‘‘Config‐
+ uring Status Hilites’’ for futher information.
- time
+ 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 (ex. ‘‘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.
+
+ time
Show the elapsed game time in turns on bottom line (default
- off).
+ 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
only; ‘‘X11’’ interface always uses a timer based delay. The
- default is on if configured into the program.)
+ default is on if configured into the program.) Persistent.
tombstone
- Draw a tombstone graphic upon your death (default on).
+ Draw a tombstone graphic upon your death (default on). Persis‐
+ tent.
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
- make inadvertent mouse clicks on the map window.
+ 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).
+ Provide more commentary during the game (default on). Persis‐
+ tent.
windowtype
Select which windowing system to use, such as ‘‘tty’’ or
‘‘X11’’ (default depends on version). Cannot be set with the
‘O’ command.
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 49
+
+
+
zerocomp
When writing out a save file, perform zero‐comp compression of
the contents. Not all ports support zero‐comp compression. It
listed here. You can safely add any of these options to your
config file, and if the window port is capable of adjusting 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
-
-
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 47
-
-
-
- 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.
+ will silently ignore it. You can find out if an option is sup‐
+ ported by the window port that you are currently using by check‐
+ ing to see if it shows up in the Options list. Some options are
+ dynamic and can be specified during the game with the ‘O’ com‐
+ mand.
align_message
Where to align or place the message window (top, bottom, left,
dow.
font_menu
- NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for menu windows.
+ NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for menu windows.
font_message
- NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for the message
+ NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for the message
window.
font_status
- NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for the status
+ NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for the status
window.
- font_text
- NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for text windows.
- font_size_map
- NetHack should use this size font for the map window.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- font_size_menu
- NetHack should use this size font for menu windows.
- font_size_message
- NetHack should use this size font for the message window.
- font_size_status
- NetHack should use this size font for the status window.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 50
+ font_text
+ NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for text windows.
+ font_size_map
+ NetHack should use this size font for the map window.
- NetHack Guidebook 48
+ font_size_menu
+ NetHack should use this size font for menu windows.
+ font_size_message
+ NetHack should use this size font for the message window.
+ font_size_status
+ NetHack should use this size font for the status window.
font_size_text
NetHack should use this size font for text windows.
NetHack should try and display on the entire screen rather than
in a window.
- hilite_pet
- Visually distinguish pets from similar animals (default off).
- The behavior of this option depends on the type of windowing
- you use. In text windowing, text highlighting or inverse video
- is often used; with tiles, generally displays a heart symbol
- near pets.
-
large_font
NetHack should use a large font.
NetHack should scroll the display when the hero or cursor is
this number of cells away from the edge of the window.
- selectsaved
- NetHack 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.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 51
- NetHack Guidebook 49
+ selectsaved
+ NetHack 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
NetHack should display an opening splash screen when it starts
tile_width
Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable port
+ use_darkgray
+ Use bold black instead of blue for black glyphs (TTY only).
+
use_inverse
NetHack should display inverse when the game specifies it.
message window.
windowcolors
- NetHack should display windows with the specified fore‐
+ NetHack should display windows with the specified fore‐
ground/background colors if it can.
wraptext
- NetHack port should wrap long lines of text if they don’t fit
+ NetHack port should wrap long lines of text if they don’t fit
in the visible area of the window.
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.
- 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
- character (default off).
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 52
- NetHack Guidebook 50
+ set with the ‘O’ command.
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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 another
- character to complete the two character sequence. Type a sec‐
- ond ESC to finish cancelling such a count. At other prompts a
+ the count by typing ESC will leave nethack waiting for another
+ character to complete the two character sequence. Type a sec‐
+ ond 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,
+ 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 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
+ 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.
soundcard
mand.
subkeyvalue
- (Win32 tty NetHack only). May be used to alter the value of
+ (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‐
+ 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 config 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.
- 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,
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 53
- NetHack Guidebook 51
+ 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.
- bright.white, bright.red, bright.green, yellow, bright.blue,
- bright.magenta, and bright.cyan. Cannot be set with the ‘O’
+ 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’
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
- 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. Configuring autopickup exceptions
+ 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‐
+ terns.
+
+ 9.8. Configuring Autopickup Exceptions
You can further refine the behavior of the autopickup option
beyond what is available through the pickup_types option.
autopickup_exception
Sets an exception to the pickup_types option. The autopick‐
- up_exception option should be followed by a string of 1‐80
- characters to be used as a pattern to match against the singu‐
- lar form of the description of an object at your location.
-
- You may use the following special characters in a pattern:
-
- * ‐ matches zero or more characters;
- ? ‐ matches any single character.
+ 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‐
cur as the first character in the pattern, specifically:
> ‐ never pickup an object that matches rest of pattern.
A ‘never pickup’ rule takes precedence over an ‘always pickup’
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 54
+
+
+
rule if both match.
Exceptions can be set with the ‘O’ command, but ones set that
any corpse from autopickup. The last example results in the ex‐
clusion of items known to be cursed from autopickup.
+ 9.9. Configuring Message Types
+ You can change the way the messages are shown in the message
+ area, when the message matches a user‐defined pattern.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ In general, the config file entries to configure the message
+ types look like this: MSGTYPE=type "pattern"
+ type ‐ how the message should be shown;
+ pattern ‐ the pattern to match.
+ The pattern should be a regular expression.
+ Allowed types are:
+ 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 message is shown in between.
- NetHack Guidebook 52
+ 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
+ "You displaced <something>." is not shown at all.
+ The order of the defined MSGTYPE‐lines is important; the last
+ matching rule is used. Put the general case first, exceptions
+ below them.
- 9.8. Configuring User Sounds
+ 9.10. 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
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 55
+
+
+
+ tty, win32tty and win32gui support this.
+
+ In general, the config file entries to configure 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‐
+ tern;
+ 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,
+ no attribute is used.
+
+ The pattern should be a regular expression.
+
+ Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
+ cyan, gray, orange, lightgreen, yellow, lightblue, lightmagen‐
+ ta, lightcyan, and white.
+
+ Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink, and
+ inverse. Note that the platform used may interpret the at‐
+ tributes 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
+
+ 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
+ file, and the last MENUCOLOR‐line in your config file that
+ matches a menu line will be used for the line.
+
+ 9.11. 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
SOUNDDIR
The directory that houses the sound files to be played.
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 56
+
+
+
SOUND
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
- 3.5);
+ 3.6);
pattern ‐ the pattern to match;
sound file ‐ the sound file to play;
volume ‐ the volume to be set while playing the sound file.
- The exact format for the pattern depends on whether the plat‐
- form is built to use ‘‘regular expressions’’ or NetHack’s own
- internal pattern matching facility. The ‘‘regular expressions’’
- matching can be much more sophisticated than the internal
- NetHack pattern matching, but requires 3rd party libraries on
- some platforms. There are plenty of references available else‐
- where for explaining ‘‘regular expressions’’. You can verify
- which pattern matching is used by your port with the #version
- command.
+ The pattern should be a POSIX extended regular expression.
- NetHack’s internal pattern matching routine uses the following
- special characters in its pattern matching:
+ 9.12. Configuring Status Hilites
- * ‐ matches 0 or more characters;
- ? ‐ matches any single character.
+ 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.
- Here’s an example of a sound mapping using NetHack’s internal
- pattern matching facility:
+ For example, the following line in your config file will
+ cause the hitpoints field to display in the color red if your
+ hitpoints drop to or below a threshold of 30%:
- SOUND=MESG "*chime of a cash register*" "gong.wav" 50
+ OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/30%/red/normal
- specifies that any message with "chime of a cash register" con‐
- tained in it will trigger the playing of file gong.wav. You
- can have multiple SOUND entries in your config file.
+ For another example, the following line in your config file
+ will cause wisdom to be displayed red if it drops and green if it
+ rises.
- 9.9. Modifying NetHack Symbols
+ OPTION=hilite_status: wisdom/updown/red/green
- NetHack can load entire symbol sets from the symbol file.
+ You can adjust the display of the following status fields:
+ title strength dexterity
+ constitution intelligence wisdom
+ charisma alignment score
+ carrying‐capacity gold power
+ power‐max experience‐level armor‐class
+ HD time hunger
+ hitpoints hitpoints‐max dungeon‐level
+ experience condition
+ Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
+ cyan, gray, orange, lightgreen, yellow, lightblue, lightmagen‐
+ ta, lightcyan, and white.
+ Allowed attributes are bold, inverse, normal. Note that the
+ platform used may interpret the attributes any way it wants.
+ Behaviours can occur based on percentage thresholds, updown, or
+ absolute values. The in‐game options menu can help you deter‐
+ mine the correct syntax for a config file.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 53
+ NetHack Guidebook 57
+
+
+
+ The whole feature can be disabled by setting option sta‐
+ tushilites off.
+
+ 9.13. Modifying NetHack Symbols
+
+ NetHack can load entire symbol sets from the symbol file.
+
The options that are used to select a particular symbol set
from the symbol file are:
_ S_chain (iron chain)
# S_cloud (cloud)
c S_cockatrice (cockatrice)
- $ S_coin (pile of coins)
- # S_corr (corridor)
- ‐ S_crwall (wall)
- ^ S_dart_trap (dart trap)
- & S_demon (major demon)
- * S_digbeam (dig beam)
- > S_dnladder (ladder down)
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 54
+ NetHack Guidebook 58
+ $ S_coin (pile of coins)
+ # S_corr (corridor)
+ ‐ S_crwall (wall)
+ ^ S_dart_trap (dart trap)
+ & S_demon (major demon)
+ * S_digbeam (dig beam)
+ > S_dnladder (ladder down)
> S_dnstair (staircase down)
d S_dog (dog or other canine)
D S_dragon (dragon)
} S_lava (molten lava)
l S_leprechaun (leprechaun)
^ S_level_teleporter (level teleporter)
- L S_lich (lich)
- y S_light (light)
- # S_litcorr (lit corridor)
- : S_lizard (lizard)
- ‘\’ S_lslant (wall)
- ^ S_magic_portal (magic portal)
- ^ S_magic_trap (magic trap)
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 55
+ NetHack Guidebook 59
+ L S_lich (lich)
+ y S_light (light)
+ # S_litcorr (lit corridor)
+ : S_lizard (lizard)
+ ‘\’ S_lslant (wall)
+ ^ S_magic_portal (magic portal)
+ ^ S_magic_trap (magic trap)
m S_mimic (mimic)
] S_mimic_def (mimic)
M S_mummy (mummy)
o S_orc (orc)
p S_piercer (piercer)
^ S_pit (pit)
+ # S_poisoncloud (poison cloud)
^ S_polymorph_trap (polymorph trap)
} S_pool (water)
! S_potion (potion)
‘\’ S_sw_tr (swallow top right)
‐ S_tdwall (wall)
^ S_teleportation_trap (teleportation trap)
- S_throne (opulent throne)
- ‐ S_tlcorn (top left corner)
- | S_tlwall (wall)
- ( S_tool (useful item (pick‐axe key lamp...))
- ^ S_trap_door (trap door)
- t S_trapper (trapper or lurker above)
- ‐ S_trcorn (top right corner)
- # S_tree (tree)
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 56
+ NetHack Guidebook 60
+ S_throne (opulent throne)
+ ‐ S_tlcorn (top left corner)
+ | S_tlwall (wall)
+ ( S_tool (useful item (pick‐axe key lamp...))
+ ^ S_trap_door (trap door)
+ t S_trapper (trapper or lurker above)
+ ‐ S_trcorn (top right corner)
+ # S_tree (tree)
T S_troll (troll)
| S_trwall (wall)
‐ S_tuwall (wall)
| S_vbeam (wall)
# S_vcdbridge (vertical raised drawbridge)
+ S_vcdoor (closed door)
+ ^ S_vibrating_square (vibrating square)
‐ S_vodoor (open door)
v S_vortex (vortex)
| S_vwall (vertical wall)
Z S_zombie (zombie)
z S_zruty (zruty)
- 9.10. Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind
+ 9.14. 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
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.
- 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
- official distributions of NetHack is a symset called NHAccess.
- Selecting 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
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 61
- NetHack Guidebook 57
+ sense of the overall location of items on the screen.
+ 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
+ official distributions of NetHack is a symset called NHAccess.
+ Selecting 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= in your configuration
file to better suit your preferences. The most crucial settings
to make the game accessible are:
the screen. If this is the case, disable the number_pad option
and use the traditional Rogue‐like commands.
- 9.11. Global Configuration for System Administrators
+ 9.15. 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
SHELLERS A list of users who are allowed to use the shell es‐
cape command (!). The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
- MAXPLAYERS Limit the maximum number of games that can be run‐
+ 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.
- SUPPORT A string explaining how to get local support (no de‐
- fault value).
- RECOVER A string explaining how to recover a game on this sys‐
- tem (no default value).
- SEDUCE 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
- option (see the source for details on this function).
- The following options affect the score file:
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- PERSMAX Maximum number of entries for one person.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 62
+ SUPPORT A string explaining how to get local support (no de‐
+ fault value).
- NetHack Guidebook 58
+ RECOVER A string explaining how to recover a game on this sys‐
+ tem (no default value).
+
+ SEDUCE 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
+ option (see the source for details on this function).
+ CHECK_SAVE_UID 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
+ UID checking for savefiles.
+ The following options affect the score file:
+
+ PERSMAX Maximum number of entries for one person.
ENTRYMAX Maximum number of entries in the score file.
list is, you can type nethack ‐s all on most versions.
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 63
+
+
+
11. Explore mode
NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
discover.
-
-
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 59
-
-
-
11.1. Debug mode
Debug mode, also known as wizard mode, is undocumented aside
Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne.
+
+
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 64
+
+
+
Andries Brouwer did a major re‐write, transforming Hack into
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.
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
- debugging NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.
-
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 60
-
-
+ 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.
- 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
+ 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 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
+ 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 development team which now included Ken Ar‐
- romdee, 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.
+ Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
+ and Janet Walz, the development team which now included Ken Ar‐
+ romdee, 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
- 3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW. Building on their de‐
- velopment, Barton House added a Think C port.
+ Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny
- 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.
- 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 DevTeam and
- tile support was then added to other platforms.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- The 3.2 development team, comprised of Michael Allison, Ken
- Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
- Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 65
- NetHack Guidebook 61
+ Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
+ 3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW. Building on their de‐
+ velopment, Barton 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.
+ 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 DevTeam and
+ tile support was then added to other platforms.
- Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
+ The 3.2 development team, comprised of Michael Allison, Ken
+ Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
+ Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric
+ 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 development team re‐
- mained 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 development team, Dr. Izchak Miller, was
- diagnosed with cancer and passed away. That release of the game
+ the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
+ game, all thirteen members of the original development team re‐
+ mained 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 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
+ 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
+ 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‐
+ 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 DevTeam and incorporated the best
+ 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 DevTeam and incorporated 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 development team, consisting of Michael Allison, Ken
- Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
- Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lorber, 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‐
- 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
- and a half.
+ Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
+ Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lorber, Dean
+ Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 66
- NetHack Guidebook 62
+ 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‐
+ 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
+ and a half.
- The 3.4 development team initially consisted of Michael Al‐
- lison, 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 re‐
+ The 3.4 development team initially consisted of Michael Al‐
+ lison, 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 re‐
lease of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.
- As with version 3.3, various people contributed to the game
+ 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.
- Michael Allison maintained NetHack 3.4 for the MS‐DOS plat‐
+ 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‐
+ 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
+ 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‐
+ 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
+ Christian ‘‘Marvin’’ Bressler maintained 3.4 for the Atari
after he resurrected it for 3.3.1.
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 devteam 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 origi‐
- nally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex Smith, and Dynahack by
- Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants continue 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 a period of de‐
- bugging, it was decided that the version numbers present on that
- code snapshot would be retired and never used in an official
- NetHack release. An announcement was posted on the devteam’s
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack Guidebook 63
-
+ NetHack Guidebook 67
- 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.
- In January 2015, preparation began for the release of
- NetHack 3.6
+ stable version that provided continued enjoyment by the community
+ for more than a decade. The devteam 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 origi‐
+ nally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex Smith, and Dynahack by
+ Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants continue to be developed,
+ maintained, and enjoyed by the community to this day.
- At the beginning of development for what would eventually
- get released as 3.6.0, the development team consisted of Warwick
- Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Col‐
- let, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet
- Walz, and Paul Winner. Leading up to the release of 3.6.0 in
- early 2015, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and Derek S.
- Ray joined the NetHack development team,
+ At the beginning of development for what would eventually
+ get released as 3.6.0, the development team consisted of Warwick
+ Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Col‐
+ let, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet
+ Walz, and Paul Winner. Leading up to the release of 3.6.0 in
+ early 2015, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and Derek S.
+ Ray joined the NetHack development team.
- 3.6.0 TODO insert apprpriate description of 3.6.0 here
+ 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 devteam’s official nethack.org website to that ef‐
+ fect, stating that there would never be a 3.4.4, 3.5, or 3.5.0
+ official release version.
+
+ In November 2014, preparation began for the release of
+ NetHack 3.6. The 3.6 version merges work done by the development
+ team since the previous release with some of the beloved communi‐
+ ty patches. Many bugs were fixed and a large amount of code was
+ restructured.
The development team, as well as Steve VanDevender and Kevin
- Smolkowski ensured that NetHack 3.6.0 continued to operate on
- various Unix flavors as well as maintaining the X11 interface.
+ Smolkowski ensured that NetHack 3.6.0 continued to operate 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 3.6.0 for Mac.
- Michael Allison, Derek S. Ray, Yitzhak Sapir, Alex Kompel,
- and David Cohrs maintained the port of NetHack 3.6.0 for Mi‐
- crosoft Windows.
-
- Jeff Bailey created and maintained a port of NetHack 3.6.0
- for Chrome.
-
- TODO Alex Kompel maintained a port of NetHack 3.6.0 to Win‐
- dows Phone.
-
- This version of the game is special in a particular way.
- Near the end of the development of 3.6, one of the significant
- inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features found in
- the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. This version of
- the game is dedicated to him.
+ Michael Allison, Derek S. Ray, Yitzhak Sapir, Alex Kompel,
+ and Dion Nicolaas maintained the port of NetHack 3.6.0 for Micro‐
+ soft Windows.
The official NetHack web site is maintained by Ken Lorber at
http://www.nethack.org/.
SHOUT‐OUTS
- The devteam would like to give a special "shout‐out" to
- thank the generous people primarily responsible for the public
+ The devteam would like to give a special "shout‐out" to
+ thank the generous people primarily responsible for the public
NetHack servers available for playing the game at nethack.alt.org
and devnull.net. In addition to providing a way for the public to
- play a game of NetHack from almost anywhere, they have hosted an‐
- nual NetHack tournaments for many, many years.
- On behalf of the NetHack community, thank you very much to
- M. Drew Streib, Pasi Kallinen and Robin Bandy.
+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
+ NetHack Guidebook 68
- NetHack Guidebook 64
+ play a game of NetHack from almost anywhere, they have hosted an‐
+ nual NetHack tournaments for many, many years.
+ On behalf of the NetHack community, thank you very much to
+ M. Drew Streib, Pasi Kallinen and Robin Bandy.
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
- From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
- netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
- with the game. The Gods of the Dungeon sometimes make note of
- the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list of
+ From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
+ netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
+ with the game. The Gods of the Dungeon sometimes make note of
+ the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list of
Dungeoneers:
- Adam Aronow J. Ali Harlow Mike Stephenson
- Alex Kompel Janet Walz Norm Meluch
- Andreas Dorn Janne Salmijarvi Olaf Seibert
- Andy Church Jean‐Christophe Collet Pasi Kallinen
- Andy Swanson Jeff Bailey Pat Rankin
- Ari Huttunen Jochen Erwied Paul Winner
- Barton House John Kallen Pierre Martineau
- Benson I. Margulies John Rupley Ralf Brown
- Bill Dyer John S. Bien Ray Chason
- Boudewijn Waijers Johnny Lee Richard Addison
- Bruce Cox Jon W{tte Richard Beigel
- Bruce Holloway Jonathan Handler Richard P. Hughey
- Bruce Mewborne Joshua Delahunty Rob Menke
- Carl Schelin Keizo Yamamoto Robin Bandy
- Chris Russo Ken Arnold Robin Johnson
- David Cohrs Ken Arromdee Roderick Schertler
- David Damerell Ken Lorber Roland McGrath
- David Gentzel Ken Washikita Ron Van Iwaarden
- David Hairston Kevin Darcy Ronnen Miller
- Dean Luick Kevin Hugo Ross Brown
- Del Lamb Kevin Sitze Sascha Wostmann
- Derek S. Ray Kevin Smolkowski Scott Bigham
- Deron Meranda Kevin Sweet Scott R. Turner
- Dion Nicolaas Lars Huttar Sean Hunt
- Dylan O’Donnell Leon Arnott Stephen Spackman
- Eric Backus M. Drew Streib Stephen White
- Eric Hendrickson Malcolm Ryan Steve Creps
- Eric R. Smith Mark Gooderum Steve Linhart
- Eric S. Raymond Mark Modrall Steve VanDevender
- Erik Andersen Marvin Bressler Teemu Suikki
- Frederick Roeber Matthew Day Tim Lennan
- Gil Neiger Merlyn LeRoy Timo Hakulinen
- Greg Laskin Michael Allison Tom Almy
- Greg Olson Michael Feir Tom West
- Gregg Wonderly Michael Hamel Warren Cheung
- Hao‐yang Wang Michael Sokolov Warwick Allison
- Helge Hafting Mike Engber Yitzhak Sapir
- Irina Rempt‐Drijfhout Mike Gallop
- Izchak Miller Mike Passaretti
-
- Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks
+ Adam Aronow Janet Walz Nathan Eady
+ Alex Kompel Janne Salmijarvi Norm Meluch
+ Andreas Dorn Jean‐Christophe Collet Olaf Seibert
+ Andy Church Jeff Bailey Pasi Kallinen
+ Andy Swanson Jochen Erwied Pat Rankin
+ Ari Huttunen John Kallen Paul Winner
+ Barton House John Rupley Pierre Martineau
+ Benson I. Margulies John S. Bien Ralf Brown
+ Bill Dyer Johnny Lee Ray Chason
+ Boudewijn Waijers Jon W{tte Richard Addison
+ Bruce Cox Jonathan Handler Richard Beigel
+ Bruce Holloway Joshua Delahunty Richard P. Hughey
+ Bruce Mewborne Keizo Yamamoto Rob Menke
+ Carl Schelin Ken Arnold Robin Bandy
+ Chris Russo Ken Arromdee Robin Johnson
+ David Cohrs Ken Lorber Roderick Schertler
+ David Damerell Ken Washikita Roland McGrath
+ David Gentzel Kevin Darcy Ron Van Iwaarden
+ David Hairston Kevin Hugo Ronnen Miller
+ Dean Luick Kevin Sitze Ross Brown
+ Del Lamb Kevin Smolkowski Sascha Wostmann
+ Derek S. Ray Kevin Sweet Scott Bigham
+ Deron Meranda Lars Huttar Scott R. Turner
+ Dion Nicolaas Leon Arnott Sean Hunt
+ Dylan O’Donnell M. Drew Streib Stephen Spackman
+ Eric Backus Malcolm Ryan Stefan Thielscher
+ Eric Hendrickson Mark Gooderum Stephen White
+ Eric R. Smith Mark Modrall Steve Creps
+ Eric S. Raymond Marvin Bressler Steve Linhart
+ Erik Andersen Matthew Day Steve VanDevender
+ Frederick Roeber Merlyn LeRoy Teemu Suikki
+ Gil Neiger Michael Allison Tim Lennan
+ Greg Laskin Michael Feir Timo Hakulinen
+ Greg Olson Michael Hamel Tom Almy
+ Gregg Wonderly Michael Sokolov Tom West
+ Hao‐yang Wang Mike Engber Warren Cheung
+ Helge Hafting Mike Gallop Warwick Allison
+ Irina Rempt‐Drijfhout Mike Passaretti Yitzhak Sapir
+ Izchak Miller Mike Stephenson
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+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
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+ NetHack Guidebook 69
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+ J. Ali Harlow Mikko Juola
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+ Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
- NetHack 3.6 March 27, 2015
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+ NetHack 3.6 June 22, 2015
projects / nethack / commitdiff