Undefined
In older versions of NetHack, it is possible for an item to have an undefined material if the corresponding field for the item's material in its objects.c entry is empty. The undefined material is currently treated as flimsy, organic, and vulnerable to erosion by burning.
NetHack 3.0 series
In NetHack 3.0.0, the four broad categories of material are glass, wood, metal, and mineral[1]—items that are not sorted into these categories, including several non-metallic items, are not defined with a material. Items with undefined materials in NetHack 3.0.0 are listed as follows, given in the order that they appear within the full list of objects:
- all comestibles other than tins
- rubber hose
- leash
- blindfold
- credit card
- expensive camera
- magic marker
- stethoscope
- lamp
- magic lamp
- ice box
- sack
- bag of holding
- bag of tricks
- drum
- drum of earthquake
- blinding venom
- acid venom
- elven leather helm
- fedora
- dragon scale mail
- crystal plate mail
- studded leather armor
- leather armor
- all cloaks
- Hawaiian shirt
- all gloves other than gauntlets of power
- all boots other than iron shoes
- all potions
- all scrolls
- all spellbooks
- all potions
- rings with the randomized appearance of an "ivory ring"
The worm tooth is changed from being a metal item to one made of an undefined material in NetHack 3.0.4.
By NetHack 3.0.10, the list of possible materials is somewhat expanded and more objects are given distinct materials.
A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:
"Figure out the deal with bows, arrows and similar items in these versions."
NetHack 3.1 series
In NetHack 3.1.0, almost all objects have a form of defined material—the only two exceptions are the worm tooth (as described prior) and the "ivory ring" randomized appearance.[2][3]
NetHack 3.2 onward
In NetHack 3.2.0, the randomized appearance of the "ivory ring" is given a material of bone, leaving the worm tooth as the only item with an undefined material.[4] This would remain the case for the worm tooth as late as NetHack 3.6.7:[5] NetHack 5.0.0 changes worm teeth to be made of bone via commit 60ec7256.[6]
Variants
NetHack variants based on later versions of the game often change the worm tooth's undefined material, though some that are based on versions prior to NetHack 5.0.0 may retain this. The following variants retain the undefined material for the worm tooth:
