NetHack is (sort of) freeware, which basically means that you don't have to pay for the game (for more detailed information, have a look at the NetHack license). Better yet, its source code is available to the public, so you can have a look at the way NetHack has been programmed! You can even change the way the game works, if you have the means to compile C source code.
Below, you will find only links to sources of older versions than the current version, 3.3.1. To find the sources for the current version, have a look at my latest news page.
The entire NetHack source code for version 3.2.0 (2583 kByte) can be obtained from the tue site. It has been tested for the following platforms: Amiga, Atari, Macintosh, Msdos, OS2, Unix (and derivatives), VMS, and WinNT. If you are located in the Americas, Oceania or the Pacific Rim, rather than in or near Europe, consider downloading not from the link above, but from the ftp.uu.net site, which is closer to you (which usually means faster). Choose any one of these two links (ftp.uu.net is located in Washington DC, while ftp.win.tue.nl is in the Netherlands; pick the one closest to you).
With the appearance of version 3.2.1, in july 1996, you also need the official patch to upgrade from version 3.2.0 to version 3.2.1 of NetHack. Download it and run it on your gunzipped, untarred source code. Please don't ask me how to do this: ask your system operator for more information on how to use the "patch" program.
You may opt to download only those files which are meant for your own platform, but be warned that that involves downloading a lot of tarred, compressed, and uuencoded files, so it would be impossible to mention them all here. However, if you are interested in this, who am I to stop you? So, if you really want to do this, you can click here. Next, click on the directory with the name of your own platform, and then get all the files contained within that directory.
At 11 December 1999, version 3.3.0 of NetHack appeared.
This section contains sources for the abovementioned versions of the spoilers. If you're looking for binaries or spoilers on a certain subject, go to the binaries page or the spoilers page on this site, where you may find spoilers for these or older versions of NetHack. Most of them are still valid, for the main part.
You can visit my ftp site directly (as opposed to via this html site), where you can also download copies of this version of the game. For an easier-to-use interface to download, see the quick links below. Please use this site, to take some of the heat away from the official site.
Next to the 3.3.1 files below, there are also some sources for 3.2.3. This is because version 3.2.3 also appeared on December 11th 1999, containing fixes for the millenniumbug. The 3.2.3 files below are provided for those with savefiles from 3.2.2 that they still wish to finish. Click here for a link to the spoilers page for 3.2.
| System | Readme 3.3.0 | Source 3.3.0 | Source 3.2.2 | Source 3.2.3 (diff 3.2.2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | click here | click here | click here | click here |
| Msdos | click here | click here | click here | |
| Win32 | click here | click here | click here | |
| Mac | click here | click here | click here | |
| OS 2 | click here | click here | click here | |
| Palm | click here |