Original version - Eric S. Raymond
(Edited and expanded for 3.7 by Mike Stephenson and others)
- February 11, 2021
+ March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
you have seen on the current dungeon level; as you explore more
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
you have available for spell casting. Again, resting will
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
scribe things that are impossible to represent visually. If you
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
quiver (or quiver sack, or that you have at the ready). You
may select ammunition with a previous `Q' command, or let
the computer pick something appropriate if autoquiver is
- true.
+ true. If your wielded weapon has the throw-and-return prop-
+ erty, your quiver is empty, and autoquiver is false, you
+ will throw that wielded weapon instead of filling the
+ quiver.
See also `t' (throw) for more general throwing and shooting.
i List your inventory (everything you're carrying).
I List selected parts of your inventory, usually be specifying
- the character for a particular set of objects, like `[' for
+ the character for a particular set of objects, like `[' for
armor or `!' for potions.
I* - list all gems in inventory;
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.
^O Show overview.
- Shortcut for "#overview": list interesting dungeon levels
+ Shortcut for "#overview": list interesting dungeon levels
visited.
- (Prior to 3.6.0, `^O' was a debug mode command which listed
+ (Prior to 3.6.0, `^O' was a debug mode command which listed
the placement of all special levels. Use "#wizwhere" to run
that command.)
P Put on an accessory (ring, amulet, or blindfold).
- 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
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+ 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. For some inter-
+ Subsequent `^P's repeat earlier messages. For some inter-
faces, 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
+ 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
+ (In versions prior to 3.3 this was the command to quit the
game, which has been moved to "#quit".)
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
+ 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
+ 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.
- s Search for secret doors and traps around you. It usually
+ s Search for secret doors and traps around you. It usually
takes several tries to find something. Precede with the `m'
- prefix to search for a turn even next to a hostile monster,
+ prefix to search for a turn even next to a hostile monster,
if safe_wait is on.
Can also be used to figure out whether there is still a mon-
ster at an adjacent "remembered, unseen monster" marker.
- S Save the game (which suspends play and exits the program).
- The saved game will be restored automatically the next time
+ S Save the game (which suspends play and exits the program).
+ The saved game will be restored automatically the next time
you play using the same character name.
- In normal play, once a saved game is restored the file used
- to hold the saved data is deleted. In explore mode, once
+ In normal play, once a saved game is restored the file used
+ to hold the saved data is deleted. In explore mode, once
restoration is accomplished you are asked whether to keep or
- delete the file. Keeping the file makes it feasible to play
- for a while then quit without saving and later restore
- again.
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- There is no "save current game state and keep playing" com-
+ delete the file. Keeping the file makes it feasible to play
+ for a while then quit without saving and later restore
+ again.
+
+ There is no "save current game state and keep playing" com-
mand, not even in explore mode where saved game files can be
kept and re-used.
t Throw an object or shoot a projectile.
- There's no separate "shoot" command. If you throw an arrow
- while wielding a bow, you are shooting that arrow and any
+ There's no separate "shoot" command. If you throw an arrow
+ while wielding a bow, you are shooting that arrow and any
weapon skill bonus or penalty for bow applies. If you throw
- an arrow while not wielding a bow, you are throwing it by
+ an arrow while not wielding a bow, you are throwing it by
hand and it will generally be less effective than when shot.
See also `f' (fire) for throwing or shooting an item pre-se-
T Take off armor.
- If you're wearing more than one piece, you'll be prompted
- 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,
+ If you're wearing more than one piece, you'll be prompted
+ 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
+ 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'
+ 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
+ es but will accept an item of armor and attempt to take it
off.)
^T Teleport, if you have the ability.
w- - wield nothing, use your bare (or gloved) hands.
- Some characters can wield two weapons at once; use the `X'
+ Some characters can wield two weapons at once; use the `X'
command (or the "#twoweapon" extended command) to do so.
W Wear armor.
- 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.)
-
+ 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
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+ accessory will attempt to put it on. (See the `P' command
+ above. It lists accessories as the inventory choices but
+ will accept 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.
- (In versions prior to 3.6 this keystroke ran the command to
- switch from normal play to "explore mode", also known as
+ (In versions prior to 3.6 this keystroke ran the command to
+ switch from normal play to "explore mode", also known as
"discovery mode", which has now been moved to "#exploremode"
and M-X.)
^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.
- In normal play, that's all that `^X' displays. In explore
- mode, the role and status feedback is augmented by the in-
+ In normal play, that's all that `^X' displays. In explore
+ mode, the role and status feedback is augmented by the in-
formation provided by enlightenment magic.
z Zap a wand.
Z. - to cast at yourself, use `.' for the direction.
- ^Z Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).
+ ^Z Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).
See "#suspend" below for more details.
: Look at what is here.
, Pick up some things from the floor beneath you.
- May be preceded by `m' to force a selection menu.
-
- @ Toggle the autopickup option on and off.
-
__________
(R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+ May be preceded by `m' to force a selection menu.
+
+ @ Toggle the autopickup option on and off.
+
^ Ask for the type of an adjacent trap you found earlier.
) Tell what weapon you are wielding.
+ List the spells you know.
- Using this command, you can also rearrange the order in
- which your spells are listed, either by sorting the entire
- list or by picking one spell from the menu then picking an-
- other to swap places with it. Swapping pairs of spells
+ Using this command, you can also rearrange the order in
+ which your spells are listed, either by sorting the entire
+ list or by picking one spell from the menu then picking an-
+ other to swap places with it. Swapping pairs of spells
changes their casting letters, so the change lasts after the
- current `+' command finishes. Sorting the whole list is
- 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
+ current `+' command finishes. Sorting the whole list is
+ 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.)
\ Show what types of objects have been discovered.
May be preceded by `m' to select preferred display order.
- ! Escape to a shell. See "#shell" below for more details.
+ | If persistent inventory display is supported and enabled
+ (with the perm_invent option), interact with it instead of
+ with the map.
- Del Show map without obstructions. You can view the explored
- portion of the current level's map without monsters; without
- monsters and objects; or without monsters, objects, and
- traps.
+ Allows scrolling with the menu_first_page, menu_previ-
+ ous_page, menu_next_page, and menu_last_page keys (`^', `<',
+ `>', `|' by default). Some interfaces also support
+ menu_shift_left and menu_shift_right keys (`{' and `}' by
+ default). Use the Return (aka Enter) or Escape key to
- The <del> key is also shown as <delete> on some keyboards or
- <rubout> on others. It is sometimes displayed as ^? even
- though that is not an actual control character.
- Many terminals have an option to swap the <delete> and
- <backspace> keys, so typing the <del> key might not execute
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack Guidebook 19
- NetHack Guidebook 19
+ resume play.
+
+ ! Escape to a shell. See "#shell" below for more details.
+ Del Show map without obstructions. You can view the explored
+ portion of the current level's map without monsters; without
+ monsters and objects; or without monsters, objects, and
+ traps.
+ The <del> key is also shown as <delete> on some keyboards or
+ <rubout> on others. It is sometimes displayed as ^? even
+ though that is not an actual control character.
+ Many terminals have an option to swap the <delete> and
+ <backspace> keys, so typing the <del> key might not execute
this command. If that happens, you can use the extended
command "#terrain" instead.
that situation, moving (no count given) a compatible stack
will merge if either stack has a name when the other doesn't
and give that name to the result, while splitting (count
+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 20
+
+
+
given) will ignore the source stack's name when deciding
whether to merge with the destination stack.
If the tool used acts on items on the floor, using the `m'
prefix skips those items.
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- NetHack Guidebook 20
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-
If used on a wand, that wand will be broken, releasing its
magic in the process. Confirmation is required.
#down
Go down a staircase. Default key is `>'.
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+ NetHack Guidebook 21
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#drop
Drop an item. Default key is `d'.
Advance or check weapon and spell skills. Autocompletes.
Default key is `M-e'.
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-
-
-
#exploremode
Switch from normal play to non-scoring explore mode. De-
fault key is `M-X'.
#history
Show long version and game history. Default key is `V'.
+
+
+
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+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 22
+
+
+
#inventory
Show your inventory. Default key is `i'.
Kick something. Default key is `^D', and `k' if number_pad
is on.
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-
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#known
Show what object types have been discovered. Default key is
`\'.
Use a monster's special ability (when polymorphed into mon-
ster form). Autocompletes. Default key is `M-m'.
+
+
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+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 23
+
+
+
#name
Name a monster, an individual object, or a type of object.
Same as "#call". Autocompletes. Default keys are `N', `M-
#open
Open a door. Default key is `o'.
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- NetHack Guidebook 23
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-
#options
Show and change option settings. Default key is `O'.
#pay
Pay your shopping bill. Default key is `p'.
+ #perminv
+ If persistent inventory display is supported and enabled
+ (with the perm_invent option), interact with it instead of
+ with the map. You'll be prompted for menu scrolling key-
+ strokes such as `>' and `<'. Press Return or Escape to re-
+ sume normal play. Default key is `|'.
+
#pickup
Pick up things at the current location. Default key is `,'.
The `m' prefix forces use of a menu.
+
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+
+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 24
+
+
+
#polyself
Polymorph self. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
Put on an accessory (ring, amulet, etc). Default key is
`P'.
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-
#quaff
Quaff (drink) something. Default key is `q'.
#ride
Ride (or stop riding) a saddled creature. Autocompletes.
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Default key is `M-R'.
#rub
#seerings
Show the ring(s) currently worn. Default key is `='.
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- NetHack Guidebook 25
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-
-
#seetools
Show the tools currently in use. Default key is `('.
objects and monsters temporarily removed, making it possible
to see all discovered traps.) Default key is `^'.
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+ NetHack Guidebook 26
+
+
+
#sit
Sit down. Autocompletes. Default key is `M-s'.
#takeoffall
Remove all armor. Default key is `A'.
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- NetHack Guidebook 26
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-
#teleport
Teleport around the level. Default key is `^T'.
#tip
Tip over a container (bag or box) to pour out its contents.
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+ NetHack Guidebook 27
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Autocompletes. Default key is `M-T'. The `m' prefix makes
the command use a menu.
Untrap something (trap, door, or chest). Default key is `M-
u', and `u' if number_pad is on.
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-
-
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-
-
In some circumstances it can also be used to rescue trapped
monsters.
#wait
Rest one move while doing nothing. Default key is `.', and
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+
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+
+
+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 28
+
+
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also ` ' if rest_on_space is on.
#wear
Bury objects under and around you. Autocompletes. Debug
mode only.
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- NetHack Guidebook 28
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#wizdetect
Search for hidden things (secret doors or traps or unseen
monsters) within a modest radius. Autocompletes. Debug
#wizrumorcheck
Verify rumor boundaries by displaying first and last true
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
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+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 29
+
+
+
rumors and first and last false rumors.
Also displays first, second, and last random engravings,
#wmode
Show wall modes. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.
-
-
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-
-
-
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- NetHack Guidebook 29
-
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-
#zap
Zap a wand. Default key is `z'.
combination meta+shift+letter is needed.
+
+
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+
+
+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 30
+
+
+
M-? #? (not supported by all platforms)
M-2 #twoweapon (unless the number_pad option is enabled)
M-l #loot
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- NetHack Guidebook 30
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-
M-m #monster
M-n #name
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+ NetHack Guidebook 31
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+
+
If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter com-
mands are available:
areas are only displayed if they are within one space of you.
Walls and corridors remain on the map as you explore them.
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- NetHack Guidebook 31
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-
Secret corridors are hidden and appear to be solid rock.
You can find them with the `s' (search) command when adjacent to
them. Multiple search attempts may be needed. When searching is
opening it. By default the autounlock option is also enabled, so
if you attempt to open (via `o' or autoopen) a locked door while
carrying an unlocking tool, you'll be asked whether to use it on
+
+
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+
+
+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 32
+
+
+
the door's lock. Alternatively, you can break a closed door
(whether locked or not) down by kicking it via the `^D' (kick)
command. Kicking down a door destroys it and makes a lot of
Secret doors are hidden and appear to be ordinary wall (from
inside a room) or solid rock (from outside). You can find them
with the `s' (search) command but it might take multiple tries
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- NetHack Guidebook 32
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-
(possibly many tries if your luck is poor). Once found they are
in all ways equivalent to normal doors. Mapping magic does not
reveal secret doors.
Other traps can send you to different locations. Tele-
porters send you elsewhere on the same dungeon level. Level
+
+
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+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 33
+
+
+
teleporters send you to a random dungeon level, the destination
chosen from a few levels lower all the way to the top. Trap
doors and holes also send you to another level, but one which is
NetHack, you can move diagonally (unless that would let you pass
between two neighboring boulders) but you can only push boulders
in the four cardinal directions, and a boulder which fills a pit
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- NetHack Guidebook 33
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-
or hole removes both the boulder and the trap so opens up normal
access to that spot. With careful foresight, it is possible to
complete all of the levels according to the traditional rules of
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
+ sends you to another level, the level you're leaving will be
+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 34
+
+
+
+ deactivated 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
types of inter-level connections are nearly indistinguishable
during game play.
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- NetHack Guidebook 34
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5.4. Shops and shopping
Occasionally you will run across a room with a shopkeeper
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-
- 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
- fees, if any.
+ paid items (those which still belong to the shop) if you are
+
+
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+
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+ NetHack Guidebook 35
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+
+
+ carrying 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.
5.4.1. Shop idiosyncrasies
* Shops do not get restocked with new items, regardless of inven-
tory depletion.
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- NetHack Guidebook 35
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-
5.5. Movement feedback
Moving around the map usually provides no feedback--other
drawn on the map). This option also gives feedback when rushing
or running stops for some non-obvious reason.
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+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
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+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 36
+
+
+
The mention_decor option controls whether you get feedback
when walking on "furniture." Normally stepping onto stairs or a
fountain or an altar or various other things doesn't elicit any-
The "nopickup" command prefix (default `m') is also the
move-without-attacking prefix and can be used to try to step onto
- a visible monster's spot without the move being considered an
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 36
-
-
-
- attack (see the Fighting subsection of Monsters below). The
+ a visible monster's spot without the move being considered an at-
+ tack (see the Fighting subsection of Monsters below). The
"fight" command prefix (default `F'; also `-' if number_pad is
on) can be used to force an attack, when guessing where an unseen
monster is or when deliberately attacking a peaceful or tame
The slight strangeness of this level is a feature, not a
bug....
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 37
+
+
+
6. Monsters
Monsters you cannot see are not displayed on the screen.
If you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just attempt
to walk into it. Many monsters you find will mind their own
business unless you attack them. Some of them are very dangerous
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 37
-
-
-
when angered. Remember: discretion is the better part of valor.
In most circumstances, if you attempt to attack a peaceful
feed it, too, by throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be
very useful under certain circumstances.
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 38
+
+
+
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
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
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 38
-
-
-
beast that you will see displayed on the map.
Riding skill is managed by the "#enhance" command. See the
more will result in it disappearing from your map, similarly if
it is the one who moved rather than you.
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 39
+
+
+
However, if you encounter a monster which you can't see or
sense--perhaps it is invisible and has just tapped you on the
noggin--a special "remembered, unseen monster" marker will be
will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you what you just
picked up.
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 39
-
-
-
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 and
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
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 40
+
+
+
type of object so you will recognize it later. You can also use
the "#name" command, for the same purpose at any time, to name
all objects of a particular type or just an individual object.
example, a blessed weapon will do slightly more damage against
demons.
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 40
-
-
-
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
or "BUCX" for Blessed, Uncursed, Cursed, or unknown. (The term
beatitude is occasionally used as well.)
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 41
+
+
+
7.2. Weapons (`)')
Given a chance, most monsters in the Mazes of Menace will
The chance that an attack will successfully hit a monster,
and the amount of damage such a hit will do, depends upon many
- factors. Among them are: type of weapon, quality of weapon
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 41
-
-
-
- (enchantment and/or erosion), experience level, strength, dexter-
- ity, encumbrance, and proficiency (see below). The monster's ar-
- mor class--a general defense rating, not necessarily due to wear-
- ing of armor--is a factor too; also, some monsters are particu-
- larly vulnerable to certain types of weapons.
+ factors. Among them are: type of weapon, quality of weapon (en-
+ chantment and/or erosion), experience level, strength, dexterity,
+ encumbrance, and proficiency (see below). The monster's armor
+ class--a general defense rating, not necessarily due to wearing
+ of armor--is a factor too; also, some monsters are particularly
+ vulnerable to certain types of weapons.
Many weapons can be wielded in one hand; some require both
hands. When wielding a two-handed weapon, you can not wear a
that each weapon which existed in AD&D does roughly the same dam-
age to monsters in NetHack. Some of the more obscure weapons
(such as the aklys, lucern hammer, and bec-de-corbin) are defined
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 42
+
+
+
in an appendix to Unearthed Arcana, an AD&D supplement.
The commands to use weapons are `w' (wield), `t' (throw),
be thrown by hand, but can be thrown much farther and will be
more likely to hit when thrown while you are wielding a bow.
- You can simplify the throwing operation by using the `Q'
- command to select your preferred "missile", then using the `f'
- command to throw it. You'll be prompted for a direction as
- above, but you don't have to specify which item to throw each
+ Some weapons will return when thrown. A boomerang--provided
+ it fails to hit anything--is an obvious example. If an aklys
+ (thonged club) is thrown while it is wielded, it will return even
+ when it hits something. A sufficiently strong hero can throw the
+ warhammer Mjollnir; when thrown by a Valkyrie it will return too.
+ However, aklyses and Mjollnir occasionally fail to return. Re-
+ turning thrown objects occasionally fail to be caught, sometimes
+ even hitting the thrower, but when caught they become re-wielded.
+
+ You can simplify the throwing operation by using the `Q'
+ command to select your preferred "missile", then using the `f'
+ command to throw it. You'll be prompted for a direction as
+ above, but you don't have to specify which item to throw each
time you use `f'. There is also an option, autoquiver, which has
NetHack choose another item to automatically fill your quiver (or
- quiver sack, or have at the ready) when the inventory slot used
- for `Q' runs out.
+ quiver sack, or have at the ready) when the inventory slot used
+ for `Q' runs out. If your quiver is empty, autoquiver is false,
+ and you are wielding a weapon which returns when thrown, you will
+ throw that weapon instead of filling the quiver.
+ Some characters have the ability to throw or shoot a volley
+ of multiple items (from the same stack) in a single action.
+ Knowing how to load several rounds of ammunition at once--or hold
+ several missiles in your hand--and still hit a target is not an
+ easy task. Rangers are among those who are adept at this task,
+ as are those with a high level of proficiency in the relevant
+ weapon skill (in bow skill if you're wielding one to shoot ar-
+ rows, in crossbow skill if you're wielding one to shoot bolts, or
+ in sling skill if you're wielding one to shoot stones). The num-
+ ber of items that the character has a chance to fire varies from
+ turn to turn. You can explicitly limit the number of shots by
+ using a numeric prefix before the `t' or `f' command. For exam-
+ ple, "2f" (or "n2f" if using number_pad mode) would ensure that
+ at most 2 arrows are shot even if you could have fired 3. If you
+ specify a larger number than would have been shot ("4f" in this
+ example), you'll just end up shooting the same number (3, here)
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 42
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 43
- Some characters have the ability to fire a volley of multi-
- ple items in a single turn. Knowing how to load several rounds
- of ammunition at once--or hold several missiles in your hand--and
- still hit a target is not an easy task. Rangers are among those
- who are adept at this task, as are those with a high level of
- proficiency in the relevant weapon skill (in bow skill if you're
- wielding one to shoot arrows, in crossbow skill if you're wield-
- ing one to shoot bolts, or in sling skill if you're wielding one
- to shoot stones). The number of items that the character has a
- chance to fire varies from turn to turn. You can explicitly lim-
- it the number of shots by using a numeric prefix before the `t'
- or `f' command. For example, "2f" (or "n2f" if using number_pad
- mode) would ensure that at most 2 arrows are shot even if you
- could have fired 3. If you specify a larger number than would
- have been shot ("4f" in this example), you'll just end up shoot-
- ing the same number (3, here) as if no limit had been specified.
- Once the volley is in motion, all of the items will travel in the
- same direction; if the first ones kill a monster, the others can
- still continue beyond that spot.
+ as if no limit had been specified. Once the volley is in motion,
+ all of the items will travel in the same direction; if the first
+ ones kill a monster, the others can still continue beyond that
+ spot.
7.2.2. Weapon proficiency
bonus in the chance to hit and amount of damage done; at expert
level, the bonus is higher. A successful hit has a chance to
boost your training towards the next skill level (unless you've
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 43
-
-
-
already reached the limit for this skill). Once such training
reaches the threshold for that next level, you'll be told that
you feel more confident in your skills. At that point you can
use. To wield two weapons, you need to use the "#twoweapon" com-
mand. But first you need to have a weapon in each hand. (Note
that your two weapons are not fully equal; the one in the hand
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 44
+
+
+
you normally wield with is considered primary and the other one
is considered secondary. The most noticeable difference is after
you stop--or before you begin, for that matter--wielding two
armor. Each suit of armor which exists in AD&D gives the same
protection in NetHack.
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 44
-
-
-
Here is a list of the armor class values provided by suits
of armor:
Dragon scale mail 1
Leather jacket 9
none 10
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 45
+
+
+
You can also wear other pieces of armor (cloak over suit,
shirt under suit, helmet, gloves, boots, shield) to lower your
armor class even further. Most of these provide a one or two
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
+ protected. Food stored in ice boxes or tins ("cans") will usual-
+ ly 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
+ 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-
+ fects.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 45
- usually stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a
- while to open.
+ NetHack Guidebook 46
- 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
- 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-
- fects.
You can name one food item after something you like to eat
with the fruit option.
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
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 46
-
-
-
things to throw (`t') at them. It is also sometimes very useful
to dip ("#dip") an object into a potion.
don't require a direction. The number of charges in a wand is
random and decreases by one whenever you use it.
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 47
+
+
+
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
worn cannot be removed. When worn gloves aren't cursed, you
don't have to manually take them off before putting on or remov-
ing a ring and then re-wear them after. That's done implicitly
+ to avoid unnecessary tedium.
+ The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).
+ `A', `W', and `T' can also be used; see Amulets.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ 7.9. Spellbooks (`+')
+ Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic. When studied with the
+ `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!
- NetHack Guidebook 47
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- to avoid unnecessary tedium.
- The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).
- `A', `W', and `T' can also be used; see Amulets.
- 7.9. Spellbooks (`+')
+ NetHack Guidebook 48
+
- Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic. When studied with the
- `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
estimate of how strongly it is remembered. The `Z' (cast) com-
mand casts a spell.
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 48
-
-
-
7.10. Tools (`(')
Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes. Some
Amulets. Other tools (such as pick-axe) can be wielded as
weapons in addition to being applied for their usual purpose, and
in some cases (again, pick-axe) become wielded as a weapon even
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 49
+
+
+
when applied.
The blind option can be set (prior to game start) to attempt
shown as likely candidates in a prompt for choosing what to wear
or take off.
+ 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.
+ Valuable gems increase your score if you bring them with you when
+ you exit.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are
+ much less valuable. All rocks, however, can be used as projec-
+ tile weapons (if you have a sling). In the most desperate of
+ cases, you can still throw them by hand.
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 49
- 7.12. Gems (`*')
+ NetHack Guidebook 50
- 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
- cases, you can still throw them by hand.
7.13. Large rocks (``')
cation and move to another location where you can't directly see
that object any more, it will continue to be displayed on your
map. That remains the case even if it is not actually there any
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 50
-
-
-
more--perhaps a monster has picked it up or it has rotted away--
until you can see or feel that location again. One notable ex-
ception is that if the object gets covered by the "remembered,
er the object and resume remembering it.
The situation is the same for a pile of objects, except that
- only the top item of the pile is displayed. The hilite_pile op-
- tion can be enabled in order to show an item differently when it
- is the top one of a pile.
+ only the top item of the pile is displayed. The hilite_pile
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 51
+
+
+
+ option can be enabled in order to show an item differently when
+ it is the top one of a pile.
8. Conduct
(`P') other than the black puddings, eggs and food made from eggs
(fortune cookies and pancakes), food made with milk (cream pies
and candy bars), and lumps of royal jelly. Monks are expected to
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 51
-
-
-
observe a vegetarian diet.
Eating any kind of meat violates the vegetarian, vegan, and
brains while polymorphed into a mind flayer, is considered eating
an animal, although wax is only an animal byproduct.
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 52
+
+
+
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-
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)
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 52
-
-
-
in your starting inventory is assumed to be learned from your
teachers prior to the start of the game and isn't counted.
can't be bypassed, such as being unable to push a boulder diago-
nally. Other rules can, such as not smashing boulders with magic
or tools, but doing so causes you to receive a luck penalty. No
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 53
+
+
+
message about that is given at the time, but it is tracked as a
conduct. The #conduct command and end of game disclosure will
report whether you have abided by the special rules of Sokoban,
necessarily in the order in which you might accomplish them.
<Rank> - Attained rank title <Rank>.
-
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 53
-
-
-
Shop - Entered a shop.
Temple - Entered a temple.
Mines - Entered the Gnomish Mines.
and found a special item there.
Mines' End - Explored to the bottom of the Gnomish Mines
and found a special item there.
+
+
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 54
+
+
+
Medusa - Defeated Medusa.
Bell - Acquired the Bell of Opening.
Gehennom - Entered Gehennom.
dies.
Blind and Nudist are also conducts, and they can only be en-
- abled by setting the correspondingly named option in
+ abled by setting the correspondingly named option in NETHACKOP-
+ TIONS or run-time configuration file prior to game start. In the
+ case of Blind, the option also enforces the conduct. They aren't
+ really significant accomplishments unless/until you make substan-
+ tial progress into the dungeon.
+ 9. Options
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ 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.
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 54
- NETHACKOPTIONS or run-time configuration file prior to game
- start. In the case of Blind, the option also enforces the con-
- duct. They aren't really significant accomplishments unless/un-
- til you make substantial progress into the dungeon.
- 9. Options
+ NetHack Guidebook 55
+
- 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
tered or the file ends. Lines within sections are ignored unless
a CHOOSE directive has selected that section.
+ You can use different configuration directives in the file,
+ some of which can be used multiple times. In general, the direc-
+ tives are written in capital letters, followed by an equals sign,
+ followed by settings particular to that directive.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ Here is a list of allowed directives:
+ OPTIONS
+ There are two types of options, boolean and compound options.
+ Boolean options toggle a setting on or off, while compound
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 55
- You can use different configuration directives in the file,
- some of which can be used multiple times. In general, the direc-
- tives are written in capital letters, followed by an equals sign,
- followed by settings particular to that directive.
+ NetHack Guidebook 56
- Here is a list of allowed directives:
- OPTIONS
- There are two types of options, boolean and compound options.
- Boolean options toggle a setting on or off, while compound op-
- tions take more diverse values. Prefix a boolean option with
+
+ options take more diverse values. Prefix a boolean option with
"no" or `!' to turn it off. For compound options, the option
name and value are separated by a colon. Some options are per-
sistent, and apply only to new games. You can specify multiple
pletion has no effect for the X11 windowport. You can specify
multiple autocompletions. To enable autocompletion, list the
extended command. Prefix the command with "!" to disable the
+ autocompletion for that command.
+ Example:
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ AUTOCOMPLETE=zap,!annotate
+ AUTOPICKUP_EXCEPTION
+ Set exceptions to the pickup_types option. See the "Configur-
+ ing Autopickup Exceptions" section.
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 56
- autocompletion for that command.
- Example:
+ NetHack Guidebook 57
- AUTOCOMPLETE=zap,!annotate
- AUTOPICKUP_EXCEPTION
- Set exceptions to the pickup_types option. See the "Configur-
- ing Autopickup Exceptions" section.
BINDINGS
Change the key bindings of some special keys, menu accelera-
BOLS below.
SOUND
- Define a sound mapping. See the "Configuring User Sounds"
-
+ Define a sound mapping. See the "Configuring User Sounds" sec-
+ tion.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ SOUNDDIR
+ Define the directory that contains the sound files. See the
+ "Configuring User Sounds" section.
+ SYMBOLS
+ Override one or more symbols in the symbol set used for all
+ dungeon levels except for the special rogue level. See the
+ "Modifying NetHack Symbols" section.
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 57
- section.
+ NetHack Guidebook 58
- SOUNDDIR
- Define the directory that contains the sound files. See the
- "Configuring User Sounds" section.
- SYMBOLS
- Override one or more symbols in the symbol set used for all
- dungeon levels except for the special rogue level. See the
- "Modifying NetHack Symbols" section.
Example:
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"
+ 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
+ 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 color
+ is on, legacy is off, character name is set to "Blue Meanie", and
+ named fruit is set to "lime", you would enter the command
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "color,\!leg,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:lime"
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 58
- before 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.
+ NetHack Guidebook 59
- For example, to set up an environment variable so that color
- is on, legacy is off, character name is set to "Blue Meanie", and
- named fruit is set to "lime", you would enter the command
- % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "color,\!leg,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:lime"
in csh (note the need to escape the `!' since it's special to
that shell), or the pair of commands
ment from being picked randomly. Cannot be set with the `O'
command. Persistent.
+ autodescribe
+ Automatically describe the terrain under cursor when asked to
+ get a location on the map (default true). The whatis_coord op-
+ tion controls whether the description includes map coordinates.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ autodig
+ Automatically dig if you are wielding a digging tool and moving
+ into a place that can be dug (default false). Persistent.
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 59
- autodescribe
- Automatically describe the terrain under cursor when asked to
- get a location on the map (default true). The whatis_coord op-
- tion controls whether the description includes map coordinates.
- autodig
- Automatically dig if you are wielding a digging tool and moving
- into a place that can be dug (default false). Persistent.
+ NetHack Guidebook 60
+
+
autoopen
Walking into a closed door attempts to open it (default true).
Name your starting cat (for example "catname:Morris"). Cannot
be set with the `O' command.
+ character
+ Synonym for "role" to pick the type of your character (for ex-
+ ample "character:Monk"). See role for more details.
+ checkpoint
+ Save game state after each level change, for possible recovery
+ after program crash (default on). Persistent.
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ clicklook
+ Allows looking at things on the screen by navigating the mouse
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 60
+ NetHack Guidebook 61
- character
- Synonym for "role" to pick the type of your character (for ex-
- ample "character:Monk"). See role for more details.
- checkpoint
- Save game state after each level change, for possible recovery
- after program crash (default on). Persistent.
- clicklook
- Allows looking at things on the screen by navigating the mouse
over them and clicking the right mouse button (default off).
cmdassist
# - disclose it without prompting, ask for sort order.
Asking refers to picking one of the orderings from a menu. The
+ `+' disclose without prompting choice, or being prompted and
+ answering `y' rather than `a', will default to showing monsters
+ in the traditional order, from high level to low level.
+
+ Omitted categories are implicitly added with `n' prefix. Spec-
+ ified categories with omitted prefix implicitly use `+' prefix.
+ Order of the disclosure categories does not matter, program
+ display for end-of-game disclosure follows a set sequence.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 61
+ NetHack Guidebook 62
- `+' disclose without prompting choice, or being prompted and
- answering `y' rather than `a', will default to showing monsters
- in the traditional order, from high level to low level.
- Omitted categories are implicitly added with `n' prefix. Spec-
- ified categories with omitted prefix implicitly use `+' prefix.
- Order of the disclosure categories does not matter, program
- display for end-of-game disclosure follows a set sequence.
(for example "disclose:yi na +v -g o") The example sets inven-
tory to prompt and default to yes, attributes to prompt and de-
whimsy that NetHack uses from time to time. You should set
this to something you find more appetizing than slime mold.
Apples, oranges, pears, bananas, and melons already exist in
+ NetHack, so don't use those.
+ gender
+ 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 randomly pick
+ an appropriate gender. If you prefix the value with `!' or
+ "no", you will exclude that gender from being picked randomly.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 62
+ NetHack Guidebook 63
- NetHack, so don't use those.
- gender
- 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 randomly pick
- an appropriate gender. If you prefix the value with `!' or
- "no", you will exclude that gender from being picked randomly.
Cannot be set with the `O' command. Persistent.
goldX
hitpointbar
Show a hit point bar graph behind your name and title. Only
available for TTY and Windows GUI, and only when statushilites
+ is on.
+ horsename
+ Name your starting horse (for example "horsename:Trigger").
+ Cannot be set with the `O' command.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
+ ignintr
+ Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off). Per-
+ sistent.
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 63
- is on.
+ NetHack Guidebook 64
- horsename
- Name your starting horse (for example "horsename:Trigger").
- Cannot be set with the `O' command.
- ignintr
- Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off). Per-
- sistent.
implicit_uncursed
Omit "uncursed" from object descriptions when it can be deduced
menustyle
Controls the interface used when you need to choose various ob-
jects (in response to the Drop command, for instance). The
+ value specified should be the first letter of one of the fol-
+ lowing: traditional, combination, full, or partial. Persis-
+ tent.
+ Traditional was the only interface available for very 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 objects rather than prompting one-by-one.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 64
+ NetHack Guidebook 65
- value specified should be the first letter of one of the fol-
- lowing: traditional, combination, full, or partial. Persis-
- tent.
- Traditional was the only interface available for very 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 objects 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 object class filtering and immediately dis-
plays a menu of all objects.
menu_deselect_all
- Menu character accelerator to deselect all items in a menu.
- Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `-'.
+ Key to deselect all items in a menu. Default `-'.
menu_deselect_page
- Menu character accelerator to deselect all items on this page
- of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. De-
- fault `\'.
+ Key to deselect all items on this page of a menu. Default `\'.
menu_first_page
- Menu character accelerator to jump to the first page in a menu.
- Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `^'.
+ Key to jump to the first page in a menu. Default `^'.
menu_headings
Controls how the headings in a menu are highlighted. Values
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 `@'.
+ Key to invert all items in a menu. 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
- `~'.
+ Key to invert all items on this page of a menu. Default `~'.
menu_last_page
- Menu character accelerator to jump to the last page in a menu.
- Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `|'.
+ Key to jump to the last page in a menu. Default `|'.
menu_next_page
- Menu character accelerator to goto the next menu page. Imple-
- mented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `>'.
+ Key to go to the next menu page. Default `>'.
menu_objsyms
- Show object symbols in menu headings in menus where the object
+ Show object symbols in menu headings in menus where the object
symbols act as menu accelerators (default off).
+ menu_overlay
+ Do not clear the screen before drawing menus, and align menus
+ to the right edge of the screen. Only for the tty port. (de-
+ fault on)
+ menu_previous_page
+ Key to go to the previous menu page. Default `<'.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ menu_search
+ Key to search for some text and toggle selection state of
+ matching menu items. Default `:'.
+ menu_select_all
+ Key to select all items in a menu. Default `.'.
+ menu_select_page
+ Key to select all items on this page of a menu. Default `,'.
- NetHack Guidebook 65
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- menu_overlay
- Do not clear the screen before drawing menus, and align menus
- to the right edge of the screen. Only for the tty port. (de-
- fault on)
- menu_previous_page
- Menu character accelerator to goto the previous menu page. Im-
- plemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default `<'.
- menu_search
- 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-
- plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default `.'.
+ NetHack Guidebook 66
+
- 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_shift_left
+ Key to scroll a menu--one which has been scrolled right--back
+ to the left. Implemented for perm_invent only by curses and
+ X11. Default `{'.
+
+ menu_shift_right
+ Key to scroll a menu which has text beyond the right edge to
+ the right. Implemented for perm_invent only by curses and X11.
+ Default `}'.
monpolycontrol
Prompt for new form whenever any monster changes shape (default
off). Debug mode only.
mouse_support
- Allow use of the mouse for input and travel. Valid settings
+ Allow use of the mouse for input and travel. Valid settings
are:
0 - disabled
1 - enabled and make OS adjustments to support mouse use
2 - like 1 but does not make any OS adjustments
- Omitting a value is the same as specifying 1 and negating
+ Omitting a value is the same as specifying 1 and negating
mouse_support is the same as specifying 0.
msghistory
- The number of top line messages to keep (and be able to recall
+ The number of top line messages to keep (and be able to recall
with `^P') (default 20). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
msg_window
- Allows you to change the way recalled messages are displayed.
- Currently it is only supported for tty (all four choices) and
- for curses (`f' and `r' choices, default `r'). The possible
+ Allows you to change the way recalled messages are displayed.
+ Currently it is only supported for tty (all four choices) and
+ for curses (`f' and `r' choices, default `r'). The possible
values are:
s - single message (default; only choice prior to 3.4.0);
f - full window, oldest message first;
r - full window reversed, newest message first.
- For backward compatibility, no value needs to be specified
- (which defaults to "full"), or it can be negated (which
+ For backward compatibility, no value needs to be specified
+ (which defaults to "full"), or it can be negated (which
+ defaults to "single").
+ name
+ Set your character's name (defaults to your user name). You
+ can also set your character's role by appending a dash and one
+ 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 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ news
+ Read the NetHack news file, if present (default on). Since the
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 66
+ NetHack Guidebook 67
- defaults to "single").
- name
- Set your character's name (defaults to your user name). You
- can also set your character's role by appending a dash and one
- 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.
Send padding nulls to the terminal (default on). Persistent.
number_pad
- Use digit keys instead of letters to move (default 0 or off).
+ Use digit keys instead of letters to move (default 0 or off).
Valid settings are:
0 - move by letters; "yuhjklbn"
4 - combines 3 with 2; phone layout plus MS-DOS compatibility
-1 - by letters but use `z' to go northwest, `y' to zap wands
- For backward compatibility, omitting a value is the same as
- specifying 1 and negating number_pad is the same as specifying
- 0. (Settings 2 and 4 are for compatibility with MS-DOS 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 MS-DOS or old
PC Hack; in addition to the different behavior for `5', `Alt-5'
acts as `G' and `Alt-0' acts as `I'. Setting -1 is to accommo-
- date some QWERTZ keyboards which have the location of the `y'
- and `z' keys swapped.) When moving by numbers, to enter a
+ date some QWERTZ keyboards which have the location of the `y'
+ and `z' keys swapped.) When moving by numbers, to enter a
count prefix for those commands which accept one (such as "12s"
- to search twelve times), precede it with the letter `n'
+ to search twelve times), precede it with the letter `n'
("n12s").
packorder
- Specify the order to list object types in (default
+ Specify the order to list object types in (default
"")[%?+!=/(*`0_"). The value of this option should be a string
containing the symbols for the various object types. Any omit-
ted types are filled in at the end from the previous order.
paranoid_confirmation
- A space separated list of specific situations where alternate
- prompting is desired. The default is paranoid_confirma-
+ A space separated list of specific situations where alternate
+ prompting is desired. The default is paranoid_confirma-
tion:pray.
+ Confirm - for any prompts which are set to require "yes"
+ rather than `y', also require "no" to reject in-
+ stead of accepting any non-yes response as no
+ quit - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm quitting
+ the game or switching into non-scoring explore
+ 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
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 67
+ NetHack Guidebook 68
- Confirm - for any prompts which are set to require "yes"
- rather than `y', also require "no" to reject in-
- stead of accepting any non-yes response as no
- quit - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm quitting
- the game or switching into non-scoring explore
- 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 attack-
- ing a peaceful monster;
+ attacking a peaceful monster;
wand-break - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm breaking
a wand;
- eating - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm whether
+ eating - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm whether
to continue eating;
Were-change - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm changing
- form due to lycanthropy when hero has polymorph
+ form due to lycanthropy when hero has polymorph
control;
- pray - require `y' to confirm an attempt to pray rather
+ pray - require `y' to confirm an attempt to pray rather
than immediately praying; on by default;
- Remove - require selection from inventory for `R' and `T'
- commands even when wearing just one applicable
+ Remove - require selection from inventory for `R' and `T'
+ commands even when wearing just one applicable
item.
all - turn on all of the above.
- By default, the pray choice is enabled, the others disabled.
- To disable it without setting any of the other choices, use
+ By default, the pray choice is enabled, the others disabled.
+ To disable it without setting any of the other choices, use
"paranoid_confirmation:none". To keep it enabled while setting
- any of the others, include it in the list, such as "para-
+ any of the others, include it in the list, such as "para-
noid_confirmation:attack pray Remove".
perm_invent
- If true, always display your current inventory in a window.
- This only makes sense for windowing system interfaces that im-
+ If true, always display your current inventory in a window.
+ This only makes sense for windowing system interfaces that im-
plement this feature.
petattr
- Specifies one or more text highlighting attributes to use when
- showing pets on the map. Effectively a superset of the
+ Specifies one or more text highlighting attributes to use when
+ showing pets on the map. Effectively a superset of the
hilite_pet boolean option. Curses interface only; value is one
or more of the following letters.
l - Left line indicator
r - Right line indicator
+ Some of those choices might not work, particularly the final
+ three, depending upon terminal hardware or terminal emulation
+ software.
+ Currently multiple highlight-style letters can be combined by
+ simply stringing them together (for example, "bk"), but in the
+ future they might require being separated by plus signs (such
+ as "b+k", which works already). When using the `n' choice, it
+ should be specified on its own, not in combination with any of
+ the other letters.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 68
- Some of those choices might not work, particularly the final
- three, depending upon terminal hardware or terminal emulation
- software.
+ NetHack Guidebook 69
+
- Currently multiple highlight-style letters can be combined by
- simply stringing them together (for example, "bk"), but in the
- future they might require being separated by plus signs (such
- as "b+k", which works already). When using the `n' choice, it
- should be specified on its own, not in combination with any of
- the other letters.
pettype
- Specify the type of your initial pet, if you are playing a
- character class that uses multiple types of pets; or choose to
- have no initial pet at all. Possible values are "cat", "dog",
+ Specify the type of your initial pet, if you are playing a
+ character class that uses multiple types of pets; or choose to
+ have no initial pet at all. Possible values are "cat", "dog",
"horse", and "none". If the choice is not allowed for the role
- you are currently playing, it will be silently ignored. For
- example, "horse" will only be honored when playing a knight.
+ you are currently playing, it will be silently ignored. For
+ example, "horse" will only be honored when playing a knight.
Cannot be set with the `O' command.
pickup_burden
- When you pick up an item that would exceed this encumbrance
- level (Unencumbered, Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed,
- or overLoaded), you will be asked if you want to continue.
+ When you pick up an item that would exceed this encumbrance
+ level (Unencumbered, Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed,
+ or overLoaded), you will be asked if you want to continue.
(Default `S'). Persistent.
pickup_thrown
- If this option is on and autopickup is also on, try to pick up
- things that you threw, even if they aren't in pickup_types or
+ If this option is on and autopickup is also on, try to pick up
+ things that you threw, even if they aren't in pickup_types or
match an autopickup exception. Default is on. Persistent.
pickup_types
Default is all types. Persistent.
The value is a list of object symbols, such as pickup_types:$?!
- to pick up gold, scrolls, and potions. You can use autopick-
- up_exception configuration file lines to further refine au-
+ to pick up gold, scrolls, and potions. You can use autopick-
+ up_exception configuration file lines to further refine au-
topickup behavior.
- There is no way to set pickup_types to "none". (Setting it to
- an empty value reverts to "all".) If you want to avoid auto-
+ There is no way to set pickup_types to "none". (Setting it to
+ an empty value reverts to "all".) If you want to avoid auto-
matically picking up any types of items but do want to have au-
topickup on in order to have autopickup_exception settings con-
trol what you do and don't pick up, you can set pickup_types to
- `.'. That is the type symbol for venom and you won't come
+ `.'. That is the type symbol for venom and you won't come
across any venom items so won't unintentionally pick such up.
pile_limit
- When walking across a pile of objects on the floor, threshold
- at which the message "there are few/several/many objects here"
- is given instead of showing a popup list of those objects. A
- value of 0 means "no limit" (always list the objects); a value
- of 1 effectively means "never show the objects" since the pile
+ When walking across a pile of objects on the floor, threshold
+ at which the message "there are few/several/many objects here"
+ is given instead of showing a popup list of those objects. A
+ value of 0 means "no limit" (always list the objects); a value
+ of 1 effectively means "never show the objects" since the pile
+ size will always be at least that big; default value is 5.
+ Persistent.
+ playmode
+ Values are "normal", "explore", or "debug". Allows selection
+ of explore mode (also known as discovery mode) or debug mode
+ (also known as wizard mode) instead of normal play. Debug mode
+ might only be allowed for someone logged in under a particular
+ user name (on multi-user systems) or specifying a particular
+ character name (on single-user systems) or it might be disabled
+ entirely. Requesting it when not allowed or not possible
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 69
+ NetHack Guidebook 70
- size will always be at least that big; default value is 5.
- Persistent.
- playmode
- Values are "normal", "explore", or "debug". Allows selection
- of explore mode (also known as discovery mode) or debug mode
- (also known as wizard mode) instead of normal play. Debug mode
- might only be allowed for someone logged in under a particular
- user name (on multi-user systems) or specifying a particular
- character name (on single-user systems) or it might be disabled
- entirely. Requesting it when not allowed or not possible re-
- sults in explore mode instead. Default is normal play.
+ results in explore mode instead. Default is normal play.
pushweapon
- Using the `w' (wield) command when already wielding something
- pushes the old item into your alternate weapon slot (default
- off). Likewise for the `a' (apply) command if it causes the
+ Using the `w' (wield) command when already wielding something
+ pushes the old item into your alternate weapon slot (default
+ off). Likewise for the `a' (apply) command if it causes the
applied item to become wielded. Persistent.
quick_farsight
- When set, usually prevents the "you sense your surroundings"
- message where play pauses to allow you to browse the map when-
+ When set, usually prevents the "you sense your surroundings"
+ message where play pauses to allow you to browse the map when-
ever clairvoyance randomly activates. Some situations, such as
- being underwater or engulfed, ignore this option. It does not
+ being underwater or engulfed, ignore this option. It does not
affect the clairvoyance spell where pausing to examine revealed
- objects or monsters is less intrusive. Default is off. Per-
+ objects or monsters is less intrusive. Default is off. Per-
sistent.
race
Selects your race (for example, "race:human"). Default is ran-
- dom. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no", you will ex-
+ dom. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no", you will ex-
clude that race from being picked randomly. Cannot be set with
the `O' command. Persistent.
rest_on_space
- Make the space bar a synonym for the `.' (#wait) command (de-
+ Make the space bar a synonym for the `.' (#wait) command (de-
fault off). Persistent.
role
- Pick your type of character (for example "role:Samurai"); syn-
- onym for "character". See "name" for an alternate method of
- specifying your role. Normally only the first letter of the
- value is examined; `r' is an exception with "Rogue", "Ranger",
+ Pick your type of character (for example "role:Samurai"); syn-
+ onym for "character". See "name" for an alternate method of
+ specifying your role. Normally only the first letter of the
+ value is examined; `r' is an exception with "Rogue", "Ranger",
and "random" values. If you prefix the value with `!' or "no",
- you will exclude that role from being picked randomly. Cannot
+ you will exclude that role from being picked randomly. Cannot
be set with the `O' command. Persistent.
roguesymset
- This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
- found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
+ This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
+ found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
screen on the rogue level.
rlecomp
When writing out a save file, perform run length compression of
+ the map. Not all ports support run length compression. It has
+ 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
+ mouse click). The possible values are:
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ teleport - update the map after movement has finished;
+ run - update the map after every seven or so steps;
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 70
+ NetHack Guidebook 71
- 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
- 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. Persistent.
safe_pet
- Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
+ Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
Persistent.
safe_wait
- Prevents you from waiting or searching when next to a hostile
+ Prevents you from waiting or searching when next to a hostile
monster (default on). Persistent.
sanity_check
off). Debug mode only.
scores
- Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the end
- (for example "scores:5 top scores/4 around my score/own
+ Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the end
+ (for example "scores:5 top scores/4 around my score/own
scores"). Only the first letter of each category (`t', `a', or
`o') is necessary. Persistent.
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
+ 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
silent
Suppress terminal beeps (default on). Persistent.
+ sortdiscoveries
+ Controls the sorting behavior for the output of the `\' and ``'
+ commands. Persistent.
+
+ The possible values are:
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ o - list object types by class, in discovery order within each
+ class; default;
+ s - list object types by sortloot classification: by class, by
+ sub-class within class for classes which have substantial
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 71
+ NetHack Guidebook 72
- sortdiscoveries
- Controls the sorting behavior for the output of the `\' and ``'
- commands. Persistent.
- The possible values are:
- o - list object types by class, in discovery order within each
- class; default;
- s - list object types by sortloot classification: by class, by
- sub-class within class for classes which have substantial
- groupings (like helmets, boots, gloves, and so forth for
- armor), with object types partly-discovered via assigned
+ groupings (like helmets, boots, gloves, and so forth for
+ armor), with object types partly-discovered via assigned
name coming before fully identified types;
c - list by class, alphabetically within each class;
a - list alphabetically across all classes.
- Can be interactively set via the `O' command or via using the
+ Can be interactively set via the `O' command or via using the
`m' prefix before the `\' or ``' command.
sortloot
The possible values are:
full - always sort the lists;
- loot - only sort the lists that don't use inventory letters,
+ loot - only sort the lists that don't use inventory letters,
like with the #loot and pickup commands;
none - show lists the traditional way without sorting; default.
sortpack
- Sort the pack contents by type when displaying inventory (de-
+ Sort the pack contents by type when displaying inventory (de-
fault on). Persistent.
sparkle
Display a sparkly effect when a monster (including yourself) is
- hit by an attack to which it is resistant (default on). Per-
+ hit by an attack to which it is resistant (default on). Per-
sistent.
standout
Boldface monsters and "--More--" (default off). Persistent.
statushilites
- Controls how many turns status hilite behaviors highlight the
- field. If negated or set to zero, disables status hiliting.
+ Controls how many turns status hilite behaviors highlight the
+ field. If negated or set to zero, disables status hiliting.
See "Configuring Status Hilites" for further information.
status_updates
- Allow updates to the status lines at the bottom of the screen
+ Allow updates to the status lines at the bottom of the screen
(default true).
suppress_alert
- This option may be set to a NetHack version level to suppress
- alert notification messages about feature changes for that and
+ This option may be set to a NetHack version level to suppress
+ alert notification messages about feature changes for that and
+ prior versions (for example "suppress_alert:3.3.1").
+ symset
+ This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
+ found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
+ screen. Use "symset:default" to explicitly select the default
+ symbols.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ time
+ Show the elapsed game time in turns on bottom line (default
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 72
+ NetHack Guidebook 73
- prior versions (for example "suppress_alert:3.3.1").
- symset
- This option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
- found within "symbols" to alter the symbols displayed on the
- screen. Use "symset:default" to explicitly select the default
- symbols.
- time
- Show the elapsed game time in turns on bottom line (default
off). Persistent.
timed_delay
- When pausing momentarily for display effect, such as with ex-
- plosions and moving objects, use a timer rather than sending
- extra characters to the screen. (Applies to "tty" interface
+ When pausing momentarily for display effect, such as with ex-
+ plosions and moving objects, use a timer rather than sending
+ extra characters to the screen. (Applies to "tty" interface
only; "X11" interface always uses a timer based delay. The de-
fault is on if configured into the program.) Persistent.
toptenwin
Put the ending display in a NetHack window instead of on stdout
- (default off). Setting this option makes the score list visi-
- ble when a windowing version of NetHack is started without a
- parent window, but it no longer leaves the score list around
+ (default off). Setting this option makes the score list visi-
+ ble when a windowing version of NetHack is started without a
+ parent window, but it no longer leaves the score list around
after game end on a terminal or emulating window.
travel
Allow the travel command via mouse click (default on). Turning
this option off will prevent the game from attempting unintend-
- ed moves if you make inadvertent mouse clicks on the map win-
- dow. Does not affect traveling via the `_' ("#travel") com-
+ ed moves if you make inadvertent mouse clicks on the map win-
+ dow. Does not affect traveling via the `_' ("#travel") com-
mand. Persistent.
verbose
- Provide more commentary during the game (default on). Persis-
+ Provide more commentary during the game (default on). Persis-
tent.
whatis_coord
- When using the `/' or `;' commands to look around on the map
- with autodescribe on, display coordinates after the descrip-
- tion. Also works in other situations where you are asked to
+ When using the `/' or `;' commands to look around on the map
+ with autodescribe on, display coordinates after the descrip-
+ tion. Also works in other situations where you are asked to
pick a location.
The possible settings are:
s - screen [row,column] (row is offset to match tty usage);
n - none (no coordinates shown) [default].
+ The whatis_coord option is also used with the "/m", "/M", "/o",
+ and "/O" sub-commands of `/', where the "none" setting is over-
+ ridden with "map".
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ whatis_filter
+ When getting a location on the map, and using the keys to cycle
+ through next and previous targets, allows filtering the possi-
+ ble targets.
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 73
- The whatis_coord option is also used with the "/m", "/M",
- "/o", and "/O" sub-commands of `/', where the "none" set-
- ting is overridden with "map".
+ NetHack Guidebook 74
+
- whatis_filter
- When getting a location on the map, and using the keys to cycle
- through next and previous targets, allows filtering the possi-
- ble targets.
n - no filtering [default]
v - in view only
a - in same area only
- The area-filter tries to be slightly predictive--if you're
+ The area-filter tries to be slightly predictive--if you're
standing on a doorway, it will consider the area on the side of
the door you were last moving towards.
- Filtering can also be changed when getting a location with the
+ Filtering can also be changed when getting a location with the
"getpos.filter" key.
whatis_menu
- When getting a location on the map, and using a key to cycle
+ When getting a location on the map, and using a key to cycle
through next and previous targets, use a menu instead to pick a
target. (default off)
whatis_moveskip
- When getting a location on the map, and using shifted movement
+ When getting a location on the map, and using shifted movement
keys or meta-digit keys to fast-move, instead of moving 8 units
at a time, move by skipping the same glyphs. (default off)
windowtype
When the program has been built to support multiple interfaces,
- select which one to use, such as "tty" or "X11" (default de-
+ select which one to use, such as "tty" or "X11" (default de-
pends on build-time settings; use "#version" to check). Cannot
be set with the `O' command.
- When used, it should be the first option set since its value
- might enable or disable the availability of various other op-
- tions. For multiple lines in a configuration file, that would
- be the first non-comment line. For a comma-separated list in
+ When used, it should be the first option set since its value
+ might enable or disable the availability of various other op-
+ tions. For multiple lines in a configuration file, that would
+ be the first non-comment line. For a comma-separated list in
NETHACKOPTIONS or an OPTIONS line in a configuration file, that
would be the rightmost option in the list.
off). Debug mode only.
zerocomp
- When writing out a save file, perform zero-comp compression of
- the contents. Not all ports support zero-comp compression. It
+ When writing out a save file, perform zero-comp compression of
+ the contents. Not all ports support zero-comp compression. It
has no effect on reading an existing save file.
+ 9.5. Window Port Customization options
+ Here are explanations of the various options that are used
+ to customize and change the characteristics of the windowtype
+ that you have chosen. Character strings that are too long may be
+ truncated. Not all window ports will adjust for all settings
+ listed here. You can safely add any of these options to your
+ configuration file, and if the window port is capable of adjust-
+ ing to suit your preferences, it will attempt to do so. If it
+ can't it will silently ignore it. You can find out if an option
+ is supported by the window port that you are currently using by
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 74
+ NetHack Guidebook 75
- 9.5. Window Port Customization options
- Here are explanations of the various options that are used
- to customize and change the characteristics of the windowtype
- that you have chosen. Character strings that are too long may be
- truncated. Not all window ports will adjust for all settings
- listed here. You can safely add any of these options to your
- configuration file, and if the window port is capable of adjust-
- ing to suit your preferences, it will attempt to do so. If it
- can't it will silently ignore it. You can find out if an option
- is supported by the window port that you are currently using by
checking to see if it shows up in the Options list. Some options
- are dynamic and can be specified during the game with the `O'
+ are dynamic and can be specified during the game with the `O'
command.
align_message
- Where to align or place the message window (top, bottom, left,
+ Where to align or place the message window (top, bottom, left,
or right)
align_status
- Where to align or place the status window (top, bottom, left,
+ Where to align or place the status window (top, bottom, left,
or right).
ascii_map
- If NetHack can, it should display the map using simple charac-
- ters (letters and punctuation) rather than tiles graphics. In
- some cases, characters can be augmented with line-drawing sym-
- bols; use the symset option to select a symbol set such as
+ If NetHack can, it should display the map using simple charac-
+ ters (letters and punctuation) rather than tiles graphics. In
+ some cases, characters can be augmented with line-drawing sym-
+ bols; use the symset option to select a symbol set such as
DECgraphics or IBMgraphics if your display supports them. Set-
ting ascii_map to True forces tiled_map to be False.
monsters, objects, and dungeon features.
eight_bit_tty
- If NetHack can, it should pass eight-bit character values (for
- example, specified with the traps option) straight through to
+ If NetHack can, it should pass eight-bit character values (for
+ example, specified with the traps option) straight through to
your terminal (default off).
font_map
map window.
font_menu
- If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
+ If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
menu windows.
font_message
font_status
If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the
+ status window.
+
+ font_text
+ If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
+ text windows.
+ font_size_map
+ If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the map win-
+ dow.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 75
- status window.
+ NetHack Guidebook 76
- font_text
- If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for
- text windows.
- font_size_map
- If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the map win-
- dow.
font_size_menu
If NetHack can, it should use this size font for menu windows.
font_size_message
- If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the message
+ If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the message
window.
font_size_status
- If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the status
+ If NetHack can, it should use this size font for the status
window.
font_size_text
If NetHack can, it should use this size font for text windows.
fullscreen
- If NetHack can, it should try and display on the entire screen
+ If NetHack can, it should try and display on the entire screen
rather than in a window.
guicolor
- Use color text and/or highlighting attributes when displaying
- some non-map data (such as menu selector letters). Curses in-
+ Use color text and/or highlighting attributes when displaying
+ some non-map data (such as menu selector letters). Curses in-
terface only; default is on.
large_font
If NetHack can, it should use a large font.
map_mode
- If NetHack can, it should display the map in the manner speci-
+ If NetHack can, it should display the map in the manner speci-
fied.
player_selection
- If NetHack can, it should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts
+ If NetHack can, it should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts
for character selection.
popup_dialog
preload_tiles
If NetHack can, it should preload tiles into memory. For exam-
- ple, in the protected mode MS-DOS version, control whether
- tiles get pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game. Doing
- so enhances performance of the tile graphics, but uses more
+ ple, in the protected mode MS-DOS version, control whether
+ tiles get pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game. Doing
+ so enhances performance of the tile graphics, but uses more
memory. (default on). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
+ scroll_amount
+ If NetHack can, it should scroll the display by this number of
+ cells when the hero reaches the scroll_margin.
+ scroll_margin
+ If NetHack can, it should scroll the display when the hero or
+ cursor is this number of cells away from the edge of the win-
+ dow.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 76
- scroll_amount
- If NetHack can, it should scroll the display by this number of
- cells when the hero reaches the scroll_margin.
+ NetHack Guidebook 77
+
- scroll_margin
- If NetHack can, it should scroll the display when the hero or
- cursor is this number of cells away from the edge of the win-
- dow.
selectsaved
- If NetHack can, it should display a menu of existing saved
+ If NetHack can, it should display a menu of existing saved
games for the player to choose from at game startup, if it can.
Not all ports support this option.
softkeyboard
- Display an onscreen keyboard. Handhelds are most likely to
+ Display an onscreen keyboard. Handhelds are most likely to
support this option.
splash_screen
it starts up (default yes).
statuslines
- Number of lines for traditional below-the-map status display.
+ Number of lines for traditional below-the-map status display.
Acceptable values are 2 and 3 (default is 2).
- When set to 3, the tty interface moves some fields around and
- mainly shows status conditions on their own line. A display
+ When set to 3, the tty interface moves some fields around and
+ mainly shows status conditions on their own line. A display
capable of showing at least 25 lines is recommended. The value
can be toggled back and forth during the game with the `O' com-
mand.
- The curses interface does likewise if the align_status option
- is set to top or bottom but ignores statuslines when set to
+ The curses interface does likewise if the align_status option
+ is set to top or bottom but ignores statuslines when set to
left or right.
- The Qt interface already displays more than 3 lines for status
- so uses the statuslines value differently. A value of 3 ren-
- ders status in the Qt interface's original format, with the
+ The Qt interface already displays more than 3 lines for status
+ so uses the statuslines value differently. A value of 3 ren-
+ ders status in the Qt interface's original format, with the
status window spread out vertically. A value of 2 makes status
be slightly condensed, moving some fields to different lines to
eliminate one whole line, reducing the height needed.
term_cols and
term_rows
- Curses interface only. Number of columns and rows to use for
+ Curses interface only. Number of columns and rows to use for
the display. Curses will attempt to resize to the values spec-
- ified but will settle for smaller sizes if they are too big.
+ ified but will settle for smaller sizes if they are too big.
Default is the current window size.
tile_file
- Specify the name of an alternative tile file to override the
+ Specify the name of an alternative tile file to override the
default.
+ tile_height
+ Specify the preferred height of each tile in a tile capable
+ port.
+
+ tile_width
+ Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable port
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 77
- tile_height
- Specify the preferred height of each tile in a tile capable
- port.
+ NetHack Guidebook 78
+
- tile_width
- Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable port
tiled_map
- If NetHack can, it should display the map using tiles graphics
- rather than simple characters (letters and punctuation, possi-
- bly augmented by line-drawing symbols). Setting tiled_map to
+ If NetHack can, it should display the map using tiles graphics
+ rather than simple characters (letters and punctuation, possi-
+ bly augmented by line-drawing symbols). Setting tiled_map to
True forces ascii_map to be False.
use_darkgray
Use bold black instead of blue for black glyphs (TTY only).
use_inverse
- If NetHack can, it should display inverse when the game speci-
+ If NetHack can, it should display inverse when the game speci-
fies it.
vary_msgcount
- If NetHack can, it should display this number of messages at a
+ If NetHack can, it should display this number of messages at a
time in the message window.
windowborders
- Whether to draw boxes around the map, status area, message
- area, and persistent inventory window if enabled. Curses in-
+ Whether to draw boxes around the map, status area, message
+ area, and persistent inventory window if enabled. Curses in-
terface only. Acceptable values are
0 - off, never show borders
3 - on, except forced off for perm_invent
4 - auto, except forced off for perm_invent
- (The 26x82 size threshold for `2' refers to number of rows and
- columns of the display. A width of at least 110 columns
+ (The 26x82 size threshold for `2' refers to number of rows and
+ columns of the display. A width of at least 110 columns
(80+2+26+2) is needed to show borders if align_status is set to
left or right.)
- The persistent inventory window, when enabled, can grow until
- it is too big to fit on most displays, resulting in truncation
- of its contents. If borders are forced on (1) or the display
+ The persistent inventory window, when enabled, can grow until
+ it is too big to fit on most displays, resulting in truncation
+ of its contents. If borders are forced on (1) or the display
is big enough to show them (2), setting the value to 3 or 4 in-
- stead will keep borders for the map, message, and status win-
- dows but have room for two additional lines of inventory plus
+ stead will keep borders for the map, message, and status win-
+ dows but have room for two additional lines of inventory plus
widen each inventory line by two columns.
windowcolors
- If NetHack can, it should display windows with the specified
+ If NetHack can, it should display windows with the specified
foreground/background colors. Windows GUI only. The format is
OPTION=windowcolors:wintype foreground/background
+ where wintype is one of "menu", "message", "status", or
+ "text", and foreground and background are colors, either a hexa-
+ decimal \'#rrggbb', one of the named colors (black, red, green,
+ brown, blue, magenta, cyan, orange, brightgreen, yellow, bright-
+ blue, brightmagenta, brightcyan, white, trueblack, gray, purple,
+ silver, maroon, fuchsia, lime, olive, navy, teal, aqua), or one
+ of Windows UI colors (activeborder, activecaption, appworkspace,
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 78
+ NetHack Guidebook 79
- where wintype is one of "menu", "message", "status", or
- "text", and foreground and background are colors, either a hexa-
- decimal \'#rrggbb', one of the named colors (black, red, green,
- brown, blue, magenta, cyan, orange, brightgreen, yellow, bright-
- blue, brightmagenta, brightcyan, white, trueblack, gray, purple,
- silver, maroon, fuchsia, lime, olive, navy, teal, aqua), or one
- of Windows UI colors (activeborder, activecaption, appworkspace,
- background, btnface, btnshadow, btntext, captiontext, graytext,
- greytext, highlight, highlighttext, inactiveborder, inactivecap-
- tion, menu, menutext, scrollbar, window, windowframe, window-
+ background, btnface, btnshadow, btntext, captiontext, graytext,
+ greytext, highlight, highlighttext, inactiveborder, inactivecap-
+ tion, menu, menutext, scrollbar, window, windowframe, window-
text).
wraptext
9.6. Platform-specific Customization options
- Here are explanations of options that are used by specific
+ Here are explanations of options that are used by specific
platforms or ports to customize and change the port behavior.
altkeyhandler
- Select an alternate keystroke handler dll to load (Win32 tty
- NetHack only). The name of the handler is specified without
+ Select an alternate keystroke handler dll to load (Win32 tty
+ NetHack only). The name of the handler is specified without
the .dll extension and without any path information. Cannot be
set with the `O' command.
altmeta
On other (non-Amiga) systems where this option is available, it
- can be set to tell NetHack to convert a two character sequence
- beginning with ESC into a meta-shifted version of the second
+ can be set to tell NetHack to convert a two character sequence
+ beginning with ESC into a meta-shifted version of the second
character (default off).
- This conversion is only done for commands, not for other input
+ This conversion is only done for commands, not for other input
prompts. Note that typing one or more digits as a count prefix
- prior to a command--preceded by n if the number_pad option is
+ 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 off, Amiga NetHack only).
+ MACgraphics
+ (default on, Mac NetHack only).
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ page_wait
+ (default on, Mac NetHack only).
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 79
- MACgraphics
- (default on, Mac NetHack only).
+ NetHack Guidebook 80
+
- page_wait
- (default on, Mac NetHack only).
rawio
- Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more bullet-
- proof input (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer toggle
- without it) (default off, OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack only).
- Note: DEC Rainbows hang if this is turned on. Cannot be set
+ Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more bullet-
+ proof input (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer toggle
+ without it) (default off, OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack only).
+ Note: DEC Rainbows hang if this is turned on. Cannot be set
with the `O' command.
subkeyvalue
- (Win32 tty NetHack only). May be used to alter the value of
+ (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
+ 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 assign-
- ments in the configuration file if needed. Cannot be set with
+ ments in the configuration file if needed. Cannot be set with
the `O' command.
video
Set the video mode used (PC NetHack only). Values are "autode-
- tect", "default", "vga", or "vesa". Setting "vesa" will cause
+ tect", "default", "vga", or "vesa". Setting "vesa" will cause
the game to display tiles, using the full capability of the VGA
- hardware. Setting "vga" will cause the game to display tiles,
- fixed at 640x480 in 16 colors, a mode that is compatible with
- all VGA hardware. Third party tilesets will probably not work.
- Setting "autodetect" attempts "vesa", then "vga", and finally
- sets "default" if neither of those modes works. Cannot be set
+ hardware. Setting "vga" will cause the game to display tiles,
+ fixed at 640x480 in 16 colors, a mode that is compatible with
+ all VGA hardware. Third party tilesets will probably not work.
+ Setting "autodetect" attempts "vesa", then "vga", and finally
+ sets "default" if neither of those modes works. Cannot be set
with the `O' command.
video_height
- Set the VGA mode resolution height (MS-DOS only, with
+ Set the VGA mode resolution height (MS-DOS only, with
video:vesa)
video_width
- Set the VGA mode resolution width (MS-DOS only, with
+ Set the VGA mode resolution width (MS-DOS only, with
video:vesa)
videocolors
- Set the color palette for PC systems using NO_TERMS (default
- 4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11, (PC NetHack only). The order
- of colors is red, green, brown, blue, magenta, cyan,
- bright.white, bright.red, bright.green, yellow, bright.blue,
- bright.magenta, and bright.cyan. Cannot be set with the `O'
+ Set the color palette for PC systems using NO_TERMS (default
+ 4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11, (PC NetHack only). The order
+ of colors is red, green, brown, blue, magenta, cyan,
+ bright.white, bright.red, bright.green, yellow, bright.blue,
+ bright.magenta, and bright.cyan. Cannot be set with the `O'
command.
videoshades
Set the intensity level of the three gray scales available (de-
fault dark normal light, PC NetHack only). If the game display
- is difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if this does
- not correct the problem, try !color. Cannot be set with the
+ is difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if this does
+ not correct the problem, try !color. Cannot be set with the
+ `O' command.
+ 9.7. Regular Expressions
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ Regular expressions are normally POSIX extended regular ex-
+ pressions. It is possible to compile NetHack without regular
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 80
+ NetHack Guidebook 81
- `O' command.
- 9.7. Regular Expressions
- Regular expressions are normally POSIX extended regular ex-
- pressions. It is possible to compile NetHack without regular ex-
- pression support on a platform where there is no regular expres-
- sion library. While this is not true of any modern platform, if
- your NetHack was built this way, patterns are instead glob pat-
- terns. This applies to Autopickup exceptions, Message types, Menu
- colors, and User sounds.
+ expression support on a platform where there is no regular ex-
+ pression library. While this is not true of any modern platform,
+ if your NetHack was built this way, patterns are instead glob
+ patterns. This applies to Autopickup exceptions, Message types,
+ Menu colors, and User sounds.
9.8. Configuring Autopickup Exceptions
You can further refine the behavior of the autopickup option
beyond what is available through the pickup_types option.
- By placing autopickup_exception lines in your configuration
- file, you can define patterns to be checked when the game is
+ By placing autopickup_exception lines in your configuration
+ file, you can define patterns to be checked when the game is
about to autopickup something.
autopickup_exception
- Sets an exception to the pickup_types option. The autopick-
- up_exception option should be followed by a regular expression
- to be used as a pattern to match against the singular form of
+ Sets an exception to the pickup_types option. The autopick-
+ up_exception option should be followed by a regular expression
+ to be used as a pattern to match against the singular form of
the description of an object at your location.
- In addition, some characters are treated specially if they oc-
+ In addition, some characters are treated specially if they oc-
cur as the first character in the pattern, specifically:
< - always pickup an object that matches rest of pattern;
> - never pickup an object that matches rest of pattern.
- The autopickup_exception rules are processed in the order in
- which they appear in your configuration file, thus allowing a
+ The autopickup_exception rules are processed in the order in
+ which they appear in your configuration file, thus allowing a
later rule to override an earlier rule.
- Exceptions can be set with the `O' command, but because they
- are not included in your configuration file, they won't be in
- effect if you save and then restore your game. autopickup_ex-
+ Exceptions can be set with the `O' command, but because they
+ are not included in your configuration file, they won't be in
+ effect if you save and then restore your game. autopickup_ex-
ception rules and not saved with the game.
Here are some examples:
autopickup_exception=">*corpse"
autopickup_exception=">* cursed*"
- The first example above will result in autopickup of any
- type of arrow. The second example results in the exclusion of
- any corpse from autopickup. The last example results in the ex-
+ The first example above will result in autopickup of any
+ type of arrow. The second example results in the exclusion of
+ any corpse from autopickup. The last example results in the ex-
clusion of items known to be cursed from autopickup.
+ 9.9. Changing Key Bindings
+ It is possible to change the default key bindings of some
+ special commands, menu accelerator keys, and extended commands,
+ by using BIND stanzas in the configuration file. Format is key,
+ followed by the command to bind to, separated by a colon. The
+ key can be a single character ("x"), a control key ("^X", "C-x"),
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 81
+ NetHack Guidebook 82
- 9.9. Changing Key Bindings
- It is possible to change the default key bindings of some
- special commands, menu accelerator keys, and extended commands,
- by using BIND stanzas in the configuration file. Format is key,
- followed by the command to bind to, separated by a colon. The
- key can be a single character ("x"), a control key ("^X", "C-x"),
a meta key ("M-x"), or a three-digit decimal ASCII code.
For example:
BIND=^X:getpos.autodescribe
- BIND={:menu_first_page
+ BIND=\:menu_first_page
BIND=v:loot
Extended command keys
- You can bind multiple keys to the same extended command. Un-
- bind a key by using "nothing" as the extended command to bind
- to. You can also bind the "<esc>", "<enter>", and "<space>"
+ You can bind multiple keys to the same extended command. Un-
+ bind a key by using "nothing" as the extended command to bind
+ to. You can also bind the "<esc>", "<enter>", and "<space>"
keys.
Menu accelerator keys
- The menu control or accelerator keys can also be rebound via
- OPTIONS lines in the configuration file. You cannot bind ob-
- ject symbols into menu accelerators.
+ The menu control or accelerator keys can also be rebound via
+ OPTIONS lines in the configuration file. You cannot bind ob-
+ ject symbols or selection letters into menu accelerators. Some
+ interfaces only support some of the menu accelerators.
Special command keys
Below are the special commands you can rebind. Some of them
When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
fault is `.'.
+ getdir.self2
+ When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
+ fault is `s'.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 82
- getdir.self2
- When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. De-
- fault is `s'.
+ NetHack Guidebook 83
+
+
getpos.autodescribe
When asked for a location, the key to toggle autodescribe. De-
or meta-digit keys to fast-move around, move by skipping the
same glyphs instead of by 8 units. Default is `*'.
+ getpos.filter
+ When asked for a location, change the filtering mode when using
+ one of the next or previous keys to cycle through targets.
+ Toggles between no filtering, in view only, and in the same
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 83
+ NetHack Guidebook 84
- getpos.filter
- When asked for a location, change the filtering mode when using
- one of the next or previous keys to cycle through targets.
- Toggles between no filtering, in view only, and in the same
area only. Default is `"'.
getpos.pick
redraw
Key to redraw the screen. Default is `^R'.
+ redraw.numpad
+ Key to redraw the screen. With number_pad only. Default is
+ `^L'.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 84
+ NetHack Guidebook 85
- redraw.numpad
- Key to redraw the screen. With number_pad only. Default is
- `^L'.
repeat
Key to repeat previous command. Default is `^A'.
norep - show the message once, but not again if no other mes-
sage is shown in between.
+ Here's an example of message types using NetHack's internal
+ pattern matching facility:
+ MSGTYPE=stop "You feel hungry."
+ MSGTYPE=hide "You displaced *."
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 85
+ NetHack Guidebook 86
- 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.
+ specifies that whenever a message "You feel hungry" is
+ shown, the user is prompted with more-prompt, and a mes-
+ sage 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
+ The order of the defined MSGTYPE lines is important; the last
+ matching rule is used. Put the general case first, exceptions
below them.
9.11. Configuring Menu Colors
Some platforms allow you to define colors used in menu lines
- when the line matches a user-defined pattern. At this time the
+ when the line matches a user-defined pattern. At this time the
tty, curses, win32tty and win32gui interfaces support this.
- In general, the configuration file entries to describe the
+ In general, the configuration file entries to describe the
menu color mappings look like this:
MENUCOLOR="pattern"=color&attribute
pattern - the pattern to match;
- color - the color to use for lines matching the pat-
+ color - the color to use for lines matching the pat-
tern;
- attribute - the attribute to use for lines matching the
- pattern. The attribute is optional, and if
+ attribute - the attribute to use for lines matching the
+ pattern. The attribute is optional, and if
left out, you must also leave out the preced-
- ing ampersand. If no attribute is defined,
+ ing ampersand. If no attribute is defined,
no attribute is used.
The pattern should be a regular expression.
- Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
- cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-ma-
- genta, light-cyan, and white. And no-color, the default fore-
- ground color, which isn't necessarily the same as any of the
+ Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
+ cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-ma-
+ genta, light-cyan, and white. And no-color, the default fore-
+ ground color, which isn't necessarily the same as any of the
other colors.
- Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink, and
- inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none". Note that the
+ Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink, and
+ inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none". Note that the
platform used may interpret the attributes any way it wants.
- Here's an example of menu colors using NetHack's internal pat-
+ 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
+ specifies that any menu line with " blessed " contained in it
+ will be shown in green color, lines with " cursed " will be
+ shown in red, and lines with " cursed " followed by "(being
+ worn)" on the same line will be shown in red color and under-
+ lined. You can have multiple MENUCOLOR entries in your config-
+ uration file, and the last MENUCOLOR line that matches a menu
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 86
+ NetHack Guidebook 87
- will be shown in green color, lines with " cursed " will be
- shown in red, and lines with " cursed " followed by "(being
- worn)" on the same line will be shown in red color and under-
- lined. You can have multiple MENUCOLOR entries in your config-
- uration file, and the last MENUCOLOR line that matches a menu
line will be used for the line.
Note that if you intend to have one or more color specifica-
- tions match " uncursed ", you will probably want to turn the im-
+ tions match " uncursed ", you will probably want to turn the im-
plicit_uncursed option off so that all items known to be uncursed
are actually displayed with the "uncursed" description.
9.12. Configuring User Sounds
- Some platforms allow you to define sound files to be played
- when a message that matches a user-defined pattern is delivered
+ Some platforms allow you to define sound files to be played
+ when a message that matches a user-defined pattern is delivered
to the message window. At this time the Qt port and the win32tty
and win32gui ports support the use of user sounds.
- The following configuration file entries are relevant to
+ The following configuration file entries are relevant to
mapping user sounds to messages:
SOUNDDIR
The directory that houses the sound files to be played.
SOUND
- An entry that maps a sound file to a user-specified message
- pattern. Each SOUND entry is broken down into the following
+ An entry that maps a sound file to a user-specified message
+ pattern. Each SOUND entry is broken down into the following
parts:
MESG - message window mapping (the only one supported in
3.6);
pattern - the pattern to match;
sound file - the sound file to play;
- volume - the volume to be set while playing the sound
+ volume - the volume to be set while playing the sound
file;
- sound index - optional; the index corresponding to a sound
+ sound index - optional; the index corresponding to a sound
file.
The pattern should be a POSIX extended regular expression.
9.13. Configuring Status Hilites
Your copy of NetHack may have been compiled with support for
- "Status Hilites". If so, you can customize your game display by
+ "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.
OPTION=hilite_status:field-name/behavior/color&attributes
- For example, the following line in your configuration file
- will cause the hitpoints field to display in the color red if
+ For example, the following line in your configuration file
+ will cause the hitpoints field to display in the color red if
+ your hitpoints drop to or below a threshold of 30%:
+ OPTION=hilite_status:hitpoints/<=30%/red/normal
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ (That example is actually specifying red&normal for <=30% and no-
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 87
+ NetHack Guidebook 88
- your hitpoints drop to or below a threshold of 30%:
- OPTION=hilite_status:hitpoints/<=30%/red/normal
- (That example is actually specifying red&normal for <=30% and no-
color&normal for >30%.)
- For another example, the following line in your configura-
- tion file will cause wisdom to be displayed red if it drops and
+ For another example, the following line in your configura-
+ tion file will cause wisdom to be displayed red if it drops and
green if it rises:
OPTION=hilite_status:wisdom/down/red/up/green
- Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
+ Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue, magenta,
cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-magen-
- ta, light-cyan, and white. And "no-color", the default fore-
+ ta, light-cyan, and white. And "no-color", the default fore-
ground color on the display, which is not necessarily the same as
black or white or any of the other colors.
- Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink,
- and inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none"; they should not
+ Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline, blink,
+ and inverse. "Normal" is a synonym for "none"; they should not
be used in combination with any of the other attributes.
To specify both a color and an attribute, use `&' to combine
- them. To specify multiple attributes, use `+' to combine those.
+ them. To specify multiple attributes, use `+' to combine those.
For example: "magenta&inverse+dim".
- Note that the display may substitute or ignore particular
- attributes depending upon its capabilities, and in general may
- interpret the attributes any way it wants. For example, on some
+ Note that the display may substitute or ignore particular
+ attributes depending upon its capabilities, and in general may
+ interpret the attributes any way it wants. For example, on some
display systems a request for bold might yield blink or vice ver-
sa. On others, issuing an attribute request while another is al-
- ready set up will replace the earlier attribute rather than com-
- bine with it. Since NetHack issues attribute requests sequen-
+ ready set up will replace the earlier attribute rather than com-
+ bine with it. Since NetHack issues attribute requests sequen-
tially (at least with the tty interface) rather than all at once,
the only way a situation like that can be controlled is to speci-
fy just one attribute.
- You can adjust the appearance of the following status
+ You can adjust the appearance of the following status
fields:
title dungeon-level experience-level
strength gold experience
charisma armor-class condition
alignment score
- The pseudo-field "characteristics" can be used to set all six
- of Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha at once. "HD" is "hit
- dice", an approximation of experience level displayed when
- polymorphed. "experience", "time", and "score" are condition-
+ The pseudo-field "characteristics" can be used to set all six
+ of Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha at once. "HD" is "hit
+ dice", an approximation of experience level displayed when
+ polymorphed. "experience", "time", and "score" are condition-
ally displayed depending upon your other option settings.
+ Instead of a behavior, "condition" takes the following condi-
+ tion flags: stone, slime, strngl, foodpois, termill, blind,
+ deaf, stun, conf, hallu, lev, fly, and ride. You can use "ma-
+ jor_troubles" as an alias for stone through termill,
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 88
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 89
- Instead of a behavior, "condition" takes the following condi-
- tion flags: stone, slime, strngl, foodpois, termill, blind,
- deaf, stun, conf, hallu, lev, fly, and ride. You can use "ma-
- jor_troubles" as an alias for stone through termill, "mi-
- nor_troubles" for blind through hallu, "movement" for lev, fly,
- and ride, and "all" for every condition.
+ "minor_troubles" for blind through hallu, "movement" for lev,
+ fly, and ride, and "all" for every condition.
Allowed behaviors are "always", "up", "down", "changed", a per-
centage or absolute number threshold, or text to match against.
* "always" will set the default attributes for that field.
- * "up", "down" set the field attributes for when the field
- value changes upwards or downwards. This attribute times
+ * "up", "down" set the field attributes for when the field
+ value changes upwards or downwards. This attribute times
out after statushilites turns.
* "changed" sets the field attribute for when the field val-
- ue changes. This attribute times out after statushilites
- turns. (If a field has both a "changed" rule and an "up"
- or "down" rule which matches a change in the field's val-
+ ue changes. This attribute times out after statushilites
+ turns. (If a field has both a "changed" rule and an "up"
+ or "down" rule which matches a change in the field's val-
ue, the "up" or "down" one takes precedence.)
- * percentage sets the field attribute when the field value
- matches the percentage. It is specified as a number be-
- tween 0 and 100, followed by `%' (percent sign). If the
- percentage is prefixed with `<=' or `>=', it also matches
- when value is below or above the percentage. Use prefix
- `<' or `>' to match when strictly below or above. (The
- numeric limit is relaxed slightly for those: >-1% and
- <101% are allowed.) Only four fields support percentage
- rules. Percentages for "hitpoints" and "power" are
- straightforward; they're based on the corresponding maxi-
- mum field. Percentage highlight rules are also allowed
+ * percentage sets the field attribute when the field value
+ matches the percentage. It is specified as a number be-
+ tween 0 and 100, followed by `%' (percent sign). If the
+ percentage is prefixed with `<=' or `>=', it also matches
+ when value is below or above the percentage. Use prefix
+ `<' or `>' to match when strictly below or above. (The
+ numeric limit is relaxed slightly for those: >-1% and
+ <101% are allowed.) Only four fields support percentage
+ rules. Percentages for "hitpoints" and "power" are
+ straightforward; they're based on the corresponding maxi-
+ mum field. Percentage highlight rules are also allowed
for "experience level" and "experience points" (valid when
the showexp option is enabled). For those, the percentage
is based on the progress from the start of the current ex-
perience level to the start of the next level. So if lev-
- el 2 starts at 20 points and level 3 starts at 40 points,
- having 30 points is 50% and 35 points is 75%. 100% is
- unattainable for experience because you'll gain a level
+ el 2 starts at 20 points and level 3 starts at 40 points,
+ having 30 points is 50% and 35 points is 75%. 100% is
+ unattainable for experience because you'll gain a level
and the calculations will be reset for that new level, but
- a rule for =100% is allowed and matches the special case
+ a rule for =100% is allowed and matches the special case
of being exactly 1 experience point short of the next lev-
el.
- * absolute value sets the attribute when the field value
- matches that number. The number must be 0 or higher, ex-
- cept for "armor-class' which allows negative values, and
- may optionally be preceded by `='. If the number is pre-
- ceded by `<=' or `>=' instead, it also matches when value
- is below or above. If the prefix is `<' or `>', only
+ * absolute value sets the attribute when the field value
+ matches that number. The number must be 0 or higher, ex-
+ cept for "armor-class' which allows negative values, and
+ may optionally be preceded by `='. If the number is pre-
+ ceded by `<=' or `>=' instead, it also matches when value
+ is below or above. If the prefix is `<' or `>', only
match when strictly above or below.
+ * text match sets the attribute when the field value matches
+ the text. Text matches can only be used for "alignment",
+ "carrying-capacity", "hunger", "dungeon-level", and "ti-
+ tle". For title, only the role's rank title is tested;
+ the character's name is ignored.
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 89
+ NetHack Guidebook 90
- * text match sets the attribute when the field value matches
- the text. Text matches can only be used for "alignment",
- "carrying-capacity", "hunger", "dungeon-level", and "ti-
- tle". For title, only the role's rank title is tested;
- the character's name is ignored.
- The in-game options menu can help you determine the correct
+ The in-game options menu can help you determine the correct
syntax for a configuration file.
- The whole feature can be disabled by setting option sta-
+ The whole feature can be disabled by setting option sta-
tushilites to 0.
Example hilites:
NetHack can load entire symbol sets from the symbol file.
- The options that are used to select a particular symbol set
+ The options that are used to select a particular symbol set
from the symbol file are:
symset
Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load.
roguesymset
- Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load for dis-
+ Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load for dis-
play on the rogue level.
- You can also override one or more symbols using the SYMBOLS
- and ROGUESYMBOLS configuration file options. Symbols are speci-
+ You can also override one or more symbols using the SYMBOLS
+ and ROGUESYMBOLS configuration file options. Symbols are speci-
fied as name:value pairs. Note that NetHack escape-processes the
- value string in conventional C fashion. This means that \ is a
- prefix to take the following character literally. Thus \ needs
- to be represented as \\. The special prefix form \m switches on
- the meta bit in the symbol value, and the ^ prefix causes the
+ value string in conventional C fashion. This means that \ is a
+ prefix to take the following character literally. Thus \ needs
+ to be represented as \\. The special prefix form \m switches on
+ the meta bit in the symbol value, and the ^ prefix causes the
following character to be treated as a control character.
NetHack Symbols
-----------------------------------------------------------------
S_air (air)
_ S_altar (altar)
+ " S_amulet (amulet)
+ A S_angel (angelic being)
+ a S_ant (ant or other insect)
+ ^ S_anti_magic_trap (anti-magic field)
+ [ S_armor (suit or piece of armor)
+ [ S_armour (suit or piece of armor)
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 90
+ NetHack Guidebook 91
- " S_amulet (amulet)
- A S_angel (angelic being)
- a S_ant (ant or other insect)
- ^ S_anti_magic_trap (anti-magic field)
- [ S_armor (suit or piece of armor)
- [ S_armour (suit or piece of armor)
^ S_arrow_trap (arrow trap)
0 S_ball (iron ball)
# S_bars (iron bars)
{ S_fountain (fountain)
F S_fungus (fungus or mold)
* S_gem (gem or rock)
+ S_ghost (ghost)
+ H S_giant (giant humanoid)
+ G S_gnome (gnome)
+ ' S_golem (golem)
+ | S_grave (grave)
+ g S_gremlin (gremlin)
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 91
+ NetHack Guidebook 92
- S_ghost (ghost)
- H S_giant (giant humanoid)
- G S_gnome (gnome)
- ' S_golem (golem)
- | S_grave (grave)
- g S_gremlin (gremlin)
- S_hbeam (horizontal beam [zap animation])
# S_hcdbridge (horizontal raised drawbridge)
+ S_hcdoor (closed door in horizontal wall)
= S_ring (ring)
` S_rock (boulder or statue)
r S_rodent (rodent)
+ ^ S_rolling_boulder_trap (rolling boulder trap)
+ . S_room (floor of a room)
+ / S_rslant (diagonal beam [zap animation])
+ ^ S_rust_trap (rust trap)
+ R S_rustmonst (rust monster or disenchanter)
+ ? S_scroll (scroll)
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 92
+ NetHack Guidebook 93
- ^ S_rolling_boulder_trap (rolling boulder trap)
- . S_room (floor of a room)
- / S_rslant (diagonal beam [zap animation])
- ^ S_rust_trap (rust trap)
- R S_rustmonst (rust monster or disenchanter)
- ? S_scroll (scroll)
# S_sink (sink)
^ S_sleeping_gas_trap (sleeping gas trap)
S S_snake (snake)
^ S_vibrating_square (vibrating square)
. S_vodbridge (vertical lowered drawbridge)
- S_vodoor (open door in vertical wall)
+ v S_vortex (vortex)
+ | S_vwall (vertical wall)
+ / S_wand (wand)
+ } S_water (water)
+ ) S_weapon (weapon)
+ " S_web (web)
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 93
+ NetHack Guidebook 94
- v S_vortex (vortex)
- | S_vwall (vertical wall)
- / S_wand (wand)
- } S_water (water)
- ) S_weapon (weapon)
- " S_web (web)
w S_worm (worm)
~ S_worm_tail (long worm tail)
W S_wraith (wraith)
Notes:
* Several symbols in this table appear to be blank. They are the
- space character, except for S_pet_override and S_hero_override
- which don't have any default value and can only be used if en-
+ space character, except for S_pet_override and S_hero_override
+ which don't have any default value and can only be used if en-
abled in the "sysconf" file.
- * S_rock is misleadingly named; rocks and stones use S_gem.
- Statues and boulders are the rock being referred to, but since
- version 3.6.0, statues are displayed as the monster they de-
- pict. So S_rock is only used for boulders and not used at all
+ * S_rock is misleadingly named; rocks and stones use S_gem.
+ Statues and boulders are the rock being referred to, but since
+ version 3.6.0, statues are displayed as the monster they de-
+ pict. So S_rock is only used for boulders and not used at all
if overridden by the more specific S_boulder.
9.15. Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind
- NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII characters
- for making maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions
- of NetHack completely accessible to the blind who use speech
- and/or Braille access technologies. Players will require a good
- working knowledge of their screen-reader's review features, and
- will have to know how to navigate horizontally and vertically
- character by character. They will also find the search capabili-
- ties of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to
- examine this Guidebook before playing so you have an idea what
- the screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate
- the PC cursor. It is always where your character is located.
- Merely searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac-
+ NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII characters
+ for making maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions
+ of NetHack completely accessible to the blind who use speech
+ and/or Braille access technologies. Players will require a good
+ working knowledge of their screen-reader's review features, and
+ will have to know how to navigate horizontally and vertically
+ character by character. They will also find the search capabili-
+ ties of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to
+ examine this Guidebook before playing so you have an idea what
+ the screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate
+ the PC cursor. It is always where your character is located.
+ Merely searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac-
ter since there are other humanoids represented by the same sign.
- Your screen-reader should also have a function which gives you
- the row and column of your review cursor and the PC cursor.
- These co-ordinates are often useful in giving players a better
+ Your screen-reader should also have a function which gives you
+ the row and column of your review cursor and the PC cursor.
+ These co-ordinates are often useful in giving players a better
sense of the overall location of items on the screen.
- NetHack can also be compiled with support for sending the
- game messages to an external program, such as a text-to-speech
- synthesizer. If the "#version" extended command shows "external
- program as a message handler", your NetHack has been compiled
+ NetHack can also be compiled with support for sending the
+ game messages to an external program, such as a text-to-speech
+ synthesizer. If the "#version" extended command shows "external
+ program as a message handler", your NetHack has been compiled
+ with the capability. When compiling NetHack from source on Linux
+ and other POSIX systems, define MSGHANDLER to enable it. To use
+ the capability, set the environment variable NETHACK_MSGHANDLER
+ to an executable, which will be executed with the game message as
+ the program's only parameter.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 94
+ NetHack Guidebook 95
- with the capability. When compiling NetHack from source on Linux
- and other POSIX systems, define MSGHANDLER to enable it. To use
- the capability, set the environment variable NETHACK_MSGHANDLER
- to an executable, which will be executed with the game message as
- the program's only parameter.
- While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
- defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find this task
+ While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
+ defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find this task
somewhat daunting. Included within the "symbols" file of all of-
ficial distributions of NetHack is a symset called NHAccess. Se-
- lecting that symset in your configuration file will cause the
- game to run in a manner accessible to the blind. After you have
- gained some experience with the game and with editing files, you
+ lecting that symset in your configuration file will cause the
+ game to run in a manner accessible to the blind. After you have
+ gained some experience with the game and with editing files, you
may want to alter settings via SYMBOLS= and ROGUESYMBOLS= in your
configuration file to better suit your preferences. See the pre-
- vious section for the special symbols S_pet_override to force a
- consistent symbol for all pets and S_hero_override to force a
- unique symbol for the player character if accessibility is en-
+ vious section for the special symbols S_pet_override to force a
+ consistent symbol for all pets and S_hero_override to force a
+ unique symbol for the player character if accessibility is en-
abled in the sysconf file.
- The most crucial settings to make the game more accessible
+ The most crucial settings to make the game more accessible
are:
symset:NHAccess
Load a symbol set appropriate for use by blind players.
roguesymset:NHAccess
- Load a symbol set for the rogue level that is appropriate for
+ Load a symbol set for the rogue level that is appropriate for
use by blind players.
menustyle:traditional
Show menus on a cleared screen and aligned to the left edge.
number_pad
- A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
+ A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
the screen. If this is the case, disable the number_pad option
and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.
autodescribe
- Automatically describe the terrain under the cursor when tar-
+ Automatically describe the terrain under the cursor when tar-
geting.
mention_walls
- Give feedback messages when walking towards a wall or when
+ Give feedback messages when walking towards a wall or when
travel command was interrupted.
whatis_coord:compass
- When targeting with cursor, describe the cursor position with
+ When targeting with cursor, describe the cursor position with
coordinates relative to your character.
+ whatis_filter:area
+ When targeting with cursor, filter possible locations so only
+ those in the same area (eg. same room, or same corridor) are
+ considered.
+ whatis_moveskip
+ When targeting with cursor and using fast-move, skip the same
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 95
+ NetHack Guidebook 96
- whatis_filter:area
- When targeting with cursor, filter possible locations so only
- those in the same area (eg. same room, or same corridor) are
- considered.
- whatis_moveskip
- When targeting with cursor and using fast-move, skip the same
glyphs instead of moving 8 units at a time.
nostatus_updates
- Prevent updates to the status lines at the bottom of the
- screen, if your screen-reader reads those lines. The same in-
+ Prevent updates to the status lines at the bottom of the
+ screen, if your screen-reader reads those lines. The same in-
formation can be seen via the "#attributes" command.
9.16. Global Configuration for System Administrators
- If NetHack is compiled with the SYSCF option, a system ad-
- ministrator should set up a global configuration; this is a file
+ If NetHack is compiled with the SYSCF option, a system ad-
+ ministrator should set up a global configuration; this is a file
in the same format as the traditional per-user configuration file
(see above). This file should be named sysconf and placed in the
- same directory as the other NetHack support files. The options
+ same directory as the other NetHack support files. The options
recognized in this file are listed below. Any option not set us-
- es a compiled-in default (which may not be appropriate for your
+ es a compiled-in default (which may not be appropriate for your
system).
- WIZARDS = A space-separated list of user names who are allowed
+ WIZARDS = A space-separated list of user names who are allowed
to play in debug mode (commonly referred to as wizard mode). A
value of a single asterisk (*) allows anyone to start a game in
debug mode.
SHELLERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the shell es-
cape command (!). The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
- EXPLORERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the explore
+ EXPLORERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the explore
mode. The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
MAXPLAYERS = Limit the maximum number of games that can be run-
ning at the same time.
SAVEFORMAT = A list of up to two save file formats separated by
- space. The first format in the list will written as well as
- read. The second format will be read only if no save file in
- the first format exists. Valid choices are "historical" for
- binary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing
- of each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
+ space. The first format in the list will written as well as
+ read. The second format will be read only if no save file in
+ the first format exists. Valid choices are "historical" for
+ binary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing
+ of each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
save file content in ascii text.
- BONESFORMAT = A list of up to two bones file formats separated
+ BONESFORMAT = A list of up to two bones file formats separated
by space. The first format in the list will written as well as
- read. The second format will be read only if no bones files in
+ read. The second format will be read only if no bones files in
the first format exist. Valid choices are "historical" for bi-
nary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing of
- each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
+ each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
bones file content in ascii text.
+ SUPPORT = A string explaining how to get local support (no de-
+ fault value).
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ RECOVER = A string explaining how to recover a game on this
+ system (no default value).
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 96
- SUPPORT = A string explaining how to get local support (no de-
- fault value).
+ NetHack Guidebook 97
- RECOVER = A string explaining how to recover a game on this
- system (no default value).
- SEDUCE = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
+
+ SEDUCE = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
option. When disabled, incubi and succubi behave like nymphs.
- CHECK_PLNAME = Setting this to 1 will make the EXPLORERS, WIZ-
+ CHECK_PLNAME = Setting this to 1 will make the EXPLORERS, WIZ-
ARDS, and SHELLERS check for the player name instead of the us-
er's login name.
CHECK_SAVE_UID = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
- UID (used identification number) checking for save files (to
- verify that the user who is restoring is the same one who
+ UID (used identification number) checking for save files (to
+ verify that the user who is restoring is the same one who
saved).
The following options affect the score file:
ENTRYMAX = Maximum number of entries in the score file.
- POINTSMIN = Minimum number of points to get an entry in the
+ POINTSMIN = Minimum number of points to get an entry in the
score file.
- PERS_IS_UID = 0 or 1 to use user names or numeric userids, re-
+ PERS_IS_UID = 0 or 1 to use user names or numeric userids, re-
spectively, to identify unique people for the score file.
- MAX_STATUENAME_RANK = Maximum number of score file entries to
+ MAX_STATUENAME_RANK = Maximum number of score file entries to
use for random statue names (default is 10).
- ACCESSIBILITY = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
- ability for players to set S_pet_override and S_hero_override
+ ACCESSIBILITY = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
+ ability for players to set S_pet_override and S_hero_override
symbols in their configuration file.
- PORTABLE_DEVICE_PATHS = 0 or 1 Windows OS only, the game will
- look for all of its external files, and write to all of its
- output files in one place rather than at the standard loca-
+ PORTABLE_DEVICE_PATHS = 0 or 1 Windows OS only, the game will
+ look for all of its external files, and write to all of its
+ output files in one place rather than at the standard loca-
tions.
DUMPLOGFILE = A filename where the end-of-game dumplog is
- saved. Not defining this will prevent dumplog from being cre-
+ saved. Not defining this will prevent dumplog from being cre-
ated. Only available if your game is compiled with DUMPLOG. Al-
lows the following placeholders:
%T - current time, UNIX timestamp format
%d - game start time, YYYYMMDDhhmmss format
%D - current time, YYYYMMDDhhmmss format
+ %n - player name
+ %N - first character of player name
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 97
- %n - player name
- %N - first character of player name
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 98
+
+
10. Scoring
- NetHack maintains a list of the top scores or scorers on
+ NetHack maintains a list of the top scores or scorers on
your machine, depending on how it is set up. In the latter case,
- each account on the machine can post only one non-winning score
- on this list. If you score higher than someone else on this
- list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in the
- proper place under your current name. How many scores are kept
+ each account on the machine can post only one non-winning score
+ on this list. If you score higher than someone else on this
+ list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in the
+ proper place under your current name. How many scores are kept
can also be set up when NetHack is compiled.
- Your score is chiefly based upon how much experience you
+ Your score is chiefly based upon how much experience you
gained, how much loot you accumulated, how deep you explored, and
how the game ended. If you quit the game, you escape with all of
- your gold intact. If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of
+ your gold intact. If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of
Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your
- corpse is discovered (adventurers have been known to collect
- finder's fees). So, consider whether you want to take one last
- hit at that monster and possibly live, or quit and stop with
- whatever you have. If you quit, you keep all your gold, but if
+ corpse is discovered (adventurers have been known to collect
+ finder's fees). So, consider whether you want to take one last
+ hit at that monster and possibly live, or quit and stop with
+ whatever you have. If you quit, you keep all your gold, but if
you swing and live, you might find more.
- If you just want to see what the current top players/games
+ If you just want to see what the current top players/games
list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.
11. Explore mode
- NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
+ NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
falter in fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive.
Well, fear not. Your dungeon comes equipped with an "explore" or
- "discovery" mode that enables you to keep old save files and
- cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the high score
+ "discovery" mode that enables you to keep old save files and
+ cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the high score
list.
- There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to
- start the game with the -X command-line switch or with the play-
- mode:explore option. The other is to issue the "#exploremode"
- extended command while already playing the game. Starting a new
+ There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to
+ start the game with the -X command-line switch or with the play-
+ mode:explore option. The other is to issue the "#exploremode"
+ extended command while already playing the game. Starting a new
game in explore mode provides your character with a wand of wish-
- ing in initial inventory; switching during play does not. The
- other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
+ ing in initial inventory; switching during play does not. The
+ other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
discover.
11.1. Debug mode
Debug mode, also known as wizard mode, is undocumented aside
- from this brief description and the various "debug mode only"
- commands listed among the command descriptions. It is intended
+ from this brief description and the various "debug mode only"
+ commands listed among the command descriptions. It is intended
for tracking down problems within the program rather than to pro-
- vide god-like powers to your character, and players who attempt
- debugging are expected to figure out how to use it themselves.
- It is initiated by starting the game with the -D command-line
+ vide god-like powers to your character, and players who attempt
+ debugging are expected to figure out how to use it themselves.
+ It is initiated by starting the game with the -D command-line
+ switch or with the playmode:debug option.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 98
+ NetHack Guidebook 99
- switch or with the playmode:debug option.
- For some systems, the player must be logged in under a par-
- ticular user name to be allowed to use debug mode; for others,
- the hero must be given a particular character name (but may be
- any role; there's no connection between "wizard mode" and the
- Wizard role). Attempting to start a game in debug mode when not
- allowed or not available will result in falling back to explore
+
+ For some systems, the player must be logged in under a par-
+ ticular user name to be allowed to use debug mode; for others,
+ the hero must be given a particular character name (but may be
+ any role; there's no connection between "wizard mode" and the
+ Wizard role). Attempting to start a game in debug mode when not
+ allowed or not available will result in falling back to explore
mode instead.
12. Credits
- The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
- rogue game. Large portions of this document were shamelessly
- cribbed from A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
- and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. Small portions were adapted from
+ The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
+ rogue game. Large portions of this document were shamelessly
+ cribbed from A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
+ and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. Small portions were adapted from
Further Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by Ken Arromdee.
NetHack is the product of literally scores of people's work.
- Main events in the course of the game development are described
+ Main events in the course of the game development are described
below:
- Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
+ Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
Woodland, Mike Thome, and Jon Payne.
- Andries Brouwer did a major re-write while at Stichting
+ Andries Brouwer did a major re-write while at Stichting
Mathematisch Centrum (now Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica), trans-
- forming Hack into a very different game. He published the Hack
- source code for use on UNIX systems by posting that to Usenet
+ forming Hack into a very different game. He published the Hack
+ source code for use on UNIX systems by posting that to Usenet
newsgroup net.sources (later renamed comp.sources) releasing ver-
sion 1.0 in December of 1984, then versions 1.0.1, 1.0.2, and fi-
- nally 1.0.3 in July of 1985. Usenet newsgroup net.games.hack
- (later renamed rec.games.hack, eventually replaced by
+ nally 1.0.3 in July of 1985. Usenet newsgroup net.games.hack
+ (later renamed rec.games.hack, eventually replaced by
rec.games.roguelike.nethack) was created for discussing it.
- Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and MS-DOS,
- producing PC HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
- in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more ver-
+ Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and MS-DOS,
+ producing PC HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
+ in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more ver-
sions (3.0, 3.2, 3.51, and 3.6; note that these are old Hack ver-
sion numbers, not contemporary NetHack ones).
- R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
+ R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
520/1040ST, producing ST Hack 1.03.
Mike Stephenson merged these various versions back together,
- incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack
- version 1.4 in 1987. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in
+ incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack
+ version 1.4 in 1987. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in
enhancing and debugging NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions
- 2.2 and 2.3. Like Hack, they were released by posting their
- source code to Usenet where they remained available in various
- archives accessible via ftp and uucp after expiring from the
+ 2.2 and 2.3. Like Hack, they were released by posting their
+ source code to Usenet where they remained available in various
+ archives accessible via ftp and uucp after expiring from the
newsgroup.
+ Later, Mike coordinated a major re-write of the game, head-
+ ing a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet,
+ Steve Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, Eric S. Raymond,
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 99
+ NetHack Guidebook 100
- Later, Mike coordinated a major re-write of the game, head-
- ing a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet,
- Steve Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, Eric S. Raymond,
- John Rupley, Mike Threepoint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack
+ John Rupley, Mike Threepoint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack
3.0c.
- NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
- OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel. The three
+ NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
+ OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel. The three
of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main NetHack Development
Team to produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.
- Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga. Norm
- Meluch, Stephen Spackman and Pierre Martineau designed overlay
- code for PC NetHack 3.0. Johnny Lee ported NetHack 3.0 to the
- Macintosh. Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued
- to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through the later
+ 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.
- Version 3.0 went through ten relatively rapidly released
- "patch-level" revisions. Versions at the time were known as 3.0
- for the base release and variously as "3.0a" through "3.0j",
- "3.0 patchlevel 1" through "3.0 patchlevel 10", or "3.0pl1"
+ Version 3.0 went through ten relatively rapidly released
+ "patch-level" revisions. Versions at the time were known as 3.0
+ for the base release and variously as "3.0a" through "3.0j",
+ "3.0 patchlevel 1" through "3.0 patchlevel 10", or "3.0pl1"
through "3.0pl10" rather than 3.0.0 and 3.0.1 through 3.0.10; the
three component numbering scheme began to be used with 3.1.0.
- Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
- and Janet Walz, the NetHack Development Team which now included
- Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy,
- Matt Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin,
+ Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
+ and Janet Walz, the NetHack Development Team which now included
+ Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy,
+ Matt Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin,
Eric Raymond, and Eric Smith undertook a radical revision of 3.0.
They re-structured the game's design, and re-wrote major parts of
- the code. They added multiple dungeons, a new display, special
- individual character quests, a new endgame and many other new
- features, and produced NetHack 3.1. Version 3.1.0 was released
+ 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. Version 3.1.0 was released
in January of 1993.
- Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
- Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti, and Olaf Seibert, developed
+ Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
+ Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti, and Olaf Seibert, developed
NetHack 3.1 for the Amiga.
- Norm Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
+ Norm Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
lin, Stephen Spackman, Steve VanDevender, and Paul Winner, ported
NetHack 3.1 to the PC.
Jon W{tte and Hao-yang Wang, with help from Ross Brown, Mike
- Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny
- Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
+ Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny
+ Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW. Building on their de-
velopment, Bart House added a Think C port.
Timo Hakulinen ported NetHack 3.1 to OS/2. Eric Smith port-
- ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari. Pat Rankin, with help from Joshua
- Delahunty, was responsible for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
+ ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari. Pat Rankin, with help from Joshua
+ Delahunty, was responsible for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
Michael Allison ported NetHack 3.1 to Windows NT.
+ Dean Luick, with help from David Cohrs, developed NetHack
+ 3.1 for X11. It drew the map as text rather than graphically but
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 100
+ NetHack Guidebook 101
- Dean Luick, with help from David Cohrs, developed NetHack
- 3.1 for X11. It drew the map as text rather than graphically but
- included nh10.bdf, an optionally used custom X11 font which has
- tiny images in place of letters and punctuation, a precursor of
- tiles. Those images don't extend to individual monster and ob-
- ject types, just replacements for monster and object classes (so
- one custom image for all "a" insects and another for all "[" ar-
+
+ included nh10.bdf, an optionally used custom X11 font which has
+ tiny images in place of letters and punctuation, a precursor of
+ tiles. Those images don't extend to individual monster and ob-
+ ject types, just replacements for monster and object classes (so
+ one custom image for all "a" insects and another for all "[" ar-
mor and so forth, not separate images for beetles and ants or for
cloaks and boots).
- Warwick Allison wrote a graphically displayed version of
- NetHack for the Atari where the tiny pictures were described as
- "icons" and were distinct for specific types of monsters and ob-
+ Warwick Allison wrote a graphically displayed version of
+ NetHack for the Atari where the tiny pictures were described as
+ "icons" and were distinct for specific types of monsters and ob-
jects rather than just their classes. He contributed them to the
- NetHack Development Team which rechristened them "tiles", origi-
- nal usage which has subsequently been picked up by various other
- games. NetHack's tiles support was then implemented on other
- platforms (initially MS-DOS but eventually Windows, Qt, and X11
+ NetHack Development Team which rechristened them "tiles", origi-
+ nal usage which has subsequently been picked up by various other
+ games. NetHack's tiles support was then implemented on other
+ platforms (initially MS-DOS but eventually Windows, Qt, and X11
too).
The 3.2 NetHack Development Team, comprised of Michael Alli-
son, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin
Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Er-
- ic Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
+ ic Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
version 3.2.0 in April of 1996.
Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of
- the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
- game, all thirteen members of the original NetHack Development
- Team remained on the team at the start of work on that release.
- During the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2.0, one
- of the founding members of the NetHack Development Team, Dr.
- Izchak Miller, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. That
- release of the game was dedicated to him by the development and
+ the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
+ game, all thirteen members of the original NetHack Development
+ Team remained on the team at the start of work on that release.
+ During the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2.0, one
+ of the founding members of the NetHack Development Team, Dr.
+ Izchak Miller, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. That
+ release of the game was dedicated to him by the development and
porting teams.
Version 3.2 proved to be more stable than previous versions.
- Many bugs were fixed, abuses eliminated, and game features tuned
+ Many bugs were fixed, abuses eliminated, and game features tuned
for better game play.
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-- when some people incorrectly assumed
- that it was a conversion of the C source code to C++. Working
- independently, Stephen White wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot
+ Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created NetHack++, which was
+ quickly renamed NetHack-- when some people incorrectly assumed
+ that it was a conversion of the C source code to C++. Working
+ independently, Stephen White wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot
later merged NetHack Plus and his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH.
- Larry Stewart-Zerba and Warwick Allison improved the spell cast-
- ing system with the Wizard Patch. Warwick Allison also ported
+ Larry Stewart-Zerba and Warwick Allison improved the spell cast-
+ ing system with the Wizard Patch. Warwick Allison also ported
NetHack to use the Qt interface.
+ Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch to pro-
+ duce Slash'EM, and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
+ tures. Kevin later joined the NetHack Development Team and
-
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 101
+ NetHack Guidebook 102
- Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch to pro-
- duce Slash'EM, and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
- tures. Kevin later joined the NetHack Development Team and in-
- corporated the best of these ideas into NetHack 3.3.
+ incorporated the best of these ideas into 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
- time for the Year 2000. Because of the newer version, 3.2.3 was
- released as a source code patch only, without any ready-to-play
+ was released simultaneously with 3.3.0 in December 1999 just in
+ time for the Year 2000. Because of the newer version, 3.2.3 was
+ released as a source code patch only, without any ready-to-play
distribution for systems that usually had such.
- (To anyone considering resurrecting an old version: all
- versions before 3.2.3 had a Y2K bug. The high scores file and
- the log file contained dates which were formatted using a two-
- digit year, and 1999's year 99 was followed by 2000's year 100.
- That got written out successfully but it unintentionally intro-
- duced an extra column in the file layout which prevented score
- entries from being read back in correctly, interfering with in-
- sertion of new high scores and with retrieval of old character
- names to use for random ghost and statue names in the current
+ (To anyone considering resurrecting an old version: all
+ versions before 3.2.3 had a Y2K bug. The high scores file and
+ the log file contained dates which were formatted using a two-
+ digit year, and 1999's year 99 was followed by 2000's year 100.
+ That got written out successfully but it unintentionally intro-
+ duced an extra column in the file layout which prevented score
+ entries from being read back in correctly, interfering with in-
+ sertion of new high scores and with retrieval of old character
+ names to use for random ghost and statue names in the current
game.)
- The 3.3 NetHack Development Team, consisting of Michael Al-
- lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,
- Kevin Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lor-
- ber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet
- Walz, and Paul Winner, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1
+ The 3.3 NetHack Development Team, consisting of Michael Al-
+ lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,
+ Kevin Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lor-
+ ber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet
+ Walz, and Paul Winner, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1
in August of 2000.
Version 3.3 offered many firsts. It was the first version to
- separate race and profession. The Elf class was removed in pref-
+ separate race and profession. The Elf class was removed in pref-
erence to an elf race, and the races of dwarves, gnomes, and orcs
- made their first appearance in the game alongside the familiar
- human race. Monk and Ranger roles joined Archeologists, Barbar-
- ians, Cavemen, Healers, Knights, Priests, Rogues, Samurai,
- Tourists, Valkyries and of course, Wizards. It was also the
- first version to allow you to ride a steed, and was the first
- version to have a publicly available web-site listing all the
- bugs that had been discovered. Despite that constantly growing
- bug list, 3.3 proved stable enough to last for more than a year
+ made their first appearance in the game alongside the familiar
+ human race. Monk and Ranger roles joined Archeologists, Barbar-
+ ians, Cavemen, Healers, Knights, Priests, Rogues, Samurai,
+ Tourists, Valkyries and of course, Wizards. It was also the
+ first version to allow you to ride a steed, and was the first
+ version to have a publicly available web-site listing all the
+ bugs that had been discovered. Despite that constantly growing
+ bug list, 3.3 proved stable enough to last for more than a year
and a half.
- The 3.4 NetHack Development Team initially consisted of
- Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Kevin
- Hugo, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet
- Walz, and Paul Winner, with Warwick Allison joining just before
+ The 3.4 NetHack Development Team initially consisted of
+ Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Kevin
+ Hugo, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet
+ Walz, and Paul Winner, with Warwick Allison joining just before
the release of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.
- 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-
+ form. Paul Winner and Yitzhak Sapir provided encouragement.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 102
+ NetHack Guidebook 103
- 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 af-
The release of NetHack 3.4.3 in December 2003 marked the be-
ginning of a long release hiatus. 3.4.3 proved to be a remarkably
stable version that provided continued enjoyment by the community
- for more than a decade. The NetHack Development Team slowly and
- quietly continued to work on the game behind the scenes during
- the tenure of 3.4.3. It was during that same period that several
+ for more than a decade. The NetHack Development Team slowly and
+ quietly continued to work on the game behind the scenes during
+ the tenure of 3.4.3. It was during that same period that several
new variants emerged within the NetHack community. Notably
sporkhack by Derek S. Ray, unnethack by Patric Mueller, nitrohack
- and its successors originally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex
- Smith, and Dynahack by Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants con-
- tinue to be developed, maintained, and enjoyed by the community
+ and its successors originally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex
+ Smith, and Dynahack by Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants con-
+ tinue to be developed, maintained, and enjoyed by the community
to this day.
In September 2014, an interim snapshot of the code under de-
- velopment was released publicly by other parties. Since that
- code was a work-in-progress and had not gone through the process
- of debugging it as a suitable release, it was decided that the
- version numbers present on that code snapshot would be retired
- and never used in an official NetHack release. An announcement
+ 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
+ version numbers present on that code snapshot would be retired
+ and never used in an official NetHack release. An announcement
was posted on the NetHack Development Team's official nethack.org
- website to that effect, stating that there would never be a
+ 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
+ In January 2015, preparation began for the release of
NetHack 3.6.
- At the beginning of development for what would eventually
- get released as 3.6.0, the NetHack Development Team consisted of
- Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs,
- Jessie Collet, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike
+ At the beginning of development for what would eventually
+ get released as 3.6.0, the NetHack Development Team consisted of
+ Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs,
+ Jessie Collet, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephen-
+ son, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner. In early 2015, ahead of the
+ release of 3.6.0, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and Derek
+ S. Ray joined the NetHack Development Team.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 103
-
+ NetHack Guidebook 104
- Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner. In early 2015, ahead of
- the release of 3.6.0, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and
- Derek S. Ray joined the NetHack Development Team.
Near the end of the development of 3.6.0, one of the signif-
- icant inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features
- found in the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. NetHack
+ icant inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features
+ found in the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. NetHack
3.6.0 introduced a tribute to him.
3.6.0 was released in December 2015, and merged work done by
- the development team since the release of 3.4.3 with some of the
+ the development team since the release of 3.4.3 with some of the
beloved community patches. Many bugs were fixed and some code was
restructured.
- The NetHack Development Team, as well as Steve VanDevender
+ The NetHack Development Team, as well as Steve VanDevender
and Kevin Smolkowski, ensured that NetHack 3.6 continued to oper-
ate on various UNIX flavors and maintained the X11 interface.
- Ken Lorber, Haoyang Wang, Pat Rankin, and Dean Luick main-
+ Ken Lorber, Haoyang Wang, Pat Rankin, and Dean Luick main-
tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Mac OSX.
- Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Bart House, Pasi Kallinen,
- Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas, Derek S. Ray and Yitzhak Sapir main-
+ Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Bart House, Pasi Kallinen,
+ Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas, Derek S. Ray and Yitzhak Sapir main-
tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Microsoft Windows.
- Pat Rankin attempted to keep the VMS port running for
+ Pat Rankin attempted to keep the VMS port running for
NetHack 3.6, hindered by limited access. Kevin Smolkowski has up-
- dated and tested it for the most recent version of OpenVMS (V8.4
+ dated and tested it for the most recent version of OpenVMS (V8.4
as of this writing) on Alpha and Integrity (aka Itanium aka IA64)
but not VAX.
- Ray Chason resurrected the MS-DOS port for 3.6 and contrib-
+ Ray Chason resurrected the MS-DOS port for 3.6 and contrib-
uted the necessary updates to the community at large.
- In late April 2018, several hundred bug fixes for 3.6.0 and
- some new features were assembled and released as NetHack 3.6.1.
+ In late April 2018, several hundred bug fixes for 3.6.0 and
+ some new features were assembled and released as NetHack 3.6.1.
The NetHack Development Team at the time of release of 3.6.1 con-
- sisted of Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David
- Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Pasi Kallinen, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick,
- Patric Mueller, Pat Rankin, Derek S. Ray, Alex Smith, Mike
+ sisted of Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David
+ Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Pasi Kallinen, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick,
+ Patric Mueller, Pat Rankin, Derek S. Ray, Alex Smith, Mike
Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner.
In early May 2019, another 320 bug fixes along with some en-
- hancements and the adopted curses window port, were released as
+ hancements and the adopted curses window port, were released as
3.6.2.
- Bart House, who had contributed to the game as a porting
+ Bart House, who had contributed to the game as a porting
team participant for decades, joined the NetHack Development Team
in late May 2019.
- NetHack 3.6.3 was released on December 5, 2019 containing
+ NetHack 3.6.3 was released on December 5, 2019 containing
over 190 bug fixes to NetHack 3.6.2.
+ NetHack 3.6.4 was released on December 18, 2019 containing a
+ security fix and a few bug fixes.
+ NetHack 3.6.5 was released on January 27, 2020 containing
+ some security fixes and a small number of bug fixes.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
-
-
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 104
+ NetHack Guidebook 105
- NetHack 3.6.4 was released on December 18, 2019 containing a
- security fix and a few bug fixes.
- NetHack 3.6.5 was released on January 27, 2020 containing
- some security fixes and a small number of bug fixes.
NetHack 3.6.6 was released on March 8, 2020 containing a se-
curity fix and some bug fixes.
The official NetHack web site is maintained by Ken Lorber at
https://www.nethack.org/.
- 12.1. SPECIAL THANKS
+
+ 12.1. Special Thanks
On behalf of the NetHack community, thank you very much once
- again to M. Drew Streib and Pasi Kallinen for providing a public
- NetHack server at nethack.alt.org. Thanks to Keith Simpson and
+ again to M. Drew Streib and Pasi Kallinen for providing a public
+ NetHack server at nethack.alt.org. Thanks to Keith Simpson and
Andy Thomson for hardfought.org. Thanks to all those unnamed dun-
- geoneers who invest their time and effort into annual NetHack
- tournaments such as Junethack, The November NetHack Tournament,
- and in days past, devnull.net (gone for now, but not forgotten).
+ geoneers who invest their time and effort into annual NetHack
+ tournaments such as Junethack, The November NetHack Tournament,
+ and in days past, devnull.net (gone for now, but not forgotten).
+
+
- - - - - - - - - - -
+ 12.2. Dungeoneers
From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
with the game. The NetHack Development Team sometimes makes note
of the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list
of Dungeoneers:
+
Adam Aronow J. Ali Harlow Mikko Juola
Alex Kompel Janet Walz Nathan Eady
Alex Smith Janne Salmijarvi Norm Meluch
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
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
- NetHack Guidebook 105
+ NetHack Guidebook 106
- 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 Stefan Thielscher
Eric Hendrickson Malcolm Ryan Stephen White
Irina Rempt-Drijfhout Mike Passaretti
Izchak Miller Mike Stephenson
+
+
Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trade-
marks of their respective holders.
- NetHack 3.7 February 11, 2021
+ NetHack 3.7 March 25, 2021
projects / nethack / commitdiff