one dataset · paper, tables, graph, wiki
simgrammar the grammar of simulation

core loop

write a script -> gain root on servers -> run hack, grow, and weaken threads -> earn money and hacking experience -> buy RAM and programs -> gain faction reputation -> buy augmentations and install them, resetting progress -> destroy a BitNode for a Source-File and start the next

design notes

Bitburner is an incremental game whose economy is a small numerical model the player automates in code. Each server holds a money stock and a security level: hack() steals a percentage of the money and raises security, grow() multiplies money back and also raises security, and weaken() lowers security toward a floor of max(1, round(starting security / 3)), with hack chance and timing set by security and the player's hacking level. Writing schedulers that balance these three calls across many servers and threads is the main skill. Progress is layered by resets: augmentations bought with money and faction reputation (each purchase doubling later prices) take effect only when installed, which wipes most progress, and destroying a BitNode by hacking w0r1d_d43m0n at hacking level 3000 resets further but grants a permanent Source-File. This prestige-reset structure has no taxonomy entry, so this run proposed one. Later BitNodes add systems such as Bladeburner and sleeves.

relations

8 stored edges
uses

Player programming

Netscript scripts in JavaScript run on servers whose RAM caps how many threads can run; the TIX API automates stock trading, and a beginner path teaches programming from scratch.

core
uses

Reputation

Working for factions builds reputation that gates which augmentations can be bought; Daedalus reputation gates The Red Pill needed to end a BitNode.

core
uses

Resource extraction

hack() takes a share of a server's finite money that rises with hacking level and falls with security; grow() restores money and weaken() lowers security toward its floor, and both hack and grow raise security, so sustained yield needs a balanced hack-grow-weaken schedule.

core
uses

Agent skills

Hacking, combat, and charisma stats rise with use; hacking level raises success chance and money stolen, shortens hack time, and gates which servers can be hacked.

supporting
uses

Contracts and orders

Coding contracts found on servers pose programming problems that earn rewards when solved.

supporting
uses

Execution budget

Each script has a RAM cost, and a server's RAM caps how many script threads can run on it, so buying RAM and writing lean scripts both raise income.

supporting
uses

Real-time clock

Time spent offline accumulates and later speeds stock-market updates from about every 6 seconds to about every 4.

supporting
uses

Supply-demand pricing

Stock prices move about every 6 seconds by a forecast probability that large trades shift; hacking or growing a company's server can lower or raise its stock's hidden forecast.

supporting

backlinks

computed from other records

claims

3 with sources
c01medium

The earliest dated changelog entry is v0.26.4 on 2017-08-01 and earlier versions are undated, so the 2017 first public web release is inferred; version 1.0.0 is dated 2021-11-10 and the Steam release was 2021-12-10.

src-bitburner-2026-changelog-v0, src-bitburner-2026-changelog-v1, src-steam-2026-bitburner

c02high

Bitburner was started by danielyxie and is now developed as open source by hundreds of contributors, with the Steam release credited to Fulcrum Games, hydroflame, and GitHub contributors.

src-danielyxie-2026-bitburner-repository, src-steam-2026-bitburner

c03medium

Its listed inspirations are Else Heart.break(), Hacknet, Uplink, and Deus Ex, none of which are in this dataset.

src-mobygames-2026-bitburner

sources

6
(2026). Bitburner. Steam
danielyxie (2026). Bitburner (original repository). GitHub
Bitburner contributors (2026). Bitburner changelog (v0). GitHub (bitburner-official/bitburner-src)
Bitburner contributors (2026). Bitburner changelog (v1). GitHub (bitburner-official/bitburner-src)
MobyGames contributors (2026). Bitburner. MobyGames

provenance

runs in log/runs
2026-10-24
created2026-10-24-catalog-ghcatalog
2026-10-25
reviewed2026-10-25-contributor-readinessmaintenance