Player-session MUD protocol
MSDP
MUD Server Data Protocol
In use today
Documented current use
A bidirectional structured-data protocol supporting variables, reports, lists, arrays, and tables.
Protocol overview
- First seen
- 2009
- Present-day status
- In use today
- In use today?
- Yes, with documented current use.
- Legacy?
- No.
- Layer
- Player-session MUD protocol
- Transport
- Telnet option 69 with marker-delimited values
- Telnet option
- 69
- Research validated
Current use and fit
Supported by several current clients and engines, especially in Diku-derived ecosystems, though its recommended vocabulary is not universal.
Implementation essentials
- Offer WILL MSDP and process LIST, REPORT, UNREPORT, and SEND for broad interoperability.
- Parse nested values with a state machine and stack.
- Map wire variables to protocol-neutral internal events.
Compatibility and safety notes
- It is not line-oriented text.
- Wire compatibility does not guarantee agreement on variable names.
- Malformed nesting must not corrupt the connection parser.
Original specifications and sources
- MUDhalla specification Primary
- MUD Standards preservation Preservation
Where an original site has disappeared, a preservation archive is linked and identified as such. MUDVerse does not claim authorship of the original protocol.