Ceiling - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: /* Items */ dropped word

2026-06-02T09:25:40Z

‎Items: dropped word

Umbire the Phantom: not fully done, but citations are nh5 so

2026-05-20T04:37:24Z

not fully done, but citations are nh5 so

Umbire the Phantom: pothole

2026-05-20T04:36:14Z

pothole

Umbire the Phantom: /* History */ pothole

2026-05-20T04:34:18Z

‎History: pothole

Umbire the Phantom: /* History */ typo

2026-05-20T04:01:15Z

‎History: typo

Umbire the Phantom: pretty up the rest - still more to be done but it's presentable-ish

2026-05-20T04:01:03Z

pretty up the rest - still more to be done but it's presentable-ish

Umbire the Phantom: some editing now I'm back from outside

2026-05-20T03:06:31Z

some editing now I'm back from outside

Umbire the Phantom: /* Clinging monsters */ bit more detail, gonna be away for a bit so come back to this later tonight

2026-05-19T20:05:07Z

‎Clinging monsters: bit more detail, gonna be away for a bit so come back to this later tonight

Umbire the Phantom: fix ref

2026-05-19T19:51:06Z

fix ref

Umbire the Phantom: some copyedit

2026-05-19T19:50:40Z

some copyedit

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 * The earthquake from [[applying]] a [[charged]] [[drum of earthquake]] will shake loose any monsters hiding on the ceiling.
 * Quaffing a cursed [[potion of levitation]] causes the hero to take damage from hitting their head on the ceiling.
-* [[Quaffing]] a [[potion of gain level]] causes the hero to rise up through the ceiling, unless they are on the following levels under the following conditions:{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1667-L1687|nethack=5.0.0|name="riseup"|comment=<tt>Can_rise_up()</tt> function}}
+* [[Quaffing]] a cursed [[potion of gain level]] causes the hero to rise up through the ceiling, unless they are on the following levels under the following conditions:{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1667-L1687|nethack=5.0.0|name="riseup"|comment=<tt>Can_rise_up()</tt> function}}
 ** Dungeon level 1, and they do not have the real [[Amulet of Yendor]]{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1683-L1686|nethack=5.0.0|comment=per comment: "Checks for amulets and such must be done elsewhere."}}
 ** The top floor of [[Sokoban]]{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1680|nethack=5.0.0|name="sokoend"}}

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 ==References==
 <references/>
-{{nethack-367}}
+{{nethack-500}}
 [[Category:Levels]]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 ==Description==
-The ceiling is mentioned in the effect text of various items as well as a couple of [[trap]]s or trap-like features. The following levels are considered to ''not'' have a ceiling, with the text for them substituted accordingly:{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1689-L1698|nethack=5.0.0|name="has_ceiling"|comment=<tt>has_ceiling()</tt> function}}
+The ceiling is mentioned in the effect text of various [[item]]s, as well as a couple of [[trap]]s or trap-like features. The following levels are considered to ''not'' have a ceiling, with the text for them substituted accordingly:{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1689-L1698|nethack=5.0.0|name="has_ceiling"|comment=<tt>has_ceiling()</tt> function}}
 * Certain [[Quest]] home levels

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 ==History==
-In [[NetHack 3.4.3]] and some previous versions, including variants based on those versions, [[trapper]]s are treated as hiding on the ceiling identically to the lurker above: the game implicitly assumes that a non-mimic monster with the hiding monster attribute flag (<tt>M1_HIDE</tt>) is hiding on the ceiling, which includes trappers due to a lack of any differentiating code in spite of the [[encyclopedia]] entry suggesting that it hides on the ground.{{refsrc|mhitu.c|361}} This is [[Bugs in NetHack 3.4.3#C342-51|bug C342-51]], and is fixed in [[NetHack 3.6.0]] via {{commit|70e25fa154716bee958419ce8d4ae48f4353601d}} (dated November 2003) so that the trapper is correctly treated as being on the floor.
+In [[NetHack 3.4.3]] and some previous versions, including variants based on those versions, [[trapper]]s are treated as hiding on the ceiling identically to the lurker above: the game implicitly assumes that a non-[[mimic]] monster with the hiding monster attribute flag (<tt>M1_HIDE</tt>) is hiding on the ceiling, which includes trappers due to a lack of any differentiating code in spite of the [[encyclopedia]] entry suggesting that it hides on the ground.{{refsrc|mhitu.c|361}} This is [[Bugs in NetHack 3.4.3#C342-51|bug C342-51]], and is fixed in [[NetHack 3.6.0]] via {{commit|70e25fa154716bee958419ce8d4ae48f4353601d}} (dated November 2003) so that the trapper is correctly treated as being on the floor.
 ==Variants==<!--were they ever?? this raises an interesting question and I'm commenting it until further notice

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 ==History==
-In [[NetHack 3.4.3]] and some previous versions, including variants based on those versions, [[trapper]]s are treated as hiding on the ceiling identically to the lurker above: the game implicitly assumes that a non-mimic monster with the hiding monster attribute flag (<tt>M1_HIDE</tt>) is hiding on the ceiling, which includes trappers due to a lack of any differentiating code in spite of the [[encyclopedia]] entry suggesting that it hides on the ground.{{refsrc|mhitu.c|361}} This is [[Bugs in Nethack 3.4.3#C342-51|bug C342-51]], and is fixed in [[NetHack 3.6.0]] via {{commit|70e25fa154716bee958419ce8d4ae48f4353601d}} (dated November 2003) so that the trapper is correctly treated as being on the floor.
+In [[NetHack 3.4.3]] and some previous versions, including variants based on those versions, [[trapper]]s are treated as hiding on the ceiling identically to the lurker above: the game implicitly assumes that a non-mimic monster with the hiding monster attribute flag (<tt>M1_HIDE</tt>) is hiding on the ceiling, which includes trappers due to a lack of any differentiating code in spite of the [[encyclopedia]] entry suggesting that it hides on the ground.{{refsrc|mhitu.c|361}} This is [[Bugs in NetHack 3.4.3#C342-51|bug C342-51]], and is fixed in [[NetHack 3.6.0]] via {{commit|70e25fa154716bee958419ce8d4ae48f4353601d}} (dated November 2003) so that the trapper is correctly treated as being on the floor.
 ==Variants==<!--were they ever?? this raises an interesting question and I'm commenting it until further notice

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 * The earthquake from [[applying]] a [[charged]] [[drum of earthquake]] will shake loose any monsters hiding on the ceiling.
 * Quaffing a cursed [[potion of levitation]] causes the hero to take damage from hitting their head on the ceiling.
-* [[Quaffing]] a [[potion of gain level]] causes the hero to rise up through the ceiling, unless they are on the following levels under the following conditions:
+* [[Quaffing]] a [[potion of gain level]] causes the hero to rise up through the ceiling, unless they are on the following levels under the following conditions:{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1667-L1687|nethack=5.0.0|name="riseup"|comment=<tt>Can_rise_up()</tt> function}}
-** Dungeon level 1, and they do not have the real [[Amulet of Yendor]]
+** Dungeon level 1, and they do not have the real [[Amulet of Yendor]]{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1683-L1686|nethack=5.0.0|comment=per comment: "Checks for amulets and such must be done elsewhere."}}
-** The top floor of [[Sokoban]]
+** The top floor of [[Sokoban]]{{refsrc|src/dungeon.c|1680|nethack=5.0.0|name="sokoend"}}
 ** The Quest home level
 ** [[Fort Ludios]]
 ** The top floor of [[Vlad's Tower]]
 ** The top floor of the [[Wizard's Tower]], while inside
-** The [[Elemental Planes]]
+** The [[Elemental Planes]]<ref name="sokoend"/>
 * [[Reading]] a [[scroll of earth]] on a level with a ceiling describes it as it "rumbles around" the hero and creates one or multiple boulders.
 * Zapping a [[wand of digging]] or the {{+ of|dig}} spell upwards on a dungeon level with a ceiling dislodges a rock from it and causes it to fall on the hero's head.
 ==History==
-Prior to NetHack 3.6.0, the game considered {{monsymlink|trapper}}s to hide on the ceiling. This was [[bug]] C342-51 in NetHack 3.4.3.
+In [[NetHack 3.4.3]] and some previous versions, including variants based on those versions, [[trapper]]s are treated as hiding on the ceiling identically to the lurker above: the game implicitly assumes that a non-mimic monster with the hiding monster attribute flag (<tt>M1_HIDE</tt>) is hiding on the ceiling, which includes trappers due to a lack of any differentiating code in spite of the [[encyclopedia]] entry suggesting that it hides on the ground.{{refsrc|mhitu.c|361}} This is [[Bugs in Nethack 3.4.3#C342-51|bug C342-51]], and is fixed in [[NetHack 3.6.0]] via {{commit|70e25fa154716bee958419ce8d4ae48f4353601d}} (dated November 2003) so that the trapper is correctly treated as being on the floor.
-==Variants==
+==Variants==<!--were they ever?? this raises an interesting question and I'm commenting it until further notice
 ===SLASH'EM===
 No new traps are present in [[SLASH'EM]], but rust traps will become fountains when untrapped. It is not clear if they are still considered ceiling traps.
+-->
 ===SporkHack===
-[[SporkHack]] introduces ceiling collapse traps, which drop several boulders onto the player.
+[[SporkHack]] introduces [[ceiling collapse trap]]s, which drop several boulders onto the player.
 ===xNetHack===
-In [[xNetHack]], some levels (including most quest levels) are flagged as "outdoors". Scrolls of earth do not work on outdoor levels, and ceiling traps such as rust and falling rock traps won't generate. Throwing an object upwards will also not be shown as hitting a ceiling.
+In [[xNetHack]], certain levels are flagged as "outdoors", including many retained and newly-made quest levels among others: read scrolls of earth have no effect in outdoor levels, and both falling rock traps and [[rust trap]]s (which are considered ceiling-bound in xNetHack) will not be generated. Throwing an object upwards will also not be shown as hitting a ceiling if done outdoors.
 ==References==

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 * {{monsymlink|wumpus}}
-Clinging monsters will not fall into [[pit]]s, [[spiked pit]]s, [[hole]]s, or [[trap door]]s. They can move over [[squeaky board]]s, [[rolling boulder trap]]s, [[land mine]]s, and possibly-hazardous terrain such as [[pool]]s, moats or [[lava]].
+Clinging monsters will not fall into [[pit]]s, [[spiked pit]]s, [[hole]]s, or [[trap door]]s. They can move over [[squeaky board]]s, [[rolling boulder trap]]s and [[landmine]]s without triggering them, and can also move over possibly-hazardous terrain such as [[pool]]s, moats or [[lava]].
 ===Hiding on the ceiling===
@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 ==Traps==
-When stepping on a [[falling rock trap]], a rock falls from a trapdoor in the ceiling.
+Two [[trap]]-related actions mention the ceiling in some form:
 ==Items==
-A [[drum of earthquake]], when improvised, will unhide any monsters hidden on the ceiling.
+The following items interact with the ceiling of the dungeon or produce a message about it in some manner.
-==Other==
+* [[Applying]] a [[bullwhip]], an [[expensive camera]], or a [[mirror]] up will produce a message about the ceiling.
-There is a {{frac|4}} chance that you may trigger a special type of trap door when [[kick|kicking]] a [[throne]]. The message when this happens is, '''"The floor opens up under you!"''' followed by '''"The hole in the ceiling above you closes up."''' This is the only method of triggering this trap.
+* The earthquake from [[applying]] a [[charged]] [[drum of earthquake]] will shake loose any monsters hiding on the ceiling.
 ==History==
@@ Line 62: / Line 66: @@
 <references/>
 {{nethack-367}}

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 * The [[Astral Plane]]
-===Clinging monsters===
+==Clinging monsters==
-Some monsters are capable of '''clinging''' to the ceiling and moving along it over the terrain below, including [[hole]]s, [[trap door]]s and hazardous terrain such as [[pool]]s, moats or [[lava]]. Clinging monsters are denoted with the '''<tt>M1_CLING</tt>''' flag, and are listed below:{{refsrc|include/monflag.h|89|nethack=5.0.0}}{{refsrc|include/mondata.h|22|nethack=5.0.0}}
+Some monsters are capable of '''clinging''' to the ceiling and moving along it over the terrain below. These clinging monsters are denoted with the '''<tt>M1_CLING</tt>''' flag, and are listed below:{{refsrc|include/monflag.h|89|nethack=5.0.0}}{{refsrc|include/mondata.h|22|nethack=5.0.0}}
 * {{monclass|m}}s
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 * all {{monclass|p}}s
 * {{monsymlink|wumpus}}
 ===Hiding on the ceiling===
-Additionally, some monsters are capable of [[hiding]] until a target moves on or near their square by using the ceiling as well:{{refsrc|include/mondata.h|39-46|nethack=5.0.0}} these monsters consist of all piercers and the [[lurker above]], with the lurker above utilizing [[flight]] rather than clinging to the ceiling like piercers do.
+Some monsters are capable of [[hiding]] on the ceiling until a target moves on or near their square:{{refsrc|include/mondata.h|39-46|nethack=5.0.0}} these monsters consist of all piercers and the [[lurker above]], with the lurker above utilizing [[flight]] rather than clinging to the ceiling like piercers do.
 If a hero or monster moves onto the square of a piercer or lurker above, the monster will surprise them and appear adjacent to the target. Piercers will attempt to fall onto their targets and inflict physical damage, which can be reduced by a [[worn]] hard [[helm]]. Lurkers above do not inflict damage this way, but will instead usually attack immediately and try to [[engulf]] the target.