# Light source
Light sources cast light over a number of squares. To light any light source, use the apply command, a.
Lit areas can be displayed in brighter characters using the game option lit_corridor.

Contents

1 Table of light sources
2 The Candelabrum
3 Lanterns and lamps

3.1 Magic lamps

4 Sunsword
5 Candles

5.1 Generation
5.2 Effects
5.3 History

6 Monster light sources
7 Encyclopedia

7.1 Brass lantern
7.2 Lamp
7.3 Candle

8 SLASH'EM
9 See also
10 References

Table of light sources
Light sources are generated to stay lit for the number of turns in the table below. They are generated in the quantity and BUC state shown. Cursed light sources will sometimes not light.

Light source

Radius

Turns

Weight

Generated

potion of oil

1

400

20

12.5% blessed, 75% uncursed, 12.5% cursed

tallow candle

2

200

2

1 to 7; 10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed

wax candle

2

400

2

1 to 7; 10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed

brass lantern

3

1000 to 1499

30

10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed

magic lamp

3

Infinite

20

25% blessed, 50% uncursed, 25% cursed

oil lamp

3

1000 to 1499

20

10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed

Sunsword

3/2/1 (B/U/C)

Infinite

40

10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed

Candelabrum of Invocation

4

See below

10 (empty) – 24 (with 7 candles)

Unique item

Prior to 3.6.1, the Candelabrum always weighed 10 aum regardless of the number of candles attached.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

New light sources are added: gold dragon scales (radius 3/2/1 (B/U/C)) and gold dragon scale mail (radius 4/3/2 (B/U/C))
The Candelabrum
Main article: Candelabrum of Invocation
Candles can be applied to the Candelabrum of Invocation. The Candelabrum acts like an ordinary light source if at least one candle is applied to it. It will burn as many turns as the shortest-lived[1] candle attached to it. However, each time you light it anywhere other than on the vibrating square, the remaining life will immediately be cut in half[2] ("The candles are being rapidly consumed!"). The Candelabrum will not light if cursed.
Light radius 4:

..............xxxxx.....xxxxxxx...xxxxxxxxx..xxxxxxxxx..xxxx@xxxx..xxxxxxxxx..xxxxxxxxx...xxxxxxx.....xxxxx..............

Lanterns and lamps

( 

Name

oil lamp

Appearance

lamp

Base price

10 zm

Weight

20

Material

copper

Monster use

Will not be used by monsters.

( 

Name

brass lantern

Appearance

brass lantern

Base price

20 zm

Weight

30

Material

copper

Monster use

Will not be used by monsters.

Brass lanterns and oil lamps can be refilled by charging them; blessed charging will refill them to 1500 turns, and uncursed charging will add 750 turns to a maximum of 1500. An oil lamp with 1000 or fewer turns left can also be refilled by #dipping it into a potion of oil, getting twice the remaining turns left in the potion. (Attempting to refill an oil lamp with a lit potion of oil, or while the lamp is lit, will cause an explosion dealing 6d6 points of damage). No lamp can be filled beyond 1500 turns.
Light radius 3: 

..........................xxx.......xxxxx.....xxxxxxx....xxx@xxx....xxxxxxx.....xxxxx.......xxx..........................

Magic lamps

( 

Name

magic lamp

Appearance

lamp

Base price

50 zm

Weight

20

Material

copper

Monster use

Will not be used by monsters.

Main article: Magic lamp
Magic lamps never run out of power, and may summon a djinni and lead to a wish when #rubbed.

Sunsword
Main article: Sunsword
Light radius: 3 if blessed, 2 if uncursed, and 1 if cursed.[3]

..........................xxx.......xxxxx.....xxxxxxx....xxx@xxx....xxxxxxx.....xxxxx.......xxx..........................

 
.....................................xxx.......xxxxx......xx@xx......xxxxx.......xxx.....................................

 
................................................xxx........x@x........xxx................................................

The artifact weapon Sunsword will act as a light source whenever wielded, either by you or by a monster.

Candles

( 

Name

tallow candle

Appearance

candle

Base price

10 zm

Weight

2

Material

wax

Monster use

Will not be used by monsters.

( 

Name

wax candle

Appearance

candle

Base price

20 zm

Weight

2

Material

wax

Monster use

Will not be used by monsters.

The only differences between wax and tallow candles are their lifespans (400 turns for a wax candle, 200 for tallow), value, and that eating tallow candles breaks vegetarian conduct. You can mix different candle types on the Candelabrum, though it will burn only as long as the shortest-lived candle.

Generation
Candles can be randomly generated or wished for, but some can nearly always be found in Izchak's lighting shop in Minetown, some gnomes will generate carrying them, and the top floor of Vlad's Tower always includes at least eight candles. When you wish for candles, you can specify up to seven (the number needed on the Candelabrum) and are guaranteed to receive that many.

Effects
Light radius 2:

.....................................xxx.......xxxxx......xx@xx......xxxxx.......xxx.....................................

A single candle has a light radius of 2; the radius increases by one for every additional power of 7. Therefore, a stack of 7 candles lights up a 3 square radius, 49 a 4 square radius, 343 a 5 square radius and so forth[4].
Candles hold a special place in the game, as seven of them are needed for the invocation ritual. They must be attached to the Candelabrum of Invocation before you begin the ritual proper, although they may have been partially burnt beforehand, and you may freely mix wax and tallow, blessed, uncursed, and cursed candles.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

The light radius of a lit stack of candles now grows as the square root of the number of candles instead of logarithmically. 4 candles now gives a radius of 3, 9 candles gives 4, and so on. Only 16 candles are now required to get a larger light radius than the Candelabrum of Invocation.
History
Seven candles are the only non-unique items that are required to win the game, but in versions of NetHack prior to 3.6.0 (and some variants based on such versions) they were not guaranteed to appear at any point in the Mazes of Menace. Izchak's lighting shop was guaranteed, but Minetown is a possible bones level, and even a fresh shop was not guaranteed to have the requisite seven. It was therefore possible not to find enough randomly generated candles to perform the invocation, and players had to resort to polypiling tools, using a wish (a wish will always produce up to seven candles, in an exception to the ordinary mechanics of wishing for multiple items), and less-savory techniques such as pudding farming.
As of 3.6.0, the top level of Vlad's Tower now contains two stacks of 4-8 wax and tallow candles and is ineligible for bones, so every game is guaranteed to generate a minimum of eight candles regardless of the player's conducts.

Monster light sources
Currently all monsters that emit light create a light of radius 1 around themselves. Light-emitting monsters[5] are y&nbsp;yellow light, y&nbsp;black light, e&nbsp;flaming sphere, e&nbsp;shocking sphere, v&nbsp;fire vortex and E&nbsp;fire elemental.
In the following chart, @ is the light-emitting monster and x is the area lit by it.

................................................xxx........x@x........xxx................................................

Encyclopedia
Brass lantern

While pretending to be a fancy safety lamp, it is in fact
battery powered.  A discreet little switch is marked "on/off"
in elaborate lettering.

[ Adventure 770, by Mike Arnautov ] 

Lamp
The entry is the same for both oil and magic lamps:

When he came to himself he told his mother what had passed,
and showed her the lamp and the fruits he had gathered in the
garden, which were in reality precious stones.  He then asked
for some food.

"Alas! child," she said, "I have nothing in the house, but I
have spun a little cotton and will go and sell it."

Aladdin bade her keep her cotton, for he would sell the lamp
instead.  As it was very dirty she began to rub it, that it
might fetch a higher price.  Instantly a hideous genie
appeared, and asked what she would have.  She fainted away,
but Aladdin, snatching the lamp, said boldly:
"Fetch me something to eat!"

[ Aladdin, from The Arabian Nights, by Andrew Lang ] 

Candle
The entry is the same for both tallow and wax candles, as well as the Candelabrum of Invocation:

Faustus: Come on Mephistopheles.  What shall we do?
Mephistopheles: Nay, I know not.  We shall be cursed with bell,
book, and candle.
Faustus: How?  Bell, book, and candle, candle, book, and bell,
Forward and backward, to curse Faustus to hell.
Anon you shall hear a hog grunt, a calf bleat, and an ass bray,
Because it is Saint Peter's holy day.
(Enter all the Friars to sing the dirge)

[ Doctor Faustus and Other Plays, by Christopher Marlowe ] 

SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds new light emitting monsters, and modifies some existing monsters to have larger light radii. All lights and fire vortices have a light radius of 3. Fire elementals and fire vampires have a light radius of 2. Flaming and shocking spheres and wax golems have a light radius of 1.
Wax golems drop wax candles when destroyed, making candles more common.
Magic candles, candles that aren't consumed when used, are also added in SLASH'EM.

See also
wand of light
scroll of light
spellbook of light
References

↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1162

↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1107

↑ src/light.c in NetHack 3.6.1, line 676

↑ src/light.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 617

↑ include/mondata.h in NetHack 3.6.0, line 151

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