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280 players · since 1996

[ connect — play — enter ]

Type look. Begin.

You will be inside the world in under sixty seconds. No client to install, no client to compile, no launcher to wrestle with — a terminal, a browser, and a single command line. The tavern doors are open; the barman is polishing a horn; a stranger at the corner table is already looking your way.

statusonline uptime28 yrs · continuous since March 1996 players_online273 peak · 184 now avg_first_command00:00:54
> create_characterpress enter

No subscription. No download. Free since launch, donations welcome since 2003.

[ connection_panel ]

Every door into the world.

Read this like a sysop's status panel — pick the door that matches the device in your hand and type the command exactly as written.

  1. 01 recommended · browser

    Web Client

    Open the in-browser client on any device. No plugin, no extension, no Java applet haunting a 2007 browser tab. Used by 41% of new players since the 2022 launch.

    urlplay.waterdeepmud.com
    port443 / wss
  2. 02 veteran · terminal

    Telnet / TLS

    For the purist, the emulator aficionado, or the person whose grandfather left them a vt220. The original method, still fully supported and never deprecated.

    hostwaterdeepmud.com
    port4000 (plain) · 4001 (tls)
  3. 03 mobile · responsive

    Mobile Web Client

    The same web client, retuned for thumbs. Adds a tactile command bar, room-exit compass, and a one-tap macro tray. Add to home screen for a near-native feel.

    urlm.waterdeepmud.com
    share~41% of post-2022 accounts
  4. 04 desktop · mud client

    Native MUD Client

    TinTin++, Mudlet, CMUD, BeipMU — any LPC-compatible client that speaks ANSI color will connect. Point it at the host, set your triggers, and you're in.

    encodingUTF-8 · ANSI 16-color
    profilewaterdeep.prf (in our /files)

[ first_hour_protocol ]

Your first hour in Waterdeep.

Four panels, in order. Read them at the login screen; you will not stall, you will not feel lost, you will not be the only person who started today.

step 01

Create your character.

Pick a name the barkeep will remember. Choose a race from the eleven currently playable. Choose a class that fits the story you want to tell — warrior, mage, cleric, thief, druid, ranger, bard, and four more on the roster. Press enter. Your name is now on a door in the world that did not exist a moment ago.

  • name15 chars · letters, spaces, apostrophes
  • race11 playable · human, elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, tiefling, dragonborn, aasimar, tabaxi
  • class15 playable · see /help class at the prompt
start the prompt

step 02

Type your first commands.

You will land in the Yawning Portal, one of three starting inns. Try these, in this order, exactly as written:

> look > score > inventory > help > map

Every command is fully documented in-game with help <command>. There is no command that punishes a new player for typing it.

step 03

Read the new-player shelf.

Before you wander south, read three short documents the staff wrote for this exact moment. They live in the help system and on the community wiki.

  • i.A Letter to New Arrivalsin-game · /help newplayer · 4 min
  • ii.The Waterdeep Survival Primerwiki · 8 min · covers the first 10 levels
  • iii.Combat, Death, and What Happens Afterin-game · /help death · 3 min · spoilers are mild
  • iv.A Brief Tour of the Planeswiki · 12 min · for after level 15

step 04

Find your first contact.

Every new player is automatically enrolled in the Newcomers channel and pinged by a volunteer mentor within their first session. Ask anything — they have answered your question before, and they will answer it again.

active_mentors42 avg_first_reply00:06:18 channelnewcomers
visit the community

[ the_covenant ]

The covenant that keeps a 28-year world alive.

A persistent world is a strange and fragile thing. It survives because the people inside it decide — every session, every day — to keep it alive. That decision shows up as a small set of rules that are not really about rules at all. They are about the kind of player you want to sit beside for the next ten years.

  1. Stay in character.

    Out-of-character conflict poisons the world faster than any scripted disaster. Disputes between players are settled in private tells or, if they cannot be settled, in the hands of staff — never by griefing, harassment, or holding a quest hostage.

  2. Respect the roleplay of others.

    You will eventually share a tavern, a dungeon, and a long carriage ride with people whose characters are very different from yours. Their story is not yours to interrupt, redirect, or rewrite without consent.

  3. No bots, no scripting, no unattended play.

    The world is hand-built and the staff is volunteer. Automation that competes with human players for resources, quests, or experience undermines the entire premise. Idle characters are welcomed back; idle clients are not.

  4. The world has no final boss.

    There is no state of finished. New zones open, old zones change, NPCs age. What you do here is for the next player, not a leaderboard. Play as if someone you have never met is reading your room description tomorrow morning.

  5. Harassment ends your account.

    Across 28 years the staff has banned, by count, fewer than 200 accounts for behavior that other players could not abide. We would like to keep that number small. Be one of the reasons it stays small.

— The Council, Waterdeep MUD Project · revised 2024.02

[ one_more_command ]

Create your character.
Press enter. Enter.

The terminal on the other side is already drawing your first room. It has been waiting since 1996.

players online right now 184 / 17,403 accounts since 1996
> create_characterplay free

No download · No subscription · No telemetry · A keyboard and a browser are enough