Overview
The player setting gives account of how many players are present in one game. It has impact on monsters' hit points, experience gained and drops. The default player setting is 1. However, with every player joining a multiplayer game the player setting is increased by one up till a maximum of 8 (i.e. the maximum number of players in one game). In Single Player mode and non battle.net Multiplayer mode the player setting can be changed by the Players X command.
Influence on game mechanics
In general one could say: the higher the player setting, the higher the monsters' hit points, the amount of experience gained and the frequency/amount of drops. Basically that means:
- You'll level faster
- You'll need more time for killing monsters
- You'll find more items
Note: The player setting does not influence the quality of the dropped items! There's an entirely different algorithm for that.
Monsters' Hit Points
Each monster's Hit Points are multiplied by the number of players in the game according to a certain formula, which differs from version to version:
1.00-1.08: Hit Points = X * n
1.09: see list below
1.10+ (any): Hit Points = X * (n + 1) / 2
where X = base Hit Points n = # of players in game
Assorted in a table it looks like this:
| Player setting | HP 1.08 | HP 1.09 | HP 1.10+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 2 | 200% | 200% | 150% |
| 3 | 300% | 300% | 200% |
| 4 | 400% | 400% | 250% |
| 5 | 500% | 450% | 300% |
| 6 | 600% | 520% | 350% |
| 7 | 700% | 570% | 400% |
| 8 | 800% | 620% | 450% |
| 10 | 700% | ||
| 20 | 1200% | ||
| 40 | 2200% | ||
| 64 | 3400% | ||
| (HPs increase by 50% per player past 10 in 1.09a/b) | |||
Experience
With increasing player settings the amount of Experience gained also increases according to a certain formula, which differs from version to version:
1.00-1.08: Experience = X * (2n + 1) / 3
1.09 (any): see list below
1.10+ (any)Experience = X * (n + 1) / 2
where X = base experience n = # of players in the game
So it's basically the same numbers as for the Hit Points calculations.
Here's the table:
| Player setting | XP 1.08 | XP 1.09 | XP 1.10+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 2 | 167% | 175% | 150% |
| 3 | 233% | 250% | 200% |
| 4 | 300% | 325% | 250% |
| 5 | 367% | 375% | 300% |
| 6 | 433% | 400% | 350% |
| 7 | 500% | 425% | 400% |
| 8 | 567% | 450% | 450% |
| 10 | 455% | ||
| 20 | 505% | ||
| 40 | 605% | ||
| 64 | 725% | ||
| (XP increases by 5% per player past 10 in 1.09a/b) | |||
Items
As already stated, the player setting will not affect the item quality, but will effect the amount of items dropped. This is due to
The Players X Command
From version 1.09 onward, the player setting can be changed arbitrarily in Single Player mode and non battle.net Mulitplayer mode. In order to do so, one has to enter a certain command while in game. This is done by hitting "Enter", typing the players X command, and confirming by hitting "Enter" again (yes, it's the normal shoutbox usage). The command differs slightly for the different versions of Diablo II.
Versions 1.00 to 1.08
No players X command available.
Version 1.09a/b
The command is players X, where X can be any number between 1 and 64. You won't get any confirmation that the player setting has changed.
Version 1.09c/d
The command is players X, where X can be any number between 1 and 8. You won't get any confirmation that the player setting has changed.
Versions 1.10 and 1.11
The command is /players X or /playersX, where X can be any number between 1 and 8. You will get the confirmation players set to X on your screen.
This command is available in all versions of 1.10 and 1.11.