Today’s update rolls out the red carpet for new adventurers setting foot in Gielinor for the very first time!
We know that Tutorial Island holds a special place in everyone’s heart, so don’t worry, we haven’t reinvented it – just given it a loving polish to help new players find their footing.
New Player Experience Selection
Right after creating and naming your character, you’ll be asked a simple question:
“How familiar are you with Old School RuneScape?”
This new dedicated interface replaces the old NPC chat box and presents three big, bold buttons you can’t possibly miss.
Returning players won’t see this screen – if your account has already been marked as experienced, the game will automatically apply your returning-player defaults and skip straight to the Gielinor Guide.
By making the experience question impossible to miss, and presenting it in a clear, intuitive way, we can make sure every player gets the setup that suits them best, right from the start, so your adventure now starts on the right foot.
Let’s take a look at the settings you can expect to be applied once you’ve made your choice.
Updated Default Settings
Default settings for ALL players:
- AFK Timer set to 25 minutes.
- Ground Items overlay enabled.
- Move follower options lower down: On.
- Auto-equip Worn Items from Gravestone: On.
- Highlight Agility Obstacles: On.
- Highlight Agility Shortcuts: On (based on requirements)
- Max Hitsplat threshold (the minimum max hit you’ll need to see that lovely golden outline): 2.
- Loot drop notifications: On. Minimum value: 20,000 GP.
- Untradeable loot notifications: On.
- Player Attack options: Always right-click.
- NPC Attack options: Left-click where available.
- PK Skull prevention: On.
- Enable precise timing: On.
- Split friends private chat: On.
- Rune-picking behaviour: On.
- Ammo-picking behaviour: On.
- Hide roofs: On.
- Enables new-style Skill guide interfaces: On.
- Collection Log – New addition notifications: On.
- Collection Log – New addition popup: On.
- Music Volume: 10%
- Sound Volume: 20%
- Area Sound Volume: 15%
- Default Client mode: Resizable – Modern layout.
- Cannon low and no ammo notifications: On.
- Cannon low notification amount: 10.
- Chatbox Mode – Set Automatically: On.
Default Settings changes for players who tell us that they’re new to the game:
- Accept Aid: On
- HiScores Minimenu Lookup: On
- Highlight Quest start points: On.
- Filter Quest start highlights based on requirements: On.
- Quest list sorting: Starter. This is a new sorting category aimed at newer players.
- Show Quests you lack the requirements for: Show as unavailable.
- Show Quests you lack the recommended stats for: Show as unavailable.
Default Settings changes for players who tell us that they’re returning to the game:
- Accept Aid: On
- HiScores Minimenu Lookup: On
The Quest Journal
The heart of Old School’s adventure has always been the Quest Journal, and now new players will be introduced to it from their very first clicks.
Tutorial Island is now a fully trackable miniquest, complete with Quest Journal integration. You’ll learn to follow objectives, check your progress, and get familiar with one of OSRS’s most powerful tools before you even see your first Goblin.
When you talk to the Quest Guide during the tutorial, you’ll now unlock the Tutorial Island Quest in your Quest List. From this point on, you can open the Quest Journal at any time to review what you’ve learned so far, or see what comes next.
Improved Control Guide & Dialogue Boxes
We’ve given both the Control Guide (that handy orange instruction box in the top-right) and the Dialogue Boxes a bit of a clean-up! Together, they now provide a clearer, more intuitive learning experience that helps new players focus on what matters most – learning the ropes and enjoying the story.
A Smarter Control Guide
The Control Guide has been rebuilt from the ground up to act as your reliable companion throughout Tutorial Island.
No more disappearing tips or confusing gaps – it now follows your progress step by step, updating automatically as you move from one task to the next. When you’re done with an activity, it gracefully disappears until you need it again.
From fishing and cooking to smithing and combat, the orange control box is no longer a one-off helper, but instead is your reliable teacher throughout Tutorial Island!
Streamlined Dialogue Boxes
At the same time, every NPC conversation on Tutorial Island has been rewritten to be shorter, clearer, and more characterful.
Before, dialogue boxes often tried to do too much – mixing world-building, control tips, and instructions into a single wall of text.
Now, there’s a clear divide:
- Dialogue = story.
- Control Guide = instruction.
- You’ll notice concise, natural phrasing across every tutor, improved pacing, removed clutter, and better flow.
NPCs now stick to their roles as teachers and storytellers, while the Control Guide handles the ‘how-to’ side. This means less reading, less repetition, and a more enjoyable introduction to Gielinor.
Together, these two systems make Tutorial Island cleaner, faster, and more readable – without losing any of that classic Old School charm.
Returning players will find the tone familiar yet snappier. New adventurers will simply find it easier than ever to understand what to do next – and hopefully fall in love with Gielinor, just as we all did.
Visual Highlights & UI Cues
To make Tutorial Island easier to follow, we’ve also introduced a brand-new suite of visual highlights and subtle indicators to help players see exactly what to do next.
These cues appear throughout the tutorial to make it clear which NPCs, objects, or interface buttons are part of your current task.
NPC Highlights
Every instructor you need to speak to (from the Gielinor Guide to the Magic Instructor) now receives a soft yellow outline when it’s time to talk to them on the Official Client. The effect fades once you’ve spoken to them and reappears later if you need to return.
Object & Transition Highlights
Key interactable objects, such as trees, fires, ores, doors, gates, and ladders, now glow subtly when they’re part of your next tutorial step. If two objects interact, they’ll have a yellow outline to indicate their use.
UI Highlights
When you’re asked to open a side-panel (like your Inventory, Equipment, or Skills tabs), those icons now display a yellow pulsing outline. These indicators are designed to be subtle, gentle cues to help first-time players learn the flow of the tutorial. Once you open the correct tab, the highlight disappears – simple, satisfying, and clear.
Action Speed
We’ve also made a few subtle but important tweaks to the pacing of early tutorial actions to make everything feel more responsive and rewarding.
Certain core activities (like Woodcutting and Fishing) now complete faster on Tutorial Island, helping new players maintain focus and quickly understand the rhythm of gathering and skilling.
- Woodcutting now takes half the time (four ticks instead of eight).
- Fishing is slightly faster by one tick, making the first catch of shrimp feel much snappier.
- Other skills, such as Mining, Cooking, Smelting, and Smithing, remain unchanged.
Don’t worry – these changes only apply on Tutorial Island. The rest of Gielinor is still as grindy as ever.
Hello Home Teleport
To wrap things up, the Wizard at the end of Tutorial Island has learned a new trick, or rather, he’s teaching you one!
Players are guided to open the spellbook and cast Home Teleport directly. The spell’s cooldown is temporarily reset for the tutorial, so you can teleport right away and stride into Lumbridge like a true adventurer.
Now you’ll leave Tutorial Island knowing not just how to fish and fight, but how to find your way home too!
