Examine

Examine is a feature in Old School RuneScape that allows players to inspect objects closely. Almost anything in Gielinor can be examined, whether it be items, non-player characters or scenery. To examine an object, right-click it and click on "Examine" (see Game controls). The examine option is usually the last option on an object or NPC's right-click menu. If a monster's combat level is higher than a player's, or if they have set their NPC 'Attack' option to always right click, then the examine option will appear for them as second to last.

Upon choosing the Examine option, a short description of the object will appear on the chat interface. If it is a stack of 100,000 or more items (such as a large stack of coins), the text will instead state the exact number of items in the stack, e.g. 111,237 x Coins.

Examining a members' item on a free-to-play world will yield the text: Login to a members' world to use this object. If it is a stack of 100,000 or more items (such as a large stack of flax), the text will instead state exact number of items in the stack, along with some text indicating that it is a members' item, e.g. 111,237 x Flax (Members).

Examining items is often not very useful for anything other than interest. One particularly unhelpful example can be seen when examining opal bolt tips, which yields the message: Opal bolt tips. Examining some items or scenery during quests can be helpful, or even necessary. For example, examining the lever on the bottom level of the Abandoned Mine during the Haunted Mine quest lets the player know which lever is which. Many items instead yield humorous examine text, such as puns and popular culture references.

• The examine feature is conceptually similar to a tooltip, a brief blurb of text that appears upon interacting with certain screen elements in many GUIs.
• Andrew Gower likely borrowed the concept from Nanvaent, a text-based MMO he played in the 1990s where any object or person can be "examined" for a short description.
  • Because RuneScape had visual graphics at launch, the examine texts could be supplementary to the graphics and often injected humour or subjective observations.

v t e Interface
Control Panel	Top Combat Options Sailing Options Skills Character Summary Quest List Achievement Diaries Kourend Favour (removed) Adventure Paths Inventory Worn Equipment Equipment Stats Items Kept on Death Guide Prices Call follower Prayer Spellbook Bottom Friends List Ignore List Account Management Account Community Links Chat-channel Clans Grouping Logout World switching Settings Emotes Music player
Minimap	Compass Hitpoints Quick prayers Run energy Special attack Activity Adviser Store orb World map Wiki lookup
Other	Chat Interface Choose Option Walk here Examine Debug Console Font Game controls Main Menu Trading interface Welcome Screen