Pac-Man DIP switch settings: lives, bonus life, difficulty and ghost names
The arcade board has eight small switches that decide how generous the machine is. They explain why the same game felt different from one arcade to the next.
The settings
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Coinage | Free play; 1 coin 1 credit; 1 coin 2 credits; 2 coins 1 credit | 1 coin, 1 credit |
| Lives | 1, 2, 3 or 5 | 3 |
| Bonus life | 10,000; 15,000; 20,000; none | 10,000 |
| Difficulty | Normal or hard | Normal |
| Ghost names | Normal, or alternate (AAAAAAAA, BBBBBBBB, CCCCCCCC, DDDDDDDD) | Normal |
| Rack test | On or off | Off |
| Cabinet | Upright or cocktail | Upright |
What each one does
- Lives and bonus life set the margin for error. Competition settings are 3 lives and a bonus at 10,000, the configuration used for the perfect score described in pacman maximum possible score. With 5 lives and a 10,000 bonus the game is dramatically easier, which is how some bars kept customers happy.
- Difficulty "hard" shortens frightened times and makes ghosts marginally more aggressive; most cabinets ran on normal.
- Alternate ghost names replace Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde on the attract screen with rows of letters, a placeholder left in the code. Their real names and nicknames are in names of the four pacman ghosts.
- Rack test makes any board end as soon as one dot is eaten, so a technician can cycle through levels, intermissions and fruit quickly. It is how most people first saw the level 256 glitch described in pacman level 256 glitch.
- Cocktail mode flips the screen for player two on table cabinets, which are described in buying a pacman cabinet.
Why records specify settings
A score with 5 lives is not comparable to one with 3, and a 20,000 bonus removes an early safety net. Verification bodies require the default settings to be shown on video, usually via the attract screen and the lives display, before accepting a record; see record holders in pacman.
Settings in emulation and replicas
Emulators expose the same switches in a menu. Replica cabinets usually fix lives and bonus at the defaults. The games on the mr pacman maze game site use three lives and no bonus life in classic mode, and no lives at all in Time Attack.
More from the guides
- complete pacman games timeline — A dated list of every official Pac-Man game: arcade originals, Ms. and Jr. Pac-Man, Pac-La…
- pacman maze dimensions explained — The Pac-Man maze explained: 28 by 31 tiles, 240 dots and 4 pellets, the ghost house, two w…
- when did pacman come out — When did Pac-Man come out? 22 May 1980 in Japan as Puck Man, October 1980 in the US. Full …
Frequently asked questions
How many lives does Pac-Man give by default?
Three, with one bonus life at 10,000 points.
Can Pac-Man be set to free play?
Yes, through the coinage DIP switch.
What is rack test?
A service setting that ends a board as soon as one dot is eaten, letting technicians cycle through levels quickly.