# Far look

Keyboard commands

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Ctrl

The far look command is a feature in NetHack, used by pressing the semicolon key (;), and lets you look at a square other than the one you are standing on.

Description
When you press ;, you will be prompted to "pick an object." See Targeting for more in-depth description of how to target with the cursor.
Choosing a square with a symbol present gives information about what the symbol can represent and what it actually is, such as:

+     a spellbook or closed door (closed door)

... versus ...

+     a spellbook or closed door (tan spellbook)

... or perhaps ...

d     a dog or other canine (tame dog called Fido)

... compared to ...

d     a dog or other canine (jackal) [seen:normal vision, infravision]

Far look will only inform you about a square if a symbol is present.
Far look is used to identify what a particular ASCII symbol represents, and often gives useful information about specific objects. A far-looked monster is denoted as peaceful or tame if applicable, and is otherwise hostile (as shown in the example above) - it will also display any name you have called them, which is handy for sorting out similar pets. In the case of monsters that are beyond the normal field of vision, but still detected, it will tell you what detection method is being used (e.g., telepathy or infravision).
Far-looking objects will only give remembered information on that object if the item has been moved since it was last in your line of sight, treating that item as unseen (e.g., displaying "a wand" instead of "a wand of lightning named empty"). Items in line of sight will give more detailed information when far-looked.

Options
There are several options that change the behaviour of farlook:

autodescribe
whatis_filter
whatis_menu
whatis_moveskip
The what is / and travel _ commands make use of the same cursor select mechanic as the far look command. Using 'what is' may be preferable if you do not want the cursor resetting to your position after selecting a symbol - you can also press press , instead of . or ; to avoid displaying the prompt for the encyclopedia entry, or unset the help option.

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.0. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-360}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.