---
name: "beastie.4th"
section: "8"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/beastie.4th"
---

# beastie.4th(8)

FreeBSD ASCII art boot module

## NAME

**beastie.4th** – FreeBSD ASCII art boot module

## DESCRIPTION

The file that goes by the name of **beastie.4th** is a set of commands designed to draw the ASCII art FreeBSD mascot – known simply as *beastie* – to the right of the boot loader menu. The commands of **beastie.4th** by themselves are not enough for most uses. Please refer to the examples below for the most common situations, and to [loader(8)](/loader/8.md) for additional commands.

Before using any of the commands provided in **beastie.4th**, it must be included through the command:

```
include beastie.4th
```

This line is present in the default */boot/loader.rc* file, so it is not needed (and should not be re-issued) in a normal setup.

The commands provided by it are:

- **draw-beastie**

  Draws the FreeBSD logo.

  The logo that is drawn is configured by setting the **loader\_logo** variable in [loader.conf(5)](/loader.conf/5.md) to one of “beastie”, “beastiebw”, “fbsdbw”, “orb”, and “orbbw” (the default).

  The position of the logo can be configured by setting the **loader\_logo\_x** and **loader\_logo\_y** variables in [loader.conf(5)](/loader.conf/5.md). The default values are 46 (x) and 4 (y).

- **clear-beastie**

  Clears the screen of beastie.

- **beastie-start**

  Initializes the interactive boot loader menu.

  The **loader\_delay** variable can be configured in [loader.conf(5)](/loader.conf/5.md) to the number of seconds you would like to delay loading the boot menu. During the delay the user can press Ctrl-C to fall back to **autoboot** or ENTER to proceed. The default behavior is to not delay.

The environment variables that effect its behavior are:

- *loader\_logo*

  Selects the desired logo in the beastie boot menu. Possible values are: “fbsdbw”, “beastie”, “beastiebw”, “orb”, “orbbw” (default), and “none”.

- *loader\_logo\_x*

  Sets the desired column position of the logo. Default is 46.

- *loader\_logo\_y*

  Sets the desired row position of the logo. Default is 4.

- *beastie\_disable*

  If set to “YES”, the beastie boot menu will be skipped. The beastie boot menu is always skipped if running non-x86 hardware.

- *loader\_delay*

  If set to a number higher than zero, introduces a delay before starting the beastie boot menu. During the delay the user can press either Ctrl-C to skip the menu or ENTER to proceed to the menu. The default is to not delay when loading the menu.

## FILES

- */boot/loader*

  The [loader(8)](/loader/8.md).

- */boot/beastie.4th*

  **beastie.4th** itself.

- */boot/loader.rc*

  [loader(8)](/loader/8.md) bootstrapping script.

## EXAMPLES

Standard i386 */boot/loader.rc*:

```
include /boot/beastie.4th
beastie-start
```

Set a different logo in [loader.conf(5)](/loader.conf/5.md):

```
loader_logo="beastie"
```

## SEE ALSO

[loader.conf(5)](/loader.conf/5.md), [loader(8)](/loader/8.md), [loader.4th(8)](/loader.4th/8.md)

## HISTORY

The **beastie.4th** set of commands first appeared in FreeBSD 5.1.

## AUTHORS

The **beastie.4th** set of commands was written by Scott Long ⟨*scottl@FreeBSD.org*⟩, Aleksander Fafula ⟨*alex@fafula.com*⟩ and Devin Teske ⟨*dteske@FreeBSD.org*⟩.