# Symset
Starting in NetHack 3.6.0, the symset option selects one of several symbol sets for display of a text-mode map for the normal dungeon.  The roguesymset option does the same for the Rogue level. The file "symbols", placed in the directory where NetHack is installed, defines the available symbol sets. The user may edit this file to change existing symbol sets or to define new symbol sets.
The symset option supersedes IBMgraphics, DECgraphics and MACgraphics. Those options are still recognized for backward compatibility. It also replaces the variables named under Custom map symbols, except that BOULDER is still accepted.
Individual symbols may be set in the options file with SYMBOLS:

SYMBOLS=S_boulder:0
SYMBOLS=S_golem:7
SYMBOLS=S_ghost:8

Contents

1 Available symbol sets

1.1 Normal dungeon
1.2 Rogue level
1.3 File format

2 Example
3 Screenshots

3.1 Main dungeon

3.1.1 With IBMgraphics
3.1.2 With IBMgraphics_2
3.1.3 With IBMgraphics_1
3.1.4 With DECgraphics

3.2 Rogue level

3.2.1 With RogueIBM/RogueWindows
3.2.2 With RogueEpyx

Available symbol sets
Normal dungeon
The following symbol sets are available for the normal dungeon and for the Rogue level:

Default symbols -- plain ASCII. This set is coded directly and not defined in the symbols file.
DECgraphics
IBMgraphics
IBMGraphics_1 -- displays walls as solid lines and all other characters the same way as ASCII
IBMGraphics_2 -- rolls back certain symbols to ASCII, for consistent display with code pages other than 437. The IBMgraphics article discusses code pages at length.
MACgraphics
NHAccess -- an ASCII-compatible symbol set intended for visually impaired players.
Rogue level
In addition to the above symbol sets, the following symbol sets are available for the Rogue level:

RogueIBM
RogueEpyx
RogueWindows
Of these, only RogueEpyx displays in color. RogueIBM and RogueWindows are in fact identical.
The symbols file supports limiting a symbol set to the main dungeon, but no preconfigured symbol set is restricted this way.

File format
The symbols file is a plain text file and can be edited by the user. Blank lines are ignored. Comments begin with '#' and continue to the end of the line. Lines consist of either the keyword "finish" standing alone or a keyword, a colon or equals sign, and a value. Keywords are not case sensitive.
A symbol set consists of:

a single line with keyword "start" or "begin" and a value constituting the name of the symbol set
a single line with keyword "handling" and a value of either "DEC" or "IBM"; the provided symbols file uses "MAC" for MACgraphics, but the source code does not recognize this value
an optional single line with keyword "description" and a line to be displayed in the options menu, to describe the symbol set
an optional single line with keyword "color" or "colour" and a value of any of "true", "yes", "on", "false", "no" or "off"; the default is to enable color in the main dungeon and disable it in the Rogue level
an optional single line with keyword "restrictions" and a value of "primary" or "rogue"; the default is no restriction
zero or more lines in which the keyword is a symbol name and the value is the character to be displayed; symbols for which no line is defined will be displayed as ASCII
a single line with keyword "finish" and no value
The character may be a single printable character other than backslash (which begins an escape), caret (which indicates a control character; you probably don't want this) or '#' (which begins a comment), or it may be an escape sequence. C-style escape sequences of the form '\123' are interpreted as octal, '\x45' as hex and '\d123' as decimal. '\Mx' gives a "meta" character, with the eighth bit set.
Recognized symbol names are as follows:

Default (ASCII)
Name
Description

Walls, doors etc.

-
S_blcorn
bottom left corner (of a room)

-
S_brcorn
bottom right corner (of a room)

-
S_crwall
wall

-
S_hwall
horizontal wall

-
S_tdwall
wall

-
S_tlcorn
top left corner (of a room)

|
S_tlwall
wall

-
S_trcorn
top right corner (of a room)

|
S_trwall
wall

-
S_tuwall
wall

|
S_vwall
vertical wall

#
S_corr
corridor

#
S_litcorr
lit corridor

<space>
S_stone
dark part of a room or solid rock

.
S_ice
ice

.
S_room
floor of a room

.
S_ndoor
doorway (with no or broken door)

+
S_hcdoor
closed door (in horizontal wall)

|
S_hodoor
open door (in horizontal wall)

+
S_vcdoor
closed door (in vertical wall)

-
S_vodoor
open door (in vertical wall)

&gt;
S_dnladder
ladder down

&gt;
S_dnstair
staircase down

&lt;
S_upladder
ladder up

&lt;
S_upstair
staircase up

Dungeon features

<space>
S_air
air

_
S_altar
altar

#
S_bars
iron bars

#
S_cloud
cloud

{
S_fountain
fountain

|
S_grave
grave

#
S_hcdbridge
horizontal raised drawbridge

.
S_hodbridge
horizontal lowered drawbridge

#
S_vcdbridge
vertical raised drawbridge

.
S_vodbridge
vertical lowered drawbridge

}
S_lava
molten lava

#
S_poisoncloud
poison cloud

#
S_sink
sink

\
S_throne
opulent throne

#
S_tree
tree

}
S_pool
water

}
S_water
water

Traps

^
S_anti_magic_trap
anti-magic field

^
S_arrow_trap
arrow trap

^
S_bear_trap
bear trap

^
S_dart_trap
dart trap

^
S_falling_rock_trap
falling rock trap

^
S_fire_trap
fire trap

^
S_hole
hole

^
S_land_mine
land mine

^
S_level_teleporter
level teleporter

^
S_magic_portal
magic portal

^
S_magic_trap
magic trap

^
S_pit
pit

^
S_polymorph_trap
polymorph trap

^
S_rolling_boulder_trap
rolling boulder trap

^
S_rust_trap
rust trap

^
S_sleeping_gas_trap
sleeping gas trap

^
S_spiked_pit
spiked pit

^
S_squeaky_board
squeaky board

^
S_statue_trap
statue trap

^
S_teleportation_trap
teleportation trap

^
S_trap_door
trap door

^
S_vibrating_square
vibrating square

"
S_web
web

Items

"
S_amulet
amulet

[
S_armor or S_armour
suit or piece of armor

0
S_ball
iron ball

+
S_book
spellbook

`
S_boulder
boulder

_
S_chain
iron chain

$
S_coin
pile of coins

%
S_food
piece of food

*
S_gem
gem or rock

!
S_potion
potion

=
S_ring
ring

`
S_rock
boulder or statue

?
S_scroll
scroll

(
S_tool
(useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp...)

/
S_wand
wand

)
S_weapon
weapon

Monsters

<space>
S_ghost
ghost

A
S_angel
angelic being

B
S_bat
bat or bird

C
S_centaur
centaur

D
S_dragon
dragon

E
S_elemental
elemental

F
S_fungus
fungus or mold

G
S_gnome
gnome

H
S_giant
giant humanoid

J
S_jabberwock
jabberwock

K
S_kop
Keystone Kop

L
S_lich
lich

M
S_mummy
mummy

N
S_naga
naga

O
S_ogre
ogre

P
S_pudding
pudding or ooze

Q
S_quantmech
quantum mechanic

R
S_rustmonst
rust monster or disenchanter

S
S_snake
snake

T
S_troll
troll

U
S_umber
umber hulk

V
S_vampire
vampire

W
S_wraith
wraith

X
S_xorn
xorn

Y
S_yeti
apelike creature

Z
S_zombie
zombie

a
S_ant
ant or other insect

b
S_blob
blob

c
S_cockatrice
cockatrice

d
S_dog
dog or other canine

e
S_eye
eye or sphere

f
S_feline
cat or other feline

g
S_gremlin
gremlin

h
S_humanoid
humanoid

i
S_imp
imp or minor demon

j
S_jelly
jelly

k
S_kobold
kobold

l
S_leprechaun
leprechaun

m
S_mimic
mimic

]
S_mimic_def
mimic

n
S_nymph
nymph

o
S_orc
orc

p
S_piercer
piercer

q
S_quadruped
quadruped

r
S_rodent
rodent

s
S_spider
arachnid or centipede

t
S_trapper
trapper or lurker above

u
S_unicorn
unicorn or horse

v
S_vortex
vortex

w
S_worm
worm

~
S_worm_tail
long worm tail

x
S_xan
xan or other mythical/fantastic insect

y
S_light
light

z
S_zruty
zruty

&amp;
S_demon
major demon

'
S_golem
golem

:
S_lizard
lizard

;
S_eel
sea monster

@
S_human
human or elf

Effects

)
S_boomleft
boomerang open left

S_boomright
boomerang open right

*
S_digbeam
dig beam

/
S_explode1
explosion top left

-
S_explode2
explosion top center

\
S_explode3
explosion top right

|
S_explode4
explosion middle left

 
S_explode5
explosion middle center

|
S_explode6
explosion middle right

\
S_explode7
explosion bottom left

-
S_explode8
explosion bottom center

/
S_explode9
explosion bottom right

!
S_flashbeam
flash beam

0
S_ss1
magic shield 1 of 4

#
S_ss2
magic shield 2 of 4

@
S_ss3
magic shield 3 of 4

*
S_ss4
magic shield 4 of 4

-
S_sw_bc
swallow bottom center

\
S_sw_bl
swallow bottom left

/
S_sw_br
swallow bottom right

|
S_sw_ml
swallow middle left

|
S_sw_mr
swallow middle right

-
S_sw_tc
swallow top center

/
S_sw_tl
swallow top left

\
S_sw_tr
swallow top right

-
S_hbeam
horizontal beam

|
S_vbeam
vertical beam

/
S_rslant
diagonal beam (NE/SW)

\
S_lslant
diagonal beam (NW/SE)

.
S_venom
splash of venom

Example
The following defines the traditional IBMgraphics symbol set:

start: IBMgraphics
        Handling: IBM
        S_vwall: \xb3                   # meta-3, vertical rule
        S_hwall: \xc4                   # meta-D, horizontal rule
        S_tlcorn: \xda                  # meta-Z, top left corner
        S_trcorn: \xbf                  # meta-?, top right corner
        S_blcorn: \xc0                  # meta-@, bottom left
        S_brcorn: \xd9                  # meta-Y, bottom right
        S_crwall: \xc5                  # meta-E, cross
        S_tuwall: \xc1                  # meta-A, T up
        S_tdwall: \xc2                  # meta-B, T down
        S_tlwall: \xb4                  # meta-4, T left
        S_trwall: \xc3                  # meta-C, T right
        S_ndoor: \xfa                   # meta-z, centered dot
        S_vodoor: \xfe                  # meta-~, small centered square
        S_hodoor: \xfe                  # meta-~, small centered square
        S_bars: \xf0                    # equivalence symbol
        S_tree: \xf1                    # plus or minus symbol
        S_room: \xfa                    # meta-z, centered dot
        S_corr: \xb0                    # meta-0, light shading
        S_litcorr: \xb1                 # meta-1, medium shading
        S_fountain: \xf4                # meta-t, integral top half
        S_pool: \xf7                    # meta-w, approx. equals
        S_ice: \xfa                     # meta-z, centered dot
        S_lava: \xf7                    # meta-w, approx. equals
        S_vodbridge: \xfa               # meta-z, centered dot
        S_hodbridge: \xfa               # meta-z, centered dot
        S_water: \xf7                   # meta-w, approx. equals
        S_vbeam: \xb3                   # meta-3, vertical rule
        S_hbeam: \xc4                   # meta-D, horizontal rule
        S_sw_ml: \xb3                   # meta-3, vertical rule
        S_sw_mr: \xb3                   # meta-3, vertical rule
        S_explode4: \xb3                # meta-3, vertical rule
        S_explode6: \xb3                # meta-3, vertical rule
finish

Screenshots
Main dungeon
Here are four screenshots of the same scene, using the three IBMgraphics variants and also DECgraphics.

With IBMgraphics

Note that the floor symbol is centered with respect to the @ sign on the left.

With IBMgraphics_2

The moat, the floor and the fountain are displayed with their ASCII symbols. The floor is an ASCII period, and displays low with respect to the @ sign on the left.

With IBMgraphics_1

The doors are displayed with their ASCII symbols.

With DECgraphics

Rogue level
Here are two screenshots of the same scene, using the two Rogue level symbol sets.

With RogueIBM/RogueWindows

With RogueEpyx

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.

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