This is a chronological list of notable MUDs with summary information.__TOC__
| Title | The MUD's title; if it has had more than one title, the most recent title. Disambiguation is included only when MUDs in this list have the same title. | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | The date the MUD was founded or first made publicly accessible. | |
| Closed | The date the MUD ceased to be publicly accessible. A blank entry indicates the MUD continues to operate. | |
| Business model | A brief description of the MUD's business model. "Free" means the MUD has no revenue stream. "Subscription" means that the MUD charges a periodic subscription fee for access or for a set level of in-game benefits, such as a "full" or "non-trial" account. "Pay for perks" means that the MUD accepts payments (which may be called "donations") and provides in-game benefits in exchange for them, on an à la carte basis. "Donation-supported" means that the MUD accepts payments, but its policies exclude providing in-game benefits in exchange for them. "Donation-drive supported" means that the MUD accepts payments, with policies excluding providing in-game benefits in exchange for them, only at specific times for specific purposes (most typically hardware upgrades), and does not accept payments at other times. "Freebie marketing" means that the MUD, by its existence, provides a purchase incentive for external goods. | |
| Developer | The company that carried out development of the MUD, or if the MUD was not developed by a company, major individual contributors, if known by real name; "Et al." indicates other contributors, often a large number of participants in a project community. | |
| Publisher | Any third parties that published the MUD. A blank entry indicates independent publication. "Independent" may also appear with a list of third parties to indicate that the MUD was independently published in addition to being published by third parties. | |
| Setting | A summary of the genre of the MUD's setting or, if applicable, the specific setting it is based on. | |
| Style | A summary of the style or styles of interaction the MUD focuses on. | |
| Family | The general family of MUD server software that the MUD is associated with, if any. | |
| Codebase | The specific server software the MUD is based on; a blank entry indicates independently developed, custom infrastructure. Multiple items indicate different codebases the MUD has used over time. | |
| Mudlib | The mudlib the MUD is based on, if any. | |
| Contributions | Publicly released software originating with the MUD or other public contributions. | |
| Notes | Other brief and significant information: MUDs in this article that are versions of one another, category origination, key clarifications. Not for general information about the MUD. |
| Title | Founded | Closed | Business model | Developer | Publisher | Setting | Style | Family | Codebase | Mudlib | Contributions | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MUD1 | 1978 | Free | The first MUD; see also British Legends | ||||||||||
| MAD | 1984 | 1986 | Free | Bruno Chabrier, Vincent Lextrait | |||||||||
| Island of Kesmai | 1985 | 2000 | See also Legends of Kesmai | ||||||||||
| MUD2 | 1985 | Free | Richard Bartle, Roy Trubshaw, Simon Dally | Successor to/heavily updated version of MUD1 | |||||||||
| AberMUD | 1987 | 1987 | Free | Alan Cox, Richard Acott, Jim Finnis, Leon Thrane | The first AberMUD | ||||||||
| British Legends | 1987 | 1999 | Commercial version of MUD1 | ||||||||||
| GemStone | 1988 | GEnie, AOL, independent | |||||||||||
| Avalon | 1989 | Free | Yehuda Simmons | Pioneered plotted quests. | |||||||||
| TinyMUD | 1989 | 1990 | Free | ||||||||||
| Genesis LPMud | 1989 | Free | Lars Pensjö, Carl Hallén, Jakob Hallén, Lennart Augustsson, Johan Andersson, Anders Chrigström, Ronny Wikh, Stas van der Schaaf, Tony Elmroth, Dave Richards, Thornsten Lockert, Felix Croes et al. | The first LPMud | |||||||||
| TinyTIM | 1990 | Free | Jason Scott Sadofsky et al. | ||||||||||
| BatMUD | 1990 | B.A.T. ry | |||||||||||
| FurryMUCK | 1990 | ||||||||||||
| LambdaMOO | 1990 | Free | Pavel Curtis et al. | Xerox PARC, independent | |||||||||
| MicroMUSE | 1990 | Free | MUSH, TinyMUSE | TinyMUSE | Arguably first educational MUD | ||||||||
| Lost Souls | 1990 | Michael Rice, Rebecca Willey, Matthew Sheahan et al. | |||||||||||
| TubMUD | 1990 | Free | Tublib | First MUD hosted in Germany | |||||||||
| Ancient Anguish | 1991 | Balz Meierhans, Olivier Maquelin et al. | Loch Ness | ||||||||||
| Armageddon | 1991 | Dan Brumleve, Nasri Hajj, Santiago Zorzopulos, Cat Rambo et al. | |||||||||||
| DikuMUD | 1991 | 1991 | Free | Sebastian Hammer, Michael Seifert, Hans Henrik Staerfeldt, Tom Madsen, Katja Nyboe | Refers to the first DikuMUD at freja.diku.dk 4000 | ||||||||
| Discworld MUD | 1991 | Free | David Bennett, Craig Richmond, Sean A. Reith, Evan Scott, Derek Harding, Jake Greenland et al. | ||||||||||
| Dragon's Gate | 1991 | 2006 | Darrin Hyrup | GEnie, AOL, Mythic Realms, independent | |||||||||
| Elendor | 1991 | Free | |||||||||||
| PernMUSH | 1991 | 2014 | Free | ||||||||||
| Star Wars MUSH | 1991 | Free | |||||||||||
| Viking Mud | 1991 | Free | Fantasy | ||||||||||
| Xyllomer | 1991 | Free | First public DGD MUD | ||||||||||
| Genocide | 1992 | Free | First "pure PK" MUD | ||||||||||
| AmberMUSH | 1992 | 2009 | Free | Jennifer Smith et al. | |||||||||
| 1992 | Free | Peter William Friedman, Bill Mackiewicz et al. | |||||||||||
| 3Kingdoms | 1992 | ||||||||||||
| The Shadow of Yserbius | 1992 | 1996 | |||||||||||
| MorgenGrauen | 1992 | Free | |||||||||||
| Diversity University | 1993 | 2006 | Free | Jeanne McWhorter et al. | First educational MOO, arguably first educational MUD | ||||||||
| BioMOO | 1993 | 2001 | Free | Gustavo Glusman, Jaime Prilusky et al. | File Utilities Package, intermoo GNA Network | ||||||||
| 1993 | Free | ||||||||||||
| BayMOO | 1993 | Free | Tim Keanini et al. | ||||||||||
| MediaMOO | 1993 | 2000 | Free | Amy S. Bruckman et al. | Mirror archived at Clemson University | ||||||||
| DragonSpires | 1994 | 1997 | Dragon's Eye Productions | ||||||||||
| LegendMUD | 1994 | Free | Raph Koster, Kristen Koster, Rick Delashmit, Sherry Delashmit et al. | ||||||||||
| Legends of Terris | 1994 | Paul Barnett, Doug Goldner, Online Games Company | |||||||||||
| Realms of Despair | 1994 | Free | Derek Snider et al. | Merc 2, SMAUG | SMAUG | ||||||||
| LinguaMOO | 1995 | Free | Cynthia Haynes, Jan Rune Holmevik et al. | ||||||||||
| ATHEMOO | 1995 | 2010 | Free | Juli Burk et al. | |||||||||
| The Ruins of Cawdor | 1995 | 1996 | |||||||||||
| DragonRealms | 1996 | GEnie, AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, Microsoft Gaming Zone, independent | |||||||||||
| MOOSE Crossing | 1996 | 2007 | Free | Amy S. Bruckman et al. | |||||||||
| Legends of Kesmai | 1996 | 2000 | Tile-graphics version of Island of Kesmai | ||||||||||
| TorilMUD | 1996 | Free | Kris Kortright et al. | ||||||||||
| Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands | 1997 | Rapture | ATCP | ||||||||||
| Alter Aeon | 1997 | Dennis Towne et al. | DentinMUD | ||||||||||
| ifMUD | 1997 | Free | Liza Daly et al. | PerlMUD | |||||||||
| 1999 | 2006 | GameStorm, AOL, Centropolis Entertainment | |||||||||||
| Legacy of the Sith | 2001 | Free | Star Wars | Hack and slash, Politics, player versus player, roleplaying, | DikuMUD | SWR FotE | Oldest SWR MUD still running | ||||||
| RuneScape | 2001 | ||||||||||||
| Wyvern | 2001 | 2013 | Free | Cabochon Inc. | |||||||||
| God Wars II | 2002 | Free | Richard Woolcock et al. | Gladiator Pits II | Gladiator Pits II, MSDP | ||||||||
| HellMOO | 2003 | 2022 | Free |