Null



Null is a name some people would see from time to time in RuneScape Classic. It was a rare occurrence, usually when moving between areas like going up and down stairs. One strange part about the sighting was that the "n" at the beginning of the name was lower case, where names in RuneScape were always capitalised automatically, before Display names were released. This usually occurred when players with dial-up (or similar low speed) internet logged in and tried to type something.

"Null" is a term commonly used in computing, and is often used in Java, which is what RuneScape runs off of. "null" can refer to something with no value, zero, or a string with a length of zero. As seen in RuneScape, "null" was just the default setting for all names. Basically, it meant that the information on the player hadn't loaded yet and, since it didn't yet know the name, the computer just assigned the value "null". Because Runescape is written in Java, names of players and objects are treated as strings, a quasi-primitive datatype which stores a string of characters. When the string is created, it is assigned a default value of "null", or nothing. When the player opens an interface in which the name of an item or player occurs, the code first reads a value of null, which is then replaced by the real name declared later on in the code. This occurrence was almost completely removed in the "Game engine upgraded!" update on 16 May 2006.

In RuneScape Classic it was possible to log in as null, in which case you remained a null until you did something which made your character load. Not moving between loadable areas, but equipping items, etc.

Null was featured on the God Letter 6: "Null is a mystical guardian who protects you when you enter new areas. He is a passive and benevolent force, and as such his combat level never rises above 1." - Saradomin

Null items


An item also can be called "null". It means the same at the top of the page, the information of the object didn't load. Strangely the "null" object's name never changed. The examine text of a null would be simply "It's a null."

Previously, if one typed in 'null' on the quick chat system, oddly this item could be said. This was removed in a hidden update.

When fletching, if you hurry and hover over an option, it sometimes says "null".

If you search bank item "null" you get a message stating a number of search results equal to the number of empty spaces in your bank, possibly meaning that there could be an item "null" that represents empty bank space.

Sometimes when playing soul wars, null might appear when you fail to use a bandage on someone.

Null Appears for a split second almost 50 percent of the time when smelting ores in Daemonheim, this was proved due to slow motion filming.

By using an item that disappears upon use, such as using Cider on locals for the Seer's Tasks, and by quickly right clicking and selecting 'use item' before the item disappears, once the item disappears, the top left part of the screen shows 'null-&gt;' and if you hold your mouse over an item, it shows 'null-&gt;item' as if 'Null' is an item being used.

Make null
Sometimes, when making items, "null" is displayed for a split second in the "How many would you like to make?" interface. This tends to happen more often while smelting. Also, null can be made by dropping an object, then right clicking the object again before it is removed from your inventory, click "Use" and right click on another object.



Logging in
Sometimes, immediately after logging in, if a player talks, or the game makes the player say something, the player's name will appear as 'null' in the chat box.



Null scenery
In Legacy of Seergaze, players repair a furnace. For a time after the quest was released, players could stand on the story above, and see the furnace through a hole in the floor. They could right-click on the top of the furnace (which registered as non-interactive scenery), and the menu would include the option "Examine null". This was reported to Jagex, and may now be fixed.

Adventurer's log Null
When Livid Farm was released, the Adventurer's log became glitched resulting in all of the entries reading "null". Examples include:"Item Found : Null.", "I killed null null", "I killed null null null null null null in Daemonheim." or other similar sentences. This happened for everyone with sentences containing a boss monster name or item names. This has yet to be fixed.