This page documents the control codes used in The Wind Waker. Control codes modify the text drawn to the screen in some way, such as inserting button icon images or causing the text to halt for a specific period of time.

There are three control code structures differentiated by the size - five bytes, six bytes, and seven bytes.

Five-byte Codes

These control codes are five bytes long and have the following format:

/*0x00*/ const byte Identifier = 0x1A; //This signals a control code
/*0x01*/ byte CodeLength;
/*0x02*/ bool IsSoundCode;
/*0x03*/ short CodeType;

While the vast majority of the five-byte-long control codes follow this format, the code that causes a sound to play when it is reached is slightly different. This code identifies itself with the bool at offset 0x02 within the code. When this bool is true, CodeType actually refers to the ID of the sound to play rather than the code's type.

Below is a list of the valid code types and their meanings.

Code	Meaning
0x00	Player Name
0x01	Change Draw Type to Instant
0x02	Change Draw Type to Per-Character
0x03	Unused
0x04	Unused
0x05	Unused
0x06	Unused
0x07	Unused
0x08	Two Dialog Options
0x09	Three Dialog Options
0x0A	A Button Icon
0x0B	B Button Icon
0x0C	C-Stick Icon
0x0D	L-Trigger Icon
0x0E	R-Trigger Icon
0x0F	X Button Icon
0x10	Y Button Icon
0x11	Z Button Icon
0x12	D-Pad Icon
0x13	Static Control Stick Icon
0x14	Left Arrow Icon
0x15	Right Arrow Icon
0x16	Up Arrow Icon
0x17	Down Arrow Icon
0x18	Control Stick Moving Up Icon
0x19	Control Stick Moving Down Icon
0x1A	Control Stick Moving Left Icon
0x1B	Control Stick Moving Right Icon
0x1C	Control Stick Moving Up/Down Icon
0x1D	Control Stick Moving Left/Right Icon
0x1E	Dialog Option 1
0x1F	Dialog Option 2
0x20	Remaining Cannonballs in Cannonball Minigame
0x21	Broken Vase Payment
0x22	Auction Character Name
0x23	Auction Item Name
0x24	Auction Bid Amount
0x25	Auction Starting Bid Amount
0x26	Player Auction Bid Selector
0x27	Starbust A Button Icon
0x28	Blow Count in Orca Training Minigame
0x29	Pirate Ship Password
0x2A	Target Starburst Icon
0x2B	Letter Count in Post Office Sorting Minigame
0x2C	Rupee Reward in Post Office Sorting Minigame
0x2D	Post Box Letter Count
0x2E	Remaining Koroks in Dying Tree Sidequest
0x2F	Remaining Time before Forest Water Spoils
0x30	Game Time in Flight Platform Minigame
0x31	Record Time in Flight Platform Minigame
0x32	Beedle Point Count
0x33	Ms. Marrie's Joy Pendent Count
0x34	Ms. Marrie's Joy Pendent Total
0x35	Time for Windfall Island Pig Minigame
0x36	Rupee Reward for Sailing Minigame
0x37	Current Bomb Capacity
0x38	Current Arrow Capacity
0x39	Heart Icon
0x3A	Music Note Icon
0x3B	Target Letter Count for Post Office Sorting Minigame
0x3C	Hit Count for Fishman Minigame
0x3D	Rupee Reward for Fishman Minigame
0x3E	Boko Baba Seed Count
0x3F	Skull Necklace Count
0x40	Chu Jelly Count
0x41	Joy Pendent Count
0x42	Golden Feather Count
0x43	Knight's Crest Count
0x44	Price Offer from Beedle
0x45	Boko Baba Seed Sell selector
0x46	Skull Necklace Sell Selector
0x47	Chu Jelly Sell Selector
0x48	Joy Pendent Sell Selector
0x49	Golden Feather Sell Selector
0x4A	Knight's Crest Sell Selector

Six-byte Codes

There is only one code that is six bytes long, and it changes the color of the text being drawn. It is formatted as follows:

/*0x00*/ const byte Identifier = 0x1A; //This signals a control code
/*0x01*/ byte CodeLength;
/*0x02*/ byte Unknown1; //Always 0xFF?
/*0x03*/ byte Unknown2; //Always 0x00?
/*0x04*/ short ColorIndex;

ColorIndex refers to the index of the color as they are defined in the game's BMC file, which in The Wind Waker is found within the same archive as the BMG file.

Seven-byte Codes

Seven-byte-long control codes are used for two main purposes: changing the size of the text being drawn and causing the text to stop drawing for a given period of time. They are formatted as follows:

/*0x00*/ const byte Identifier = 0x1A; //Indicates control code start
/*0x01*/ byte CodeLength;
/*0x02*/ byte Unknown1; //Normally this is 0x00, but for the code that changes text size it's 0xFF
/*0x03*/ short CodeType;
/*0x05*/ short CodeData;

The possible values for CodeType and the meaning of CodeData are described below.

Code	Meaning	CodeData
0x00	Unused	Unused
0x01	Set Text Size	Text Scale Percentage
0x02	Unused	Unused
0x03	Wait and Dismiss (With Player Prompt)	Wait Time
0x04	Wait and Dismiss (Without Player Prompt)	Wait Time
0x05	Dismiss	Time before Dismissal
0x06	Dummy?	Unknown
0x07	Wait	Wait Time

CodeType 0x06 is found only once in The Wind Waker's text, but it has no noticable effect. It is possible that the code type was removed, but not all references to it were deleted.