Overview
A guide covering anything you’d ever want to know about Hacknet.
Introduction
Hacknet is a modern, super immersive terminal-driven hacking game with a fully internally-consistent network simulation and an interface so real you shouldn’t play it in an airport. It follows the story of recently deceased hacker “Bit”, whose death may not be the ‘accident’ the media reports. You stand in for no one, as most games have you do – play for yourself, make your own decisions, and see the world react – if you’re leaving a trace that is.
Hacknet has no protagonist, other than the person using it. Don’t be reckless though – it’s more real than you think.
Walkthroughs
If a complex network has got you stuck or Hacknet’s simply a little too tough for you, there are numerous walkthroughs to help take you to the end.
Here’s a video walkthrough of the game by Danct12.
If you prefer written guides, you can use this one by Gorimaccha.
[link]
Labyrinths written walkthrough by dibit.
[link]
Tips & Tricks
Hacking Headstart – You can gain a headstart on hacking a tracing node by exploiting executable runtimes. Start hacking as many ports as possible, then disconnect. Reconnect once the programs have finished to have those ports already open on your next attempt.
Bypassing Proxies – Some proxies can be bypassed quicker if certain ports are present. SQLBufferOverflow, TorrentInjector and RTSPCrack can all open ports while a proxy is still active.
Achievements
Hacknet has 11 achievements in total. A minimum of 2 runs are required to unlock all of them (excluding save manipulation).
Missable Achievements: Rude and /el Sec Champion.
- Complete the achievement PointClicker before You better not have clicked for those…
- Rude and /el Sec Champion cannot be completed in the same run, it’s recommended to complete /el Sec Champion first as it’s longer to complete.
As soon as you gain access to the console during the tutorial, enter “ps” and look at the number beside Tutorial. Typing “kill [number]” will unlock the achievement. If you’re already past this point, you can run the tutorial again at anytime by entering “Tutorial” in the console.
Complete the mission ”Confirmation Mission” to be granted an account with Entropy and this achievement.
During the Entropy Contract “Point Clicker” you will gain access to a system called “PointClicker”. Simply click “GO!” and play the game. After a small amount of time you will earn enough points to buy the final upgrade and doing so will earn the achievement.
During the Entropy contract “Point Clicker” navigate to the website’s /Saves folder. Use the command “mv” to rename the save Mengsk.pcsav to [YOUR USERNAME].pcsav. Alternatively if you’ve deleted Mengsk’s save you can rename Bit’s instead.
Join Naix’s faction when available and complete all of the /el messageboard trials/missions.
After dealing with Naix’s hack reply to his email with a curse word as additional info. (The f-bomb works so just use that.)
Complete the mission “‘CSEC Invitation – Affirmation” to be granted an account with CSEC and earn this achievement. Completing the mission “CSEC Invitation – Attenuation” has the same affect.
After gaining access to the CSEC asset server go into /bin and copy ThemeChanger.exe from /ThemeChanger. Open the /Theme folder and run ThemeChanger.exe. Under remote themes choose any theme and apply it.
Connect to any system which can trace you. Type “dc” and hit enter when the trace timer has half a second or less remaining. This is easier to accomplish on systems which trace you slower but takes longer.
Hack into the JMail server and look for an email account called “dlocke”. Browse through his received emails until you find one with an IP address and a password hint. Connect to that IP and hack into the system. Download Clock.dec and decrypt it using the password. If you can’t figure out the password or are just too lazy, the password is “yuna”. Once decrypted run Clock.exe to receive the achievement.
To get this achievement complete the final mission “Terminal”.
Secrets
Hidden Commands
A few unique commands are kept quiet in Hacknet, such as:
- forkbomb – Overflows the RAM of your PC, causing a crash. Can alternatively be used to temporarily remove a node from the map.
- openCDtray – Opens your real computer’s CD tray (if you have one).
- closeCDtray – Closes your real computer’s CD tray (if you have one).
Steam Codes
In-game there is an eOS device under the IP 158.228.221.221 that used to contain valid steam codes for Hacknet. These codes have since been activated and no longer function. (Jammy took one of those codes, blame him.)
A Third Faction
After Naix hacks you, use your logs to trace back the attack and perform a counter-hack on Naix. If you delete the system x-server.sys of the Naix Root Gateway, he’ll invite you to a secret faction, the /el messageboard.
Extensions
Extensions are Hacknet’s gift that keeps on giving. An extension is a simple mod-like framework allowing anyone to create a great experience for others to play.
If you’re interested in creating your own extension, here’s the official guide.
[link] If making an extension isn’t your forte, you could try out some of Hacknet’s best extensions instead.
[link]
Multiplayer
In February 2016, Matt Trobbiani (Hacknet’s dev) confirmed that the game would be receiving a multiplayer mode, scheduled for release late the same year. Since then he’s moved onto his next game and said that a multiplayer mode is now unlikely, being reserved as a feature for a possible Hacknet sequel.
Fortunately, community member and Pathfinder dev Arkhist is working on his own unofficial multiplayer expansion to hacknet, called Agent Mode. There’s no known release date as of yet but progress is looking promising.
Closing Notes
Thanks for checking out this guide! If you found the guide useful please consider rating it and checking out my other guides here.
This guide was co-written by Jammy, check him out!