Dungeon.def format

dungeon.def is the file that describes how the dungeon branches and what special levels are used and where. It is compiled into a binary file by dgn_comp

Comments

All lines beginning with # are comments and are ignored by the compiler.

Example:

# This is a comment.

DUNGEON

DUNGEON: "name" "bonetag" (base, range)

This is used to define a new dungeon.

• "name" is the name of the dungeon
• "bonetag" is the character used in file names when a bones file is created in this dungeon, or "none", in which case no bones will be created in the dungeon.
• base and range define the dungeon depth.

You can also add an optional integer, which is the chance of this dungeon being generated.

Example:

DUNGEON: "The Dungeons of Doom" "D" (25, 5)

ENTRY

ENTRY: lvl

Set the entry level for this dungeon. 0 means from the top, negative number means the level from the bottom (-1 is the bottom level), greater than 0 means the level number from the top of the dungeon.

Example:

ENTRY: -1

DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION: flag

Sets a flag for the previously defined DUNGEON. You can use as many DESCRIPTION lines as you want.

flag is one of the following flags:

• town
• hellish
• mazelike
• roguelike

Example:

DESCRIPTION: mazelike

ALIGNMENT

ALIGNMENT: flag

Sets the alignment for the previously defined DUNGEON. Only one of these per dungeon allowed.

flag is one of the following flags:

• unaligned (or its synonym noalign)
• lawful
• neutral
• chaotic

Example:

ALIGNMENT: lawful

PROTOFILE

PROTOFILE: "str"

Sets the special level prototype filename. This is used when loading the lev-file from disk. See MAZE in Des-file format.

Example:

PROTOFILE: "tower"

BRANCH

BRANCH: "name" @ (base, range) type dir

Adds a branch to the previously defined DUNGEON.

• "name" is the name of the branch. You must later define a DUNGEON with the same name.
• base and range define the depth where the branch occurs.
• type is optional (defaults to stair), or one of the following:
  • stair, a two-way stair
  • no_up, no up staircase
  • no_down, no down staircase
  • portal, portal connection
• dir is optional (defaults to down), or is one of the following:
  • up
  • down

Example:

BRANCH: "Vlad's Tower" @ (9, 5) up

CHAINBRANCH

CHAINBRANCH: "name" "chain" + (base, range) type dir

Adds a branch to the previously defined DUNGEON. This is similar to BRANCH, except the depth depends where a LEVEL occurs in the previously defined DUNGEON.

• name is the name of the branch. You must later define a DUNGEON with the same name.
• chain is a name of a previously defined LEVEL in this DUNGEON.
• base and range define the branch depth, relative to chain.
• type and dir as in BRANCH

Example:

CHAINBRANCH: "Gehennom" "castle" + (0, 0) no_down

LEVEL

LEVEL: "name" "bonetag" @ (base, range) chance

Adds a special level to the previously defined DUNGEON. See also RNDLEVEL.

• name is the name of this special level, and is used for loading the special levels from disk. You must define a special des-level with the same name.
• bonetag is a single character used in a filename when this level leaves a bones, or "none", in which case no bones will be created in the level. This should be unique among all special levels in this dungeon.
• base and range define the branch depth
• chance is optional, gives the % chance of this level existing in any given game.

Example:

LEVEL: "oracle" "O" @ (5, 5)

RNDLEVEL

RNDLEVEL: "name" "bonetag" @ (base, range) chance nlevels

Adds a special level to the previously defined DUNGEON, with several variants for the des-level. See also LEVEL.

• name is the name of this special level, used for loading the special levels from disk. The name format will be name-num, where num is the variant of the level to be loaded. For example, bigrm-3. See also MAZE or LEVEL in the Des-file format article.
• bonetag is a single character used in a filename when this level leaves a bones, or "none", in which case no bones will be created in the dungeon. This should be unique among all special levels in this dungeon.
• base and range define the branch depth
• chance is optional, gives the % chance of this level existing in any given game.
• nlevels is the number of different special level layout versions or variants for this particular level.

Example:

RNDLEVEL: "bigrm" "B" @ (10, 3) 40 5

LEVELDESC

LEVELDESC: flag

Defines flags for a previously defined LEVEL or RNDLEVEL.

flag is the same as DESCRIPTION has.

Example:

LEVELDESC: town

LEVALIGN

LEVALIGN: flag

Defines alignment of a previously defined LEVEL or RNDLEVEL.

flag is the same as ALIGNMENT has.

Example:

LEVALIGN: chaotic

CHAINLEVEL

CHAINLEVEL: "name" "bonetag" "chain" + (base, range) chance

Adds a special level to the previously defined DUNGEON. This is similar to LEVEL, except the depth depends where another LEVEL occurs in the previously defined DUNGEON.

• name is the name of this special level. used for loading the special levels from disk.
• bonetag is a single character used in a filename when this level leaves a bones, or "none", in which case no bones will be created in the level. This should be unique among all special levels in this dungeon.
• chain is a name of a previously defined LEVEL in this DUNGEON.
• base and range define the level depth, relative to chain.
• chance is optional, gives the % chance of this level existing in any given game.

Example:

CHAINLEVEL: "wizard2" "X" "wizard1" + (1, 0)

RNDCHLEVEL

RNDCHLEVEL: "name" "bonetag" "chain" + (base, range) chance nlevels

Adds a special level to the previously defined DUNGEON, with several variants for the des-level. This is similar to CHAINLEVEL, except the depth depends where another LEVEL occurs in the previously defined DUNGEON.

• name is the name of this special level. used for loading the special levels from disk. The name format will be name-num, where num is the variant of the level to be loaded. For example, bigrm-3. See also MAZE in MAZE or LEVEL in the Des-file format article.
• bonetag is a single character used in a filename when this level leaves a bones, or "none", in which case no bones will be created in the level. This should be unique among all special levels in this dungeon.
• chain is a name of a previously defined LEVEL in this DUNGEON.
• base and range define the level depth, relative to chain.
• chance is optional, gives the % chance of this level existing in any given game.
• nlevels is the number of different special level layout version for this particular level.

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It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.