| blob | 73c7a1d5ce9a97c9e2f4af62f68663ce2e13ce4c |
1 Welcome to NetHack! ( description of version 3.6 )
3 NetHack is a Dungeons and Dragons like game where you (the adventurer)
4 descend into the depths of the dungeon in search of the Amulet of Yendor,
5 reputed to be hidden somewhere below the twentieth level. You begin your
6 adventure with a pet that can help you in many ways, and can be trained
7 to do all sorts of things. On the way you will find useful (or useless)
8 items, quite possibly with magic properties, and assorted monsters. You can
9 attack a monster by trying to move onto the space a monster is on (but often
10 it is much wiser to leave it alone).
12 Unlike most adventure games, which give you a verbal description of
13 your location, NetHack gives you a visual image of the dungeon level you are
14 on.
16 NetHack uses the following symbols:
18 - and | The walls of a room, possibly also open doors or a grave.
19 . The floor of a room or a doorway.
20 # A corridor, or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly a kitchen
21 sink (if your dungeon has sinks), or a drawbridge.
22 > Stairs down: a way to the next level.
23 < Stairs up: a way to the previous level.
24 @ You (usually), or another human.
25 ) A weapon of some sort.
26 [ A suit or piece of armor.
27 % Something edible (not necessarily healthy).
28 / A wand.
29 = A ring.
30 ? A scroll.
31 ! A potion.
32 ( Some other useful object (pick-axe, key, lamp...)
33 $ A pile of gold.
34 * A gem or rock (possibly valuable, possibly worthless).
35 + A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell
36 you can learn.
37 ^ A trap (once you detect it).
38 " An amulet, or a spider web.
39 0 An iron ball.
40 _ An altar, or an iron chain.
41 { A fountain.
42 } A pool of water or moat or a pool of lava.
43 \ An opulent throne.
44 ` A boulder or statue.
45 A to Z, a to z, and several others: Monsters.
46 I Invisible or unseen monster's last known location
48 You can find out what a symbol represents by typing
49 '/' and following the directions to move the cursor
50 to the symbol in question. For instance, a 'd' may
51 turn out to be a dog.
54 y k u 7 8 9 Move commands:
55 \|/ \|/ yuhjklbn: go one step in specified direction
56 h-.-l 4-.-6 YUHJKLBN: go in specified direction until you
57 /|\ /|\ hit a wall or run into something
58 b j n 1 2 3 g<dir>: run in direction <dir> until something
59 numberpad interesting is seen
60 G<dir>, same, except a branching corridor isn't
61 < up ^<dir>: considered interesting (the ^ in this
62 case means the Control key, not a caret)
63 > down m<dir>: move without picking up objects
64 F<dir>: fight even if you don't sense a monster
65 If the number_pad option is set, the number keys move instead.
66 Depending on the platform, Shift number (on the numberpad),
67 Meta number, or Alt number will invoke the YUHJKLBN commands.
68 Control <dir> may or may not work when number_pad is enabled,
69 depending on the platform's capabilities.
70 Digit '5' acts as 'G' prefix, unless number_pad is set to 2
71 in which case it acts as 'g' instead.
72 If number_pad is set to 3, the roles of 1,2,3 and 7,8,9 are
73 reversed; when set to 4, behaves same as 3 combined with 2.
74 If number_pad is set to -1, alphabetic movement commands are
75 used but 'y' and 'z' are swapped.
77 Commands:
78 NetHack knows the following commands:
79 ? Help menu.
80 / What-is, tell what a symbol represents. You may choose to
81 specify a location or give a symbol argument. Enabling the
82 autodescribe option will give information about the symbol
83 at each location you move the cursor onto.
84 & Tell what a command does.
85 < Go up a staircase (if you are standing on it).
86 > Go down a staircase (if you are standing on it).
87 . Rest, do nothing for one turn.
88 _ Travel via a shortest-path algorithm to a point on the map.
89 a Apply (use) a tool (pick-axe, key, lamp...).
90 A Remove all armor.
91 ^A Redo the previous command.
92 c Close a door.
93 C Call (name) monster, individual object, or type of object.
94 d Drop something. d7a: drop seven items of object a.
95 D Drop multiple items. This command is implemented in two
96 different ways. One way is:
97 "D" displays a list of all of your items, from which you can
98 pick and choose what to drop. A "+" next to an item means
99 that it will be dropped, a "-" means that it will not be
100 dropped. Toggle an item to be selected/deselected by typing
101 the letter adjacent to its description. Select all items
102 with "+", deselect all items with "=". The <SPACEBAR> moves
103 you from one page of the listing to the next.
104 The other way is:
105 "D" will ask the question "What kinds of things do you want
106 to drop? [!%= au]". You should type zero or more object
107 symbols possibly followed by 'a' and/or 'u'.
108 Da - drop all objects, without asking for confirmation.
109 Du - drop only unpaid objects (when in a shop).
110 D%u - drop only unpaid food.
111 ^D Kick (for doors, usually).
112 e Eat food.
113 E Engrave a message on the floor.
114 E- - write in the dust with your fingers.
115 f Fire ammunition from quiver.
116 F Followed by direction, fight a monster (even if you don't
117 sense it).
118 i Display your inventory.
119 I Display selected parts of your inventory, as in
120 I* - list all gems in inventory.
121 Iu - list all unpaid items.
122 Ix - list all used up items that are on your shopping bill.
123 I$ - count your money.
124 o Open a door.
125 O Review current options and possibly change them.
126 A menu displaying the option settings will be displayed
127 and most can be changed by simply selecting their entry.
128 Options are usually set before the game with a NETHACKOPTIONS
129 environment variable, or via a config file (defaults.nh,
130 NetHack Defaults, nethack.cnf, .nethackrc, etc.), not with
131 the 'O' command.
132 p Pay your shopping bill.
133 P Put on an accessory (ring, amulet, etc).
134 ^P Repeat last message (subsequent ^P's repeat earlier messages).
135 The behavior can be varied via the msg_window option.
136 q Drink (quaff) something (potion, water, etc).
137 Q Select ammunition for quiver.
138 r Read a scroll or spellbook.
139 R Remove an accessory (ring, amulet, etc).
140 ^R Redraw the screen.
141 s Search for secret doors and traps around you.
142 S Save the game.
143 t Throw an object or shoot a projectile.
144 T Take off armor.
145 ^T Teleport, if you are able.
146 v Displays the version number.
147 V Display a longer identification of the version, including the
148 history of the game.
149 w Wield weapon. w- means wield nothing, use bare hands.
150 W Wear armor.
151 x Swap wielded and secondary weapons.
152 X Toggle two-weapon combat.
153 ^X Show your attributes.
154 z Zap a wand. (Use y instead of z if number_pad is -1.)
155 Z Cast a spell. (Use Y instead of Z if number_pad is -1.)
156 ^Z Suspend the game. (^Y instead of ^Z if number_pad is -1.)
157 : Look at what is here.
158 ; Look at what is somewhere else.
159 , Pick up some things.
160 @ Toggle the pickup option.
161 ^ Ask for the type of a trap you found earlier.
162 ) Tell what weapon you are wielding.
163 [ Tell what armor you are wearing.
164 = Tell what rings you are wearing.
165 " Tell what amulet you are wearing.
166 ( Tell what tools you are using.
167 * Tell what equipment you are using; combines the preceding five.
168 $ Count your gold pieces.
169 + List the spells you know; also rearrange them if desired.
170 \ Show what types of objects have been discovered.
171 ` Show discovered types for one class of objects.
172 ! Escape to a shell, if supported in your version and OS.
173 # Introduces one of the "extended" commands. To get a list of
174 the commands you can use with "#" type "#?". The extended
175 commands you can use depends upon what options the game was
176 compiled with, along with your class and what type of monster
177 you most closely resemble at a given moment. If your keyboard
178 has a meta key (which, when pressed in combination with another
179 key, modifies it by setting the 'meta' (8th, or 'high') bit),
180 these extended commands can be invoked by meta-ing the first
181 letter of the command. An alt key may have a similar effect.
183 If the "number_pad" option is on, some additional letter commands
184 are available:
186 h displays the help menu, like '?'
187 j Jump to another location.
188 k Kick (for doors, usually).
189 l Loot a box on the floor.
190 n followed by number of times to repeat the next command.
191 N Name a monster, an individual object, or a type of object.
192 u Untrap a trapped object or door.
194 You can put a number before a command to repeat it that many times,
195 as in "40." or "20s.". If you have the number_pad option set, you
196 must type 'n' to prefix the count, as in "n40." or "n20s".
199 Some information is displayed on the bottom line or perhaps in a
200 box, depending on the platform you are using. You see your
201 attributes, your alignment, what dungeon level you are on, how many
202 hit points you have now (and will have when fully recovered), what
203 your armor class is (the lower the better), your experience level,
204 and the state of your stomach. Optionally, you may or may not see
205 other information such as spell points, how much gold you have, etc.
207 Have Fun, and Happy Hacking!