1 Boolean options not under specific compile flags (with default values in []):
2 (You can learn which options exist in your version by checking your current
3 option setting, which is reached via the 'O' cmd.)
5 autodescribe describe the terrain under cursor [FALSE]
6 autodig dig if moving and wielding digging tool [FALSE]
7 autoopen walking into a door attempts to open it [TRUE]
8 autopickup automatically pick up objects you move over [TRUE]
9 autoquiver when firing with an empty quiver, select some
10 suitable inventory weapon to fill the quiver [FALSE]
11 BIOS allow the use of IBM ROM BIOS calls [FALSE]
12 cmdassist give help for errors on direction & other commands [TRUE]
13 confirm ask before hitting tame or peaceful monsters [TRUE]
14 DECgraphics use DEC/VT line-drawing characters for the dungeon [FALSE]
15 eight_bit_tty send 8-bit characters straight to terminal [FALSE]
16 extmenu use a menu for selecting extended commands (#) [FALSE]
17 fixinv try to retain the same letter for the same object [TRUE]
18 help print all available info when using the / command [TRUE]
19 IBMgraphics use IBM extended characters for the dungeon [FALSE]
20 ignintr ignore interrupt signal, including breaks [FALSE]
21 implicit_uncursed omit "uncursed" from inventory, if possible [TRUE]
22 legacy print introductory message [TRUE]
23 lit_corridor show a dark corridor as lit if in sight [FALSE]
24 lootabc use a/b/c rather than o/i/b when looting [FALSE]
25 menu_overlay overlay menus on the screen and align to right [TRUE]
26 mail enable the mail daemon [TRUE]
27 null allow nulls to be sent to your terminal [TRUE]
28 try turning this option off (forcing NetHack to use its own
29 delay code) if moving objects seem to teleport across rooms
30 perm_invent keep inventory in a permanent window [FALSE]
31 pickup_thrown override pickup_types for thrown objects [TRUE]
32 pushweapon when wielding a new weapon, put your previously
33 wielded weapon into the secondary weapon slot [FALSE]
34 rawio allow the use of raw I/O [FALSE]
35 rest_on_space count the space bar as a rest character [FALSE]
36 safe_pet prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pet(s) [TRUE]
37 showexp display your accumulated experience points [FALSE]
38 showrace show yourself by your race rather than by role [FALSE]
39 silent don't use your terminal's bell sound [TRUE]
40 sortpack group similar kinds of objects in inventory [TRUE]
41 sound enable messages about what your character hears [TRUE]
42 (note: this has nothing to do with your computer's audio
43 capabilities, and the game resets it periodically)
44 sparkle display sparkly effect for resisted magical [TRUE]
45 attacks (e.g. fire attack on fire-resistant monster)
46 standout use standout mode for --More-- on messages [FALSE]
47 time display elapsed game time, in moves [FALSE]
48 tombstone print tombstone when you die [TRUE]
49 toptenwin print topten in a window rather than stdout [FALSE]
50 travel enable the command to travel to a map location via [TRUE]
51 a shortest-path algorithm, usually invoked by '_'.
52 use_darkgray use bold black instead of blue for black glyphs. [TRUE]
53 use_inverse display detected monsters in highlighted manner [FALSE]
54 verbose print more commentary during the game [TRUE]
58 There are further boolean options controlled by compilation flags.
60 Boolean option if INSURANCE was set at compile time:
61 checkpoint save game state after each level change, for possible [TRUE]
62 recovery after program crash
64 Boolean option if NEWS was set at compile time:
65 news print any news from game administrator on startup [TRUE]
67 Boolean option if MFLOPPY was set at compile time:
68 checkspace check free disk space before writing files to disk [TRUE]
71 Boolean option if SCORE_ON_BOTL was set at compile time:
72 showscore display your approximate accumulated score [FALSE]
74 Boolean options if TEXTCOLOR was set at compile time:
75 color use different colors for objects on screen [TRUE for micros]
76 hilite_pet display pets in a highlighted manner [FALSE]
78 Boolean option if TIMED_DELAY was set at compile time (tty interface only):
79 timed_delay on unix and VMS, use a timer instead of sending
80 extra screen output when attempting to pause for
81 display effect. on MSDOS without the termcap
82 lib, whether or not to pause for visual effect. [TRUE]
84 Boolean option for Amiga, or for others if ALTMETA was set at compile time:
85 altmeta For Amiga, treat Alt+key as Meta+key. [TRUE]
86 altmeta For unix and VMS, treat two character sequence
87 "ESC c" as M-c (Meta+c, 8th bit set) when nethack
88 obtains a command from player's keyboard. [FALSE]
90 Boolean option if USE_TILES was set at compile time (MSDOS protected mode only):
91 preload_tiles control whether tiles get pre-loaded into RAM at the
92 start of the game. Doing so enhances performance
93 of the tile graphics, but uses more memory. [TRUE]
95 Any Boolean option can be negated by prefixing it with a '!' or 'no'.
98 Compound options are written as option_name:option_value.
100 Compound options which can be set during the game are:
102 boulder override the default boulder symbol with another default: [`]
103 disclose the types of information you want offered at the end of the
104 game [ni na nv ng nc no]
105 fruit the name of a fruit you enjoy eating [slime mold]
106 (basically a whimsy which NetHack uses from time to time).
107 menustyle user interface for selection of multiple objects:
108 Traditional -- prompt for classes of interest, then
109 prompt item-by-item for those classes;
110 Combination -- prompt for classes of interest, then
111 use a menu for choosing items;
112 Full -- menu for classes of interest, then item menu;
113 Partial -- skip class filtering, use menu of all items;
114 only the first letter ('T','C','P','F') matters; 'N' (None)
115 is a synonym for 'T', as is boolean style negation [Full]
116 number_pad alphabetic versus numeric control over movement:
117 0 -- traditional hjkl + yubn movement (default);
118 1 -- digits control movement, for use with numeric keypad;
119 2 -- same as 1, but '5' works as 'g' prefix rather than 'G';
120 3 -- numeric for phone keypad (1,2,3 above, 7,8,9 below);
121 4 -- phone keypad (3) combined with MSDOS compatibility (2);
122 -1 -- alphabetic movement but 'z' swapped with 'y'. [0]
123 packorder a list of default symbols for kinds of objects that gives the
124 order in which your pack will be displayed [")[%?+!=/(*`0_]
125 (If you specify only some kinds of items, the others from the
126 default order will be appended to the end.)
127 paranoid_confirmation space separated list of situations where alternate
128 prompting is desired [paranoid_confirmation:pray]
129 Confirm -- when requiring yes, also require no to reject
130 quit -- yes vs y to confirm quitting or to enter explore mode
131 die -- yes vs y to confirm dying (for explore or debug mode)
132 bones -- yes vs y to confirm saving bones data in debug mode
133 attack -- yes vs y to confirm attacking a peaceful monster
134 pray -- y to confirm an attempt to pray; on by default
135 Remove -- always pick from inventory for 'R' and 'T' even when
136 wearing just one applicable item to remove or take off
137 pickup_burden when you pick up an item that exceeds this encumberance
138 level (Unencumbered, Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed,
139 or overLoaded), you will be asked if you want to continue. [S]
140 pickup_types a list of default symbols for kinds of objects to autopickup
141 when that option is on [all]
142 pile_limit for feedback when walking across floor objects, threshold at
143 which "there are many objects here" is displayed instead of
144 listing the objects. (0 means "always list objects.") [5]
145 runmode controls how often the map window is updated when performing
146 multi-step movement (various running modes or travel command):
147 teleport -- don't update map until movement stops;
148 run -- periodically update map (interval is seven steps);
149 walk -- update map after every step;
150 crawl -- like walk, but delay after making each step.
151 (This only affects screen display, not actual movement.) [run]
152 scores the parts of the score list you wish to see when the game ends
153 You choose a combination of top scores, scores around the top
154 scores, and all of your own scores. [!own/3 top/2 around]
155 suppress_alert disable various version-specific warnings about changes
156 in game play or the user interface, such as notification given
157 for the 'Q' command that quitting is now done via #quit
158 (e.g., use suppress_alert:3.3.1 to stop that and any other
159 notifications added in that version or earlier) default: [(none)]
160 whatis_coord controls whether to include map coordinates when autodescribe
161 is active for the '/' and ';' commands. Value is the first
163 compass -- ('east' or '3s' or '2n,4w')
164 map -- <x,y> (map column x=0 is not used)
165 screen -- [row,column] (row is offset to match tty usage)
166 none -- no coordinates shown; default: [n]
168 Compound options which may be set only on startup are:
170 align Your starting alignment (align:lawful, align:neutral,
171 or align:chaotic). You may specify just the first letter. [RANDOM]
172 catname the name of your first cat [NONE]
173 dogname the name of your first dog [NONE]
174 gender Your starting gender (gender:male or gender:female).
175 You may specify just the first letter. Although you can
176 still denote your gender using the "male" and "female"
177 options, the "gender" option will take precedence. [RANDOM]
178 horsename the name of your first horse [NONE]
179 menu_* create single character accelerators for menu commands. Below
180 is a list of all commands. Each is followed by a list of window-
181 ports that implement them: 'x' is X11, 't' is tty, 'g' is Gem,
183 menu_deselect_all deselect all items in a menu [-](gxta)
184 menu_deselect_page deselect all items on this menu page [\](gta)
185 menu_first_page jump to the first page in a menu [^](gta)
186 menu_invert_all invert all items in a menu [@](gxta)
187 menu_invert_page invert all items on this menu page [~](gta)
188 menu_last_page jump to the last page in a menu [|](gta)
189 menu_next_page goto the next menu page [>](gta)
190 menu_previous_page goto the previous menu page [<](gta)
191 menu_search search for a menu item [:](gxta)
192 menu_select_all select all items in a menu [.](gxta)
193 menu_select_page select all items on this menu page [,](gta)
194 msghistory number of top line messages to save [20]
195 name the name of your character [obtained by asking the system or
197 pettype your preferred type of pet (cat or dog), if your character
198 class uses both types; or none for no pet [RANDOM]
199 playmode normal play or non-scoring explore mode or debug mode [normal]
200 race Your starting race (e.g., race:Human, race:Elf). [RANDOM]
201 role Your starting role (e.g., role:Barbarian, role:Valk).
202 Although you can specify just the first letter(s), it will
203 choose only the first role it finds that matches; thus, it
204 is recommended that you spell out as much of the role name
205 as possible. You can also still denote your role by
206 appending it to the "name" option (e.g., name:Vic-V), but the
207 "role" option will take precedence. [RANDOM]
209 windowtype windowing system to be used [depends on operating system]
211 Compound option if TTY_GRAPHICS was set at compile time:
212 msg_window the type of message window to use:
213 single -- One message at a time
214 full -- Full window with all saved top line messages
215 reverse -- Same as full, but messages printed most-recent-first
216 combination -- Two single messages, then as full
219 Some sample options lists are:
220 !autopickup,!tombstone,name:Gandalf,scores:own/3 top/2 around
221 female,nonews,dogname:Rover,rest_on_space,!verbose,menustyle:traditional