# Minetown

Minetown

Location

Level 5–8 of theGnomish Mines

Variants

Town Square
Alley Town
College Town
Grotto Town
Bustling Town
Bazaar Town
Orcish Town

Bones

Yes

Mappable

Yes

Teleportable

Yes

Diggable floor

Yes

Diggable walls

Yes

Minetown is one of eight different maps, located on the 3rd or 4th level of the Gnomish Mines. This gives Minetown a 1/6 chance of being on levels 5 or 8 in the mines, and a 1/3 chance of being on levels 6 or 7 in the mines. As in the rest of the Mines, monster creation on this level is biased towards lawful monsters.
In most games, Minetown is also the largest collection of shops, but there is a 1/7 chance of the shopless Orcish Town; failing that, there is a chance that any given shop other than Izchak's may not appear, which produces a 0.5% chance of having only Izchak's shop.

Contents

1 Maps

1.1 Town Square
1.2 Alley Town
1.3 College Town
1.4 Grotto Town
1.5 Bustling Town
1.6 Bazaar Town
1.7 Orcish Town

2 Comparison of Towns
3 The Watch
4 Strategy
5 History
6 Variants

6.1 FIQHack
6.2 SporkHack
6.3 EvilHack
6.4 SpliceHack

6.4.1 Lavender Town

6.5 Slash'THEM

6.5.1 Ruined &amp; Dangerous Town

7 References

Maps
There are seven different Minetown variants, each with their own maps and guaranteed monsters. Note that Minetown is eligible to leave bones, so the monsters (and the map) may be in a different state than is shown below.
Also bear in mind that, as elsewhere in the Gnomish Mines, if you are playing a dwarf or gnome, two-thirds of the dwarves or gnomes that are listed in these descriptions will be made random monsters instead.

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

Any of the following maps may be mirrored and/or flipped.
Town Square
&nbsp;---------------------------------&nbsp;|.+..|..|..+....+..|..|..|G.+...|&nbsp;|.+..|..|..+....+..|..|..|..+...|&nbsp;|.----++----....----++-++----...|&nbsp;|...............................|&nbsp;|.-++----++-.......-++++-+++-...|&nbsp;|.|..|..|..|......{|.GG.|...|...|&nbsp;|.|..|..|.G|.......|....|...|...|&nbsp;|.----++----.......|.@_.|foo|...|&nbsp;|.............{....|....|...|...|&nbsp;|.------+++------.----------|...|&nbsp;|.+....|...|....+.+....|....+...|&nbsp;|.+.gen|.G.|lght+.+.G..|tool+...|&nbsp;|.+....|...|....+.+....|....+...|&nbsp;|.---------------.-----------...|&nbsp;|...............................|&nbsp;---------------------------------
Izchak's light shop (marked "lght") is guaranteed, but the general store
("gen"), food shop ("foo") and tool shop ("tool") have only a 90% chance of
existing.
Only one + on each wall is randomly made a door. This level contains two random traps.

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

@@@@@

Patrolling randomly

Priest

@

In temple

Gnomish Wizards

GG

In temple

Gnomes

GGG

In rooms marked with G

Gnome lord

G

In room opposite light shop

Gnomes

GGG

Outside mapped area

Dwarf

h

Outside mapped area

Alley Town
&nbsp;---------------------------------&nbsp;|...............................|&nbsp;|.----....-----.----+--..-----..|&nbsp;|.|..|---.|.@.+.+..|..|..|...|..|&nbsp;|.|..|..|.|._.+.+..|..|..|lgt|..|&nbsp;|.-++|tl|.|.GG+.--------.|...|..|&nbsp;|....|..|.|...+....+...|.-+++-..|&nbsp;|.{..-++-.----|....+wan|........|&nbsp;|..........+..|++-.-----..-----.|&nbsp;|....-++-..+..|..|........+...|.|&nbsp;|.-++|..|.----|G.|+++-....+foo|.|&nbsp;|.|..|..|.+...|--|...|---.-----.|&nbsp;|.|..|---.+gen|..|too|..+.......|&nbsp;|.|.G|....+...|..|...|G.+.......|&nbsp;|.----....-----+---------.....{.|&nbsp;|...............................|&nbsp;---------------------------------
Izchak's light shop (marked "lgt" here) and the general store ("gen") are guaranteed to exist, but Alley Town has only a 30% chance of being generated with the tool shop marked "tl" and a 
40% chance of having the one marked "too". The food shop ("foo") has a 90% chance of existing, and the quality apparel and accessories shop ("wan") a 30% chance.
Only one + on each wall is randomly made a door. This level contains two random traps.

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

@@@@@

Patrolling randomly

Priest

@

In temple

Gnomish Wizards

GG

In temple

Gnomes

3 random G

In rooms marked with G

Gnomes

GGG

Outside mapped area

Dwarf

h

Outside mapped area

College Town
&nbsp;--------------------------------&nbsp;|..............................|&nbsp;|...--------.......-----------.|&nbsp;|...|...|..|------.|.G|...|G.+.|&nbsp;|...|boo|..|.....|.|..|lgt|..+.|&nbsp;|...|...|++|.._@.|.-++|...|---.|&nbsp;|...-+++-..|..GG.|....-+++-....|&nbsp;|..........|.....|.............|&nbsp;|........{.-+++++-.{...........|&nbsp;|..............................|&nbsp;|...-+++-...........-++-+++-...|&nbsp;|...|...|-------.---|..|...|...|&nbsp;|...|too|kk|foo+.+..|.G|gen|...|&nbsp;|...|...|ff|...+.+..|--|...|...|&nbsp;|...-----++-----.----..-----...|&nbsp;|..............................|&nbsp;--------------------------------
Izchak's light shop (marked "lgt") and the book shop ("boo") are
guaranteed, but the general store
("gen"), food shop ("foo") and tool shop ("tool") have only a 90% chance of
existing.
Only one + on each wall is randomly made a door. This level contains two random traps.

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

@@@@@

Patrolling randomly

Priest

@

In temple

Gnomish wizards

GG

In temple

Gnomes

3 random G

In rooms marked with G

Kobold shamans

kk

In southwest room

Kitten

f

In southwest room

Feline

A random f

In southwest room

Gnomes

GGG

Outside mapped area

Dwarf

h

Outside mapped area

Grotto Town
&nbsp;-----&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;---------&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|&lt;..---&nbsp;&nbsp;------.......--&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-------&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;---------------&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|.....---|.........--..|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|.....|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-------&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|.............|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;--..|....|.---------|..|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|.._..|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|&gt;...(|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;--+---+--.----+|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;--.|-.....----&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-CC-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|.....|&nbsp;&nbsp;------&nbsp;&nbsp;--....----&nbsp;&nbsp;|..|...|-.|.+..|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;--|.........|---&nbsp;&nbsp;-CC--&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;---+---&nbsp;&nbsp;|..+.|--D---..-..---|..|--+-..--|..|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;----.|....|..----...--&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|.|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|..|.DDDDDD--+-.....-+--........--+|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-----..|....|.....----&nbsp;|.|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|G.|.------......--................|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;------&nbsp;|..|..........A..---.--&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;---|.+..||.......-|..--------+--..--&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|food|&nbsp;--.c....---...A.......-----&nbsp;&nbsp;|.|..||...{....|--|.........|..--&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|....|&nbsp;&nbsp;|.c......|...|..........B---|.|..|--.......|&nbsp;&nbsp;|.general.|...|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;---+--------....-------...---...B..-|.|------....--|&nbsp;&nbsp;-----------EEE|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;------.---...-|...-|..|..|-...|..---...|.--..|...|....-------&nbsp;|.......--&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|..|-.........|aa--|..|..|--.....|-....|.....d..---...-|....|&nbsp;|.-------&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|..+...............-+---+-----..-|..........--....|-...+tool|&nbsp;|.|.G.S=&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-----.....{....----.............bb|...G.......|-...|...-|....|&nbsp;|.|...|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|..............--&nbsp;|-+--.---------.........--..|........|------&nbsp;|.--+-------&nbsp;|+-----.........|&nbsp;|...|.|....|&nbsp;&nbsp;--.......-----|...|....|--------.....|....|&nbsp;|.G.|&nbsp;--..-------&nbsp;|.G.|.+lght|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;---...---&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;--..|...--......|...{..+..-+|&nbsp;|...|&nbsp;&nbsp;----&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;------|....|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-----&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-----.....----........|.G|(|&nbsp;-----&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;------&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-------&nbsp;&nbsp;---------------
In Nethack 3.6.0 and later, the map is partially randomized. For each pair of Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd one character is replaced with walls with equal probability (for Aa and Bb, this only happens 75% of the time), while there is a 50% chance that E is replaced with a wall. In previous versions, Aa, Bb, c, d and E are always floor, while C and D are always walls.
The map is mostly dark.
Izchak's light shop (marked "lght"), the general store
("general"), the food shop ("food") and the tool shop ("tool") are all
guaranteed. 
The G in the bottom center of the map is a historic statue of a gnome king.
The closet in the bottom right corner contains a chest with normal contents, and the room above it has a secret closet containing a random ring. The room containing the downstairs always contains a random tool.

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

@@@@@

Patrolling randomly

Priest

@

In temple

Gnomes

GGGGGG

Random

Gnome lords

GG

Random

Dwarves

hhh

Random

Gnomish Wizards

GG

In far southwest room/In front of secret door

Gnome lord

G

Larger southeast room

Gnomes

2 random G

Opposite light shop/In room at top of central corridor

The room with the down stair contains a random tool, the secret door hides a
random ring, the far southeast closet contains a chest, and there is a (historic) statue
of a gnome king in the wide open lit space in the south.

Bustling Town
&nbsp;-----................----------------.-&nbsp;|...|................|...|..|...|...|..&nbsp;|...+..--+--.........|gen|..|...|...|..&nbsp;|...|..|...|..-----..|...|..|-+---+--..&nbsp;-----..|...|--|...|..--+---+-.........-&nbsp;.......|...|.G|too+.............-----..&nbsp;.......|---|.G|...|......--+-...|...|..&nbsp;----...|...|+------..{...|..|...+...|..&nbsp;|..+...|lgt|.............|G.|...|...|..&nbsp;|..|...|...|-+-.....---+-------------.-&nbsp;----...--+-|..|..-+-|..................&nbsp;..|........|..|..|..|----....---------.&nbsp;..|..#.....----..|..|...+....|......||.&nbsp;..|-....{........|..|foo|....+...@_.||.&nbsp;..--..|....#.....--------....|......||.&nbsp;......|-.....................----------
The mapped town area is surrounded by empty cavern level, which is lit and
contains the upstair (to the left of the town) and the downstair (to the right).
Two trees are marked ("#").
Izchak's light shop (marked "lgt"), the general store
("gen"), the food shop ("foo") and the tool shop ("too") are all
guaranteed.

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

@@@@@

Patrolling randomly

Priest

@

In temple

Gnomes

GGGGGG

Random

Gnome lords

GG

Random

Dwarf

hhh

Random

Gnomes

GG

In room between light and tool shops/In room east of fountain

Gnome lords

G

In room between light and tool shops

Bazaar Town
&nbsp;--------------------------------&nbsp;|..............................|&nbsp;|.------++-------------..-----.|&nbsp;|.|....|..|...|....|..+..+...|.|&nbsp;|.|....|..|YYY|.n..|G.+..+too|.|&nbsp;|.-++++---|.G.|+------|..+...|.|&nbsp;|......|..|...|.|..|..|.-----|.|&nbsp;|.----.|..|+++-.|..|fd|.+....|.|&nbsp;|.|..+.-++-..{..-++|..|.+.@_.|.|&nbsp;|.|..+.............-++-.+GG..|.|&nbsp;|.|---+++-.----++-......+....|.|&nbsp;|.|..|...|.+G.|..|++++-------|.|&nbsp;|.|tl|lgt|.+..|gn|....|#.|fd.+.|&nbsp;|.|..|...|.---|..|....|..|...+.|&nbsp;|.-++-----..{.---------++-----.|&nbsp;|..............................|&nbsp;--------------------------------
Izchak's light shop (marked "lgt") is guaranteed, while there is a
50% chance each of two food shops ('fd'), a 50% chance of one tool shop ('tl')
and 30% chance of a second ('too'), and a 60% chance of a general store ('gn'). There is also a sink ('#')
Each of the rooms marked in yellow has a 75% chance of existing. If a room is not created, neither will the monsters that normally spawn there. The "+" characters on the wall represent valid locations for the room's door.
Only one + on each wall is randomly made a door. There is a random trap in the room with the downstair, and another in one of the other rooms not containing the upstair.

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

@@@@@

Patrolling randomly

Priest

@

In temple

Gnomish Wizards

GG

In temple

Gnomes

GGGGGG

Random, some outside mapped area

Gnome lord

G

Random

Monkeys

YY

Random

Gnomes

G

In marked rooms

Monkeys

YYY

In room north of central fountain

Nymph

Random n

In marked room

Gnome king

G

In marked room

Gnome

Random G

In room north of lower fountain

Dwarf

h

Outside mapped area

Orcish Town
......................................----------------#------------------..|.................................|..|.-------------......------------.|..|.|.%.|...|.%.|......|..|%..|...|.|..#.|...|.%.|...|......+..|...|.%.|.|..|.|...|...|...|......|..|...|...|.#..|.|...|...|-+--......-----+---+--.|..|.--+---+--.......................|..|..............{.......{..........|..|.--+---+--.....--...--...........|..|.|...|...|----.|.....|.------+--.|..|.|...|...|...|.|..%..|.|..|....|.|..|.|...|..%|...+.|.._..|.+.%|....|.|..|.|.%.|...|...|.|.....|.|%.|.%..|.|..|.-------------.-------.---------.|..|.................................#..-----------#------------#----------......................................
Orcish Town, or Orctown, is a replacement of Frontier Town that has been ransacked and looted by orcs. All of the normal inhabitants have  been killed, there are no functioning shops or temple, the entrances are barricaded with iron bars, and the whole area is swarming with orcs. It originated in SporkHack, then was added to 3.6.0 and UnNetHack.
The marked walls between shops have a chance of being knocked down, and 11-19 boulders or rock piles will be randomly placed throughout the level.
The altar is unaligned and may be converted by sacrificing (but not same-race sacrifice). Thus, you will always have an available coaligned altar in this level after you convert it.
Since Izchak's shop does not exist in this variant, several of the shopkeepers' corpses will be generated with candles. At least 7 are guaranteed. In addition, an oil lamp and several spent wands of striking and magic missile will be generated with them. 

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

%%%%%

Random

Priest

%

In temple above altar

Shopkeepers

%%%%%

On marked squares not in the temple

Orcs

6-15 random o, o, and o

Inside the town walls

Orc shamans

2-6 o

Near or inside the temple

Weak orcs

10-19 o and o

Random

All of the orcs in Orcish Town are generated with randomly generated names: an individual name which is different for each orc and a clan name which is the same for all of the orcs in the town.
In games that contain Orcish Town, several more named orcs (including orc zombies) can appear on other levels in the Mines and the main branch, and an orc-captain with just the clan name appears on one of the very bottom levels of the Mines.
The orcs both in the town and on the other levels carry extra loot they would not normally have, from a pool of resources. This loot consists of candles, keys, random comestibles, one random pair of gloves, and either one long sword or silver saber, equally likely. Some orcs may be carrying additional loot consisting of gold, gems, and possibly a shiny ring. The named captain will always have a shiny ring.

Comparison of Towns
This table lists the various shops, dungeon features, and extra monsters and items than can appear in each variant of Minetown. Each variant besides Orcish Town also has a stock of monsters and a guaranteed light shop. The light stores all have 6 item stacks, except the ones in the Town Square and Grotto Town variants, which have 9.
Also listed are, for each variant and for each shop, the number of item stacks that will appear in that shop, if it exists.
The "Expected Item Stacks" column lists the number of item stacks you can expect to find by shop type. (E.g., you should expect to find either 6 or 9 light store item stacks, depending on which variant you get.) There is a (dungeon level - 1)% chance of any given square containing a mimic instead of an item stack, the chance therefore depends on how deep Minetown is, but on average will be 5.5%.[1]. The "Expected Item Stacks" column does not account for this, because it does not impact inter-variant comparisons.

Variant
General
1st Food
2nd Food
1st Tool
2nd Tool
Extra
Expected Item Stacks

Frontier Town

90% 9

90% 4

90% 9

6 Light, 8.1 General, 3.6 Food, 8.1 Tool

Town Square

90% 9

90% 9

90% 9

6 Light, 8.1 General, 8.1 Food, 8.1 Tool

Alley Town

100% 6

90% 4

30% 4

40% 6

30% chance of a quality apparel and accessories shop with 4 items

9 Light, 6 General, 3.6 Food, 3.6 Tool, 1.2 Quality apparel and accessories

College Town

90% 6

90% 4

90% 6

guaranteed book shop with 6 items,

6 Light, 5.4 General, 3.6 Food, 5.4 Tool, 6 Book

Grotto Town

100% 9

100% 4

100% 9

3 fountains, Almost entirely dark, 1 random tool, 1 random ring, 1 chest

9 Light, 9 General, 4 Food, 9 Tool

Bustling Town

100% 6

100% 4

100% 6

2 trees, 2 watch captains

6 Light, 6 General, 4 Food, 6 Tool

Bazaar Town

60% 4

50% 4

50% 4

50% 4

30% 6

sink, monkeys, random nymph

6 Light, 2.4 General, 4 Food, 3.8 Tool

Orcish Town

No shops, desecrated temple, many orcs

7 Candle, 1 oil lamp, 5 empty wands of striking and magic missile, 11 human corpses

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:
"Some of these probabilities should be recalculated to take Orcish Town and its lack of items into account"

You can therefore expect to find, on average, 6.857 stacks of lighting store items, 6.429 of general store items, 4.414 food, 6.286 tool, .857 book, and 0.171 stacks of quality apparel and accessory shop items in the shops of the average Minetown variant. Accounting for mimics, these figures become 6.480 lighting, 6.075 general, 4.171 food, 5.940 tool, .810 book, and 0.162 quality apparel and accessories.[2]
You can expect to find 0.18 magic lamps in the average 6 stack Izchak's lighting store, and 0.27 in the 9 stack Izchak's lighting store. This gives 0.206 expected[3] magic lamps in the average Izchak's lighting store, and 0.194 accounting for mimics.
In addition, you can expect to find 0.000729 wands of wishing on average in the Minetown quality apparel and accessories shop; as well as 0.00122 wands of wishing and 0.00729 magic lamps on average in the Minetown general store; and 0.0891 magic lamps on average in the Minetown tool stores; all accounting for mimics.[4]
In total, there will be on average, 0.25375 magic lamps and 0.001706 wands of wishing in Minetown shops, again, accounting for mimics.

The Watch
Main article: Watchman
The watchmen patrol randomly to protect the merchandise and features of Minetown. A player should not, while in sight of a watchman:

Apply a lock pick, credit card or skeleton key on a locked door
Attack any peaceful monster[5].
Dig through with a spell or wand of digging, or use a pick axe or mattock on a door.
Dig through walls.
Cut down a tree.
Dig down on a fountain (or overuse it — you will be warned first, unless successfully creating Excalibur in which case it will dry up the fountain and anger the Watch).
Steal from a shop (even accidentally, i.e., unexpected teleportation).
Improvise with a bugle (this angers all soldiers).
You will receive one warning before angering the watch for kicking down or unlocking doors. Digging through walls or doors with a pickaxe will receive a warning, but using a spell or wand to dig them will cause the watch to become hostile immediately (as it cannot be interrupted).
You will usually receive a warning before a fountain dries up, either from a watchman or from the fountain's flow "reducing to a trickle." However, if you dip for Excalibur and successfully receive it, the fountain will disappear without warning. No matter how you dried up the fountain, the watch will be angered whether or not they are in sight.
If you have stolen from a shop, you can pacify the watch by paying your debt to the shopkeeper, even if you made the watch angry in some other way.
See the main article for information on getting watchmen out of the way and killing them for profit.

Strategy

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:
"This section assumes that Minetown always has an temple and shops, which Orctown doesn't. It should be rewritten to reflect that the temple and shops cannot be relied on."

Because Minetown always has an altar and shops, it is an excellent location for a first stash. The altar provides BUC identification while the shops provide price identification, especially if your Minetown has a general store. There is also a significant 1/3 chance that the temple is co-aligned, which makes it a sanctuary (and a useful altar). Many players unload some excess loot in the Minetown temple before going on to Mines' End, and then consolidate upon their return. The disadvantage is that you might not be putting your stash in a container.
Minetown often has a deli and a tool shop. (Remember not to let your pet eat all the tripe rations.) Minetown can be a good place to increase your food supply if you are low. Players who are missing a skeleton key or other cheap tool can buy one. Be aware though that the Gnomish Mines has several tools for free sitting on its other levels.
The popularity of Minetown means that players spend a long time there, and hence have a greater than average opportunity of dying there. Thus Minetown is often a bones level.
Reaching the Minetown priest is the objective of the protection racket, perhaps also cloning credit in the stores.
Izchak's light shop will have .194 magic lamps on average. In case there are no other shops and you want price identification: clone credit, throw items in, and buy them back to get a price quote.
As mentioned above, if you dry up one of the fountains by dipping, the Watchmen will become hostile, regardless of whether the Watchmen can see you.
If you let your pet kill them (and perhaps heal it up afterwards), the minetown guards will be a good source of studded leather armor and leather gloves for a spellcaster and help identify non-magical equipment. If you want to kill them yourself one by one, it is a good idea to lure them to a different level first. You will still be penalized for murder, but the other guards will not be angered with you.
A wizard should sacrifice for Magicbane as early as possible. If the minetown temple happens to be cross-aligned, the tending priest needs to be killed safely beforehand (and after buying protection). (Note a Helm of opposite alignment might allow you to sacrifice without killing the priest, but you will never get Magicbane this way.)

History
In NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions, Orcish Town existed in a non-destroyed form as Frontier Town:

&nbsp;---------------------------------&nbsp;|...............................|&nbsp;|.------------.....------------.|&nbsp;|.|...|...|..|.....+..|...|...|.|&nbsp;|.|...|...|fd|.....+G.|lgt|.G.|.|&nbsp;|.|gen|...|..|.....+..|...|...|.|&nbsp;|.|...|...|++-.....----+++-+++-.|&nbsp;|.-+++-+++-.....................|&nbsp;|.............{......{..........|&nbsp;|.-+++-+++-....-++++-...........|&nbsp;|.|...|...|---.|.GG.|.----++++-.|&nbsp;|.|...|...|..+.|....|.+..|....|.|&nbsp;|.|too|...|.G+.|.@_.|.+..|....|.|&nbsp;|.|...|...|..+.|....|.+..|....|.|&nbsp;|.------------.------.---------.|&nbsp;|...............................|&nbsp;---------------------------------
Izchak's light shop (marked "lgt") is guaranteed, but the general store
("gen"), food shop ("fd") and tool shop ("too") have only a 90% chance of
existing.
Only one + on each wall is randomly made a door. This level contains two random traps.

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

@@@@@

Patrolling randomly

Priest

@

In temple

Gnomish Wizards

GG

In temple

Gnomes

GG

In rooms marked with G

Gnome lord

G

In room marked with G

Gnomes

GGG

Outside mapped area

Dwarf

h

Outside mapped area

Variants
FIQHack
In FIQHack Minetown is guaranteed to contain a magic chest.

SporkHack
SporkHack adds a minetown layout with rooms full of animals. Modified versions of this layout in other variants are called "Zoo Town"

EvilHack
EvilHack includes a modified version of SporkHack's Zoo Town.

SpliceHack
SpliceHack includes a modified version of SporkHack's Zoo Town.[6] SpliceHack also adds a new "spooky" Minetown layout called "Lavender Town".

Lavender Town

Wikipedia has an article about:
Lavender Town

........................................-------------------------------------..|...................................|..|.------....------..-------------+-.|..|.|....+....|....|..+lgt|.........|.|..|.|heal|..{.|....|..|...|.........|.|..|.|....|....|....|..--------------|.|..|.|....|....+....|......|.general&nbsp;|.|....------....------......+.........|............................-----------....|...................................|..|................--+--..............|..|................|...|..............|..|------+-+---....+._.+...-----------|..|.......|...|....|...|...+..........|..|.......|tl.|....--+--...|graveyard.|..|.......|...|............|..........|..-------------------------------------........................................
The town contains a health food store (marked "heal"), a tool shop (marked "tl"), a general store (marked "general") and Izchak's lighting store (marked "lgt"). There is also a graveyard and temple. In addition to the regular Minetown inhabitants, many undead creatures roam the level. Some of the undead are peaceful.
The mapped portion of the level is dark, except for the stores and altars.[7]

Monster
Symbol
Location

The Watch

@@@@

Patrolling randomly

Priest

@

In temple

Gnomish Wizards

GGG

Gnome

G

Gnome ruler

G

Dwarf

h

Dwarf zombies

ZZZ

Gnome zombies

ZZ

Ghosts

&nbsp;&nbsp;

Human zombie

Z

In health food store

Peaceful Ghoul

Z

Peaceful Skeleton

Z

In graveyard

Peaceful Zombies

ZZ

In graveyard

Slash'THEM
SlashTHEM added a new variant in 0.9.5[8] called the "Ruined &amp; Dangerous town". 

Ruined &amp; Dangerous Town
.--------00--0----0--0----00----..|-----...{....---------&gt;----.-|..0|._.|........|fo||...|.0....|0..0|tem|.------.0.o||gen|.0tool||..0|ple+.|....|.0.d||...|.|....||..||...+.|cand|.00--|...|.--00--0..||...|.|....+.....--+--.......|..||...|.------...........}ww}}}|..|-----.........0--0+-...ww}}}w|..------------------.0-----------..................................
This variant contains an empty temple, a couple of destroyed shops ("food" and "tool") and plenty of boulders. The candle ("cand") and general ("gen") shops will have active shopkeepers.
The town has a number of gnomes (including a gnome king), a bugbear chieftain, and a 50% chance of a cursed bag of holding.

References

↑ Weighted mean probability: (1/6)(5 - 1) + (1/3)(6 - 1) + (1/3)(7 - 1) + (1/6)(8 - 1) = 5.5%

↑ Expected without mimics, times .945, the proportion of squares without mimics on average.

↑ Weighted mean: 0.18 * 5/7 + .27 * (2/7)

↑ 3% of items in a light store are magic lamps; 8% of items in general store are tools, 0.015 tools are magic lamps; 90% of items in "wand" shop are wands, 4% of items in general store are wands, 0.5% of wands are wishing; see http://www.steelypips.org/nethack/343/tool-343.html and http://www.steelypips.org/nethack/343/wan1-343.html as well as the wiki's shop page.

↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 3.6.1, line 2725

↑ https://github.com/NullCGT/SpliceHack/blob/Spl-R-1.1.0/dat/minetn-8.lua

↑ https://github.com/NullCGT/SpliceHack/blob/Spl-R-1.1.0/dat/minetn-9.lua

↑ https://github.com/Soviet5lo/SlashTHEM/blob/develop/CHANGELOG-NG.md#version-095-2021-02-01

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