Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold. Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC. # City of Gold From the spelunky.ai wiki: . Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.10](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.10) on 28 October 2026. This page describes a secret. The City of Gold is a secret level of Spelunky Classic, level 15 in place of the Temple's, reached through a gold door and built of blocks that break into gold. ![A square of gold bricks laid in blocks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/39b784c6a7dfc9d3/sprites/sGTemple/frames/0%404x.png) | City of Gold | | | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Levels | 15[^1] | | Chance | Through the gold door on level 14, with the Sceptre and the Hedjet[^2] | | Part of | [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple)[^3] | The City of Gold takes the place of [the Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple)'s last level, and is built of gold: its walls, floors and stone are gold blocks that break into [Gold Chunks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk) and [Gold Nuggets](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget), its side rooms can be treasure vaults, and a statue of Lady Xoc stands in it, studded with gems. The way in is a gold door on level 14, which takes the [Sceptre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sceptre) and opens only for a player wearing the [Hedjet](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hedjet), so reaching it means finding both ([Reaching the City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold-route) walks through it). Its exit leads to [Olmec's Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmecs-lair), as the Temple's level 15 does. ## Generation Level 14 always has a gold door, on top of a block that can't be destroyed. Generation puts it on the first block with open space above it that wins a roll of 1 in a number that starts each game at 160 and falls by one with each block that loses, or, failing that, on the first such block in the level[^4][^5][^6]. It can be anywhere, even sealed in rock that only a bomb opens[^7][^8]. Carried into the door, the [Sceptre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sceptre), which only level 13's [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord) leaves, opens it if the player wears the [Hedjet](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hedjet), and is used up; without the Hedjet the door says "THE SCEPTRE FITS... BUT NOTHING IS HAPPENING!" and stays shut[^9][^2]. Walking through the open door makes the next level, 15, the City of Gold[^1]. The first clip shows it: the player, wearing the Hedjet, carries the Sceptre to the door, which opens, and goes through ([the Hedjet's gold door](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hedjet#the-gold-door))[^10]. **Clip: Gold door.** Wearing the Hedjet, the player carries the Tomb Lord's sceptre to the gold door. The door takes the sceptre and opens, and he goes through it to the City of Gold. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/39b784c6a7dfc9d3/clips/hedjet/gold-door/clip.mp4)) The level starts with the message "IT'S THE LEGENDARY CITY OF GOLD!"[^11]. It's laid out as [the Temple's](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple#generation) levels are, four rooms by four on a path from the top row to the bottom, from the Temple's room script, with these differences[^12]: | Rooms | In the City of Gold | | | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | | Side rooms (3 in 4 of the rooms off the path) | Never Kali's altar or the [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol)'s room. One of 14 layouts, each as likely: the Temple's eleven ordinary ones, or one of three treasure vaults | [^3][^13] | | The path's rooms | One of 12 layouts rather than 10: the two more each hold a [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord) | [^14][^15] | | One room of the third row, at random | The Lady Xoc statue (below), in place of whatever the path put there | [^16][^17] | The statue can take the room the path drops through to the exit's row, and its bottom row is solid, so the way down can then only be bombed open[^7][^18]. **Clip: Arriving in the City of Gold.** Level 15 loads as the City of Gold, its blocks all gold, with the message "IT'S THE LEGENDARY CITY OF GOLD!" The player runs down to the Lady Xoc statue. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/39b784c6a7dfc9d3/clips/city-of-gold/arrival/clip.mp4)) Every block of the Temple's stone is gold here, the level's walls too, and so are its stone blocks and push blocks[^19][^20][^21][^22]. One block in a hundred is still the Jungle's earth, as in the Temple[^23]. In the second clip, the City loads with its message, and the player runs down to the Lady Xoc statue[^24]. The City can also be a sacrifice pit[^25], and as the statue's room is chosen after the pit's, it can take the pit's room in the third row[^16]. The City's message then shows twice, 210 steps apart, before the pit's "I CAN HEAR PRAYERS TO KALI!": the timer the City's message sets for the pit's runs the same chain of messages again, which shows the City's first and sets another timer for the pit's[^11][^26][^27]. The roll for a dark level is made for the City as for the Temple's other levels[^28], and a dark City's message is the dark level's, with the City's 210 steps later[^29][^26]. Taking the City's exit leads to [Olmec's Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmecs-lair), level 16, which is no longer gold: leaving the City ends it[^30][^31]. In the clip below, the player drops through a hole bombed beside the statue, picks up an emerald, takes the exit, and the lair loads[^32]. **Clip: From the City of Gold to Olmec's Lair.** The player drops through a hole bombed beside the statue, picks up an emerald and takes the City of Gold's exit. After the screen between levels, level 16, Olmec's Lair, loads. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/39b784c6a7dfc9d3/clips/city-of-gold/to-olmec/clip.mp4)) ## Inhabitants Level generation makes [the Temple's](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple#inhabitants) monsters here, on the same terms[^33]: [Cavemen](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman) and [Hawkmen](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman) on the blocks, [Scarabs](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/scarab) if the level is dark, and a [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord), tried for one time in four, as on any Temple level after 13[^34]. The two path layouts only the City uses hold a Tomb Lord each, whatever that roll[^35][^15]. None of them leaves the [Sceptre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sceptre), which only level 13's does[^9]. [Magma Men](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man) rise from its lava. The [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost) never comes to the City of Gold: it only comes to a player without the [Hedjet](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hedjet), which the gold door requires[^36]. ## Hazards The Temple's: [Arrow Traps](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/arrow-trap), [Spear Traps](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spear-trap), [Smash Traps](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/smash-trap) and [Lava](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/lava), made as on the Temple's other levels[^37][^38][^39]. The City has no idol room, so none of its [Ceiling Traps](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ceiling-trap). ## Items and shops ### Gold Breaking a gold block of the Temple's stone, or a gold push block, with a bomb or a [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock), gives three [Gold Chunks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk) and a [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget)[^40][^41]. The gold stone blocks among them, one in ten, would too, but give nothing: level generation marks every stone block on a Temple level, the City's included, to break without a trace[^42][^43]. The gold blocks hide no gems or items, as the Temple's stone can: their roll for a gem is skipped in the City[^44]. Only the odd block of earth can hide one[^45], and, on a City that's a sacrifice pit, the six blocks of the pit's floor, each of which holds a big ruby[^46][^47][^48]. ### Treasure vaults Two of the vault layouts are rows of shelves in the rock, holding treasure and a box; the third is six boxes in the rock[^13]. Each treasure tile rolls, each roll made once the ones before it fail[^49]: | Tile | What, and the chance | | | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | | Treasure | A big ruby 1 in 120, a big sapphire 1 in 80, a big emerald 1 in 60, or else [Gold Bars](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-bars) | [^50] | | A box | A [Chest](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/chest) or a [Crate](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/crate), 1 in 2 each | [^51] | ### The Lady Xoc statue The statue is 30 blocks, five wide and six tall, and six of them hold a gem: a diamond at its brow, two sapphires, two emeralds and a ruby, each dropping two of its gem when the block breaks, as well as the gold every block gives[^52][^53]. In the clip, a bomb breaks the statue's top, and the brow's block drops two diamonds[^54][^55]. **Clip: The Lady Xoc statue.** The player bombs the top of the Lady Xoc statue. Its blocks break into gold chunks and nuggets, and the one at its brow into two diamonds. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/39b784c6a7dfc9d3/clips/city-of-gold/xoc-statue/clip.mp4)) ### Shops Shops come as in the Temple, 2 in 15 on level 15, and none once the [Black Market](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/black-market) has been made[^56][^7]. Treasure is scattered over the blocks as in [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines#treasure)[^57]. ## Trivia - The Lady Xoc statue's blocks drop their gems only inside the check that gives them gold, the City's, which is the only level that makes the statue[^58][^16]. - The City's side room roll picks 1 to 14 and turns a 12, the idol room's number, into a 15, the third vault's, so the idol room never comes up and the vault takes its place[^59]. ## FAQ ### How do you get into the City of Gold in Spelunky Classic? Through the gold door on level 14, which opens when the player carries the [Sceptre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sceptre) into it while wearing the [Hedjet](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hedjet). The Sceptre comes from level 13's [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord), and the Hedjet from inside the Moai in [the Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves). ### What level is the City of Gold in Spelunky Classic? Level 15. It takes the place of the Temple's level 15, and its exit leads on to [Olmec's Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmecs-lair), level 16, as the Temple's does. ### What is in the City of Gold in Spelunky Classic? Blocks of gold, each breaking into three [Gold Chunks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk) and a [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget); treasure vaults of [Gold Bars](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-bars), big gems, [Chests](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/chest) and [Crates](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/crate); and the Lady Xoc statue, whose blocks hide a diamond, sapphires, emeralds and a ruby. ### Are there monsters in the City of Gold in Spelunky Classic? Yes, the Temple's: [Cavemen](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman), [Hawkmen](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman) and [Tomb Lords](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord), with two of the City's own room layouts holding a Tomb Lord each. The [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost) never comes, since the Hedjet the door needs keeps it away. ## See also - **Related:** [Hedjet](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hedjet), [Sceptre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sceptre), [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord), [Reaching the City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold-route) - **Found here:** [Chest](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/chest) (In its treasure vaults)[^51], [Crate](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/crate) (In its treasure vaults)[^51], [Gold Bars](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-bars) (In its treasure vaults)[^59], [Gold Chunk](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-chunk) (In every block)[^40], [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget) (In every block)[^40], [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord) ## References [^1]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:880` [^2]: `objects/oGoldDoor/collision_oSceptre.gml:1-23` [^3]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:68-74` [^4]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:387-409` [^5]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:482-495` [^6]: `scripts/scrClearGlobals.gml:80` [^7]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^8]: Replay `fidelity/replays/city-of-gold-seed-9-sealed-door.txt` [^9]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:23` [^10]: Clip hedjet/gold-door [^11]: `objects/oPlayer1/alarm_0.gml:52-58` [^12]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:68-142` [^13]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:112-115` [^14]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:120-141` [^15]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:426-429` [^16]: `scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:136` [^17]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:189-192` [^18]: Replay `fidelity/replays/city-of-gold-seed-9-to-olmec.txt` [^19]: `objects/oTemple/create.gml:7` [^20]: `scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:124` [^21]: `objects/oBlock/create.gml:4` [^22]: `objects/oPushBlock/create.gml:5` [^23]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:317-322` [^24]: Clip city-of-gold/arrival [^25]: `scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:71-87` [^26]: `objects/oPlayer1/alarm_1.gml:36-42` [^27]: `objects/oPlayer1/alarm_4.gml:7-12` [^28]: `scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:167-174` [^29]: `objects/oPlayer1/alarm_0.gml:5-13` [^30]: `objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end.gml:52-56` [^31]: `objects/oTransition/step.gml:26` [^32]: Clip city-of-gold/to-olmec [^33]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:380-480` [^34]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:382-385` [^35]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:139-140` [^36]: `objects/oGame/step.gml:23-47` [^37]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:410-442` [^38]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:467-471` [^39]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:497-524` [^40]: `objects/oTemple/destroy.gml:21-32` [^41]: `objects/oPushBlock/destroy.gml:12-23` [^42]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:497-499` [^43]: `objects/oBlock/destroy.gml:1-25` [^44]: `objects/oTemple/create.gml:5-16` [^45]: `objects/oLush/create.gml:5-15` [^46]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:201-204` [^47]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:333-337` [^48]: `objects/oTemple/destroy.gml:34-37` [^49]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:359-370` [^50]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:364-370` [^51]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:359-363` [^52]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:378-394` [^53]: `objects/oXocBlock/destroy.gml:1-29` [^54]: Clip city-of-gold/xoc-statue [^55]: Replay `fidelity/replays/city-of-gold-seed-9-xoc-gems.txt` [^56]: `scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:239-297` [^57]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:475-478` [^58]: `objects/oXocBlock/destroy.gml:3-28` [^59]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:70-74` ### Source code - `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml` - `scripts/scrLevelGen.gml` - `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml` - `objects/oGoldDoor/collision_oSceptre.gml` - `objects/oTemple/create.gml` - `objects/oTemple/destroy.gml` - `objects/oXocBlock/destroy.gml`