Area 51/Profile preferences

Profile Preferences

The Profile Preferences dialog allows you to customize various aspects of your Mudlet profile's behavior and appearance. This dialog can be accessed through the Settings menu or by pressing the Settings button in the main toolbar.

The preferences are organized into multiple tabs, each focusing on different aspects of your profile configuration. Changes are saved when you click the Save button at the bottom of the dialog.

General Tab

The General tab contains fundamental settings that affect the overall behavior and appearance of your Mudlet profile.

Icon Sizes

These settings control the visual scale of icons throughout Mudlet's interface:

• Icon size toolbars: Controls the size of icons displayed in toolbars using a scale of 1-4
  • Scale 1: Smallest icons (16x16 pixels) - best for small screens or high information density
  • Scale 2: Small icons (24x24 pixels) - good balance for most users
  • Scale 3: Medium icons (32x32 pixels) - default setting, comfortable for most displays
  • Scale 4: Large icons (48x48 pixels) - best for high-resolution displays or accessibility needs

• Icon size in tree views: Sets the icon size for items in the script editor tree view (1-4 scale)
  • Affects the visual hierarchy in trigger, alias, script, and other editing windows
  • Larger icons make it easier to distinguish between different item types at a glance

Menu and Toolbar Visibility

These options control when Mudlet's interface elements are visible, which is particularly useful for maximizing screen space for gameplay:

• Show menu bar: Choose when to display the menu bar
  • Never: Menu bar is always hidden (access functions through keyboard shortcuts or toolbars)
  • Until a profile is loaded: Shows menu bar until you connect to a game, then hides automatically
  • Always: Menu bar is always visible (recommended for new users)

• Show main toolbar: Similar options for the main toolbar visibility
  • The main toolbar contains quick access buttons for common functions like connect/disconnect, settings, and window toggles
  • Hidden toolbars save vertical screen space but require menu navigation or keyboard shortcuts

Language & Data Encoding

These settings control how text appears in Mudlet and how the interface is presented:

• Interface language: Select the language for Mudlet's user interface
  • Available languages depend on community translations
  • Note: Changing this requires restarting Mudlet to take effect
  • Help translate Mudlet at: https://www.mudlet.org/translate

• Server data encoding: Choose how text from the game server is interpreted
  • UTF-8: Modern Unicode standard, recommended for most games (supports international characters, emojis, and special symbols)
  • ASCII: Basic English characters only, compatible with very old servers
  • ISO-8859-1 (Latin-1): Western European characters, common on older European servers
  • CP437: DOS/OEM encoding, used by some legacy BBS-style systems
  • CP1252: Windows encoding, sometimes used by Windows-based servers
  • Encodings marked with m are provided by Mudlet rather than your operating system
  • Troubleshooting: If you see question marks (�) or broken characters instead of text, try UTF-8 first, then consult your game's documentation

Miscellaneous Options

• Appearance: Controls Mudlet's overall visual theme
  • System setting: Follows your operating system's light/dark mode preference
  • Light: Traditional light theme with dark text on light backgrounds
  • Dark: Modern dark theme with light text on dark backgrounds (easier on eyes in low light)
  • A prompt will appear asking if you want to match the code editor theme when switching to dark mode

• Auto save on exit: Automatically saves your profile when closing Mudlet
  • Saves triggers, aliases, scripts, variables, and other profile data
  • Recommended to keep enabled to prevent data loss

• Notify on new data: Shows a toolbar notification when minimized and new game data arrives
  • Helpful for monitoring multiple games or staying aware of important events while multitasking
  • Works with your operating system's notification system

Game Protocols

Game protocols are special communication methods between Mudlet and game servers that enhance functionality:

• Choose protocols: Opens a dialog to select which game protocols to enable
  • GMCP (Generic Mud Communication Protocol): Modern standard for exchanging structured data
  • MSDP (Mud Server Data Protocol): Alternative to GMCP for server-client communication
  • MSSP (Mud Server Status Protocol): Provides server information and capabilities
  • MXP (Mud eXtension Protocol): Enables clickable links, formatting, and interactive elements
  • MCMP (Mud Client Media Protocol): Allows servers to send sounds and music
  • MSP (Mud Sound Protocol): Older standard for game sounds
  • Technical note: Most modern games use GMCP; consult your game's documentation for specific requirements

• Allow server to install script packages: Permits the game server to send and install script packages
  • Useful for games that provide official GUI packages or automation scripts
  • Security consideration: Only enable for trusted game servers as this allows code execution

• Allow server to download and play media: Enables media support through supported protocols
  • Requires GMCP to be enabled in protocols
  • Allows background music, sound effects, and ambient audio from the game
  • Media files are cached locally and can be managed in the Special Options tab

Log Options

Logging captures all game text to files for later review, analysis, or sharing:

• Save log files in HTML format instead of plain text: Preserves formatting, colors, and fonts in log files
  • HTML logs: Maintain colors, fonts, and formatting but are larger files
  • Plain text logs: Smaller files, better for processing with external tools, but lose visual formatting
  • Important: You must stop and restart logging for this change to take effect on existing log files

• Add timestamps at the beginning of log lines: Includes time information in logs
  • Format: [HH:MM:SS] at the beginning of each line
  • Useful for tracking when events occurred or measuring response times

• Save log files in: Choose the directory where log files are stored
  • Default location is within your profile folder
  • Browse: Select a custom location (useful for cloud sync folders or external storage)
  • Reset: Return to the default profile-specific location

• Log format: Select how log files are named and organized
  • Formats include date-based naming, session-based, or custom patterns
  • Choose based on how you prefer to organize and locate your logs

• Log name: Customize the base name for your log files
  • Combined with the log format to create the final filename
  • Extension (.txt or .html) is added automatically based on the HTML format setting

Input Line Tab

This tab controls how the command input line behaves and appears, which directly affects your gameplay experience.

Input Settings

These settings modify how your commands are processed and sent to the game:

• Strict UNIX line endings: Use UNIX-style line endings for compatibility with older UNIX servers
  • Most modern servers handle both types automatically
  • Enable only if your game documentation specifically mentions line ending issues
  • Technical: Sends LF instead of CRLF line terminators

• Auto clear the input line after you sent text: Automatically empties the input line after sending commands
  • Useful for rapid command entry without manual clearing
  • Some players prefer to keep the last command visible for easy repetition

• Highlight history: Highlights text when scrolling through command history
  • Makes it easier to see that you're viewing history rather than typing new text
  • History is accessed with Up/Down arrow keys in the input line

• React to all keybindings on the same key: Allows multiple key bindings to trigger on the same key combination
  • Default behavior: Only the first matching keybinding runs (Mudlet 3.8 and earlier)
  • New behavior: All matching keybindings run in sequence
  • Useful for complex automation where multiple actions should occur on one keypress
  • Compatibility note: Defaults to unchecked to maintain compatibility with older scripts

• Show sent commands: Controls how sent commands appear in the main display
  • Never: Commands are not echoed to the main window (silent command entry)
  • Script controlled: Lua scripts can control visibility using `send(command, true/false)`
  • Always: Commands always appear in the main window regardless of script settings
  • Note: The game server can override this setting if it negotiates telnet ECHO mode

• Command separator: Text used to separate multiple commands on one line
  • Default is typically semicolon (;) allowing "north;look;inventory" to execute as three commands
  • Leave blank to disable multi-command functionality
  • Some games use different separators like "&&" or "then"

• Command line minimum height in pixels: Sets the minimum height of the input area
  • Range: 0-300 pixels
  • Useful for accommodating larger fonts or multiple lines of input
  • Higher values provide more space for complex command composition

Spell Checking

Spell checking helps catch typos in your commands and communications:

• System/Mudlet dictionary: Enable spell checking using system or Mudlet dictionaries
  • Uses your operating system's spell checker when available
  • Provides red underlines for misspelled words in the input line
  • Dropdown shows available languages based on your system configuration

• User dictionary: Choose between profile-specific or shared user dictionaries
  • Profile: Dictionary specific to this profile only (game-specific terms, character names)
  • Shared: Dictionary shared across all profiles (useful for common gaming terms)
  • User dictionaries store words you add via right-click → "Add to dictionary"
  • Game-specific terms like "scimitar" or "mithril" can be added to avoid false positives

Main Display Tab

This tab controls the appearance and behavior of the main game text display, which is where you'll spend most of your time reading game output.

Font Settings

Font choice significantly impacts readability and game experience:

• Font: Choose the font family for displaying game text
  • Monospace fonts (recommended): All characters have the same width
    • Examples: Consolas, Courier New, Monaco, Source Code Pro
    • Benefits: Perfect alignment for ASCII maps, tables, and formatted text
    • Drawbacks: Can look mechanical or less elegant
  • Variable-width fonts: Characters have different widths based on their shape
    • Examples: Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica
    • Benefits: More natural reading experience, better for narrative text
    • Drawbacks: May break alignment of ASCII art, maps, or tabular data
  • Warning displayed: Mudlet will warn you if a selected font may cause alignment issues

• Size: Set the font size (1-99 points)
  • Common ranges: 10-14 for normal displays, 16-20 for high-DPI screens
  • Consider both readability and screen real estate when choosing size

• Enable anti-aliasing: Smooths font rendering for better appearance
  • Recommended for high-resolution displays and larger font sizes
  • May make small fonts appear blurry on low-resolution displays
  • Turn off if text appears fuzzy or hard to read

Display Border

Fine-tune the spacing around the text display to optimize your screen layout:

• Top border height: Space above the text (can be negative)
  • Positive values: Add space above text (useful with toolbars or custom UI elements)
  • Negative values: Move text up beyond the normal screen boundary (advanced usage)
  • Range: -1,000,000 to 1,000,000 pixels

• Bottom border height: Space below the text (can be negative)
  • Affects positioning relative to the input line
  • Negative values allow text to extend below normal boundaries

• Left border width: Space to the left of text (can be negative)
  • Useful for accommodating chat windows or custom panels
  • Negative values can move text beyond the left screen edge

• Right border width: Space to the right of text (can be negative)
  • Helpful when using mapper or other right-side panels
  • Allows fine-tuning of text area width

Advanced usage note: Negative border values are primarily useful for custom UI layouts or working around display limitations.

Word Wrapping

These settings control how long lines of text are handled:

• Wrap lines at: Number of characters before text wraps to the next line
  • Default: 90 characters (suitable for most displays)
  • Shorter values: More line breaks, better for narrow screens or side panels
  • Longer values: Fewer line breaks, better for wide displays or reading flow
  • Consider your game's typical line lengths when adjusting

• Indent wrapped lines by: Number of characters to indent continuation lines
  • Helps visually distinguish wrapped lines from new lines
  • Common values: 0 (no indent), 2-4 (subtle indent), 8+ (clear indent)
  • Useful for maintaining readability in long descriptions

• Indent hanging wrapped lines by: Additional indentation for subsequent wrapped lines
  • Creates a cascading indent effect: first wrap gets basic indent, subsequent wraps get additional indent
  • Helps with complex, multi-line text structures
  • Usually set to 0-2 characters more than the basic wrapped line indent

Double-click Behavior

Controls word selection when double-clicking on text:

• Stop selecting a word on these characters: Characters that terminate word selection
  • Default: `'"` (apostrophes and quotation marks)
  • Without this setting: Double-clicking "Hello" in `You say, "Hello!"` selects `"Hello!"`
  • With this setting: Double-clicking "Hello" selects only `Hello`
  • Customize based on your game's text formatting and your selection preferences
  • Common additions: `!`, `.`, `,`, `;`, `:` for more precise word selection

Display Options

Advanced options for text processing and display:

• Fix unnecessary linebreaks on GA servers: Fixes display issues with certain game servers
  • Specifically addresses a bug in IRE MUD servers (Iron Realms Entertainment)
  • Prevents text from being incorrectly appended to prompt lines
  • Enable if you see text appearing on the wrong lines or prompts getting corrupted

• Enable text analyzer: Enables advanced text analysis features
  • Provides additional processing and pattern recognition capabilities
  • May be used by advanced scripts or debugging tools

• Echo Lua errors to the main console: Shows script errors in the main display
  • In addition to showing errors in the error tab of the script editor
  • Helpful for immediate error notification during gameplay
  • Can be overwhelming if you have many script errors

• Display control characters as: How to render special control characters
  • Nothing: Hide control characters (default, cleanest display)
  • Unicode Control Pictures: Show symbolic representations (⌐, ␍, ␊, etc.)
  • CP437 (OEM Font)-like: Show DOS-style representations
  • Useful for debugging server output or identifying formatting issues

• Show connection status on tabs: Displays connection indicators on profile tabs
  • Visual indicators show whether each profile is connected or disconnected
  • Helpful when managing multiple game connections simultaneously

Editor Tab

This tab customizes the built-in script editor's appearance and behavior, which is essential for writing triggers, aliases, and other automation.

Theme Selection

The code editor theme affects syntax highlighting and overall appearance:

• Code editor theme: Choose from various syntax highlighting themes
  • Themes control colors for different code elements (keywords, strings, comments, etc.)
  • Light themes: Better for bright environments, traditional appearance
  • Dark themes: Easier on eyes in low light, modern appearance
  • Popular options often include Monokai, Solarized, and GitHub themes
  • Theme updates are downloaded from colorsublime.github.io when available

• Script preview: Select a sample script to preview theme appearance
  • Shows how different code elements will appear in your chosen theme
  • Includes examples of Lua syntax, comments, and strings
  • Change the preview script to see how themes handle different types of code

Autocomplete

• Autocomplete Lua functions in code editor: Enables function name suggestions while typing
  • Provides pop-up suggestions for Mudlet's Lua functions as you type
  • Includes function signatures showing required parameters
  • Speeds up script development and reduces syntax errors
  • Press Tab or Enter to accept suggestions, Escape to dismiss

Display Options

Visual aids for code editing and debugging:

• Show Spaces/Tabs: Makes whitespace characters visible
  • Displays dots for spaces and arrows for tabs
  • Essential for debugging indentation issues in Lua code
  • Helpful for maintaining consistent code formatting

• Show Line/Paragraphs: Shows line ending markers
  • Displays symbols at the end of each line
  • Useful for identifying different types of line endings
  • Helps debug text processing scripts

• Show invisible Unicode control characters: Displays potentially problematic Unicode characters
  • Reveals hidden characters that might cause script issues
  • Important for debugging copy-pasted code from various sources
  • Helps identify security risks like bidirectional text overrides

• Show Items' ID number: Shows internal Mudlet ID numbers for debugging
  • Each trigger, alias, script, etc. has a unique internal ID number
  • Displayed in the editor tree view next to item names
  • Useful for advanced debugging and when working with Lua API functions
  • ID numbers may change between profile sessions if items are added/removed

Color View Tab

This tab allows you to customize colors used in the main display and for game text, giving you complete control over your visual experience.

Basic Display Colors

These colors control the fundamental appearance of Mudlet's interface:

• Foreground: Default text color for game output
  • Used when the game doesn't specify a particular color
  • Should contrast well with the background color for readability

• Background: Default background color for the main console
  • Forms the canvas behind all game text
  • Light backgrounds (white, cream) work well in bright environments
  • Dark backgrounds (black, dark gray) reduce eye strain in low light

• Command line foreground/background: Colors for the input area
  • Can be set to match or contrast with the main display
  • Some users prefer different colors to clearly distinguish input from output

• Command foreground/background: Colors for sent commands when they appear in the main display
  • Only visible when "Show sent commands" is enabled in Input Line tab
  • Helps distinguish your commands from game responses

ANSI Colors (16-Color Palette)

These 16 colors form the standard palette used by most text-based games:

Standard Colors (0-7)

• Black (0): Often used for emphasis or hidden text
• Red (1): Commonly used for damage, warnings, or important text
• Green (2): Often represents healing, success, or nature
• Yellow (3): Frequently used for gold, light, or caution
• Blue (4): Often represents water, magic, or information
• Magenta (5): Used for special effects or rare items
• Cyan (6): Often represents ice, technology, or secondary information
• White (7): Standard text color, maximum contrast

Bright/Light Colors (8-15)

• Light Black (8): Dark gray, often used for less important text
• Light Red (9): Bright red for high-priority warnings or critical damage
• Light Green (10): Bright green for major healing or success
• Light Yellow (11): Bright yellow for gold or sunlight
• Light Blue (12): Bright blue for water or magical effects
• Light Magenta (13): Bright magenta for rare or magical items
• Light Cyan (14): Bright cyan for ice or technological elements
• Light White (15): Pure white for maximum emphasis

Advanced Color Options

• Server allowed to redefine these colors: Permits the game server to change color definitions
  • Uses ANSI OSC (Operating System Command) escape codes
  • Format: `<ESC>]Pi;rrggbb<ESC>\` where i=color index (0-F), rrggbb=hex color values
  • Reset command: `<ESC>]R<ESC>\` restores default colors
  • Security consideration: Generally safe but allows server to control your visual experience

• Reset all colors to default: Restores original color scheme
  • Useful if you've experimented with colors and want to start over
  • Also triggered by server reset commands if server color redefinition is enabled

Mapper Tab

The Mapper tab contains settings for Mudlet's built-in mapping system, which helps you navigate and visualize game worlds.

Map Files

These options control loading, saving, and managing your map data:

• Save your current map: Export the current map to a file
  • Creates a backup of your map outside the profile
  • Useful for sharing maps with other players
  • File format depends on the "Map format version" setting below

• Load another map file in: Import a different map file
  • Replaces your current map entirely
  • Warning: This will overwrite any existing map data
  • Useful for loading community-created maps or personal backups

• Or load an older version: Restore from automatic map backups
  • Mudlet automatically creates map backups periodically
  • Dropdown shows available backup versions with timestamps
  • Useful for recovering from mapping errors or corruption

• Delete map: Remove the current map data
  • Completely removes all rooms, areas, and connections
  • Cannot be undone - ensure you have backups before using
  • Useful for starting fresh with a new game or major world changes

• Copy map to other profiles: Share maps between different profiles
  • Select destination profiles, then press Copy
  • Useful for using the same map across multiple characters
  • Copies rooms, areas, labels, and all associated data

• Map format version: Choose compatibility level for saved maps
  • Latest version: Includes all modern features but may not work with older Mudlet versions
  • Older versions: Compatible with previous Mudlet releases but loses some features
  • Consider your needs: latest features vs. backward compatibility

• Report map issues on screen: Control verbosity of map error reporting
  • When enabled: Shows detailed error messages during map loading/validation
  • When disabled: Reduces on-screen clutter, writes detailed report to log file
  • Useful for large maps where extensive error reports can overwhelm the display

Map Download

For games that provide official maps:

• Download latest map provided by your game: Get updated maps from supported games
  • Important: This will overwrite any local changes you've made to your map
  • Uses the new map exclusively, discarding personal modifications
  • Useful for games with frequent world updates or official mapping support

Map View Options

These settings control how the map appears and behaves:

• Use high quality graphics in 2D view: Enables anti-aliasing for smoother map rendering
  • Makes lines and shapes appear smoother and more professional
  • Disable on very slow computers if map rendering feels sluggish
  • 3D map view always uses high quality graphics

• Show room borders: Displays borders around map rooms
  • Makes individual rooms more distinct
  • Color can be customized in the Mapper Colors tab
  • Particularly useful for complex areas with many connected rooms

• Show the default area in map area selection: Includes the temporary holding area in area lists
  • Area ID -1 is used by some mapping scripts as temporary storage
  • Rooms are placed here before being assigned to proper areas
  • Usually hidden unless you're developing mapping scripts

• Use large area exit arrows in 2D view: Makes exit indicators more prominent
  • Larger arrows are easier to see and click
  • Particularly helpful for users with visual impairments or high-resolution displays

• Invert map zoom direction: Reverses the scroll wheel zoom behavior
  • When enabled: Scrolling up zooms out, scrolling down zooms in
  • When disabled: Standard behavior (scroll up = zoom in)
  • Useful for users accustomed to different zoom conventions

• Draw rooms on upper and lower levels: Shows rooms from adjacent Z-levels
  • Renders rooms above and below the current level in muted colors
  • Helps visualize vertical relationships in multi-level areas
  • Colors configurable in Mapper Colors tab (Upper/Lower level color)

• Room size: Controls the visual size of rooms on the 2D map (1-50)
  • Larger values make rooms more prominent and easier to click
  • Smaller values allow more rooms to fit on screen

• Exit size: Controls the visual size of exit lines/arrows (1-50)
  • Affects thickness of lines connecting rooms
  • Larger values make exits more visible

• Grid size: Controls spacing for grid overlay when enabled
  • Affects alignment guides for room placement
  • Useful when manually editing map layouts

Room Symbol Font Configuration

• 2D Map Room Symbol Font: Choose font for room symbols and labels
  • Affects text displayed within rooms (names, symbols, descriptions)
  • Monospace fonts often work best for consistent symbol alignment
  • Font choice impacts readability of room information

• Only use symbols (glyphs) from chosen font: Restricts symbols to selected font
  • Prevents fallback to system fonts for missing characters
  • Ensures consistent visual appearance across different systems
  • May result in missing symbols if font doesn't support certain characters

• Show symbol usage: Opens dialog showing which symbols are being used
  • Helpful for understanding font requirements
  • Useful when troubleshooting symbol display issues

Player Room Marker Customization

• 2D map player room marker style: Customize how your current location appears
  • Original: Simple cross-hair style marker
  • Red ring: Circular red outline around current room
  • Blue/Yellow ring: Two-tone circular marker
  • Custom ring: User-defined colors and sizes

• Outer ring color/Inner ring color: Customize colors for ring-style markers
  • Only available for custom ring style
  • Choose colors that contrast well with your room colors

• Outer diameter: Percentage ratio of marker size to room size (50-200%, default 120%)
  • Larger values make the marker more prominent
  • Smaller values keep the marker subtle

• Inner diameter: Percentage of inner ring relative to outer ring (up to 83%, default 70%)
  • Only applies to ring styles with inner elements
  • Controls the thickness of the ring indicator

Mapper Colors Tab

This tab provides detailed color customization specifically for the mapping system, separate from the main display colors.

Map-Specific Colors

These colors control various elements of the map display:

• Link color: Color for connections between rooms
  • Lines, arrows, and paths connecting rooms
  • Should contrast well with the background for visibility

• Background color: Map background color
  • The canvas behind all map elements
  • Independent of main console background color

• Room border color: Border color for rooms when borders are enabled
  • Only visible if "Show room borders" is enabled in Mapper tab
  • Helps define room boundaries in dense areas

• Map info background: Background for map information displays
  • Used for room information pop-ups, area labels, and other overlay text
  • Should provide good contrast for text readability

• Lower level color: Color for rooms above your current level
  • Helps visualize vertical relationships in multi-level areas
  • Typically a muted or faded version of normal room colors

• Upper level color: Color for rooms below your current level
  • Complements the lower level color for complete vertical awareness
  • Often uses transparency or different hue to indicate depth

• Overlapping rooms border: Highlight color for room conflicts
  • Used when multiple rooms occupy the same map coordinates
  • Bright, attention-grabbing color to indicate mapping issues that need resolution

Room Colors (ANSI Palette)

The same 16 ANSI colors as the main display, but specifically for coloring map rooms:

These colors are used when rooms are colored using ANSI color codes (0-15). Each game may use different conventions for room coloring:

• Some games color-code rooms by terrain type (blue=water, green=forest, brown=mountains)
• Others use colors to indicate danger levels or special properties
• Player-created maps often use colors for organizational purposes

The ability to customize these colors allows you to:

• Match your personal preferences for terrain visualization
• Maintain consistency with your main display color scheme
• Accommodate visual accessibility needs
• Create themed color schemes for different games

• Reset all colors to default: Restores the standard color scheme
  • Useful for returning to baseline after experimentation
  • Maintains compatibility with standard mapping conventions

Chat Tab

This tab configures Discord Rich Presence integration, allowing your Discord status to show your Mudlet activity.

Note: IRC client settings are configured separately via Settings > IRC in the main menu.

Discord Privacy

Discord Rich Presence integration shows your Mudlet activity in your Discord status:

Icon and Tooltip Privacy

• Large icon privacy: Control main activity icon and tooltip visibility
  • Don't hide: Shows full game information and Mudlet icon
  • Hide tooltip: Shows icon but removes descriptive text
  • Hide icon and tooltip: Removes large icon entirely from Discord status

• Small icon privacy: Control secondary icon and tooltip visibility
  • Similar options to large icon but affects the smaller status indicator
  • Often shows connection status or activity type

Detail Information Control

• Hide detail: Prevents sharing of detailed game information
  • Details often include character name, current area, or activity
  • Useful for privacy or when playing multiple characters

• Hide state: Control game state information sharing
  • State information might include "Connected to GameName" or current status
  • Another layer of privacy control for Discord integration

Party and Timer Information

• Hide party details: Control group/party information sharing
  • Prevents Discord from showing if you're grouped with other players
  • Useful for maintaining privacy about your gaming relationships

• Hide timer: Control session timing information
  • Prevents Discord from showing how long you've been playing
  • Helps maintain privacy about your gaming habits and time investment

Advanced Discord Options

• Enable Lua API: Allow scripts to control Discord status
  • Enables Mudlet Lua functions for custom Discord status updates
  • Allows scripts to set custom activity text, images, and status information
  • Advanced users can create dynamic status updates based on game events

• Restrict to specific Discord username: Limit Rich Presence to specific account
  • Format: username#1234 (with discriminator number)
  • Useful if you have multiple Discord accounts and want to control which shows Mudlet activity
  • Leave empty to show Rich Presence on any Discord account you're logged into
  • Discriminator is the 4-digit number after the # in your full Discord username

Connection Tab

This tab configures secure connections and proxy settings for connecting to game servers.

TLS/SSL Secure Connection

Transport Layer Security (TLS) and its predecessor Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encrypt your connection to the game server:

Certificate Information Display

When connected via TLS/SSL, Mudlet displays certificate details:

• Issuer: The certificate authority that verified the server's identity
  • Well-known authorities: Let's Encrypt, DigiCert, Comodo
  • Self-signed certificates show the server's own information

• Issued to: The server or domain the certificate is valid for
  • Should match the server hostname you're connecting to
  • Wildcards (*.example.com) cover multiple subdomains

• Expires: Certificate expiration date
  • Certificates must be renewed regularly for continued security
  • Expired certificates indicate potential security or maintenance issues

• Serial: Unique identifier for the certificate
  • Used for certificate management and revocation checking

Security Exception Options

These options lower security standards and should be used cautiously:

• Accept self-signed certificates: Allow certificates not verified by a trusted authority
  • Security risk: No guarantee the server is who it claims to be
  • Sometimes necessary for privately-run game servers
  • Vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks

• Accept expired certificates: Allow connections despite certificate expiration
  • Security risk: Expired certificates may have been compromised
  • Should only be temporary while server administrators renew certificates
  • May indicate poor server maintenance

• Accept all certificate errors: Bypass all certificate validation
  • High security risk: Negates most benefits of encrypted connections
  • Only use for testing or when absolutely necessary
  • Vulnerable to various attack types

Connection Status Notification Area

Visual feedback area showing connection security status:

• Warning icons for security exceptions or certificate issues
• Error indicators for connection problems
• Information messages about successful secure connections

Secure Connection Reminder

• Allow secure connection reminder: Prompt to switch to encrypted connections when available
  • Uses Mud Server Status Protocol (MSSP) to detect available secure ports
  • Encourages enhanced privacy and data protection
  • Helpful reminder when servers support both secure and insecure connections

Proxy Settings

For users who need to connect through proxy servers:

• Connect to the game via proxy: Enable proxy server usage
  • Checkbox enables the entire proxy configuration section
  • Required for networks that block direct game connections

• Address: Proxy server hostname or IP address
  • Format: proxy.example.com or 192.168.1.100
  • Obtain from your network administrator or proxy service

• Port: Proxy server port number
  • Common ports: 8080, 3128, 1080
  • Format: numeric port number (1-65535)

• Username/Password: Credentials for authenticated proxies
  • Many proxies require authentication for access
  • Username and password fields for proxy login
  • Not the same as your game login credentials

Shortcuts Tab

This tab allows you to customize keyboard shortcuts for main window functions, enabling quick access to frequently used features.

Main Window Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts provide rapid access to Mudlet functions without using menus:

Connection Management

• Connect/Disconnect: Toggle connection to your game server
• Reconnect: Disconnect and immediately reconnect
• Quick Connect: Connect using saved connection details

Window Management

• Show/Hide Triggers: Toggle the Triggers window
• Show/Hide Aliases: Toggle the Aliases window
• Show/Hide Timers: Toggle the Timers window
• Show/Hide Scripts: Toggle the Scripts window
• Show/Hide Keys: Toggle the Key Bindings window
• Show/Hide Variables: Toggle the Variables window
• Show/Hide Mapper: Toggle the map window
• Show/Hide Notepad: Toggle the built-in notepad

Display Controls

• Toggle Timestamps: Show/hide timestamps on game output
• Toggle Logging: Start/stop logging game output
• Clear Console: Clear the main display window
• Mute/Unmute: Toggle audio output from media protocols

Editing and Debug

• Central Debug Console: Open the main debugging interface
• Lua Code: Open code execution dialog
• Error Console: Show script errors and debug information

Shortcut Customization

• Modifying Shortcuts: Click on any shortcut field to change the key combination
  • Press your desired key combination when prompted
  • Supports combinations with Ctrl, Alt, Shift, and function keys
  • Some combinations may be reserved by your operating system

• Disabling Shortcuts: To disable a shortcut, press the Escape key when prompted for a new combination
  • Useful for preventing accidental triggering
  • Frees up key combinations for use in games or scripts

• Reset to defaults: Restore all shortcuts to their original key combinations
  • Useful if you've made many changes and want to start over
  • Does not affect custom key bindings created in the Keys editor

Best Practices for Shortcuts

• Choose memorable combinations that don't conflict with game commands
• Consider using function keys (F1-F12) for less commonly used functions
• Avoid shortcuts that your game or operating system uses
• Test shortcuts after setting them to ensure they work as expected

Important: Shortcut changes take effect immediately and are saved with your profile.

Accessibility Tab

This tab provides features to improve Mudlet's accessibility for users with disabilities or specific needs.

Screen Reader Support

Screen readers convert text to speech or braille for visually impaired users:

• Announce incoming text in screen reader: Control whether new game text is read aloud
  • When enabled: New text from the game is automatically announced
  • When disabled: Prevents automatic reading, useful with custom text-to-speech solutions
  • Platform note: Some platforms (like macOS) may have issues with complete text announcement
  • Disabling this allows use of alternative TTS systems that avoid announcement gaps

• Advertise screen reader use via protocols: Inform game servers about accessibility needs
  • Sends information through supported protocols (NEW-ENVIRON, MNES, MTTS)
  • Helps game servers provide more accessible content or features
  • May enable server-side accessibility enhancements or alternative content formats

Media Accessibility

• Enable closed caption for media: Show captions for audio/video content
  • Displays text captions for sounds and music sent by the game server
  • Essential for deaf or hard-of-hearing users
  • Provides context for audio cues that affect gameplay

Text Handling Options

• When the game sends blank lines: Choose how to handle empty lines
  • Show them: Display blank lines as-is (preserves original formatting)
  • Hide them: Skip blank lines entirely (more compact display)
  • Replace with a space: Convert blank lines to single spaces (maintains text flow)
  • Choice affects screen reader behavior and text navigation

• Switch between input line and main window using: Configure navigation key
  • No key: Disable keyboard navigation between interface elements
  • Tab: Use Tab key to move between input line and main window
  • Ctrl+Tab: Use Ctrl+Tab combination (similar to browser tab switching)
  • F6: Use F6 key (Windows standard for interface navigation)
  • Essential for keyboard-only navigation and screen reader compatibility

Search Functionality

• Enable F3 search shortcuts: Allow F3/Shift+F3 for text searching
  • Checkbox to enable or disable the F3 search shortcut functionality
  • When enabled: F3 finds next occurrence, Shift+F3 finds previous
  • Disable if F3 conflicts with other keybindings or game commands
  • Enables quick text location within the game output buffer
  • Particularly useful for finding specific information in lengthy game sessions

Accessibility Best Practices

When configuring accessibility options, consider:

• Screen Reader Users: Enable text announcement and protocol advertising
• Keyboard Navigation: Set appropriate navigation keys and enable search shortcuts
• Audio Processing Difficulties: Enable closed captions for media
• Visual Processing Issues: Consider blank line handling options for cleaner text flow
• Motor Impairments: Choose comfortable navigation key combinations that don't require complex finger positions

These options work together to create a more inclusive gaming experience and can be adjusted based on individual needs and preferences.

Special Options Tab

This tab contains advanced settings for compatibility, debugging, and special use cases. Many options require client restart to take effect.

Compatibility Options

These settings address issues with older or non-standard game servers:

• Force compression off: Disable MCCP (Mud Client Compression Protocol)
  • MCCP reduces bandwidth usage by compressing data between server and client
  • Some very old servers have buggy MCCP implementations that cause connection issues
  • Disable if you experience random disconnections or garbled text

• Force telnet GA signal interpretation off: Disable Go-Ahead processing
  • GA (Go-Ahead) signals tell the client when the server is ready for input
  • Some servers send incorrect GA signals that can interfere with text processing
  • Disable if prompts appear in wrong locations or text timing seems off

• Force CHARSET negotiation off: Disable character set negotiation
  • Prevents automatic negotiation of text encoding between client and server
  • Some servers have broken CHARSET implementations
  • Disable if you experience encoding issues that persist despite encoding tab settings

• Force NEW_ENVIRON negotiation off: Disable environment variable negotiation
  • NEW_ENVIRON allows sharing of client environment information with the server
  • Some servers improperly handle this negotiation
  • Disable if connection takes unusually long or fails during login

• Send Mudlet version in terminal type: Include version in TTYPE negotiation
  • Some servers use KaVir's protocol snippet expecting "CLIENT VERSION" format
  • Standard RFC compliance omits version numbers from TTYPE responses
  • Enable if server assumes Mudlet is version 1.0 and limits color support to 16 colors
  • Technical note: Non-standard but required for some server color detection

• Force MXP processing on: Enable MXP without server negotiation
  • MXP (Mud eXtension Protocol) enables clickable links and enhanced formatting
  • Some servers support MXP but don't properly negotiate its activation
  • Enable if you know the server supports MXP but it's not working automatically
  • Different from the MXP protocol setting in General tab - this forces processing

• Force new line on empty commands: Add line breaks to empty commands
  • Adds LF (Line Feed) character to empty command submissions
  • Required by some very specific server configurations
  • Usually unnecessary - only enable if specifically advised by server administrators

Media and Updates

• Clear stored media files: Remove cached audio/video files for the current profile
  • Media files from Lua API, MCMP (Mud Client Media Protocol), and MSP (Mud Sound Protocol) are cached locally
  • Useful for reclaiming disk space or forcing re-download of updated media
  • Most games will re-download media automatically when needed

• Disable automatic updates: Prevent Mudlet from checking for updates
  • Stops automatic update notifications and download prompts
  • Useful for stable production environments or controlled network settings
  • Manual updates are still possible through the help menu

Search Engine Selection

• Choose the search engine used for help and documentation lookups
  • Affects "search for help" functions and documentation links
  • Options typically include Google, DuckDuckGo, and other search providers
  • Consider privacy preferences when selecting search engine

Crash Reporting

• Crash report policy: Controls automatic crash report submission
  • Always send: Automatically submits crash reports to help developers fix issues
  • Never send: Disables crash reporting entirely
  • Ask each time: Prompts you when a crash occurs (default)
  • Crash reports help improve Mudlet stability but contain technical system information

Advanced Debugging Options

These options are primarily for developers and advanced troubleshooting:

• Show icons on menus: Control menu icon display
  • Tri-state option: Default/Enabled/Disabled
  • Some desktop environments or accessibility configurations work better without menu icons
  • Default follows system preferences

• Expect Color Space Id in SGR codes: Handle non-standard ANSI color codes
  • Some MUDs use flawed interpretation of 16M color ANSI codes
  • Standard: `\e[38:2::r:g:b:m` (with empty Color Space Id)
  • Non-standard: `\e[38;2;id;r;g;b;m` (with explicit Color Space Id)
  • Enable if 16M colors aren't displaying correctly despite proper ANSI support

• Store character login passwords in: Choose password storage method
  • Computer's password manager (secure): Uses OS-level secure storage (Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, etc.)
  • Plaintext with profile (portable): Stores passwords in profile files (less secure but portable)
  • Security vs. portability trade-off: secure storage ties passwords to specific computers

Timer Debug Configuration

• Show debug messages for timers not smaller than: Filter timer debug output
  • Format: h:mm:ss.zzz (hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds)
  • Default 00:00:00.001 shows all timer messages
  • Higher values reduce debug console noise from frequent timers
  • Essential for profiles with many short-interval timers that would overwhelm the debug console

Unicode and Network Options

• Report all Codepoint problems immediately: Control Unicode error reporting
  • When enabled: Each Unicode issue is reported as it occurs
  • When disabled: Issues are collected and summarized when console closes
  • Immediate reporting is useful for development; summarized reporting is less intrusive

• Additional text wait time: Adjust timing for text processing
  • Range: 0.010-0.500 seconds (default: 0.300)
  • On servers without GA (Go-Ahead) or EOR (End-of-Record) signals, controls how long Mudlet waits for more text
  • Higher values: Reduce risk of text being split inappropriately (may affect trigger reliability)
  • Lower values: More responsive feel but increased risk of text fragmentation
  • Technical note: Balances between text completeness and responsiveness

Usage Guidelines

• Most users should not need to modify Special Options
• Changes often require client restart to take effect
• Only modify settings you understand or that have been recommended for your specific server
• Keep notes about changes made for troubleshooting purposes
• Consider consulting with experienced players or server administrators before making changes

Saving Changes

All changes made in the Profile Preferences dialog are saved when you click the Save button at the bottom of the dialog. The button includes a save icon and closes the preferences window.

Immediate vs. Restart Required Changes

• Immediate effect: Most display, color, and behavioral changes take effect immediately
• Restart required: Some changes require restarting Mudlet:
  • Interface language changes
  • Some protocol settings
  • Special compatibility options
  • Font changes (in some cases)

• Reconnection required: Some changes require reconnecting to your game:
  • Protocol selections
  • Connection security settings
  • Encoding changes
  • Special server compatibility options

The interface will display warnings when restart or reconnection is required, typically in small text below the relevant settings.

Troubleshooting Changes

If changes don't appear to take effect: 1. Check for restart/reconnection requirement messages 2. Verify the Save button was clicked (not just closing the dialog) 3. For display changes, try refreshing the main window 4. For protocol changes, disconnect and reconnect to the game server 5. For major changes, restart Mudlet completely

See Also

• Basic Settings Guide - Introduction to essential settings
• Mapper Documentation - Detailed mapping system guide
• Scripting Guide - Introduction to Lua scripting in Mudlet
• Discord Integration - Advanced Discord features
• Game Protocols - Understanding GMCP, MSDP, and other protocols
• Accessibility Features - Complete accessibility guide
• Color and Formatting - Advanced text appearance customization