A Guide to the Mazes of Menace

3.1. The status lines (bottom)

The bottom two (or three) lines of the screen contain several cryptic pieces of information describing your current status. Figure 1 shows the traditional two-line status area below the map. Figure 2 shows just the status area, when the statuslines:3 option has been set (not all interfaces support this option). If any status line becomes wider than the screen, you might not see all of it due to truncation. When the numbers grow bigger and multiple conditions are present, the two-line format will run out of room on the second line, but statuslines:2 is the default because a basic 24-line terminal isn’t tall enough for the third line.

Here are explanations of what the various status items mean:

Title Your character’s name and professional ranking (based on role and experience level, see below).

Strength A measure of your character’s strength; one of your six basic attributes. A human character’s attributes can range from 3 to 18 inclusive; non-humans may exceed these limits (occasionally you may get super-strengths of the form 18/xx, and magic can also cause attributes to exceed the normal limits). The higher your strength, the stronger you are. Strength affects how successfully you perform physical tasks, how much damage you do in combat, and how much loot you can carry.

Dexterity Dexterity affects your chances to hit in combat, to avoid traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or manipulation of objects.

Constitution Constitution affects your ability to recover from injuries and other strains on your stamina. When strength is low or modest, constitution also affects how much you can carry. With sufficiently high strength, the contribution to carrying capacity from your constitution no longer matters.

Intelligence Intelligence affects your ability to cast spells and read spellbooks.

Wisdom Wisdom comes from your practical experience (especially when dealing with magic). It affects your magical energy.

Charisma Charisma affects how certain creatures react toward you. In particular, it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.

Alignment Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Often, Lawful is taken as good and Chaotic as evil, but legal and ethical do not always coincide. Your alignment influences how other monsters react toward you. Monsters of a like alignment are more likely to be non-aggressive, while those of an opposing alignment are more likely to be seriously offended at your presence.

Dungeon Level How deep you are in the dungeon. You start at level one and the number increases as you go deeper into the dungeon. Some levels are special, and are identified by a name and not a number. The Amulet of Yendor is reputed to be somewhere beneath the twentieth level.

Gold The number of gold pieces you are openly carrying. Gold which you have concealed in containers is not counted.

Hit Points Your current and maximum hit points. Hit points indicate how much damage you can take before you die. The more you get hit in a fight, the lower they get. You can regain hit points by resting, or by using certain magical items or spells. The number in parentheses is the maximum number your hit points can reach.

Power Spell points. This tells you how much mystic energy (mana) you have available for spell casting. Again, resting will regenerate the amount available.

Armor Class A measure of how effectively your armor stops blows from unfriendly creatures. The lower this number is, the more effective the armor; it is quite possible to have negative armor class. See the Armor subsection of Objects for more information.

Experience Your current experience level. If the showexp option is set, it will be followed by a slash and experience points. As you adventure, you gain experience points. At certain experience point totals, you gain an experience level. The more experienced you are, the better you fight and withstand magical attacks. (By the time your level reaches double digits, the usefulness of showing the points with it has dropped significantly. You can use the ‘O’ command to turn showexp off to avoid using up the limited status line space.)

Time The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed if you have the time option set.

Status Hunger: your current hunger status. Values are Satiated, Not Hungry (or Normal), Hungry, Weak, and Fainting. Not shown when Normal. Encumbrance: an indication of how what you are carrying affects your ability to move. Values are Unencumbered, Burdened, Stressed, Strained, Overtaxed, and Overloaded. Not shown when Unencumbered. Fatal conditions: Stone (aka Petrifying, turning to stone), Slime (turning into green slime), Strngl (being strangled), FoodPois (suffering from acute food poisoning), TermIll (suffering from a terminal illness). Non-fatal conditions: Blind (can’t see), Deaf (can’t hear), Stun (stunned), Conf (confused), Hallu (hallucinating). Movement modifiers: Lev (levitating), Fly (flying), Ride (riding). Other conditions and modifiers exist, but there isn’t enough room to display them with the other status fields.

The #attributes command (default key ^X) will show all current status information in unabbreviated format. It also shows other information which might be included on the status lines if those had more room.

3.2. The message line (top)

The top line of the screen is reserved for messages that describe things that are impossible to represent visually. If you see a --More-- on the top line, this means that NetHack has another message to display on the screen, but it wants to make certain that you’ve read the one that is there first. To read the next message, just press the space bar.

To change how and what messages are shown on the message line, see “Configuring Message Types” and the verbose option.

3.3. The map (rest of the screen)

The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents something. You can set various graphics options to change some of the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default symbols. Here is a list of what the default symbols mean:

- The horizontal or corner walls of a room, or an open east/west door.

| The vertical walls of a room, or an open north/south door, or a grave.

. The floor of a room, or ice, or a doorless doorway, or the span of an open drawbridge.

# A corridor, or iron bars, or a tree, or the portcullis of a closed drawbridge. Note: engravings in corridors also appear as # but are shown in a different color from normal corridor locations.

> Stairs down: a way to the next level.

< Stairs up: a way to the previous level.

+ A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell you may be able to learn.

@ Your character or a human or an elf.

$ A pile of gold.

^ A trap (once you have detected it).

) A weapon.

[ A suit or piece of armor.

% Something edible (not necessarily healthy).

? A scroll.

/ A wand.

= A ring.

! A potion.

( A useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp…).

" An amulet or a spider web.

* A gem or rock (possibly valuable, possibly worthless).

` A boulder or statue or an engraving on the floor of a room. Note: statues are displayed as if they were the monsters they depict so won’t appear as a grave accent (aka back-tick).

0 An iron ball.

_ An altar, or an iron chain.

{ A fountain or a sink.

} A pool of water or moat or a wall of water or a pool of lava or a wall of lava.

\ An opulent throne.

a-z  and A-H J-Z  and @&':; Letters and certain other symbols represent the various inhabitants of the Mazes of Menace. Watch out, they can be nasty and vicious. Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.

I Rather than a specific type of monster, this marks the last known location of an invisible or otherwise unseen monster. Note that the monster could have moved. The s, F, and m commands may be useful here.

1-5 The digits 1 through 5 may be displayed, marking unseen monsters sensed via the Warning attribute. Less dangerous monsters are indicated by lower values, more dangerous by higher values.

You need not memorize all these symbols; you can ask the game what any symbol represents with the / command (see the next section for more info).

4.1. Default keybindings

The list of commands is rather long, but it can be read at any time during the game through the ? command, which accesses a menu of helpful texts. Here are the default key bindings for your reference:

? Help menu: display one of several help texts available.

/ The whatis command, to tell what a symbol represents. You may choose to specify a location or type a symbol (or even a whole word) to explain. Specifying a location is done by moving the cursor to a particular spot on the map and then pressing one of ., ,, ;, or :. . will explain the symbol at the chosen location, conditionally check for More info? depending upon whether the help option is on, and then you will be asked to pick another location; , will explain the symbol but skip any additional information, then let you pick another location; ; will skip additional info and also not bother asking you to choose another location to examine; : will show additional info, if any, without asking for confirmation. When picking a location, pressing the ESC key will terminate this command, or pressing ? will give a brief reminder about how it works. If the autodescribe option is on, a short description of what you see at each location is shown as you move the cursor. Typing # while picking a location will toggle that option on or off. The whatis_coord option controls whether the short description includes map coordinates. Specifying a name rather than a location always gives any additional information available about that name. You may also request a description of nearby monsters, all monsters currently displayed, nearby objects, or all objects. The whatis_coord option controls which format of map coordinate is included with their descriptions.

& Tell what a command does.

< Go up to the previous level (if you are on a staircase or ladder).

> Go down to the next level (if you are on a staircase or ladder).

[yuhjklbn] Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure 3). If you sense or remember a monster there, you will fight the monster instead. Only these one-step movement commands cause you to fight monsters; the others (below) are safe.

    y  k  u            7  8  9    
     \ | /              \ | /     
    h- . -l            4- . -6    
     / | \              / | \     
    b  j  n            1  2  3    
(number_pad off)   (number_pad on)

[YUHJKLBN] Go in that direction until you hit a wall or run into something.

m[yuhjklbn] Prefix: move without picking up objects or fighting (even if you remember a monster there). A few non-movement commands use the ‘m’ prefix to request operating via menu (to temporarily override the menustyle :traditional option). Primarily useful for ‘,’ (pickup) when there is only one class of objects present (where there won’t be any “what kinds of objects?” prompt, so no opportunity to answer m at that prompt). The prefix will make #travel command show a menu of interesting targets in sight. It can also be used with the ‘\’ (known, show a list of all discovered objects) and the ‘`’ (knownclass, show a list of discovered objects in a particular class) commands to offer a menu of several sorting alternatives (which sets a new value for the sortdiscoveries option); also for #vanquished and #genocided commands to offer a sorting menu. A few other commands (eat food, offer sacrifice, apply tinning-kit, drink/quaff, dip, tip container) use the ‘m’ prefix to skip checking for applicable objects on the floor and go straight to checking inventory, or (for #loot to remove a saddle), skip containers and go straight to adjacent monsters. In debug mode (aka wizard mode), the m prefix may also be used with the #teleport and #wizlevelport commands.

F[yuhjklbn] Prefix: fight a monster (even if you only guess one is there).

g[yuhjklbn] Prefix: move until something interesting is found.

G[yuhjklbn] or <Control>+[yuhjklbn] Prefix: similar to g, but forking of corridors is not considered interesting. Note: <Control>+<key> means holding the <Control> or <Ctrl> key down like <Shift> while typing and releasing <key>, then releasing <Control>. ^<key> is used as shorthand elsewhere in the Guidebook to mean the same thing. Control characters are case-insensitive so ^x and ^X are the same.

M[yuhjklbn] Old versions supported ‘M’ as a movement prefix which combined the effect of ‘m’ with <Control>+<direction>. That is no longer supported as a prefix but similar effect can be achieved by using ‘m’ and G <direction> in combination. m can also be used in combination with g <direction>, <Control>+<direction>, or <Shift>+<direction>.

_ Travel to a map location via a shortest-path algorithm. The shortest path is computed over map locations the hero knows about (e.g. seen or previously traversed). If there is no known path, a guess is made instead. Stops on most of the same conditions as the ‘G’ prefix, but without picking up objects, so implicitly forces the ‘m’ prefix. For ports with mouse support, the command is also invoked when a mouse-click takes place on a location other than the current position.

. Wait or rest, do nothing for one turn. Precede with the m prefix to wait for a turn even next to a hostile monster, if safe_wait is on.

a Apply (use) a tool (pick-axe, key, lamp…). If used on a wand, that wand will be broken, releasing its magic in the process. Confirmation is required.

A Remove one or more worn items, such as armor. Use T (take off) to take off only one piece of armor or R (remove) to take off only one accessory.

^A Repeat the previous command.

c Close a door.

C Call (name) a monster, an individual object, or a type of object. Same as extended command #name.

^C Panic button. Quit the game.

d Drop something. For example d7a means drop seven items of object a.

D Drop several things. In answer to the question What kinds of things do you want to drop? [!%= BUCXPaium] you should type zero or more object symbols possibly followed by a and/or i and/or u and/or m. In addition, one or more of the blessed/uncursed/cursed groups may be typed.

The last example shows a combination. There are four categories of object filtering: class (! for potions, ? for scrolls, and so on), shop status (u for unpaid, in other words, owned by the shop), bless/curse state (B, U, C, and X as shown above), and novelty (P, recently picked up items; controlled by picking up or dropping things rather than by any time factor). If you specify more than one value in a category (such as !? for potions and scrolls or BU for blessed and uncursed), an inventory object will meet the criteria if it matches any of the specified values (so !? means ! or ?). If you specify more than one category, an inventory object must meet each of the category criteria (so %u means class % and unpaid u). Lastly, you may specify multiple values within multiple categories: !?BU will select all potions and scrolls which are known to be blessed or uncursed. (In versions prior to 3.6, filter combinations behaved differently.)

^D Kick something (usually a door).

e Eat food. Normally checks for edible item(s) on the floor, then if none are found or none are chosen, checks for edible item(s) in inventory. Precede e with the m prefix to bypass attempting to eat anything off the floor. If you attempt to eat while already satiated, you might choke to death. If you risk it, you will be asked whether to “continue eating?” if you survive the first bite. You can set the paranoid_confirmation:eating option to require a response of yes instead of just y.

E Engrave a message on the floor. E- - write in the dust with your fingers.

Engraving the word Elbereth will cause most monsters to not attack you hand-to-hand (but if you attack, you will rub it out); this is often useful to give yourself a breather.

f Fire (shoot or throw) one of the objects placed in your 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. If your wielded weapon has the throw-and-return property, your quiver is empty, and autoquiver is false, you will throw that wielded weapon instead of filling the quiver. This will also automatically use a polearm if wielded. If fireassist is true, firing will automatically try to wield a launcher (for example, a bow or a sling) matching the ammo in the quiver; this might take multiple turns, and get interrupted by a monster. Remember to swap back to your main melee weapon afterwards. 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 armor or ! for potions.

o Open a door.

O Set options. A menu showing the current option values will be displayed. You can change most values simply by selecting the menu entry for the given option (ie, by typing its letter or clicking 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 before the game rather than with the O command; see the section on options below. Precede O with the m prefix to show advanced options.

^O Show overview. Shortcut for #overview: list interesting dungeon levels visited. (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 Pay your shopping bill.

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 choices but will accept an accessory and attempt to put that on.)

^P Repeat previous message. Subsequent ^Ps repeat earlier messages. For some interfaces, the behavior can be varied via the msg_window option.

q Quaff (drink) something (potion, water, etc). When there is a fountain or sink present, it asks whether to drink from that. If that is declined, then it offers a chance to choose a potion from inventory. Precede q with the m prefix to skip asking about drinking from a fountain or sink.

Q Select an object for your quiver, quiver sack, or just generally 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.

r Read a scroll or spellbook.

R Remove a worn accessory (ring, amulet, or blindfold). If you’re wearing more than one, you’ll be prompted for which one to remove. When you’re only wearing one, then by default it will be removed without asking, but you can set the paranoid_confirmation:Remove 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 accessories, 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 takes several tries to find something. Precede with the m 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 monster 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 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 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. There is no “save current game state and keep playing” command, 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 weapon skill bonus or penalty for bow applies. If you throw 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-selected via the Q (quiver) command, with some extra assistance.

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, 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:Remove option to require a prompt. This command may also be used to remove accessories. The prompt for which inventory item to take off only lists worn armor, but a worn accessory can be chosen. (See the R command above. It lists accessories as the inventory choices but will accept an item of armor and attempt to take it off.)

^T Teleport, if you have the ability.

v Display a list of significant events in the current game, also shown by #chronicle. ‘v’ used to display the game’s version number. Use ‘V’ for that now.

V Display version number. ‘V’ used to display a summary of the game’s history. Still available via #history.

w Wield weapon. w- - wield nothing, use your bare (or gloved) hands.

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 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 empty, 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 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 alignment, along with your patron deity and his or her opposition. It also shows most of the various items of information from the status line(s) in a less terse form, including 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 information provided by enlightenment magic.

z Zap a wand. z. - to aim at yourself, use \. for the direction.

Z Zap (cast) a spell. Z. - to cast at yourself, use \. for the direction.

^Z Suspend the game UNIX” versions with job control only).” ( See #suspend below for more details.

: Look at what is here.

; Show what type of thing a visible symbol corresponds to.

, 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.

^ Ask for the type of an adjacent trap you found earlier.

) Tell what weapon you are wielding.

[ Tell what armor you are wearing.

= Tell what rings you are wearing.

" Tell what amulet you are wearing.

( Tell what tools you are using.

* Tell what equipment you are using. Combines the preceding five type-specific commands into one.

$ Report the gold you’re carrying, possibly shop credit and/or debt too.

+ 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 another 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 beyond 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.

` Show discovered types for one class of objects. May be preceded by ‘m’ to select preferred display order.

| If persistent inventory display is supported and enabled (with the perm_invent option), interact with it instead of with the map. Allows scrolling with the menu_first_page, menu_previous_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 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.

4.2. Extended commands

# Perform an extended command.

As you can see, the authors of NetHack used up all the letters, so this is a way to introduce the less frequently used commands. What extended commands are available depends on what features the game was compiled with.

#adjust Adjust inventory letters (most useful when the fixinv option is on). Autocompletes. Default key is M-a. This command allows you to move an item from one particular inventory slot to another so that it has a letter which is more meaningful for you or that it will appear in a particular location when inventory listings are displayed. You can move to a currently empty slot, or if the destination is occupied—and won’t merge—the item there will swap slots with the one being moved. #adjust can also be used to split a stack of objects; when choosing the item to adjust, enter a count prior to its letter. Adjusting without a count used to collect all compatible stacks when moving to the destination. That behavior has been changed; to gather compatible stacks, #adjust a stack into its own inventory slot. If it has a name assigned, other stacks with the same name or with no name will merge provided that all their other attributes match. If it does not have a name, only other stacks with no name are eligible. In either case, otherwise compatible stacks with a different name will not be merged. This contrasts with using #adjust to move from one slot to a different slot. In 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 given) will ignore the source stack’s name when deciding whether to merge with the destination stack.

#annotate Allows you to specify one line of text to associate with the current dungeon level. All levels with annotations are displayed by the #overview command. Autocompletes. Default key is M-A, and also ^N if number_pad is on. Preceding #annotate with the m prefix is the same as #overview with the prefix.

#apply Apply (use) a tool such as a pick-axe, a key, or a lamp. Default key is a. If the tool used acts on items on the floor, using the m prefix skips those items. If used on a wand, that wand will be broken, releasing its magic in the process. Confirmation is required.

#attributes Show your attributes. Default key is ^X.

#autopickup Toggle the autopickup option on/off. Default key is @.

#bugreport Bring up a browser window to submit a report to the NetHack Development Team. Can be disabled at the time the program is built; when enabled, CRASHREPORTURL must be set in the system configuration file.

#call Call (name) a monster, or an object in inventory, on the floor, or in the discoveries list, or add an annotation for the current level (same as #annotate). Default key is C.

#cast Cast a spell. Default key is Z.

#chat Talk to someone. Default key is M-c.

#chronicle Show a list of important game events. Default key is v.

#close Close a door. Default key is c.

#conduct List voluntary challenges you have maintained. Autocompletes. Default key is M-C. See the section below entitled Conduct for details.

#debugfuzzer Start the fuzz tester. Debug mode only.

#dip Dip an object into something. Autocompletes. Default key is M-d. The m prefix skips dipping into a fountain or pool if there is one at your location.

#down Go down a staircase. Default key is >.

#drop Drop an item. Default key is d.

#droptype Drop specific item types. Default key is D.

#eat Eat something. Default key is e. The m prefix skips eating items on the floor.

#engrave Engrave writing on the floor. Default key is E.

#enhance Advance or check weapon and spell skills. Autocompletes. Default key is M-e.

#exploremode Switch from normal play to non-scoring explore mode. Default key is M-X. Requires confirmation; default response is n (no). To really switch to explore mode, respond with y. You can set the paranoid_confirmation:quit option to require a response of yes instead.

#fight Prefix key to force fight a direction, even if you see nothing to fight there. Default key is F, or - with number_pad

#fire Fire ammunition from quiver, possibly autowielding a launcher, or hit with a wielded polearm. Default key is f.

#force Force a lock. Autocompletes. Default key is M-f.

#genocided List any monster types which have been genocided. In explore mode and debug mode it also shows types which have become extinct. The display order is the same as is used by #vanquished. The m prefix brings up a menu of available sorting orders, and doing that for either #genocided or #vanquished changes the order for both. If the sorting order is “count high to low” or “count low to high” (which are applicable for #vanquished), that will be ignored for #genocided and alphabetical will be used instead. The menu omits those two choices when used for #genocide. Autocompletes. Default key is M-g.

#glance Show what type of thing a map symbol corresponds to. Default key is ;.

#help Show the help menu. Default key is ?, and also h if number_pad is on.

#herecmdmenu Show a menu of possible actions directed at your current location. The menu is limited to a subset of the likeliest actions, not an exhaustive set of all possibilities. Autocompletes. If mouse support is enabled and the herecmd_menu option is On, clicking on the hero (or steed when mounted) will execute this command.

#history Show a summary of the game’s development.

#inventory Show your inventory. Default key is i.

#inventtype Inventory specific item types. Default key is I.

#invoke Invoke an object’s special powers. Autocompletes. Default key is M-i.

#jump Jump to another location. Autocompletes. Default key is M-j, and also j if number_pad is on.

#kick Kick something. Default key is ^D, and k if number_pad is on.

#known Show what object types have been discovered. Default key is ‘\’. The ‘m’ prefix allows assigning a new value to the sortdiscoveries option to control the order in which the discoveries are displayed.

#knownclass Show discovered types for one class of objects. Default key is ‘`’. The ‘m’ prefix operates the same as for #known.

#levelchange Change your experience level. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#lightsources Show mobile light sources. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#look Look at what is here, under you. Default key is :.

#lookaround Describe what you can see, or remember, of your surroundings.

#loot Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you, or the saddle from a steed standing next to you. Autocompletes. Precede with the m prefix to skip containers at your location and go directly to removing a saddle. Default key is M-l, and also l if number_pad is on.

#monster Use a monster’s special ability (when polymorphed into monster form). Autocompletes. Default key is M-m.

#name Name a monster, an individual object, or a type of object. Same as #call. Autocompletes. Default keys are N, M-n, and M-N.

#offer Offer a sacrifice to the gods. Autocompletes. Default key is M-o. You’ll need to find an altar to have any chance at success. Corpses of recently killed monsters are the fodder of choice. The m prefix skips offering any items which are on the altar.

#open Open a door. Default key is o.

#options Show and change option settings. Default key is O. Precede with the m prefix to show advanced options.

#optionsfull Show advanced game option settings. No default key. Precede with the m prefix to execute the simpler options command. (Mainly useful if you use BINDING=O:optionsfull to switch ‘O’ from simple options back to traditional advanced options.)

#overview Display information you’ve discovered about the dungeon. Any visited level with an annotation is included, and many things (altars, thrones, fountains, and so on; extra stairs leading to another dungeon branch) trigger an automatic annotation. If dungeon overview is chosen during end-of-game disclosure, every visited level will be included regardless of annotations. Precede #overview with the m prefix to display the dungeon overview as a menu where you can select any visited level to add or remove an annotation without needing to return to that level. This will also force all visited levels to be displayed rather than just the interesting subset. Autocompletes. Default keys are ^O, and M-O.

#panic Test the panic routine. Terminates the current game. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Asks for confirmation; default is n (no); continue playing. To really panic, respond with y. You can set the paranoid_confirmation:quit option to require a response of yes instead.

#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 keystrokes such as ‘>’ and ‘<’. Press Return or Escape to resume normal play. Default key is |.

#pickup Pick up things at the current location. Default key is ,. The m prefix forces use of a menu.

#polyself Polymorph self. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#pray Pray to the gods for help. Autocompletes. Default key is M-p. Praying too soon after receiving prior help is a bad idea. (Hint: entering the dungeon alive is treated as having received help. You probably shouldn’t start off a new game by praying right away.) Since using this command by accident can cause trouble, there is an option to make you confirm your intent before praying. It is enabled by default, and you can reset the paranoid_confirmation option to disable it.

#prevmsg Show previously displayed game messages. Default key is ^P.

#puton Put on an accessory (ring, amulet, etc). Default key is P.

#quaff Quaff (drink) something. Default key is q. The m prefix skips drinking from a fountain or sink if there is one at your location.

#quit Quit the program without saving your game. Autocompletes. Since using this command by accident would throw away the current game, you are asked to confirm your intent before quitting. Default response is n (no); continue playing. To really quit, respond with y. You can set the paranoid_confirmation:quit option to require a response of yes instead.

#quiver Select ammunition for quiver. Default key is Q.

#read Read a scroll, a spellbook, or something else. Default key is r.

#redraw Redraw the screen. Default key is ^R, and also ^L if number_pad is on.

#remove Remove an accessory (ring, amulet, etc). Default key is R.

#repeat Repeat the previous command. Default key is ^A.

#reqmenu Prefix key to modify the behavior or request menu from some commands. Prevents autopickup when used with movement commands. Default key is m.

#retravel Travel to a previously selected travel destination. Default key is C-_. See also #travel.

#ride Ride (or stop riding) a saddled creature. Autocompletes. Default key is M-R.

#rub Rub a lamp or a stone. Autocompletes. Default key is M-r.

#run Prefix key to run towards a direction. Default key is G when number_pad is off, 5 when number_pad is set to 1 or 3, otherwise M-5 when it is set to 2 or 4.

#rush Prefix key to rush towards a direction. Default is g when number_pad is off, M-5 when number_pad is set to 1 or 3, otherwise 5 when it is set to 2 or 4.

#save Save the game and exit the program. Default key is S.

#saveoptions Save configuration options to the config file. This will overwrite the file, removing all comments, so if you have manually edited the config file, don’t use this.

#search Search for traps and secret doors around you. Default key is s.

#seeall Show all equipment in use. Default key is *. Will display in-use items in a menu even when there is only one.

#seeamulet Show the amulet currently worn. Default key is ". Using the ‘m’ prefix will force the display of a worn amulet in a menu rather than with just a message.

#seearmor Show the armor currently worn. Default key is [. Will display worn armor in a menu even when there is only thing worn.

#seerings Show the ring(s) currently worn. Default key is =. Will display worn rings in a menu if there are two (or there is just one and is a meat ring rather than a real ring). Use the ‘m’ prefix to force a menu for one ring.

#seetools Show the tools currently in use. Default key is (. Will display the result in a message if there is one tool in use (worn blindfold or towel or lenses, lit lamp(s) and/or candle(s), leashes attached to pets). Will display a menu if there are more than one or if the command is preceded by the ‘m’ prefix.

#seeweapon Show the weapon currently wielded. Default key is ). If dual-wielding, a separate message about the secondary weapon will be given. Using the ‘m’ prefix will force a menu and it will include primary weapon, alternate weapon even when not dual-wielding, and also whatever is currently assigned to the quiver slot.

#shell Do a shell escape, switching from NetHack to a subprocess. Can be disabled at the time the program is built. When enabled, access for specific users can be controlled by the system configuration file. Use the shell command ‘exit’ to return to the game. Default key is !.

#showgold Report the gold in your inventory, including gold you know about in containers you’re carrying. If you are inside a shop, report any credit or debt you have in that shop. Default key is $.

#showspells List and reorder known spells. Default key is +.

#showtrap Describe an adjacent trap, possibly covered by objects or a monster. To be eligible, the trap must already be discovered. (The #terrain command can display your map with all objects and monsters temporarily removed, making it possible to see all discovered traps.) Default key is ^.

#sit Sit down. Autocompletes. Default key is M-s.

#stats Show memory usage statistics. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#suspend Suspend the game, switching from NetHack to the terminal it was started from without performing save-and-exit. Can be disabled at the time the program is built. When enabled, mainly useful for tty and curses interfaces on UNIX. Use the shell command ‘fg’ to return to the game. Default key is ^Z.

#swap Swap wielded and secondary weapons. Default key is x.

#takeoff Take off one piece of armor. Default key is T.

#takeoffall Remove all armor. Default key is A.

#teleport Teleport around the level. Default key is ^T.

#terrain Show map without obstructions. In normal play you can view the explored portion of the current level’s map without monsters; without monsters and objects; or without monsters, objects, and traps. If there are visible clouds of gas in view, they are treated like traps when deciding whether to show them or the floor underneath them. In explore mode, you can choose to view the full map rather than just its explored portion. In debug mode there are additional choices. Autocompletes. Default key is <del> or <delete> (see Del above).

#therecmdmenu Show a menu of possible actions directed at a location next to you. The menu is limited to a subset of the likeliest actions, not an exhaustive set of all possibilities. Autocompletes.

#throw Throw something. Default key is t.

#timeout Look at the timeout queue. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#tip Tip over a container (bag or box) to pour out its contents. When there are containers on the floor, the game will prompt to pick one of them or “tip something being carried”. If the latter is chosen, there will be another prompt for which item from inventory to tip. The ‘m’ prefix makes the command skip containers on the floor and pick one from inventory, except for the special case of menustyle :traditional with two or more containers present; that situation will start with the floor container menu. Autocompletes. Default key is M-T.

#toggle Toggle a boolean option on or off. Requires a parameter in parenthesis, the name of the option to toggle. The option must be settable in-game. For example:

BIND=':toggle(price_quotes)
BIND=@:toggle(autopickup)

#travel Travel to a specific location on the map. Default key is _. Using the request menu prefix shows a menu of interesting targets in sight without asking to move the cursor. When picking a target with cursor and the autodescribe option is on, the top line will show “(no travel path)” if your character does not know of a path to that location. See also #retravel.

#turn Turn undead away. Autocompletes. Default key is M-t.

#twoweapon Toggle two-weapon combat on or off. Autocompletes. Default key is X, and also M-2 if number_pad is off. Note that you must use suitable weapons for this type of combat, or it will be automatically turned off.

#untrap Untrap something (trap, door, or chest). Default key is M-u, and u if number_pad is on. In some circumstances it can also be used to rescue trapped monsters.

#up Go up a staircase. Default key is <.

#vanquished List vanquished monsters by type and count. Note that the vanquished monsters list includes all monsters killed by traps and each other as well as by you, and omits any which got removed from the game without being killed (perhaps by genocide, or by a mollified shopkeeper dismissing summoned Kops) or were already corpses when placed on the map. Using the request menu prefix prior to #vanquished brings up a menu of sorting orders available (provided that the vanquished monsters list contains at least two types of monsters). Whichever ordering is picked gets assigned to the sortvanquished option so is remembered for subsequent #vanquished requests. The #genocided command shares this sorting order. During end-of-game disclosure, when asked whether to show vanquished monsters answering ‘a’ will let you choose from the sort menu. Autocompletes. Default key is M-V.

#version Print compile time options for this version of NetHack. The second paragraph lists the user interface(s) that are included. If there are more than one, you can use the windowtype option in your run-time configuration file to select the one you want. Autocompletes. Default key is M-v.

#versionshort Show the program’s version number, plus the date and time that the running copy was built from sources (not the version’s release date). Default key is V.

#vision Show vision array. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#wait Rest one move while doing nothing. Default key is ., and also ‘ ’ if rest_on_space is on.

#wear Wear a piece of armor. Default key is W.

#whatdoes Tell what a key does. Default key is &.

#whatis Show what type of thing a symbol corresponds to. Default key is /.

#wield Wield a weapon. Default key is w.

#wipe Wipe off your face. Autocompletes. Default key is M-w.

#wizborn Show monster birth, death, genocide, and extinct statistics. Debug mode only.

#wizbury Bury objects under and around you. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#wizcast Cast any spell. Debug mode only.

#wizdetect Reveal hidden things (secret doors or traps or unseen monsters) within a modest radius. No time elapses. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Default key is ^E.

#wizgenesis Create a monster. May be prefixed by a count to create more than one. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Default key is ^G.

#wizidentify Identify all items in inventory. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Default key is ^I.

#wizintrinsic Set one or more intrinsic attributes. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#wizkill Remove monsters from play by just pointing at them. By default the hero gets credit or blame for killing the targets. Precede this command with the ‘m’ prefix to override that. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#wizlevelport Teleport to another level. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Default key is ^V.

#wizmap Map the level. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Default key is ^F.

#wizrumorcheck Verify rumor boundaries by displaying first and last true rumors and first and last false rumors. Also displays first, second, and last random engravings, epitaphs, and hallucinatory monsters. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#wizseenv Show map locations’ seen vectors. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#wizsmell Smell monster. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#wizwhere Show locations of special levels. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#wizwish Wish for something. Autocompletes. Debug mode only. Default key is ^W. Precede this command with the ‘m’ prefix to show a wish history menu.

#wmode Show wall modes. Autocompletes. Debug mode only.

#zap Zap a wand. Default key is z.

#? Help menu: get the list of available extended commands.

4.3. Meta and number-pad commands

If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in combination with another key, modifies it by setting the meta [8th, or high] bit), you can invoke many extended commands by meta-ing the first letter of the command.

On Windows and MS-DOS, the Alt key can be used in this fashion. On other systems, if typing Alt plus another key transmits a two character sequence consisting of an Escape followed by the other key, you may set the altmeta option to have NetHack combine them into meta+<key>. (This combining action only takes place when NetHack is expecting a command to execute, not when accepting input to name something or to make a wish.)

Unlike control characters, where ^x and ^X denote the same thing, meta characters are case-sensitive: M-x and M-X represent different things. Some commands which can be run via a meta character require that the letter be capitalized because the lower-case equivalent is used for another command, so the three key combination meta+Shift+<letter> is needed.

M-? #? (not supported by all platforms)

M-2 #twoweapon (unless the number_pad option is enabled)

M-a #adjust

M-A #annotate

M-c #chat

M-C #conduct

M-d #dip

M-e #enhance

M-f #force

M-g #genocided

M-i #invoke

M-j #jump

M-l #loot

M-m #monster

M-n #name

M-o #offer

M-O #overview

M-p #pray

M-r #rub

M-R #ride

M-s #sit

M-t #turn

M-T #tip

M-u #untrap

M-v #version

M-V #vanquished

M-w #wipe

M-X #exploremode

If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter commands are available:

h #help

j #jump

k #kick

l #loot

N #name

u #untrap

5.1. Doorways

Doorways connect rooms and corridors. Some doorways have no doors; you can walk right through. Others have doors in them, which may be open, closed, or locked. To open a closed door, use the o (open) command; to close it again, use the c (close) command. By default the autoopen option is enabled, so simply attempting to walk onto a closed door’s location will attempt to open it without needing o. Opening via autoopen will not work if you are confused or stunned or suffer from the fumbling attribute.

Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you must approach them straight on, horizontally or vertically. Doorways without doors are not restricted in this fashion except on one particular level (described by #overview as “a primitive area”).

Unlocking magic exists but usually won’t be available early on. You can get through a locked door without magic by first using an unlocking tool with the a (apply) command, and then 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 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 noise which might wake sleeping monsters.

Some closed doors are booby-trapped and will explode if an attempt is made to open (when unlocked) or unlock (when locked) or kick down. Like kicking, an explosion destroys the door and makes a lot of noise. The #untrap command can be used to search a door for traps but might take multiple attempts to find one. When one is found, you’ll be asked whether to try to disarm it. If you accede, success will eliminate the trap but failure will set off the trap’s explosion. (If you decline, you effectively forget that a trap was found there.)

Closed doors can be useful for shutting out monsters. Most monsters cannot open closed doors, although a few don’t need to (for example, ghosts can walk through doors and fog clouds can flow under them). Some monsters who can open doors can also use unlocking tools. And some (giants) can smash doors.

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 (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.

5.2. Traps (^)

There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare the unwary intruder. For example, you may suddenly fall into a pit and be stuck for a few turns trying to climb out (see below). A trap usually won’t appear on your map until you trigger it by moving onto it, you see someone else trigger it, or you discover it with the s (search) command (multiple attempts are often needed; if your luck is poor, many attempts might be needed). Wands of secret door detection and spell of detect unseen also reveal traps within a modest radius but only if the trap is also within line-of-sight (whether you can see at the time or not). There is also other magic which can reveal traps.

Monsters can fall prey to traps, too, which can potentially be used as a defensive strategy. Unfortunately traps can be harmful to your pet(s) as well. Monsters, including pets, usually will avoid moving onto a trap which is shown on your map if they have encountered that type of trap before.

Some traps such as pits, bear traps, and webs hold you in one place. You can escape by simply trying to move to an adjacent spot and repeat as needed; eventually you will get free.

Other traps can send you to different locations. Teleporters send you elsewhere on the same dungeon level. Level teleporters send you to a random dungeon level, the destination chosen from a few levels lower all the way to the top. These traps choose a new destination each time they’re activated. Trap doors and holes also send you to another level, but one which is always below the current level. Usually that will be the next level down but it can be farther. Unlike (level) teleporters, the destination level of a particular trap door or hole is persistent, so falling into one will bring you to the same level each time—though not necessarily the same spot on the level. Magic portals behave similarly, but with some additional variation. Some portals are two-way and their remote destination is always the same: another portal which can take you back. Others are one-way and send you to a specific destination level but not necessarily to a specific location there.

There is a special multi-level branch of the dungeon with pre-mapped levels based on the classic computer game “Sokoban.” In that game, you operate as a warehouse worker who pushes crates around obstacles to position them at designated locations. In NetHack, the goal is to push boulders into pits or holes until those traps have all been nullified, giving access to whatever is beyond them. In the Sokoban game, you can only move in the four cardinal compass directions, and a crate in its final destination blocks further access to that spot. In the Sokoban levels of 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 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 Sokoban. (Hint: to solve Sokoban puzzles, you often need to move things away from their eventual destinations in order to open up more room to maneuver.) Since NetHack does not support an undo capability, some allowances are permitted in case you get stuck. For example, each level has at least one extra boulder. Also, it is possible to drop everything in order to be able to squeeze into the same location as a boulder (and then presumably move past it), or to destroy a boulder with magic or tools, or to create new boulders with a scroll of earth. However, doing such things will lower your luck without any specific message given about that. See the Conduct section for information about getting feedback for your actions in Sokoban.

5.3. Stairs and ladders (<, >)

In general, each level in the dungeon will have a staircase going up (<) to the previous level and another going down (>) to the next level. There are some exceptions though. For instance, fairly early in the dungeon you will find a level with two down staircases, one continuing into the dungeon and the other branching into an area known as the Gnomish Mines. Those mines eventually hit a dead end, so after exploring them (if you choose to do so), you’ll need to climb back up to the main dungeon.

When you traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a trap which sends you to another level, the level you’re leaving will be 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 levels, from a template for some special levels, or loaded from the remains of an earlier game for a bones level as briefly described below). Monsters are only active on the current level; those on other levels are essentially placed into stasis.

Ordinarily when you climb a set of stairs, you will arrive on the corresponding staircase at your destination. However, pets (see below) and some other monsters will follow along if they’re close enough when you travel up or down stairs, and occasionally one of these creatures will displace you during the climb. When that occurs, the pet or other monster will arrive on the staircase and you will end up nearby.

Ladders serve the same purpose as staircases, and the two types of inter-level connections are nearly indistinguishable during game play.

5.4. Shops and shopping

Occasionally you will run across a room with a shopkeeper near the door and many items lying on the floor. You can buy items by picking them up and then using the p command. You can inquire about the price of an item prior to picking it up by using the #chat command while standing on it. Using an item prior to paying for it will incur a charge, and the shopkeeper won’t allow you to leave the shop until you have paid any debt you owe.

You can sell items to a shopkeeper by dropping them to the floor while inside a shop. You will either be offered an amount of gold and asked whether you’re willing to sell, or you’ll be told that the shopkeeper isn’t interested (generally, your item needs to be compatible with the type of merchandise carried by the shop).

If you drop something in a shop by accident, the shopkeeper will usually claim ownership without offering any compensation. You’ll have to buy it back if you want to reclaim it.

Shopkeepers sometime run out of money. When that happens, you’ll be offered credit instead of gold when you try to sell something. Credit can be used to pay for purchases, but it is only good in the shop where it was obtained; other shopkeepers won’t honor it. (If you happen to find a credit card in the dungeon, don’t bother trying to use it in shops; shopkeepers will not accept it.)

The $ command, which reports the amount of gold you are carrying, will also show current shop debt or credit, if any. The Iu command lists unpaid items (those which still belong to the shop) if you are 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.

5.5. Movement feedback

Moving around the map usually provides no feedback—other than drawing the hero at the new location—unless you step on an object or pile of objects, or on a trap, or attempt to move onto a spot where a monster is located. There are several options which can be used to augment the normal feedback.

The pile_limit option controls how many objects can be in a pile—sharing the same map location—for the game to state “there are objects here” instead of listing them. The default is 5. Setting it to 1 would always give that message instead of listing any objects. Setting it to 0 is a special case which will always list all objects no matter how big a pile is. Note that the number refers to the count of separate stacks of objects present rather than the sum of the quantities of those stacks (so 7 arrows or 25 gold pieces will each count as 1 rather than as 7 and 25, respectively, and total to 2 when both are at the same location).

The nopickup command prefix (default ‘m’) can be used before a movement direction to step on objects without attempting auto-pickup and without giving feedback about them.

The mention_walls option controls whether you get feedback if you try to walk into a wall or solid stone or off the edge of the map. Normally nothing happens (unless the hero is blind and no wall is shown, then the wall that is being bumped into will be drawn on the map). This option also gives feedback when rushing or running stops for some non-obvious reason.

The mention_decor option controls whether you get feedback when walking on furniture. Normally stepping onto stairs or a fountain or an altar or various other things doesn’t elicit anything unless it is covered by one or more objects so is obscured on the map. Setting this option to true will describe such things even when they aren’t obscured. Doorless doorways and open doors aren’t considered worthy of mention; closed doors (if you can move onto their spots) and broken doors are. Assuming that you’re able to do so, moving onto water or lava or ice will give feedback if not yet on that type of terrain but not repeat it (unless there has been some intervening message) when moving from water to another water spot, or lava to lava, or ice to ice. Moving off of any of those back onto normal terrain will give one message too, unless there is feedback about one or more objects, in which case the back on land circumstance is implied.

The confirm and safe_pet options control what happens when you try to move onto a peaceful monster’s spot or a tame one’s spot.

The nopickup command prefix (default ‘m’) is also the move-without-attacking prefix and can be used to try to step onto a visible monster’s spot without the move being considered an attack (see the Fighting subsection of Monsters below). The fight command prefix (default ‘F’; also ‘-’ if number_pad is on) can be used to force an attack, when guessing where an unseen monster is or when deliberately attacking a peaceful or tame creature.

The run_mode option controls how frequently the map gets redrawn when moving more than one step in a single command (so when rushing, running, or traveling).

5.6. Rogue level

One dungeon level (occurring in mid to late teens of the main dungeon) is a tribute to the ancestor game hack’s inspiration rogue.

It is usually displayed differently from other levels: possibly in characters instead of tiles, or without line-drawing symbols if already in characters; also, gold is shown as * rather than $ and stairs are shown as % rather than < and >. There are some minor differences in actual game play: doorways lack doors; a scroll, wand, or spell of light used in a room lights up the whole room rather than within a radius around your character. And monsters represented by lower-case letters aren’t randomly generated on the rogue level.

The slight strangeness of this level is a feature, not a bug….

6.1. Fighting

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 when angered. Remember: discretion is the better part of valor.

In most circumstances, if you attempt to attack a peaceful monster by moving into its location, you’ll be asked to confirm your intent. By default an answer of y acknowledges that intent, which can be error prone if you’re using y to move. You can set the paranoid_confirmation:attack option to require a response of yes instead.

If you can’t see a monster (if it is invisible, or if you are blinded), the symbol I will be shown when you learn of its presence. If you attempt to walk into it, you will try to fight it just like a monster that you can see; of course, if the monster has moved, you will attack empty air. If you guess that the monster has moved and you don’t wish to fight, you can use the m command to move without fighting; likewise, if you don’t remember a monster but want to try fighting anyway, you can use the F command.

6.2. Your pet

You start the game with a little dog (d), kitten (f), or pony (u), which follows you about the dungeon and fights monsters with you. Like you, your pet needs food to survive. Dogs and cats usually feed themselves on fresh carrion and other meats; horses need vegetarian food which is harder to come by. If you’re worried about your pet or want to train it, you can feed it, too, by throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be very useful under certain circumstances.

Your pet also gains experience from killing monsters, and can grow over time, gaining hit points and doing more damage. Initially, your pet may even be better at killing things than you, which makes pets useful for low-level characters.

Your pet will follow you up and down staircases if it is next to you when you move. Otherwise your pet will be stranded and may become wild. Similarly, when you trigger certain types of traps which alter your location (for instance, a trap door which drops you to a lower dungeon level), any adjacent pet will accompany you and any non-adjacent pet will be left behind. Your pet may trigger such traps itself; you will not be carried along with it even if adjacent at the time.

6.3. Steeds

Some types of creatures in the dungeon can actually be ridden if you have the right equipment and skill. Convincing a wild beast to let you saddle it up is difficult to say the least. Many a dungeoneer has had to resort to magic and wizardry in order to forge the alliance. Once you do have the beast under your control however, you can easily climb in and out of the saddle with the #ride command. Lead the beast around the dungeon when riding, in the same manner as you would move yourself. It is the beast that you will see displayed on the map.

Riding skill is managed by the #enhance command. See the section on Weapon proficiency for more information about that.

Use the a (apply) command and pick a saddle in your inventory to attempt to put that saddle on an adjacent creature. If successful, it will be transferred to that creature’s inventory.

Use the #loot command while adjacent to a saddled creature to try to remove the saddle from that creature. If successful, it will be transferred to your inventory.

6.4. Bones levels

You may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventurers (or even former incarnations of yourself!) and their personal effects. Ghosts are hard to kill, but easy to avoid, since they’re slow and do little damage. You can plunder the deceased adventurer’s possessions; however, they are likely to be cursed. Beware of whatever killed the former player; it is probably still lurking around, gloating over its last victory.

6.5. Persistence of Monsters

Monsters (a generic reference which also includes humans and pets) are only shown while they can be seen or otherwise sensed. Moving to a location where you can’t see or sense a monster any more will result in it disappearing from your map, similarly if it is the one who moved rather than you.

However, if you encounter a monster which you can’t see or sense—perhaps it is invisible and has just tapped you on the noggin—a special “remembered, unseen monster” marker will be displayed at the location where you think it is. That will persist until you have proven that there is no monster there, even if the unseen monster moves to another location or you move to a spot where the marker’s location ordinarily wouldn’t be seen any more.

7.1. Curses and Blessings

Any object that you find may be cursed, even if the object is otherwise helpful. The most common effect of a curse is being stuck with (and to) the item. Cursed weapons weld themselves to your hand when wielded, so you cannot unwield them. Any cursed item you wear is not removable by ordinary means. In addition, cursed arms and armor usually, but not always, bear negative enchantments that make them less effective in combat. Other cursed objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.

Objects can also be blessed instead. Blessed items usually work better or more beneficially than normal uncursed items. For example, a blessed weapon will do slightly more damage against demons.

Objects which are neither cursed nor blessed are referred to as uncursed. They could just as easily have been described as unblessed, but the uncursed designation is what you will see within the game. A “glass half full versus glass half empty” situation; make of that what you will.

There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon objects, so even if you are stuck with one, you can still have the curse lifted and the item removed. Priests and Priestesses have an innate sensitivity to this property in any object, so they can more easily avoid cursed objects than other character roles. Dropping objects onto an altar will reveal their bless or curse state provided that you can see them land.

An item with unknown status will be reported in your inventory with no prefix. An item which you know the state of will be distinguished in your inventory by the presence of the word cursed, uncursed, or blessed in the description of the item. In some cases uncursed will be omitted as being redundant when enough other information is displayed. The implicit_uncursed option can be used to control this; toggle it off to have uncursed be displayed even when that can be deduced from other attributes.

Sometimes the bless or curse state of objects is referred to as their “BUC” attribute, for Blessed, Uncursed, or Cursed state, or “BUCX” for Blessed, Uncursed, Cursed, or unknown. (The term beatitude is occasionally used as well.)

7.2. Artifacts

Some objects have been imbued with special powers and are known as Artifacts. They have specific types (such as long sword or orcish dagger) and distinct names such as Giantslayer or Grimtooth. Artifact weapons typically do more damage than their ordinary counterparts. Some do extra damage against all monsters, others only against specific types of monsters so aren’t better than regular weapons against other types. Some confer defensive capabilities when wielded or have other powers that aren’t listed here.

You might find them simply lying on the floor, including but not limited to inside shops, or be granted as a reward for #offer on an altar to your patron deity. A few might be dropped by monsters, or might be converted from an ordinary object of the same type via assigning the right name. Or you might wish for them, if you happen to be granted a wish, but such wishes can fail.

Some artifacts have a specific alignment, others don’t. You won’t obtain aligned ones that have a different alignment from yours via offering and might get a shock if you attempt to wish for any of those or find one and attempt to use it.

Each role has a distinct artifact that is contained in the Quest dungeon branch. These are commonly known as quest artifacts. All are aligned and most are non-weapons. They won’t be found randomly.

The ‘\’ and ‘`a’ commands will list artifacts that you have fully identified (knowing the name and item type isn’t sufficient).

7.3. Relics

There are three unique items that are named and have limited special powers but aren’t classified as artifacts. Each is guarded by a particular monster and you’ll need to collect all three for use late in the game. They are the Bell of Opening, the Book of the Dead, and the Candelabrum of Invocation. Their corresponding descriptions when not yet identified are silver bell, papyrus spellbook, and candelabrum.

7.4. Weapons ())

Given a chance, most monsters in the Mazes of Menace will gratuitously try to kill you. You need weapons for self-defense (killing them first). Without a weapon, you do only 1-2 hit points of damage (plus bonuses, if any). Monk characters are an exception; they normally do more damage with bare (or gloved) hands than they do with weapons.

There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown weapons, like arrows and spears. To hit monsters with a weapon, you must wield it and attack them, or throw it at them. You can simply elect to throw a spear. To shoot an arrow, you should first wield a bow, then throw the arrow. Crossbows shoot crossbow bolts. Slings hurl rocks and (other) stones (like gems).

Enchanted weapons have a plus (or “to hit enhancement” which can be either positive or negative) that adds to your chance to hit and the damage you do to a monster. The only way to determine a weapon’s enchantment is to have it magically identified somehow. Most weapons are subject to some type of damage like rust. Such erosion damage can be repaired.

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 (enchantment 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 shield, and vice versa. When wielding a one-handed weapon, you can have another weapon ready to use by setting things up with the x command, which exchanges your primary (the one being wielded) and alternate weapons. And if you have proficiency in the “two weapon combat” skill, you may wield both weapons simultaneously as primary and secondary; use the X command to engage or disengage that. Only some types of characters (barbarians, for instance) have the necessary skill available. Even with that skill, using two weapons at once incurs a penalty in the chance to hit your target compared to using just one weapon at a time.

There might be times when you’d rather not wield any weapon at all. To accomplish that, wield -, or else use the A command which allows you to unwield the current weapon in addition to taking off other worn items.

Those of you in the audience who are AD&D players, be aware that each weapon which existed in AD&D does roughly the same damage to monsters in NetHack. Some of the more obscure weapons (such as the aklys, lucern hammer, and bec-de-corbin) are defined in an appendix to Unearthed Arcana, an AD&D supplement.

Some interfaces support the weaponstatus option. When it is enabled, an extra status condition is displayed, describing the currently wielded weapon.

The commands to use weapons are w (wield), t (throw), f (fire), Q (quiver), x (exchange), X (twoweapon), and #enhance (see below).

7.5. Armor ([)

Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to protect yourself from their blows. Some types of armor offer better protection than others. Your armor class is a measure of this protection. Armor class (AC) is measured as in AD&D, with 10 being the equivalent of no armor, and lower numbers meaning better armor. Each suit of armor which exists in AD&D gives the same protection in NetHack.

Here is a list of the armor class values provided by suits of armor:

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 point improvement to AC (making the overall value smaller and eventually negative) but can also be enchanted. Shirts are an exception; they don’t provide any protection unless enchanted. Some cloaks also don’t improve AC when unenchanted but all cloaks offer some protection against rust or corrosion to suits worn under them and against some monster touch attacks.

If a piece of armor is enchanted, its armor protection will be better (or worse) than normal, and its plus (or minus) will subtract from your armor class. For example, a +1 chain mail would give you better protection than normal chain mail, lowering your armor class one unit further to 4. When you put on a piece of armor, you immediately find out the armor class and any plusses it provides. Cursed pieces of armor usually have negative enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.

Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage like rust. Such damage can be repaired. Some types of armor may inhibit spell casting.

The nudist option can be set (prior to game start) to attempt to play the entire game without wearing any armor (a self-imposed challenge which is extremely difficult to accomplish).

Some interfaces support the armorstatus option. When it is enabled, an extra status condition is displayed, summarizing currently worn armor.

The commands to use armor are W (wear) and T (take off). The A command can be used to take off armor as well as other worn items. Also, P (put on) and R (remove) which are normally for accessories can be used for armor, but pieces of armor won’t be shown as likely candidates in a prompt for choosing what to put on or remove.

7.6. Food (%)

Food is necessary to survive. If you go too long without eating you will faint, and eventually die of starvation. Some types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy to eat, if not protected. Food stored in ice boxes or tins (cans) will usually 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. Vegetarian monsters will typically never eat animal corpses, while vegetarian players can, but with some rather unpleasant side-effects.

You can name one food item after something you like to eat with the fruit option.

The command to eat food is e.

7.7. Scrolls (?)

Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen by ancient wizards for their amusement value (for example READ ME, or THANX MAUD backwards). Scrolls disappear after you read them (except for blank ones, without magic spells on them).

One of the most useful of these is the scroll of identify, which can be used to determine what another object is, whether it is cursed or blessed, and how many uses it has left. Some objects of subtle enchantment are difficult to identify without these.

A scroll whose label is known can be read even when the hero is blind. If a scroll has been discovered, it will be listed in inventory by type rather than by label, but the label is known in that situation even though it isn’t shown.

Many scrolls produce a different effect from usual if they are blessed or cursed, or read while the hero is confused.

A mail daemon may run up and deliver mail to you as a scroll of mail (on versions compiled with this feature). To use this feature on versions where NetHack mail delivery is triggered by electronic mail appearing in your system mailbox, you must let NetHack know where to look for new mail by setting the MAIL environment variable to the file name of your mailbox. You may also want to set the MAILREADER environment variable to the file name of your favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it when you read the scroll. On versions of NetHack where mail is randomly generated internal to the game, these environment variables are ignored. You can disable the mail daemon by turning off the mail option.

The command to read a scroll is r.

7.8. Potions (!)

Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid inside the flask. They disappear after you quaff them.

Clear potions are potions of water. Sometimes these are blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water. Holy water is the bane of the undead, so potions of holy water are good things to throw (t) at them. It is also sometimes very useful to dip (#dip) an object into a potion.

The command to drink a potion is q (quaff).

7.9. Wands (/)

Wands usually have multiple magical charges. Some types of wands require a direction in which to zap them. You can also zap them at yourself (just give a . or s for the direction). Be warned, however, for this is often unwise. Other types of wands don’t require a direction. The number of charges in a wand is random and decreases by one whenever you use it.

When the number of charges left in a wand becomes zero, attempts to use the wand will usually result in nothing happening. Occasionally, however, it may be possible to squeeze the last few mana points from an otherwise spent wand, destroying it in the process. A wand may be recharged by using suitable magic, but doing so runs the risk of causing it to explode. The chance for such an explosion starts out very small and increases each time the wand is recharged.

In a truly desperate situation, when your back is up against the wall, you might decide to go for broke and break your wand. This is not for the faint of heart. Doing so will almost certainly cause a catastrophic release of magical energies.

When you have fully identified a particular wand, inventory display will include additional information in parentheses: the number of times it has been recharged followed by a colon and then by its current number of charges. A current charge count of -1 is a special case indicating that the wand has been cancelled.

The command to use a wand is z (zap). To break one, use the a (apply) command.

7.10. Rings (=)

Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively permanent magic, unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions, scrolls, and wands.

Putting on a ring activates its magic. You can wear at most two rings at any time, one on the ring finger of each hand.

Most worn rings also cause you to grow hungry more rapidly, the rate varying with the type of ring.

When wearing gloves, rings are worn underneath. If the gloves are cursed, rings cannot be put on and any already being worn cannot be removed. When worn gloves aren’t cursed, you don’t have to manually take them off before putting on or removing 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.

7.11. 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!

A spell (even when learned) can also backfire when you cast it. If you attempt to cast a spell well above your experience level, or if you have little skill with the appropriate spell type, or cast it at a time when your luck is particularly bad, you can end up wasting both the energy and the time required in casting.

Casting a spell calls forth magical energies and focuses them with your naked mind. Some of the magical energy released comes from within you. Casting temporarily drains your magical power, which will slowly be recovered, and causes you to need additional food. Casting of spells also requires practice. With practice, your skill in each category of spell casting will improve. Over time, however, your memory of each spell will dim, and you will need to relearn it.

Some spells require a direction in which to cast them, similar to wands. To cast one at yourself, just give a . or s for the direction. A few spells require you to pick a target location rather than just specify a particular direction. Other spells don’t require any direction or target.

Just as weapons are divided into groups in which a character can become proficient (to varying degrees), spells are similarly grouped. Successfully casting a spell exercises its skill group; using the #enhance command to advance a sufficiently exercised skill will affect all spells within the group. Advanced skill may increase the potency of spells, reduce their risk of failure during casting attempts, and improve the accuracy of the estimate for how much longer they will be retained in your memory. Skill slots are shared with weapons skills. (See also the section on “Weapon proficiency”.)

Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing various types of armor may interfere with that.

The command to read a spellbook is the same as for scrolls, r (read). The + command lists each spell you know along with its level, skill category, chance of failure when casting, and an estimate of how strongly it is remembered. The Z (cast) command casts a spell.

7.12. Tools (()

Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes. Some tools have a limited number of uses, akin to wand charges. For example, lamps burn out after a while. Other tools are containers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.

Some tools (such as a blindfold) can be worn and can be put on and removed like other accessories (rings, amulets); see 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 when applied.

The blind option can be set (prior to game start) to attempt to play the entire game without being able to see (a self-imposed challenge which is very difficult to accomplish).

The command to use a tool is a (apply).

7.13. Amulets (")

Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more powerful. Like rings, amulets have various magical properties, some beneficial, some harmful, which are activated by putting them on.

Only one amulet may be worn at a time, around your neck. Like wearing rings, wearing an amulet affects your metabolism, causing you to grow hungry more rapidly.

The commands to use amulets are the same as for rings, P (put on) and R (remove). A can be used to remove various worn items including amulets. Also, W (wear) and T (take off) which are normally for armor can be used for amulets and other accessories (rings and eyewear), but accessories won’t be shown as likely candidates in a prompt for choosing what to wear or take off.

7.14. 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.

Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are much less valuable. All rocks, however, can be used as projectile weapons (if you have a sling). In the most desperate of cases, you can still throw them by hand.

7.15. Large rocks (`)

Statues and boulders are not particularly useful, and are generally heavy. It is rumored that some statues are not what they seem.

Boulders occasionally block your path. You can push one forward (by attempting to walk onto its spot) when nothing blocks its path, or you can smash it into a pile of small rocks with breaking magic or a pick-axe. It is possible to move onto a boulder’s location if certain conditions are met; ordinarily one of those conditions is that pushing it any further be blocked. Using the move-without-picking-up prefix (default key ‘m’) prior to the direction of movement will attempt to move to a boulder’s location without pushing it in addition to the prefix’s usual action of suppressing auto-pickup at the destination.

Very large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known to pick up boulders and use them as missile weapons.

Unlike boulders, statues can’t be pushed, but don’t need to be because they don’t block movement. They can be smashed into rocks though.

For some configurations of the program, statues are no longer shown as ‘`’ but by the letter representing the monster they depict instead.

7.16. Gold ($)

Gold adds to your score, and you can buy things in shops with it. There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers aside).

Gold pieces are the only type of object where bless/curse state does not apply. They’re always uncursed but never described as uncursed even if you turn off the implicit_uncursed option. You can set the goldX option if you prefer to have gold pieces be treated as bless/curse state unknown rather than as known to be uncursed. Only matters when you’re using an object selection prompt that can filter by “BUCX” state.

7.17. Persistence of Objects

Normally, if you have seen an object at a particular map location 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 more—perhaps a monster has picked it up or it has rotted away—until you can see or feel that location again. One notable exception is that if the object gets covered by the “remembered, unseen monster” marker. When that marker is later removed after you’ve verified that no monster is there, you will have forgotten that there was any object there regardless of whether the unseen monster actually took the object. If the object is still there, then once you see or feel that location again you will re-discover 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 option can be enabled in order to show an item differently when it is the top one of a pile.

8.1. Achievements

End of game disclosure will also display various achievements representing progress toward ultimate ascension, if any have been attained. They aren’t directly related to conduct but are grouped with it because they fall into the same category of bragging rights and to limit the number of questions during disclosure. Listed here roughly in order of difficulty and not necessarily in the order in which you might accomplish them.

Notes:

Achievements are recorded and subsequently reported in the order in which they happen during your current game rather than the order listed here.

There are nine <Rank> titles for each role, bestowed at experience levels 1, 3, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, and 30. The one for experience level 1 is not recorded as an achievement. Losing enough levels to revert to lower rank(s) does not discard the corresponding achievement(s).

There’s no guaranteed Novel so the achievement to read one might not always be attainable (except perhaps by wishing). Similarly, the Big Room level is not always present. Unlike with the Novel, there’s no way to wish for this opportunity.

The special items hidden in Mines’ End and Sokoban are not unique but are considered to be prizes or rewards for exploring those levels since doing so is not necessary to complete the game. Finding other instances of the same objects doesn’t record the corresponding achievement.

The Medusa achievement is recorded if she dies for any reason, even if you are not directly responsible, and only if she dies.

The 5-note tune can be learned via trial and error with a musical instrument played closely enough—but not too close!—to the Castle level’s drawbridge or can be given to you via prayer boon.

Blind, Deaf, Nudist, and Pauper are also conducts, and they can only be enabled by setting the correspondingly named option in NETHACKOPTIONS or run-time configuration file prior to game start. In the case of Blind and Deaf, the option also enforces the conduct. They aren’t really significant accomplishments unless/until you make substantial progress into the dungeon.

9.1. Setting the options

Options may be set in a number of ways. Within the game, the O command allows you to view all options and change most of them. You can also set options automatically by placing them in a configuration file, or in the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable. Some versions of NetHack also have front-end programs that allow you to set options before starting the game or a global configuration for system administrators.

9.2. Browser Storage

Teleport stores all game data in your browser’s localStorage:

Data persists until you clear your browser data.

9.3. URL Parameters

You can control game initialization via URL query parameters:

Game Control

Option Overrides

Options can be set via the .nethackrc file in the simulated shell environment. Use vi ~/.nethackrc at the shell prompt to edit.

9.4. Customization options

Here are the options available in the Teleport edition. Use the O command to view and change options during play.

color Use colored display (default on).

confirm Confirm before attacking peaceful creatures (default on).

DECgraphics Use Unicode box-drawing characters for walls: ─│┌┐└┘ (default on).

lit_corridor Show lit corridors differently from dark ones (default off).

name Your character’s name (prompted at start if empty).

number_pad Use numpad 1-9 for movement instead of hjklyubn (default off).

pickup Automatically pick up items when walking over them (default off).

pickup_types Object types to auto-pickup when pickup is on. Use symbol characters: $ for gold, ! for potions, ? for scrolls, = for rings, + for spellbooks. Empty means all types.

rest_on_space Space bar waits a turn (default off).

safe_pet Confirm before attacking your pet (default on).

showexp Show experience points in status line (default off).

time Show turn count in status line (default off).

tombstone Show ASCII tombstone on death (default on).

verbose More detailed game messages (default on).

9.5. Saving and restoring

Saving (S)

Press S to save your game and quit. You will be returned to the simulated Unix shell.

Shell Environment

Teleport provides a simulated 1980s Unix shell as the starting interface. Type nethack at the shell prompt to start a game. Other programs available include hack, rogue, basic, logo, and dungeon.

9.6. Display options

Teleport uses a fixed 80x24 terminal display with:

• DECgraphics: Unicode box-drawing characters for walls
• 16 ANSI colors: Standard terminal color palette

Font Size: Use the A+ and A- buttons to adjust.

Dark Mode: Toggle via the hamburger menu.

Control Help: Toggle the keyboard reference panel via the hamburger menu.

Fullscreen: Toggle via the hamburger menu or Cmd/Ctrl+Enter.

11.1. Debug mode

Debug mode, also known as wizard mode, is undocumented aside from this brief description and the various debug mode only commands listed among the command descriptions. It is intended for tracking down problems within the program rather than to provide god-like powers to your character, and players who attempt debugging are expected to figure out how to use it themselves. It is initiated by starting the game with the -D command-line switch or with the playmode:debug option.

For some systems, the player must be logged in under a particular 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.

12.1. 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 Andy Thomson for hardfought.org. Thanks to all those unnamed dungeoneers 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:

Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

12.3. Teleport Edition

Teleport is a JavaScript port of NetHack 3.7, playable in any modern web browser. It was created through vibe coding — building software by collaborating with LLM coding agents rather than writing every line by hand.

David Bau assisted by Claude and Codex vibe coding agents.

You feel a wrenching sensation.

Project: https://github.com/davidbau/teleport

Play: https://mazesofmenace.ai/