Each password in Mega Man 7 consists of 16 numbers stored in a 4x4 grid, each of which can be a number from 1 to 8. Each number represents a set of 3 individual bits; the digits 1 to 7 are equivalent to their respective binary values, while the digit 8 is equivalent to a 0 in binary. All 48 bits in the grid are used, each for a different purpose. The base password that corresponds to the default, unaltered state of the game is 8735-2517-4416-8362, and all other passwords change relative to that; in order to flag a bit as "on", you must flip that bit in the base password from 0 to 1 or, if it already was a 1, from 1 to 0. The information that the game stores in passwords is as follows: - 9 bits for the stages you've beaten, one for each Robot master plus one for the Robot Museum mid-stage (the Wily stages don't have bits) - 3 bits for the number of E-Tanks you have - 3 bits for the number of W-Tanks you have - 1 bit for whether or not you have an S-Tank - 4 bits for Beat, 1 to free him and 3 for the number of Beat whistles you have - 10 bits for the number of bolts you have (1 for each place in the binary representation of the total number) - 5 bits for the "RUSH" circuit plates and Super Adapter (each plate has 1 bit, as does the Super Adapter itself) - 2 bits for Auto's Hyperbolt (1 to flag that it has been collected and 1 to flag it as having been given to Auto) - 1 bit for whether or not you have the Rush Jet - 1 bit for whether or not you have the Rush Seatch - 1 bit for whether or not you have the Energy Balancer - 1 bit for whether or not you have the Exit module - 1 bit for whether or not you have the rocket punch upgrade for the Super Adapter - 1 bit for whether or not you have the Proto Shield - 1 bit for adding the second group of Robot Master stages to the stage select - 1 bit for opening up the Wily stages - 1 bit for starting at the intro stage - 2 bits for checking how many other bits have been flipped (the total number mod 4) These are what each square contains: Square 1: - High bit: S plate - Middle bit: Rush Jet - Low bit: Bit 7 of the bolt count (the 128s place) Square 2: - High bit: Cloud Man's stage cleared - Middle bit: Energy Balancer obtained - Low bit: Second group of Robot Master stages added Square 3: - High bit: Bit 1 of the bolt count (the 2s place) - Middle bit: Bit 8 of the bolt count (the 256s place) - Low bit: Bit 1 of the Beat whistle count (the 2s place) Square 4: - High bit: Bit 2 of the W-Tank count (the 4s place) - Middle bit: Bit 2 of the Beat whistle count (the 4s place) - Low bit: Bit 1 of the W-Tank count (the 2s place) Square 5: - High bit: Wily stages accessible - Middle bit: Bit 0 of the bolt count (the 1s place) - Low bit: Spring Man's stage cleared Square 6: - High bit: Bit 9 of the bolt count (the 512s place) - Middle bit: Bit 4 of the bolt count (the 16s place) - Low bit: Shade Man's stage cleared Square 7: - High bit: H plate - Middle bit: Start at the intro stage - Low bit: Total item count is even or odd Square 8: - High bit: Proto Shield obtained - Middle bit: Bit 0 of the W-Tank count (the 1s place) - Low bit: Burst Man's stage cleared Square 9: - High bit: Junk Man's stage cleared - Middle bit: Bit 2 of the bolt count (the 4s place) - Low bit: Total item count mod 4 = 2 or 3 Square 10: - High bit: U plate - Middle bit: Beat is freed from his cage - Low bit: Bit 1 of the E-Tank count (the 2s place) Square 11: - High bit: Freeze Man's stage cleared - Middle bit: Bit 0 of the Beat whistle count (the 1s place) - Low bit: Robot Museum stage cleared Square 12: - High bit: Bit 3 of the bolt count (the 8s place) - Middle bit: Auto has the Hyperbolt installed - Low bit: Rush Search obtained Square 13: - High bit: S-Tank obtained - Middle bit: Bit 5 of the bolt count (the 32s place) - Low bit: Rocket punch upgrade Square 14: - High bit: Hyperbolt obtained - Middle bit: Slash Man's stage cleared - Low bit: Bit 0 of the E-Tank count (1s place) Square 15: - High bit: Bit 6 of the bolt count (64s place) - Middle bit: Super Adapter obtained - Low bit: R plate obtained Square 16: - High bit: Bit 2 of the E-Tank count - Middle bit: Exit module obtained - Low bit: Turbo Man's stage cleared These are possible numerical values for each square and what they mean. Numbers with an asterisk are impossible to get in normal gameplay, while ones with two asterisks will automatically create an error. Square 1: S plate Rush Jet +128 bolts 1 No No Yes 2 No Yes No 3 No Yes Yes 4 Yes No No 5 Yes No Yes 6 Yes Yes No 7 Yes Yes Yes 8 No No No Square 2: Cloud Man E. Balancer second set of stages added 1 Yes Yes No 2 Yes No Yes 3 Yes No No 4 No Yes Yes 5 No Yes No 6 No No Yes 7 No No No 8 Yes Yes Yes Square 3: +2 bolts +256 bolts +2 Beat whistles 1 No Yes No 2 No No Yes 3 No No No 4 Yes Yes Yes 5 Yes Yes No 6 Yes No Yes 7 Yes No No 8 No Yes Yes Square 4: +4 W-Tanks +4 Beat whis. +2 W-Tanks 1 Yes No No 2* Yes Yes Yes 3 Yes Yes No 4 No No Yes 5 No No No 6 No Yes Yes 7 No Yes No 8* Yes No Yes Square 5: Wily stages +1 bolt Spring Man 1 No Yes Yes 2 No No No 3 No No Yes 4** Yes Yes No 5 Yes Yes Yes 6** Yes No No 7 Yes No Yes 8 No Yes No Square 6: +512 bolts +16 bolts Shade Man 1 Yes No No 2 Yes Yes Yes 3 Yes Yes No 4 No No Yes 5 No No No 6 No Yes Yes 7 No Yes No 8 Yes No Yes Square 7: H plate Start at intro Odd flag count 1 No No No 2 No Yes Yes 3 No Yes No 4 Yes No Yes 5 Yes No No 6* Yes Yes Yes 7* Yes Yes No 8 No No Yes Square 8: Proto Shield +1 W-Tank Burst Man 1** Yes Yes No 2 Yes No Yes 3** Yes No No 4 No Yes Yes 5 No Yes No 6 No No Yes 7 No No No 8 Yes Yes Yes Square 9: Junk Man +4 bolts flag count % 4 = 2 or 3 1 Yes No Yes 2 Yes Yes No 3 Yes Yes Yes 4 No No No 5 No No Yes 6 No Yes No 7 No Yes Yes 8 Yes No No Square 10: U plate free Beat +2 E-Tanks 1 Yes No Yes 2 Yes Yes No 3 Yes Yes Yes 4 No No No 5 No No Yes 6 No Yes No 7 No Yes Yes 8 Yes No No Square 11: Freeze Man +1 Beat whis. Robot Museum 1 No No No 2 No Yes Yes 3 No Yes No 4 Yes No Yes 5 Yes No No 6 Yes Yes Yes 7 Yes Yes No 8 No No Yes Square 12: +8 bolts H. Bolt (give) Rush Search 1 Yes Yes Yes 2 Yes No No 3 Yes No Yes 4 No Yes No 5 No Yes Yes 6 No No No 7 No No Yes 8 Yes Yes No Square 13: S-Tank +32 bolts Rocket punch 1 No No Yes 2 No Yes No 3 No Yes Yes 4 Yes No No 5 Yes No Yes 6 Yes Yes No 7 Yes Yes Yes 8 No No No Square 14: H. Bolt (have) Slash Man +1 E-Tank 1 No Yes No 2 No No Yes 3 No No No 4 Yes Yes Yes 5 Yes Yes No 6 Yes No Yes 7 Yes No No 8 No Yes Yes Square 15: +64 bolts S. Adapter R plate 1 Yes Yes Yes 2 Yes No No 3 Yes No Yes 4* No Yes No 5 No Yes Yes 6 No No No 7 No No Yes 8* Yes Yes No Square 16: +4 E-Tanks Exit module Turbo Man 1 No Yes Yes 2 No No No 3 No No Yes 4 Yes Yes No 5 Yes Yes Yes 6 Yes No No 7 Yes No Yes 8 No Yes No Here is a list of the bits organized by function. Stages cleared/weapons obtained: - Freeze Man: Square 11 high bit - Cloud Man: Square 2 high bit - Junk Man: Square 9 high bit - Burst Man: Square 8 low bit - Spring Man: Square 5 low bit - Slash Man: Square 14 middle bit - Turbo Man: Square 16 low bit - Shade Man: Square 6 low bit - Robot Museum: Square 11 low bit Note: Trying to flag one of the second group of four stages cleared without having the first four Robot Masters and the Robot Museum beaten will give an error, but flagging only the Robot Museum will not (and, in fact, will make all 8 stages selectable, though the game will give invalid passwords until Freeze Man, Cloud Man, Junk Man, and Burst Man have all been defeated). E-Tanks: - Bit 0 (+1): Square 14 low bit - Bit 1 (+2): Square 10 low bit - Bit 2 (+4): Square 16 high bit Note: Giving yourself 5, 6, or 7 E-Tanks or W-Tanks via a password will not cause an error, though the game cannot display more than 4 tanks in the menu. W-Tanks: - Bit 0 (+1): Square 8 middle bit - Bit 1 (+2): Square 4 low bit - Bit 2 (+4): Square 4 high bit Note: See the previous note. S-Tank: Square 13 high bit Beat: - Free Beat: Square 10 middle bit - Bit 0 (+1 whistle): Square 11 middle bit - Bit 1 (+2 whistles): Square 3 low bit - Bit 2 (+4 whistles): Square 4 middle bit Note: The bit to free Beat must be flipped in order to make use of him even if a password is set to give one or more Beat whistles. As with the tanks, it is possible to gain more than 4 Beat whistles via a password, and if you do so, the additional ones will appear in the menu, unlike the tanks, and will cover up the menu graphics to the right of where the row of icons would normally end. Bolts: - Bit 0 (+1): Square 5 middle bit - Bit 1 (+2): Square 3 high bit - Bit 2 (+4): Square 9 middle bit - Bit 3 (+8): Square 12 high bit - Bit 4 (+16): Square 6 middle bit - Bit 5 (+32): Square 13 middle bit - Bit 6 (+64): Square 15 high bit - Bit 7 (+128): Square 1 low bit - Bit 8 (+256): Square 3 middle bit - Bit 9 (+512): Square 6 high bit Note: Any password that contains more than 999 bolts will give an error. Super Adapter: - R plate: Square 15 low bit - U plate: Square 10 high bit - S plate: Square 1 high bit - H plate: Square 7 high bit - Super Adapter: Square 15 middle bit - Rocket punch: Square 13 low bit Note: The bit for the Super Adapter itself will always give you the Super Adapter regardless of whether all of the RUSH plate bits are set, but setting all of those and not the Super Adapter bit will make it impossible to obtain the Super Adapter (without adding it to the password). Hyperbolt: - Found: Square 14 high bit - Given to Auto: Square 12 middle bit Other items: - Rush Jet: Square 1 middle bit - Rush Search: Square 12 low bit - Energy Balancer: Square 2 middle bit - Exit module: Square 16 middle bit - Proto Shield: Square 8 high bit Note: The Proto Shield seems to be the only item that requires certain stages to be beaten for its bit to be valid. Putting in a password with the Proto Shield but without the first group of stages beaten will give an error. Miscellaneous bits: - Second group of Robot Master stages added to the stage select: Square 2 low bit - Wily stages accessible: Square 5 high bit - Start at the intro stage: Square 7 middle bit - Total number of bits flipped is odd: Square 7 low bit - Total number of bits flipped is even but not divisible by 4 or is 1 less than a multiple of 4: Square 9 low bit Note: If the bit for the second group of Robot Master stages is not set while the ones for clearing the first four Robot Masters and the Robot Museum are, the animation of the other four stages sliding onto the stage select will play, and that bit will get set automatically. If that bit is already set in a password, the animation will not happen. Setting the bits for the 8 Robot Masters plus the mid-stage but not the one for making Dr. Wily's fortress accessible will prevent the fortress from opening up until you beat a stage again, and setting the bit for the fortress without all of the other stages being beaten will give an error. Setting the bit to start at the intro stage while also having one of more other stages beaten will also give an error. In addition to the normal passwords, there is one special hardcoded password: 1415-5585-7823-6251. This can do one of two things. If you simply press Start after inputting it as you would any other password, it will take you straight to the final Wily stage with all the items, including a full stock of tanks and bolts. If you hold down L and R when pressing Start, it will access a Street Fighter-ish 2-player minigame. Other potentially useful passwords: - 8235-2516-1446-8362: Start at the second group of Robot Master stages with no items - 4235-2546-1846-8352: Start at the second group of Robot Master stages with the Super Adapter - 8235-2556-1847-8358: Start at the second group of Robot Master stages with the Super Adapter, Exit module, Rush Jet, and Rush Search - 8235-7486-1446-8163: Go to the Wily stages with all Robot Master weapons but no items or bolts - 6835-7452-8845-1551: Go to the Wily stages with all Robot Master weapons and unique items but no tanks, Beat whistles, or bolts - 6833-7442-8245-5555: Go to the Wily stages with all Robot Master weapons and a full stock of items (including tanks and Beat whistles) but no bolts - 7853-5842-2245-7515: Go to the Wily stages with all possible weapons and items obtainable in normal gameplay (including a full stock of tanks, Beat whistles, and bolts) - 6535-2567-4815-1758: Start at the intro stage with all unique items except the Proto Shield - 8735-2587-4486-8362: Have all 8 stages unbeaten at the start of the game (but skip the Robot Museum mid-stage) - 1755-8117-6416-2322: No Robot Masters defeated, 999 bolts