Options

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The game options affect the look and feel of the game. They can be changed permanently in the defaults.nh file (or ~/.nethackrc on unix) or by using the in-game options screen.

To set options in the configuration file, list the boolean option to turn it on, prefix it with 'no' or '!' to turn it off, and for compound options, put the value after the option name, separated by colon:

OPTIONS=boulder:0, color, autodig, !cmdassist, norest_on_space, catname:Mirri

This sets boulder to 0, enables color and autodig, disables cmdassist and rest_on_space, and sets your cat's name to Mirri.

You can also set the options from the command line by setting the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable.

The options screen is shown by pressing shift-O in the game.

Options

align

Your starting alignment. Compound option, with possible values of lawful, neutral or chaotic. Cannot be set in-game.

align_message

Where to align or place the message window. Compound option, with possible values of top, bottom, left, or right. Cannot bet set in-game.

align_status

Where to align or place the status window. Compound option, with possible values of top, bottom, left, or right. Cannot bet set in-game.

altkeyhandler

Select an alternate keystroke handler dll to load. The name of the handler is specified without the .dll extension and without any path information. Win32 only. Cannot be set in-game.

altmeta

Use the alt keys as meta keys. Boolean option, default is on. Only implemented for Amiga. Cannot be set in-game.

ascii_map

NetHack should display an ascii character map if it can. Boolean option. Can be set in-game.

asksavedisk

NetHack should ask for save file disk for saving game. Only available if NetHack was compiled with MFLOPPY. Boolean option, defaults to false. Can be set in-game.

autodig

Automatically dig, if you're wielding a digging tool and moving into a place that can be dug. A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

autopickup

Automatically pick up things onto which you move. See also pickup_types. A boolean option, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

autoquiver

Automatically quiver some suitable weapon if your quiver empties when firing. A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

BIOS

Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly and to read the keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to move) on machines with an IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM. Boolean option, default off. OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack only. Cannot be set in-game.

boulder

Set the symbol used to display boulders. For example boulder:0 Can be set in-game.

catname

Set the name of your starting cat. Compound option, and it cannot be set within game. See also dogname and horsename.

character

Compound option. Sets your character type. Synonym for role. Can also be random.

checkpoint

Save game state after each level change, for possible recovery after program crash. A boolean option, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

checkspace

Check free disk space before writing files to disk. You may have to turn this off if you have more than 2 GB free space on the partition used for your save and level files. A boolean option, defaults to on. Only applies when MFLOPPY was defined during compilation.

cmdassist

NetHack provides some additional command assistance when it detects some anticipated mistakes. A boolean option, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

color

NetHack should display color if it can for different monsters, objects, and dungeon features. This option matters only for the TTY windowport. A boolean option, defaults to TRUE on Windows and some other systems, FALSE on others. Can be set in-game.

confirm

Have user confirm attacks on peaceful creatures. A boolean option, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

DECgraphics

Use DEC line-drawing characters. Won't work for all terminals. A boolean option, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game. Turning this on sets IBMgraphics to FALSE.

disclose

Controls the prompts at the end of the game. Possible values are

• i - disclose your inventory
• a - disclose your attributes
• v - summarize monsters you've killed
• g - list genocided monsters
• c - display conduct

Each of those values can be preceded with a value that tells how it behaves. The possible values are

• y - prompt, defaults to yes
• n - prompt, defaults to no
• + - disclose without prompting
• - - don't disclose, don't prompt

For example

OPTIONS=disclose:yi na +v -g -c

dogname

Set the name of your starting dog. Compound option, and it cannot be set within game. See also catname and horsename.

dungeon

Set the character symbols for displaying the dungeon. Compound option, takes a string of up to 41 characters, with default values of |--------||.-|++##.##<><>_|\\#{}.}..## #}

effects

Set the character symbols used for displaying various effects. Compound option, takes a string of up to 29 characters, with defaults values of |-\\/*!)(0#@*/-\\||\\-//-\\| |\\-/

eight_bit_tty

NetHack should pass eight-bit character values straight through to your terminal. A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

extmenu

Does extended commands interface pop up a menu? A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Only implemented for the TTY windowport.

female

An obsolete synonym for gender:female. Cannot be set in-game.

fixinv

An object's inventory letter sticks to it when it's dropped, so when you pick it up again, it will have the same inventory letter, unless there is already another item in your inventory using that letter. A boolean option, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

flush

TODO. A boolean option, defaults to off. Only usable on Amiga. Can be set in-game.

fruit

Set the name of the user-defineable fruit. Compound option, takes a string, with default value of slime mold. Can be set in-game.

fullscreen

NetHack should try and display on the entire screen rather than in a window. A boolean option, defaults to false. Cannot be set in-game.

gender

Sets the gender of your character. A compound option, with possible values of male or female or random. Default value is to pick an appropriate gender randomly. Cannot bet se in-game.

help

If more information is available for an object looked at with the '/' command, ask if you want to see it. A boolean option, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

hilite_pet

Visually distinguish pets from similar animals. A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

horsename

Set the name of your starting horse. Compound option, and it cannot be set within game. See also catname and dogname.

IBMgraphics

Main article: IBMgraphics

Use IBM extended characters. Won't work for all terminals. A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Only implemented for the TTY windowport. Can be set in-game.

ignintr

Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks. A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Not implemented on Mac. Can be set in-game.

legacy

Display an introductory message when starting the game. A boolean option, defaults to on. Cannot be set in-game.

lit_corridor

Distinguish visually between lit and unlit corridors. A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

lootabc

Use the old a, b and c keyboard shortcuts when looting. A boolean option, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

mail

Enable mail delivery during the game. Boolean option, defaults to on. Only meaningful is NetHack was compiled with MAIL. Can be set in-game.

menu_deselect_all

Menu character accelerator to deselect all items in a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Compound option, with default of '-'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_deselect_page

Menu character accelerator to deselect all items on this page of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Compound option, with default of '\'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_first_page

Menu character accelerator to jump to the first page of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Compound option, with default of '^'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_headings

Controls how the headings in a menu are highlighted. Compound option, with possible values of bold, inverse, or underline. Not all ports can actually display all three types.

menu_invert_all

Menu character accelerator to toggle the selections in a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Compound option, with default of '@'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_invert_page

Menu character accelerator to toggle the selection on this page of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Compound option, with default of '~'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_last_page

Menu character accelerator to jump to the last page of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Compound option, with default of '|'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_next_page

Menu character accelerator to goto the next page of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Compound option, with default of '>'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_previous_page

Menu character accelerator to goto the previous page of a menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Compound option, with default of '<'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_search

Menu character accelerator to search for a menu item. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and X11 ports. Compound option, with default of ':'. Cannot be set in-game.

menu_tab_sep

Use tabs to separate menu names from their values. This option is only shown when in wizard-mode, and is only meant for testing purposes.

menustyle

Controls the interface used when you need to choose various objects (in response to the Drop command, for instance). Compound option, with following possible values:

• traditional - prompt for object class characters, followed by an object-by-object prompt for all matching items
• combination - prompt for object classes of interest, then display a menu of matching objects
• partial - skip the object class filtering and immediately display a menu of all objects
• full - display a menu of object classes, and then a menu of matching objects

monsters

Set the character symbols for displaying the monsters. Compound option, takes a string of up to 60 characters, with default values of abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ@ '&;:~]. Cannot be set in-game.

msghistory

Number of message-window messages to save. Compound option, takes an positive number, with default of 20. Maximum and minimum values depend on the window port. Cannot be set in-game.

msgwindow

How to show the latest messages recalled with ^P. Compound option, with the following possible values:

• single - show single message
• combination - two messages as single, then as full
• full - full window, oldest message first
• reversed - full window, newest message first

For backwards compatibility, no value need to be given; in that case defaults to 'full', or it can be negated like a boolean option, in which case defaults to 'single'. Can be set in-game if playing the TTY windowport, otherwise not.

mouse_support

Use mouse for moving around. A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Is displayed, but cannot be set in-game.

name

The name of your character. Compound option, defaults to your user name. If set to player, then NetHack will ask for the user name, even on systems where it normally wouldn't. If suffixed with dash and character role letter, then also defines the character role, or if suffixed with -@, then selects a random role. Cannot be set in-game.

news

Read the NetHack news file, if present. Boolean option, defaults on.

null

Send padding NULLs to terminal. A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Only used if you compiled NetHack with TERMCAP and without TIMED_DELAY.

number_pad

Use the number keys to move instead of [yuhjklbn].

0=use [yuhjklbn] (default)

1=use [79428613]

2=use [79428613] and invokes the old DOS behavior where `5' means `g', meta-`5' means `G', and meta-`0' means `I'

With number_pad:1 or number_pad:2, counts need to be prefixed with 'n' (n50s to search 50 times). Also, some extended commands are available in a short form (l=#loot, u=#untrap, etc).

objects

Set the character symbols for displaying the object classes. Compound option, takes a string of up to 17 characters, with default values of ])[="(%!?+/$*`0_.. Cannot be set in-game.

packorder

Sets the order of item classes shown in inventory. Compound option, takes a string of up to 14 characters, with default values of ")[%?+!=/(*`0_. Can be set in-game.

perm_invent

Show permanent inventory window. A boolean, default to FALSE. Not used on TTY. Can be set in-game.

pettype

Sets your preferred pet type. A compound option, with possible value of cat, dog or none. Cannot be set in-game.

pickup_burden

Prompt for confirmation before picking up items that will push the character's encumbrance past a given level -- Unencumbered, Burdened, Stressed, Strained, or Overtaxed. This will NOT prompt the player if he is about to pick up a loadstone.

player_selection

NetHack should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts for character selection. Compound option. Cannot be set in-game.

popup_dialog

NetHack should pop up dialog boxes for input. A boolean option, defaults to false. Can be set in-game.

prayconfirm

Prompt for confirmation before praying. A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

preload_tiles

NetHack should preload tiles into memory. A boolean option, defaults to true. Cannot be set in-game.

pushweapon

If you wield something when you are already wielding something else, the old weapon is pushed into the alternate weapon slot. A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

race

Set your character's race. A compound option, with possible values of human, elf, dwarf, gnome, orc or random, with default of random. Cannot be set in-game.

rest_on_space

Space waits for a turn. This is considered by some as a very easy way to get killed.

A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

role

Set your character's role. A compound option. Cannot be set in-game.

runmode

Set the screen updating interval for multi-turn actions, eg. running or traveling. A compound option with the following possible values:

• teleport - update the map after movement has finished;
• run - update the map after every seven or so steps;
• walk - update the map after each step;
• crawl - like walk, but pause briefly after each step.

Can be set in-game.

safe_pet

Prevents you from attacking your pet by moving into it. TRUE is the best setting as attacking a pet, should you wish to, is easily accomplished using the fight command.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

sanity_check

This option turns on debugging output, and is only available in wizard mode.

A boolean, defaults to FALSE.

scores

Control what part of hiscore list to show at the end of game. Compound option. Can be set in-game. Accept the following options, separated by spaces:

• o - show my own score. Can be prefixed with ! to not show own score.
• Xa - show X scores around own score
• Xt - show X scores from the top

For example

OPTIONS=scores:10t 2a o

scroll_amount

NetHack should scroll the display this many map cells when the hero reaches the scroll_margin. A compound option, accepts a positive number. Cannot be set in-game.

scroll_margin

NetHack should scroll the display when the hero or cursor is this number of cells away from the edge of the window. A compound option, accepts a positive number. Cannot be set in-game.

showexp

Displays the exact number of experience points next to your experience level on the status line. Useful for seeing how close you are to the next level, but it may increase the length of the status line a lot, pushing important notifications (like Hungry, Ill, FoodPois, etc.) off the end.

A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

showrace

Uses the symbol for your race instead of @. That's h for dwarves, o for orcs and G for gnomes. Elves are still @. This could be useful for reminding you not to genocide h but is not widely used.

A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

showscore

Shows your approximate accumulated score on the bottom line. A boolean option, defaults to false. Can be set in-game. Only available if NetHack was compiled with SCORE_ON_BOTL.

silent

Stops your terminal's bell sounding.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

softkeyboard

Display an on-screen keyboards; handhelds are most likely to support this. Boolean option, defaults to off. Cannot be set in-game.

sortpack

Groups similar kinds of objects in your inventory. TRUE is highly recommended.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

sound

Enables messages about what your character hears. Quite a handicap if set to FALSE.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

soundcard

Compound option, defaults to on. Only for the PC NetHack. Cannot be set in-game.

sparkle

Display sparkly effect for resisted magical attacks (e.g. a fire attack on a fire-resistant monster). It can be helpful to turn this off on the Plane of Fire, otherwise a dozen or more sparkles will occur per turn.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

splash_screen

NetHack should display an opening splash screen when it starts up. Boolean option, defaults to yet.

standout

Uses standout mode (reverse video) for displaying "--More--".

A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

subkeyvalue

(Win32 tty NetHack only). May be used to alter the value of keystrokes that the operating system returns to NetHack to help compensate for international keyboard issues. OPTIONS=subkeyvalue:171/92 will return 92 to NetHack, if 171 was originally going to be returned. You can use multiple subkeyvalue statements in the config file if needed. Cannot be set in-game.

suppress_alert

Prevent alert notification messages about feature changes in a NetHack version and the previous versions. Compound option, accepts a string describing a NetHack version. Can be set in-game. Currently only one use, which is to prevent the quiver and quit-command changes: suppress_alert:3.3.1

tile_width

Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable port. Compound option, accepts a positive number. Cannot be set in-game.

tile_height

Specify the preferred height of each tile in a tile capable port. Compound option, accepts a positive number. Cannot be set in-game.

tile_file

Specify the name of an alternative tile file to override the default. Compound option. Cannot be set in-game.

tiled_map

NetHack should display a tiled map if it can. Boolean option, Cannot be set in-game.

time

Displays elapsed game time, in moves, on the status line. Very useful for estimating prayer timeouts, spell lifespan, and more.

A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

timed_delay

On unix and VMS, use a timer instead of sending extra screen output when attempting to pause for a display effect. On MSDOS without the termcap lib, chooses whether or not to pause for visual effect.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

tombstone

Prints an ASCII tombstone when you die.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

toptenwin

Prints the top ten high scores in a window rather than stdout. This isn't very useful unless you are using a GUI version.

A boolean, defaults to FALSE. Can be set in-game.

travel

Enables the travel command.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

use_inverse

Displays certain things in reverse video.

A boolean, defaults to FALSE on non-Win32 platforms. Can be set in-game.

vary_msgcount

NetHack should display this number of messages at a time in the message window. Compound option, accepts a positive number. Cannot be set in-game.

verbose

Chooses whether or not to display certain non-essential messages, such as doors being destroyed.

A boolean, defaults to TRUE. Can be set in-game.

windowcolors

NetHack should display windows with the specified foreground/background colors if it can. Compound option. Cannot be set in-game. Example:

OPTIONS=windowcolors:menu white/black message green/yellow status white/blue text white/black

windowtype

Select which windowing system to use, such as tty or X11 (default depends on version). Cannot be set in-game. Example:

OPTIONS=windowtype:tty

wraptext

NetHack port should wrap long lines of text if they don't fit in the visible portion of the window. Boolean, defaults to false. Can be set in-game.