A mob, short for mobile or mobile object, is a computer-controlled

non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

(NPC) in a

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

such as an

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

MUD Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

. Depending on the context, every and any such character in a game may be considered to be a "mob", or usage of the term may be limited to hostile NPCs and/or NPCs vulnerable to attack. In most modern graphical games, "mob" may be used to specifically refer to generic monstrous NPCs that a player is expected to hunt and kill, excluding NPCs that engage in dialog, sell items, or NPCs which cannot be attacked. "Named mobs" are distinguished by having a

proper name A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa''; ''Jupiter''; ''Sarah''; ''Walmart'') as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, pl ...

rather than being referred to by a general type ("a goblin", "a citizen", etc.). Most mobs are those capable of no complex behaviors beyond generic programming of attacking or moving around.

Purpose of mobs

Defeating mobs may be required to gather

experience point An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...

s, money, items, or to complete

quests A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. It serves as a Plot (narrative), plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult Travel, journey towards a goal, often symbolic or Allegory, allegorical. Tales of quests figure promine ...

. Combat between

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

s (PCs) and mobs is called

player versus environment Player versus environment (PvE, also known as player versus monster (PvM) and commonly misinterpreted as player versus entity) is a term used for both single player and online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, other online role-playing ...

(PvE). PCs may also attack mobs because they aggressively attack PCs. Monster versus monster (MvM) battles also take place in some games. A game world might contain hundreds of different kinds of mobs, but if players spend a certain amount of time playing, they might become well aware of the characteristics presented by each kind and its related hazards. This knowledge might dull the game to some extent.

Etymology

The term "mobile object" was used by Richard Bartle for objects that were self-mobile in ''

MUD1 ''Multi-User Dungeon'', or ''MUD'' (referred to as ''MUD1'', to distinguish it from its successor, ''MUD2'', and the Multi-user dungeon, MUD genre in general), is the first Multi-user dungeon, MUD. History MUD was created in 1978 by Roy Trub ...

''. Later

source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...

in DikuMUD used the term "mobile" to refer to a generic NPC, shortened further to "mob" in

identifiers An identifier is a name that identifies (that is, labels the identity of) either a unique object or a unique ''class'' of objects, where the "object" or class may be an idea, person, physical countable object (or class thereof), or physical mass ...

. DikuMUD was a heavy influence on ''

EverQuest ''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North America, ...

'', and the term as it exists in MMORPGs is derived from the MUD usage. The term is properly an abbreviation rather than an acronym.

References

{{MUDs Massively multiplayer online role-playing games MUD terminology Video game terminology