How Runs Work in Netrunner: Servers, Ice, and Access

Last updated: August 5, 2026

TLDR

A run starts when the Runner chooses a server and spends a click or uses a card ability to attack it.
The Runner approaches ice from the outside in. The Corp may rez each piece, then the Runner deals with any unbroken subroutines.
After passing a server position, the Runner may continue or jack out.
Reaching the server makes the run successful. The Runner then breaches it and accesses the associated cards.
A successful run is not automatically a profitable run. Spending eight credits to access a Hedge Fund is still success, technically.

Learning how runs work in Netrunner is the point where the game stops looking like a pile of cyberpunk nouns and starts behaving like a system. A run is not one action with one result. It is a sequence of choices involving servers, ice, credits, subroutines, hidden information, and the increasingly important question, “Do I really want to keep going?”

The formal timing structure has six phases. You do not need to recite them during your first game, but understanding the order prevents most beginner mistakes.

What a Run Is For

The Runner makes runs to access the Corp’s cards.

A run can let the Runner:

Steal an agenda.
Trash an asset or upgrade by paying its trash cost.
Force the Corp to rez ice and spend credits.
Learn what the Corp has installed or may be holding.
Trigger abilities that reward runs, successful runs, or accesses.

The obvious prize is an agenda. But information and economic pressure matter too. A run that forces the Corp to rez expensive ice may create a later scoring window even when the access finds nothing useful.

For the wider strategic picture, read Runner vs Corp Netrunner: What Each Side Is Trying to Do.

Know the Servers

The Corp has three central servers and can create remote servers.

HQ

HQ is the Corp’s hand. A normal breach accesses one random card from the hand, plus any cards installed in the root of HQ.

R&D

R&D is the Corp’s deck. A normal breach accesses the top card, plus cards installed in the root of R&D.

Remote Servers

Remote servers contain installed cards and may be protected by ice. Agendas, assets, and upgrades can appear there, which is why an advanced facedown card may be an agenda, a trap, or an asset doing a very committed impression of either.

How Runs Work in Netrunner, Step by Step

1. Initiate the Run

The Runner announces the attacked server.

A basic run normally costs one click, though card abilities can initiate runs with special conditions. If the server has ice, the Runner approaches the outermost piece first. If it has no ice, the run skips ahead toward the server.

Before running, check:

Your available credits.
Your installed breakers and other interaction.
Your grip size and tolerance for unpleasant surprises.

Perfect information is not required. A reasonable risk budget is.

2. Approach Ice

The Runner approaches ice from the outside toward the server.

During the approach, the Corp may rez that piece of ice by paying its rez cost. If it is rezzed, the Runner encounters it. If the Corp leaves it unrezzed, the Runner passes that position without encountering it.

The ice stays installed either way. The Corp can rez it during a later run, assuming the economy department eventually approves the expense.

3. Encounter Rezzed Ice

During an encounter, the ice’s subroutines threaten to resolve.

A typical icebreaker needs to meet two requirements:

It must be allowed to interface with that ice, often by matching its subtype.
Its strength must meet or exceed the ice’s strength.

The standard beginner pairings are:

Fracter against Barrier
Decoder against Code Gate
Killer against Sentry

Meeting strength does not break the subroutines. It only permits the breaker to interact with the ice. The Runner must still pay the relevant ability costs.

For more detail, see Netrunner Ice and Icebreakers Explained.

You Do Not Have to Break Everything

After the Runner finishes using abilities, the Corp resolves each unbroken subroutine from top to bottom.

Some end the run. Others cost credits, cause damage, give tags, trash programs, or create another form of mandatory professional development.

The Runner may accept a subroutine when its effect is cheaper than breaking it. Ask:

Does it end the run?
Can I safely accept the effect?
Is breaking it cheaper than recovering afterward?
Will the effect ruin the rest of my turn or game plan?

One damage with a full grip is not the same as one damage when you are nearly flatlined. Context remains annoyingly relevant.

4. Continue or Jack Out

If the run has not ended, the Runner passes the current position and enters the movement phase.

The Runner may now jack out, voluntarily ending the run unsuccessfully. If the Runner continues and another piece of ice remains inward, the next approach begins. This repeats until the Runner stops or reaches the server.

Jacking out is often correct. A facecheck may reveal ice that is too dangerous or expensive. Leaving preserves cards, credits, and installed programs while giving you information for the next attempt.

A declared run is not a blood oath.

5. Reach the Server

After passing the innermost ice, the Runner approaches the server. If no effect ends the run, it reaches the success phase and is declared successful.

Successful-run abilities resolve at the proper time, then the Runner breaches the server.

These terms are related but different:

Successful run: The Runner reached the server.
Breach: The process that determines which cards may be accessed.
Access: The Runner examines and may interact with one card.

Casual conversation often merges these terms. Card timing does not.

6. Breach and Access

Cards are accessed one at a time.

Agenda: The Runner must steal it.
Asset or upgrade: The Runner may usually pay its trash cost to trash it, unless it is already in Archives.
Operation or ice: Normally nothing immediate happens, but the Runner gains information.
Card with an access ability: Resolve that ability as instructed. A facedown card does not need to be rezzed before becoming rude during access.

The Runner must access every card they are allowed to access during the breach. If several accesses are available, their order can matter.

After the breach finishes, the run ends successfully.

A Complete Run Example

A Runner attacks a remote protected by two facedown pieces of ice.

The Runner spends a click and announces the remote.
The Corp rezzes the outer ice, a Barrier with an end-the-run subroutine.
The Runner boosts a fracter and breaks that subroutine.
The Runner passes the ice and continues.
The Corp leaves the inner ice unrezzed, so the Runner passes it.
The Runner reaches the server, makes a successful run, and breaches it.
If the installed card is an agenda, the Runner steals it. If it is an asset or upgrade, the Runner decides whether to pay its trash cost.
The run ends.

Card abilities can bend this structure, but the normal sequence remains recognizable.

Use the Four-Question Run Check

Before making an important run, ask four questions.

What Is My Target?

Are you checking an advanced remote, pressuring HQ, attacking R&D, or clearing an asset?

“Run somewhere” is what happens when the fourth click arrives and everyone is looking at you.

What Is the Likely Cost?

Count known ice, then leave room for unrezzed ice, paid abilities, and trash costs after access.

A run that leaves you broke may be correct. It should be correct on purpose.

What Is the Safety Risk?

Check grip size, tags, exposed programs, and known damage or punishment.

The question is not only, “Can I get in?” It is, “What happens to me while doing it?”

What Is the Payoff?

Possible payoffs include agenda points, forced rezzes, trashed cards, information, successful-run triggers, or better future runs.

If the cost is high and the payoff is vague, wait.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Forgetting Breaker Strength

A breaker generally must meet or exceed the encountered ice’s strength before it can break subroutines.

Assuming Strength Automatically Breaks Ice

Strength permits interaction. You still need to pay to break the subroutines.

Breaking Harmless Subroutines

Not every subroutine deserves your credits. Read the effect and decide whether it matters now.

Forgetting Central-Server Roots

HQ, R&D, and Archives can contain installed cards in their roots in addition to the normal central access.

Refusing to Jack Out

Information has value. Preserving your rig and economy often has more.

How Runs Work in Netrunner FAQ

Can the Runner Jack Out Before Encountering the First Ice?

Normally, the standard opportunity to jack out occurs during the movement phase after passing a server position. Card abilities can create exceptions.

Can the Corp Rez Ice at Any Time?

No. The normal opportunity to rez a specific piece of ice is while the Runner is approaching it during a run. Other cards and abilities may create additional timing opportunities.

Does Breaking Ice Trash It?

No. Breaking subroutines only prevents those subroutines from resolving during the current encounter. The ice remains installed and rezzed unless another effect changes it.

Does the Runner Have to Steal an Agenda?

Yes. An accessed agenda must be stolen unless a card effect specifically changes or prevents that result.

Is Every Successful Run Worth Making?

No. Judge the run by its cost, information, forced Corp spending, and effect on your game plan.

Final Takeaway

The cleanest explanation of how runs work in Netrunner is this:

Choose a server. Approach ice from the outside in. Let the Corp decide what to rez. Encounter each rezzed piece, break or accept its subroutines, and decide whether to continue. Reach the server, breach it, and access the cards.

The procedure is orderly. The decisions are not. That is why the system stays interesting.