Gump
Gump
A Gump in Britannia is the canonical name for any pop-up menu or interactive window that the game's UI displays — character status sheets, crafting menus, vendor purchase dialogs, paper doll equipment displays, BOD turnin gumps, Imbuing intensity selectors, Pet Training menus, and dozens more. The word Gump is an acronym from "Graphical User Menu Pop-up" — UO-internal jargon that has become the universal player-side term for any in-game menu interaction. When a player references "the smith gump" or "the imbue gump" or "the BOD gump," they mean the specific pop-up window each system spawns.
Gumps are the primary input surface for almost every non-combat interaction in UO. Combat uses keyboard hotkeys and right-click target macros; everything else (crafting, vendor purchase, character info, settings, pet management, BOD trade, faction politics) routes through gumps. Mastering UO's UI is largely a matter of learning the gump layouts for the systems you care about.
Major gump categories
| Gump type | What it is |
|---|---|
| Paper doll | Character's equipment + cosmetic display window |
| Status bar | Compact HP/Mana/Stamina + skill summary |
| Crafting gump | Recipe selector and craft-action gump (per-skill: Blacksmithy, Tailoring, Carpentry, etc.) |
| Vendor purchase gump | Items + quantities + total gold display when buying from NPC |
| BOD gump | Bulk Order Deed creation, fulfillment, and turnin |
| Imbuing gump | Imbuing selection, intensity, material requirements |
| Pet Training gump | Pet Training ability selection and training points |
| Skill menu | Full skills list with current values and locks |
| Macro gump | Macro recording and binding to hotkeys |
| Town crier gump | News and announcements menu |
| Trade window gump | Player-to-player item exchange |
| Faction status gump | Faction loyalty, point standing, faction-specific menus |
| Magery spell book gump | Magery spellcasting interface |
| Tame creature command gump | Pet command issuance (stay, follow, attack, etc.) |
The list spans dozens of specific gumps. Some are modal (player must close before continuing other actions); others are persistent (paper doll stays open during combat).
Gump layout conventions
UO's gumps follow consistent visual conventions:
| Element | Convention |
|---|---|
| Background | Patterned wood or stone |
| Borders | Iron / brass corner accents |
| Buttons | "Close" (X) + action buttons (Ok, Cancel, etc.) at bottom |
| Text fields | Editable; bordered |
| Tabs | Some larger gumps use tabs (smith menu separates Weapons / Armor / Tools) |
| Drag handle | Most gumps can be dragged around the screen |
Players develop muscle memory for common gumps — the smith menu's recipe layout, the imbue gump's intensity slider, the BOD gump's reward selection. Veterans navigate complex multi-step workflows (gather → smelt → craft → imbue → reforge → quench) through gump after gump in a few minutes.
Gump as a verb
Players use "gump" as a verb meaning "to bring up a menu":
- "Gump the smith menu and let's craft."
- "I'll gump my paper doll to check my durability."
- "He gumped his BOD just before the timer ran out."
The verb usage is canonical in UO speak; new players learn it within their first week.
Macro automation of gumps
The macro system can automatically interact with some gumps, allowing scripted workflows:
| Macro action | Gump example |
|---|---|
| Open Backpack | Open paper doll → click backpack icon → opens pack contents gump |
| Bandage Self | Trigger Healing → gump the bandage target → use on self |
| Last Object + Last Target | Replay a gump action (typical for repeating Smoke Bomb / spell cast) |
| Cast spell + target | Spellbook gump opens → click spell → target opens |
The macro system has specific gump-interaction primitives — "wait for gump X" / "close gump X" / "click button N in gump X". This is what enables third-party tools like Razor and EUO to scripted-automate complex workflows like BOD running or champ-spawn farming.
Gump rendering — Classic vs Enhanced clients
UO has two clients:
| Client | Gump rendering style |
|---|---|
| Classic Client (CC) | Original 2D pixel-art gumps; the canonical look |
| Enhanced Client (EC) | Modernized, vector-style gumps with adjustable scaling; same logical layout |
Enhanced Client gumps are functionally equivalent to Classic but visually different. Some players prefer EC for the cleaner UI; others prefer CC for the canonical pixel-art aesthetic. Both clients can co-exist on the same shard — different players can run different clients simultaneously.
Common gump quirks
| Quirk | Detail |
|---|---|
| Multiple gumps on screen | Player can have many gumps open simultaneously; they overlap and stack |
| Gump persistence on screen | Some gumps stay open across login sessions |
| Right-click to close | Most gumps close on right-click (also clicking the X button) |
| Drag to reposition | Most gumps draggable; useful for organizing UI |
| Modal blocking | Some gumps prevent other actions until closed (BOD turnin, crafting confirm) |
Notable gump systems
| System | Why notable |
|---|---|
| Imbuing gump | The most-complex multi-step gump in UO; intensity selector + material list + craft-cost display |
| Pet Training gump | Drag-drop ability allocation; hidden stat consequences |
| Bulk Order Deed gump | Multi-step accept → fulfill → turnin → reward selection |
| Faction Coronation gump | Political voting interface |
| Cleanup Britannia gump | Item-by-item submission for cleanup point reward |
These complex gumps are hot zones for veterans to teach new players — knowing the imbue gump's flow accelerates a new Mage's build progression by hours.
See also
- Macro — automation of gump interaction
- Enhanced Client — alternative client with re-rendered gumps
- Imbuing — the canonical complex-gump system
- Pet Training — another complex-gump system
- Bulk Order Deeds — the multi-stage gump workflow
- Contextual Menu — modern partial-gump replacement (right-click action menu)
- Classic Client — the canonical UO client carrying the original gump aesthetic