Public server

A public server allows one to play NetHack or a variant in a shared space on the Internet where one can encounter other people's bones and see scores in the server's score list. Most NetHack servers usually also add some interface patches and bug fixes; this list will not specify those. You may also choose to watch someone's game that is in progress. You can access a public server by using a telnet or SSH client such as PuTTY.

List of public servers

Server	Location	Games	How to connect
nethack.alt.org (NAO)	California, United States	NetHack	telnet nethack.alt.org ssh nethack@alt.org IRC: #nethack on freenode
sporkhack.com	Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States	SporkHack	ssh spork@sporkhack.com (this identity file) telnet sporkhack.com IRC: #sporkhack on freenode
hack.eotl.org	Dallas, Texas, United States	NetHack Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup	telnet hack.eotl.org 2000
nethack.fi	Finland	NetHack	ssh nethack@nethack.fi (password "nethack" or this identity file) telnet nethack.fi IRC: #nethack on IRCnet
feorar.org	Germany	NetHack with a custom patchset, including the Heck² patch	telnet feorar.org
SLASH'EM@Pallas	Nuremberg, Germany	SLASH'EM	telnet slashem.crash-override.net ssh slashem@slashem.crash-override.net (password "slashem") IRC: #slashem on freenode
un.nethack.nu	Sweden	UnNetHack	telnet un.nethack.nu (EU) IRC: #unnethack on freenode
Cafe / Veekun NetHack	Dallas, Texas, United States	NetHack with a custom patchset	ssh nethack@nethack.veekun.com (password "nethack" or this identity file) IRC: #cafe on irc.veekun.com
nethack.proles.net	Germany	NetHack	telnet nethack.proles.net (IPv6 only)
acehack.de	Germany	AceHack robotfindskitten	ssh acehack@acehack.de IRC: #acehack on freenode
nethack.eu	Germany	NetHack Air Traffic Control Tetris	telnet nethack.eu IRC: #nethack.de on freenode
Amulet of Yendor	Pennsylvania, United States	NetHack with tiles support Angband ZAngband SLASH'EM Rogue Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup	http://amuletofyendor.com/ (web client)
NetHack on Facebook	Finland	NetHack	http://apps.facebook.com/nethack/ (web client)
grunthack.org	Virginia, United States	GruntHack	telnet grunthack.org IRC: #grunthack on freenode
nethack4.org	France	NetHack 4	telnet nethack4.org ssh nethack@nethack4.org (password "nethack")
nethack.segvault.de	Germany	NetHack	telnet nethack.segvault.de
games.libreplanet.org	Boston, Massachusetts, United States	NetHack	telnet games.libreplanet.org telnet-ssl games.libreplanet.org IRC: #libreplanet-gaming on freenode
60hz.fr	France	NetHack	ssh nethack@60hz.fr (password "nethack")

Setting up your own server

There are several ways to manage your public NetHack server, but the most common is to use dgamelaunch, which manages user accounts and runs the NetHack processes in a chroot jail when a user telnets into the server.

For FreeBSD, there is a work-in-progress document describing how to set up a NetHack server with dgamelaunch, and also provides patches to make auto-login work with FreeBSD telnetd.

PuTTY hints

Something to be aware of is that PuTTY (win32 telnet/ssh client) sets its TERM= as 'xterm'. This breaks a lot of things, including the unicode support in nethack4. It's best to change its advertised termcap capabilites to 'linux'.

See also

• Private server