Feature Requests

Xaleth opened on Oct 19, 2018

Since Medusa is said to be a Gorgon, she is a winged creature with venomous snakes crawling in her head. I don't think NetHack has that, so I suggest that there be water mocassins on her head and around her (she can be bald if water mocassins are genocided and the game produces a message saying "You have a strange feeling that Medusa doesn't look right." or something like that). Also she can be a flying creature like crows and/or ravens on the same level. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/146

ostrosablin opened on Aug 6, 2019

I propose to add a new option with a parameter, such as: OPTIONS=autosave:500 Probably, the most logical and simple way to implement this is as a countdown timer. When game is launched, autosave option value becomes a turn countdown until save-and-quit. Then, when turn countdown reaches 0 - game waits for a safe opportunity to save (that is, when game is not mid-turn and saving won't cancel an important prompt) and then automatically does save-and-quit. Such feature won't require any changes to save format and would be very useful. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/208

Vivit-R opened on Feb 4, 2020

Currently, the only forms of permanent light are magic lamps and Sunsword. As a source of wishes, magic lamps cannot be wished for, and Sunsword is an artifact with a chance to blast you. Astral vision provides a similar effect, but is only obtainable from a quest artifact. But a simple permanent light source hardly seems like an unreasonable wish.

IMO, SlashEM's magic candle is a very elegant solution. Perhaps add that? https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/296

koolraap opened on Mar 1, 2020

I'd like to add an option to have a weight column on the inventory screen. I implemented this ages ago in a long-lost branch, I'm happy to do so again if the PR will get accepted.

My rationale is it's nuts not knowing what weighs what, your character must know, why not have some hints? Especially when encumbered, it'd be nice knowing which suit of armor weighs the most.

I'll make it optional, off by default. My lost code didn't account for hallucination, I guess it should.

Any thoughts? https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/310

webbedspace opened on Jun 11, 2020

This choice of word has existed in the game for decades, since Jay Fenlason's Hack 1.0 circa 1985, and gone essentially entirely unquestioned. It was never a good or ethical name, and it should never have been chosen. Genocide is not and never was a distant historical nightmare: it is happening now, throughout the world, in Myanmar, in India, in China, in the United States, in my home of Australia, and many other nations I could list. It is not "merely" systemic and deliberate mass-murder, as this game object depicts, but state-enacted systemic destruction, neglect and suppression of entire schools of culture, science, literature, truth, of everything that makes us human. It is a crime against all humanity, and should never be presented as a tool, or a toy, in any game or narrative setting, fantasy or otherwise.

I'm not bothering to suggest that the scroll's effect itself be removed, as I believe the scroll represents genocide in such a reductionist, sickeningly absurd fashion that it otherwise wouldn't be legible as genocide without the word itself providing a forced preconception - and also because I believe the weight of unthinking historical inertial will act against such a request. I also don't care what alternative name you choose – though I'll remark that since this scroll very specifically affects classes of monsters, and there are many scrolls of the form " monster", something like "delete class" or "erase class" could come to mind.

I (Leon Arnott) am not new to NetHack or its codebase, and have made very minor contributions throughout the 00's that have merited my name's listing in the Guidebook, so rest assured this is not a request made by a genuine outsider with no visible good faith.

Finally, I would like to pre-emptively respond to the anticipated response that NetHack is a game replete with criminal and disgusting acts presented humorously, juxtaposed with the player's own frequent comical demise. Yes, I am aware of the game's overall tone, but in my eyes if you can't see the vast chasm of weight and importance separating cannibalism, non-consensual sex, animal cruelty, and so forth from the act of genocide, then I deeply question your sincere motivation to developing and stewarding an entertainment product for humans. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/359

dchmelik opened on Sep 7, 2020

*Hack is one my top two favourite roguelike categories (since 1993.) Since early days, NetHack had quite a few magic/unique/ artifacts/relic items one might expect--and obscure ones--but misses some related better-known ones, which players might hope to find, or ask for in a wish, first...

For example, there are many more in Greco-Latin & British/Celtic/Germanic mythology (mythos.) In the West, many students learn the former before latter and might hope to obtain. For example, in Greek mythos, Goddess Athena Olympian seemingly uses the most artifacts and has access to almost all: an excellent starting list would be from her myths, which she loaned heroes many artifacts, including divine weapons & armour.

Some she loaned have multiple versions (Aegis) or multiple multi-word names (Hades' helmet, Hermes' sandals, various divine weapons, often adamantine) but NetHack now has longer-name artifacts not always w/given/first name (as one might expect a conscious/ego item to have)... so perhaps more such artifacts would be possible?

Many Greek mythos' artifacts have no one-word/individual name, but are key to major heroic myths... some would be too powerful unless limited; some perhaps not.

Only Zeus used his thunderbolts, but in related Indo-European mythology (Hinduism, possibly largest mythos corpus in number of magic/artifacts/relic & super-weapon items) similar gods' (Indra, Shiva) thunderbolts were handled by humans, such as a sage stored gods' artifacts, and later Indian-Tibetan folklore theorizes enlightenment enables usage of thunderbolts. Some such Hindu mythology super-weapons (used by human super-warriors in Mahabharata) are over-powered, though some take toll on wielder, which might be interesting for such a highly-intellectual roguelike.

interestingly, a NetHack artifact, Excalibur, is actually one of a set of related swords (Clarent, Drynwyn, ...) in a set of related Celtic/British magic/artifact/relic items (linked below.)

Students who stopped reading Greco-Latin mythology might hope to obtain Excalibur... if they've read more what led to all Western civilization (at least more well-known tales than newer fantasy with dozens of swords) they might first hope to obtain Harpe.

Here are some comments, top such search results (the Celtic/British one I read in Wolfe's The Arthurian Quest; ) of course, there's much more than these, and when I started playing NetHack more (early 1990s) most folklore simply wasn't listed online or was hard to find (still the case with some; ) best to research in actual books.

Greek mythology items (Eastern European folklore has many magical items also, but I found no list online, just have read about some.) 13 treasures of Britain Teutonic/Germanic mythology items (Those Greek & Teutonic lists are on Mythology Wikia, which has Japanese mythology items list; probably more lists later.) Of course, if this is considered (otherwise, close ticket) it'd have to be without unbalancing NetHack, including without making artifacts more common, probably resulting in some people being disappointed about one or another individual (favourite/most-used) unique/artifact/relic items occuring less frequently. Someone might want to try any in a NetHack fork first... https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/387

Description kscheirer opened on Oct 3, 2020

I've been playing orcish barbarian lately, and I really hate elves. And the game seems to generate a lot of them for me. Cleaver is ok, but I'd like an artifact weapon that worked against elves in particular. The opposite of Ocrist/Sting, can we add https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/Elfrist and make Grimtooth #name-able? https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/396

Description blightor opened on Jan 17, 2021

#chating to my dog just doesn't seem anywhere near as pleasurable as petting my dog.

When he's been a good boy I'd really like to pet him.

:) https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/448

kscheirer opened on Mar 8, 2021

Allow a sack to be worn

• Cloth, 0 AC
• Blind when worn
• Could go over a helmet, so its a wearable like blindfold or towel?
• Could be worn as helmet slot?
• Must be empty to be worn? It seems like something I should be able to do, and provides another use for common sacks. Another source of at-will blindness is handy. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/473

Description odisseus opened on May 8, 2021

Here's an idea for a new feature.

The pack saddle should be a special container that can be applied to a rideable pet in place of the normal saddle. When not attached to a steed, it should behave like an ordinary sack, except its weight should be like that of a saddle.

By using the pack saddle on a steed, the player would be able to control the items that his pet carries; in particular, it should be possible to load items that the pet wouldn't pick up otherwise (e. g. cursed ones). Overloading the pack animal should reduce its speed, and also abuse its tameness every few turns.

As an additional feature, the game could include a steed especially suitable for packing, e.g. the mule. The mule should have moderate speed when ridden (e. g. like the pony but cannot level up), but increased carrying capacity and increased tolerance to overloading. Some of the "traveller type" roles, such as Archeologist or Ranger, could get a mule with a pack saddle as the starting pet. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/506

chappg opened on Jul 24, 2025

Posting after a discussion on #hardfought.

3.7 introduces nerfs to artifact sacrificing and wands of wishing. Either nerf in isolation has limited effect on overall balance, but together they throw off the balance of obtaining the better artifact weapons on an ascension run.

My recent example: I received Sting, Ogresmasher, and Trollsbane as sacrifice gifts. I then used two wishes for Grayswandir, unsuccessfully. The lack of surplus wishes from the Castle means this is much more difficult to remediate and leads to frustration in 3.7.

Demo's suggested resolution in the chat was to rework artifact wishing: "deterministic progressive arti wishing with reasonable blacklists plays so much better than vanilla behaviors". https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/1429

haerkaelae opened on Sep 9, 2025

When you try to wear something of the same type you're already wearing, you only get told that fact. Show what item is preventing that and maybe prompt for taking it off. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/1446

Ardub23 opened on Oct 13, 2025

It's strange that incubi and succubi will remove your gloves and your shield (in that order), while not caring about the huge morning star in your other hand. Also a bit odd that they laser-focus on your rings of adornment to the point of breaking their usual order of operations just to fiddle with them first. And that they can tablecloth-pull your gloves out from under your rubber chicken without touching it.

I propose that the sequence of events be adjusted:

1. The foocubus "murmurs in your ear" as normal.
2. They try to remove your shield.
3. New: They try to stow your wielded weapon. If it's an item that could petrify them by touch, they'll avoid touching it but may convince you to stow it yourself. However, a blinded foocubus won't know not to touch it and may petrify themselves as a result.
4. If you're now wearing no shield and wielding no weapon, then they try to remove your gloves.
5. If you're now wearing no gloves, they do the stuff with rings of adornment. (I think this could still happen even if you have a shield or weapon.)
6. They proceed with cloak, body armor, boots, helm, and shirt, as normal.

On one hand, potentially unwielding your weapon is a bit more trouble for the character, since they'll need to re-wield it after the encounter. On the other, glove removal is less likely since it's predicated on the removal of the weapon and shield. And on the third hand, this could be situationally helpful to rid oneself of a cursed weapon. Overall, this shouldn't have a major impact on the challenge presented by amorous demons, but should make the interactions more sensible.

(I've drafted the code for this, but I can't compile NetHack at the moment and I don't want to make a PR of completely untested code. Let me know if it might still be helpful and I'll provide it.) https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/1452

ND-Zyth opened on Nov 7, 2025

Use the #untrap command on the trigger plate. This will only disable the trigger mechanism. The trap will reset itself after a certain number of turns (500 − rand(500)) (if the ammunition depot is not disarmed), or if a new ammunition depot is linked to it.

To permanently disable the trap and secure its ammunition, you must locate and disarm the ammunition depot, which is located elsewhere on the same dungeon level(in a wall). Successfully untrapping the depot will yield a large supply of projectiles. Simply triggering the trap repeatedly will eventually deplete the depot, but this is dangerous and yields fewer projectiles on average.

The projectiles are embedded in the walls. After the first trigger OR if the player applied clairvoyance, the location of all the projectiles are revealed to the player, but they cannot be obtained by kicking(or any similar method). Digging at the wall via pick-axe would work. Otherwise, the player would need to disarm the trap in the wall(by pressing u and then a direction), in which case the weapons would still be triggered if disarming fails. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/1457

globalshrug opened on Nov 27, 2025

Right now, with fixinv set to false ("don't keep/fix inventory letters"), #adjust doesn't allow you to re-assign an inventory item to something arbitrary. That makes some sense, but I'd like to suggest a kind of hybrid.

I like #fixinv off because when picking up items, I can just hit abcdefgh to select items I'm picking up, and my inventory more or less follows abcdefgh... sequentially, as its inventory slots with some exceptions. It's way faster than reading each letter and hitting it. So the "abcdefgh" model when applied to items in the inventory seems fine to me, except for when I come across an object I really want to fix - like a bag, or a specific weapon. At that point #adjust should let me assign that item to a letter, and I would even say that when something is assigned a letter through #adjust it should then behave as though #fixinv is true for that item. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/1463

Tomsod opened on Nov 29, 2025

3.7 seems to be more forgiving towards player typos with the new paranoid_confirmation options for walking into traps or liquids. After wasting yet another promising pacifist game through bump-killing a lichen, I strongly feel that an option to confirm all bump-attacks would be a good continuation of this trend.

There's already a paranoid option for attacking peaceful monsters, so extending it to hostiles (with another option of course) shouldn't be that hard. Some variants already have it, e.g. xNetHack auto-enables said warning for pacifists after turn 100, but I think that would be both more complex to implement and less versatile (e.g. weaponless wizards could also want such a prompt). https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/1464

nafai opened on Feb 9, 2026

I usually play on public servers with the Curses interface. I've also been working on a collection of scripts that will scrape the text buffer. It can parse combinations of colour (by escape sequence) and symbol to write out what the characters on my screen could be.

The idea being, that I can stream to Twitch or something, and have some explanatory tips describing what's on screen, so it's friendlier to people unfamiliar with the game to identify what's going on, and so I don't have to split my focus so much explaining what everything is. There are inherent limitations to my scripts-- notably, avoiding parsing of text outside of the map region is pretty hard, and dealing with ambiguous colour+symbol combinations. Is that purple h a dwarf lord, or is it a mind flayer? Even worse if I wanted to include things like tools and weapons.

So of course I tried turning on vt_tiledata, just to realize that it's only supported in windowtype:tty. Now please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure vt_tiledata's control codes wouldn't conflict with windowtype:curses. I know it's a niche use case, but I figured it's worth asking about anyway. It could also potentially help improve other tile rendering clients by allowing them to have permanent inventory and more status messages. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/1487

youbo0 opened on May 27, 2026

The Amulet of Flying is beneficial to monsters, protecting them from several traps and letting them bypass dangerous terrain on their way to murder the hero. It would also be an interesting option for steeds. While monsters should value it less than Reflection or Life-Saving (like the Amulet of Guarding currently is), they shouldn't be ignoring Amulets of Flying as worthless trash. https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/1556