The middle-earth map is an extremely accurate ASCII map of Tolkien's Middle-Earth. In order to traverse middle-earth, without using magical means (such as summoning), you will have to traverse the map (unless you are below level 50, see the "Other Useful Beginner Information" section on the FAQ page). Each 'room' on the map is 2 characters wide, 1 character high.

When you first encounter the map, it will probably be right outside of the Trading Village. You can see the map by going to recall, then 2 south, and either 4 east or 4 west. (The snapshot at the top of the page is from recall, 2 south, 4 west.)

Most of the map displays the type of terrain of the respective room on the map (grass fields, mountains, shallow water, roads, etc.). For a full listing of all the terrain types, which are traversable, which are not traversable, and which are area entrances, type help mapshow.

The terrain on the map will not show if certain mobiles or objects are in the room, which you can see. In the picture at the top of the page, your character would be represented by the two bright cyan () in the center of the map. (The map is always shown with you centered.) The purple #@ displays that there are creatures/mobiles in that room, and how many. If it is dark cyan, it represent players, and dark red represent a combination of the two. If the quantity goes into double digits, the @ is overwritten. Also, if there is combat going on in the room then the colors will be bright instead of dark.

If there is a player's corpse on the map, it will show up as X@ in dark grey. If there is a sign post in the room, you will see 'SP' in a dark yellow. Just as these are prioritized higher than showing the terrain type of the room, any creatures/players in the room are prioritized above objects.

Areas are all placed where they would appear on J.R.R. Tolkien's map of Middle-Earth. You can also check any Sign Post to see which areas are nearby by typing look sign.

Each room on the map has it's own coordinate, in relation to the Trading Village at 0,0. The following snapshot of an enlarged map is from coordinate 7,13 (7 east, 13 north, from the center of the Trading Village).


And by typing look sign in the room, I get the following:

When you first reach the map, you'll notice two bright white stars. These represent the entrance to an area. (There are also other area entrances on the map, such as caves and some towers.) To enter any of these areas, when you are in the appropriate room you will see a one line description of the start of the area. Type enter <keyword> to enter the area, where <keyword> can be replaced with any of the major keywords in the area description or with the area name itself.

This snapshot at the top of the page is from just outside the west exit of the Trading Village. You can notice the description of the village at the bottom of the snapshot. If enter village or enter road was typed, the player would venture back into the Trading Village.

It is also worth noting that you cannot access every area from the map, just a majority. Some of them can only be accessed through other areas. For example, the entrance to Bree-land is found within the area of Bree, and Cirith Ungol is accessed through Shelob's Lair.

The controling factor is the terrain type. You can see much farther while on a flat field than you could if you were inside a forest. You could see even more on top of a tower.

You also get to see one room farther in each direction if you are affected by 'farsight'.

..standing before Fangorn forest. There seems to be a mob wandering about as well.

...standing in front of the tower of Barad-Dur. It seems some players have died in the area, and there is another player to the south, what could they be up to?