DERELIKT Hacking Minigame: How Terminals Work
The terminal hacking minigame explained: how the password-narrowing program works, what terminals unlock and the 1337 Haxx0r achievement.
DERELIKT's terminals are half computer, half puzzle box. Some are read-only: they hold emails, maps and story documents. Others run a hacking minigame that narrows a password one character group at a time. The first successful hack unlocks 1337 Haxx0r (15.8%), which makes it one of the more common achievements in the game and a good indicator that most players find at least one terminal.
The minigame is not random. It is a process of elimination, and once you understand the feedback it becomes a two-minute exercise.
The first terminal that matters sits in Exo Laboratories→, behind the blue keycard door.
How the minigame works
A terminal screen shows a grid of character groups and a password field. You have a limited number of attempts and a program that removes wrong groups.
- Select a group. The terminal tells you how many characters in the group are correct and in the right position.
- Run the eliminator. It removes groups that share no characters with the current best guess.
- Repeat. Each run shrinks the pool until one group remains.
The feedback is positional. A group that reports "2 correct" shares two characters in the exact positions of the password, not two characters somewhere in the string. Treat it like Wordle, not like Mastermind.
The eliminator program
The eliminator is the item that makes the minigame trivial, and it is also the item most players forget to use. It is listed in the terminal's program menu, not in your inventory.
- Running it costs one attempt.
- It removes every group with zero positional matches.
- It does not remove groups with partial matches, which is why the first guess matters.
The optimal first guess is the group with the most repeated characters, because repeats either match strongly or eliminate cleanly.
What terminals unlock
| Terminal | Level | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Operations | 1 | Map download, emails, BIGHEAD cheat |
| Cargo bay | 1 | Vent route, manifest document |
| Exo Labs worm lab | 4 | Sample-tube counting rule, internal door |
| Central Security control | 5 | Cell block, armory cage |
| Coolant control | 8 | Coolant purge |
| Reactor console | 10 | Core access |
Two of these are required for progression: the Central Security control terminal and the reactor console. The rest are optional, but the Operations terminal gives you the map, which is the single most useful download in the game.
Hacking without the minigame
A few terminals skip the minigame entirely:
- Story terminals open with a keycard or an NPC's password.
- Gregory's terminal in Level 1 uses a password found in his log, not the grid.
- The reactor console uses the reactor key.
If a terminal offers no grid, do not look for a program. Look for a note or a key.
1337 Haxx0r fires on the first successful minigame, not on a specific terminal. The Operations terminal is the earliest one available.
Achievements tied to terminals
- 1337 Haxx0r (15.8%): solve your first hacking minigame.
- Cheater (40.0%): use the BIGHEAD cheat from the Operations terminal.
- Gun Nut (4.5%): the gun quiz, which is a terminal-style multiple choice rather than a hack.
None of the terminal achievements are missable in a way that blocks the others. The Operations terminal stays accessible until you leave for the surface.
Which terminals are worth the attempt
Not every terminal is worth the attempt cost. A short priority list:
- Operations (Level 1). The map download is the single best reward in the game.
- Central Security control (Level 5). Required; opens the cell block and the armory cage.
- Coolant control (Level 8). Required for the purge.
- Reactor console (Level 10). Required for the core.
- Cargo bay (Level 1). Optional, but the manifest document counts toward Librarian.
The Exo Labs worm-lab terminal is worth reading but not worth hacking twice; its reward is the counting rule, which you can also derive by looking at the tubes.
Strategy for the harder grids
Later terminals have larger grids and fewer attempts. Three habits carry you through:
- Guess a group with repeats first. Repeated characters produce the cleanest eliminations.
- Never run the eliminator twice in a row. Each run costs an attempt, and two runs without a new guess usually eliminate the same set.
- Write down the feedback. The terminal does not keep a history, and the grid reshuffles between sessions.
If you run out of attempts, the terminal locks for thirty seconds and resets the grid. There is no penalty beyond the wait.
FAQ
Where is the first hacking terminal? Operations, on Level 1, behind Dr. Braun's position.
Is the minigame skippable? The optional terminals are. The Central Security control terminal and the reactor console are not.
Does hacking use items? No. The eliminator is a terminal program, not an inventory item.
What does BIGHEAD do? It enlarges character heads for the session. It is a cheat, not a gameplay advantage.
Noisy Pixel's review describes the terminals as a highlight rather than a chore, largely because the eliminator program makes the grids solvable without guesswork.
Sources and further reading
The pages below are the sources this guide checks against. The store page and the developer's post are primary; the reviews are secondary and are used for enemy names, weapon names and the state of the game at launch.
- DERELIKT on Steam ↗ — the store page, system requirements and the 27-achievement list.
- Visuwyg's announcement post ↗ — the developer's own description of the outpost and the PS1 rendering work.
- Noisy Pixel's DERELIKT review ↗ — 8/10, and the source for several enemy and weapon names used above.
Official source: Visuwyg — DERELIKT announcement post ↗, 8 September 2025.
"grafted onto an anomalous derelict asteroid in orbit around Saturn" — Visuwyg, DERELIKT announcement post, 2025