Display files are displayed by the BBS to the user at certain times while a user is online. These files exist in the theme's text directory and have an extension of either .ANS or .ASC, where .ANS files contain ANSI color codes and .ASC contain either pipe color codes, or no color at all.

Some display files are displayed by certain events within the BBS, such as the user's birthday. Others are used within certain functions of the BBS such as reading messages. Others are shown by executing a menu command on one of your menus, or from within MPL or Python scripting.

The extension of the display file will automatically be resolved based on the user's terminal emulation. If the user has ANSI graphics enabled, then Mystic will select a .ANS file. If no .ANS file exists, then Mystic will instead look for the same file but with an .ASC extension. Similarly, if the user does not have ANSI terminal emulation, then Mystic will immediately look for the .ASC extension.

Pipe color codes can be used in .ASC files, and Mystic will filter them out just as is does anywhere else in the BBS, displaying the colors when the user has ANSI and not displaying colors when they don't. This allows the option to have a single .ASC file which can work for both ANSI colors and non-ANSI emulations, if so desired.