| Branches | Decimal Mode | Interrupt Flag | Overflow Flag | Program Counter | Stack | Times | Wrap-around |
| ADC | AND | ASL | BCC | BCS | BEQ | BIT | BMI | BNE | BPL | BRK | BVC | BVS | CLC |
| CLD | CLI | CLV | CMP | CPX | CPY | DEC | DEX | DEY | EOR | INC | INX | INY | JMP |
| JSR | LDA | LDX | LDY | LSR | NOP | ORA | PHA | PHP | PLA | PLP | ROL | ROR | RTI |
| RTS | SBC | SEC | SED | SEI | STA | STX | STY | TAX | TAY | TSX | TXA | TXS | TYA |
Affects Flags: S V Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate ADC #$44 $69 2 2 Zero Page ADC $44 $65 2 3 Zero Page,X ADC $44,X $75 2 4 Absolute ADC $4400 $6D 3 4 Absolute,X ADC $4400,X $7D 3 4+ Absolute,Y ADC $4400,Y $79 3 4+ Indirect,X ADC ($44,X) $61 2 6 Indirect,Y ADC ($44),Y $71 2 5+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossedADC results are dependant on the setting of the decimal flag. In decimal mode, addition is carried out on the assumption that the values involved are packed BCD (Binary Coded Decimal).
There is no way to add without carry.
Affects Flags: S Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate AND #$44 $29 2 2 Zero Page AND $44 $25 2 2 Zero Page,X AND $44,X $35 2 3 Absolute AND $4400 $2D 3 4 Absolute,X AND $4400,X $3D 3 4+ Absolute,Y AND $4400,Y $39 3 4+ Indirect,X AND ($44,X) $21 2 6 Indirect,Y AND ($44),Y $31 2 5+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossed
Affects Flags: S Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Accumulator ASL A $0A 1 2 Zero Page ASL $44 $06 2 5 Zero Page,X ASL $44,X $16 2 6 Absolute ASL $4400 $0E 3 6 Absolute,X ASL $4400,X $1E 3 7ASL shifts all bits left one position. 0 is shifted into bit 0 and the original bit 7 is shifted into the Carry.
Affects Flags: N V Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Zero Page BIT $44 $24 2 3 Absolute BIT $4400 $2C 3 4BIT sets the Z flag as though the value in the address tested were ANDed with the accumulator. The S and V flags are set to match bits 7 and 6 respectively in the value stored at the tested address.
BIT is often used to skip one or two following bytes as in:
CLOSE1 LDX #$10 If entered here, we
.BYTE $2C effectively perform
CLOSE2 LDX #$20 a BIT test on $20A2,
.BYTE $2C another one on $30A2,
CLOSE3 LDX #$30 and end up with the X
CLOSEX LDA #12 register still at $10
STA ICCOM,X upon arrival here.
Affect Flags: none
All branches are relative mode and have a length of two bytes. Syntax is "Bxx Displacement" or (better) "Bxx Label". See the notes on the Program Counter for more on displacements.
Branches are dependant on the status of the flag bits when the op code is encountered. A branch not taken requires two machine cycles. Add one if the branch is taken and add one more if the branch crosses a page boundary.
MNEMONIC HEX BPL (Branch on PLus) $10 BMI (Branch on MInus) $30 BVC (Branch on oVerflow Clear) $50 BVS (Branch on oVerflow Set) $70 BCC (Branch on Carry Clear) $90 BCS (Branch on Carry Set) $B0 BNE (Branch on Not Equal) $D0 BEQ (Branch on EQual) $F0There is no BRA (BRanch Always) instruction but it can be easily emulated by branching on the basis of a known condition. One of the best flags to use for this purpose is the oVerflow which is unchanged by all but addition and subtraction operations.
A page boundary crossing occurs when the branch destination is on a different page than the instruction AFTER the branch instruction. For example:
SEC BCS LABEL NOPA page boundary crossing occurs (i.e. the BCS takes 4 cycles) when (the address of) LABEL and the NOP are on different pages. This means that
CLV
BVC LABEL
LABEL NOP
the BVC instruction will take 3 cycles no matter what address it is located
at.
Affects Flags: B
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Implied BRK $00 1 7BRK causes a non-maskable interrupt and increments the program counter by one. Therefore an RTI will go to the address of the BRK +2 so that BRK may be used to replace a two-byte instruction for debugging and the subsequent RTI will be correct.
Affects Flags: S Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate CMP #$44 $C9 2 2 Zero Page CMP $44 $C5 2 3 Zero Page,X CMP $44,X $D5 2 4 Absolute CMP $4400 $CD 3 4 Absolute,X CMP $4400,X $DD 3 4+ Absolute,Y CMP $4400,Y $D9 3 4+ Indirect,X CMP ($44,X) $C1 2 6 Indirect,Y CMP ($44),Y $D1 2 5+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossedCompare sets flags as if a subtraction had been carried out. If the value in the accumulator is equal or greater than the compared value, the Carry will be set. The equal (Z) and sign (S) flags will be set based on equality or lack thereof and the sign (i.e. A>=$80) of the accumulator.
Affects Flags: S Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate CPX #$44 $E0 2 2 Zero Page CPX $44 $E4 2 3 Absolute CPX $4400 $EC 3 4Operation and flag results are identical to equivalent mode accumulator CMP ops.
Affects Flags: S Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate CPY #$44 $C0 2 2 Zero Page CPY $44 $C4 2 3 Absolute CPY $4400 $CC 3 4Operation and flag results are identical to equivalent mode accumulator CMP ops.
Affects Flags: S Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Zero Page DEC $44 $C6 2 5 Zero Page,X DEC $44,X $D6 2 6 Absolute DEC $4400 $CE 3 6 Absolute,X DEC $4400,X $DE 3 7
Affects Flags: S Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate EOR #$44 $49 2 2 Zero Page EOR $44 $45 2 3 Zero Page,X EOR $44,X $55 2 4 Absolute EOR $4400 $4D 3 4 Absolute,X EOR $4400,X $5D 3 4+ Absolute,Y EOR $4400,Y $59 3 4+ Indirect,X EOR ($44,X) $41 2 6 Indirect,Y EOR ($44),Y $51 2 5+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossed
Affect Flags: as noted
These instructions are implied mode, have a length of one byte and require two machine cycles.
MNEMONIC HEX CLC (CLear Carry) $18 SEC (SEt Carry) $38 CLI (CLear Interrupt) $58 SEI (SEt Interrupt) $78 CLV (CLear oVerflow) $B8 CLD (CLear Decimal) $D8 SED (SEt Decimal) $F8Notes:
The Interrupt flag is used to prevent (SEI) or enable (CLI) maskable interrupts (aka IRQ's). It does not signal the presence or absence of an interrupt condition. The 6502 will set this flag automatically in response to an interrupt and restore it to its prior status on completion of the interrupt service routine. If you want your interrupt service routine to permit other maskable interrupts, you must clear the I flag in your code.
The Decimal flag controls how the 6502 adds and subtracts. If set, arithmetic is carried out in packed binary coded decimal. This flag is unchanged by interrupts and is unknown on power-up. The implication is that a CLD should be included in boot or interrupt coding.
The Overflow flag is generally misunderstood and therefore under-utilised. After an ADC or SBC instruction, the overflow flag will be set if the twos complement result is less than -128 or greater than +127, and it will cleared otherwise. In twos complement, $80 through $FF represents -128 through -1, and $00 through $7F represents 0 through +127. Thus, after:
CLC LDA #$7F ; +127 ADC #$01 ; + +1the overflow flag is 1 (+127 + +1 = +128), and after:
CLC LDA #$81 ; -127 ADC #$FF ; + -1the overflow flag is 0 (-127 + -1 = -128). The overflow flag is not affected by increments, decrements, shifts and logical operations i.e. only ADC, BIT, CLV, PLP, RTI and SBC affect it. There is no op code to set the overflow but a BIT test on an RTS instruction will do the trick.
Affects Flags: S Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Zero Page INC $44 $E6 2 5 Zero Page,X INC $44,X $F6 2 6 Absolute INC $4400 $EE 3 6 Absolute,X INC $4400,X $FE 3 7
Affects Flags: none
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Absolute JMP $5597 $4C 3 3 Indirect JMP ($5597) $6C 3 5JMP transfers program execution to the following address (absolute) or to the location contained in the following address (indirect). Note that there is no carry associated with the indirect jump so:
For example if address $3000 contains $40, $30FF contains $80, and $3100 contains $50, the result of JMP ($30FF) will be a transfer of control to $4080 rather than $5080 as you intended i.e. the 6502 took the low byte of the address from $30FF and the high byte from $3000.AN INDIRECT JUMP MUST NEVER USE A
VECTOR BEGINNING ON THE LAST BYTE
OF A PAGE
Affects Flags: none
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Absolute JSR $5597 $20 3 6JSR pushes the address-1 of the next operation on to the stack before transferring program control to the following address. Subroutines are normally terminated by a RTS op code.
Affects Flags: S Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate LDA #$44 $A9 2 2 Zero Page LDA $44 $A5 2 3 Zero Page,X LDA $44,X $B5 2 4 Absolute LDA $4400 $AD 3 4 Absolute,X LDA $4400,X $BD 3 4+ Absolute,Y LDA $4400,Y $B9 3 4+ Indirect,X LDA ($44,X) $A1 2 6 Indirect,Y LDA ($44),Y $B1 2 5+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossed
Affects Flags: S Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate LDX #$44 $A2 2 2 Zero Page LDX $44 $A6 2 3 Zero Page,Y LDX $44,Y $B6 2 4 Absolute LDX $4400 $AE 3 4 Absolute,Y LDX $4400,Y $BE 3 4+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossed
Affects Flags: S Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate LDY #$44 $A0 2 2 Zero Page LDY $44 $A4 2 3 Zero Page,X LDY $44,X $B4 2 4 Absolute LDY $4400 $AC 3 4 Absolute,X LDY $4400,X $BC 3 4+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossed
Affects Flags: S Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Accumulator LSR A $4A 1 2 Zero Page LSR $44 $46 2 5 Zero Page,X LSR $44,X $56 2 6 Absolute LSR $4400 $4E 3 6 Absolute,X LSR $4400,X $5E 3 7LSR shifts all bits right one position. 0 is shifted into bit 7 and the original bit 0 is shifted into the Carry.
Use caution with indexed zero page operations as they are subject to wrap-around. For example, if the X register holds $FF and you execute LDA $80,X you will not access $017F as you might expect; instead you access $7F i.e. $80-1. This characteristic can be used to advantage but make sure your code is well commented.
It is possible, however, to access $017F when X = $FF by using the Absolute,X addressing mode of LDA $80,X. That is, instead of:
LDA $80,X ; ZeroPage,X - the resulting object code is: B5 80which accesses $007F when X=$FF, use:
LDA $0080,X ; Absolute,X - the resulting object code is: BD 80 00which accesses $017F when X = $FF (a at cost of one additional byte and one additional cycle). All of the ZeroPage,X and ZeroPage,Y instructions except STX ZeroPage,Y and STY ZeroPage,X have a corresponding Absolute,X and Absolute,Y instruction. Unfortunately, a lot of 6502 assemblers don't have an easy way to force Absolute addressing, i.e. most will assemble a LDA $0080,X as B5 80. One way to overcome this is to insert the bytes using the .BYTE pseudo-op (on some 6502 assemblers this pseudo-op is called DB or DFB, consult the assembler documentation) as follows:
.BYTE $BD,$00,$80 ; LDA $0080,X (absolute,X addressing mode)The comment is optional, but highly recommended for clarity.
In cases where you are writing code that will be relocated you must consider wrap-around when assigning dummy values for addresses that will be adjusted. Both zero and the semi-standard $FFFF should be avoided for dummy labels. The use of zero or zero page values will result in assembled code with zero page opcodes when you wanted absolute codes. With $FFFF, the problem is in addresses+1 as you wrap around to page 0.
When the 6502 is ready for the next instruction it increments the program counter before fetching the instruction. Once it has the op code, it increments the program counter by the length of the operand, if any. This must be accounted for when calculating branches or when pushing bytes to create a false return address (i.e. jump table addresses are made up of addresses-1 when it is intended to use an RTS rather than a JMP).
The program counter is loaded least signifigant byte first. Therefore the most signifigant byte must be pushed first when creating a false return address.
When calculating branches a forward branch of 6 skips the following 6 bytes so, effectively the program counter points to the address that is 8 bytes beyond the address of the branch opcode; and a backward branch of $FA (256-6) goes to an address 4 bytes before the branch instruction.
Op code execution times are measured in machine cycles; one machine cycle equals one clock cycle. Many instructions require one extra cycle for execution if a page boundary is crossed; these are indicated by a + following the time values shown.
Affects Flags: none
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Implied NOP $EA 1 2NOP is used to reserve space for future modifications or effectively REM out existing code.
Affects Flags: S Z
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate ORA #$44 $09 2 2 Zero Page ORA $44 $05 2 2 Zero Page,X ORA $44,X $15 2 3 Absolute ORA $4400 $0D 3 4 Absolute,X ORA $4400,X $1D 3 4+ Absolute,Y ORA $4400,Y $19 3 4+ Indirect,X ORA ($44,X) $01 2 6 Indirect,Y ORA ($44),Y $11 2 5+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossed
Affect Flags: S Z
These instructions are implied mode, have a length of one byte and require two machine cycles.
MNEMONIC HEX TAX (Transfer A to X) $AA TXA (Transfer X to A) $8A DEX (DEcrement X) $CA INX (INcrement X) $E8 TAY (Transfer A to Y) $A8 TYA (Transfer Y to A) $98 DEY (DEcrement Y) $88 INY (INcrement Y) $C8
Affects Flags: S Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Accumulator ROL A $2A 1 2 Zero Page ROL $44 $26 2 5 Zero Page,X ROL $44,X $36 2 6 Absolute ROL $4400 $2E 3 6 Absolute,X ROL $4400,X $3E 3 7ROL shifts all bits left one position. The Carry is shifted into bit 0 and the original bit 7 is shifted into the Carry.
Affects Flags: S Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Accumulator ROR A $6A 1 2 Zero Page ROR $44 $66 2 5 Zero Page,X ROR $44,X $76 2 6 Absolute ROR $4400 $6E 3 6 Absolute,X ROR $4400,X $7E 3 7ROR shifts all bits right one position. The Carry is shifted into bit 7 and the original bit 0 is shifted into the Carry.
Affects Flags: all
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Implied RTI $40 1 6RTI retrieves the Processor Status Word (flags) and the Program Counter from the stack in that order (interrupts push the PC first and then the PSW).
Note that unlike RTS, the return address on the stack is the actual address rather than the address-1.
Affects Flags: none
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Implied RTS $60 1 6RTS pulls the top two bytes off the stack (low byte first) and transfers program control to that address+1. It is used, as expected, to exit a subroutine invoked via JSR which pushed the address-1.
RTS is frequently used to implement a jump table where addresses-1 are pushed onto the stack and accessed via RTS eg. to access the second of four routines:
LDX #1 JSR EXEC JMP SOMEWHERE LOBYTE .BYTE <ROUTINE0-1,<ROUTINE1-1 .BYTE <ROUTINE2-1,<ROUTINE3-1 HIBYTE .BYTE >ROUTINE0-1,>ROUTINE1-1 .BYTE >ROUTINE2-1,>ROUTINE3-1 EXEC LDA HIBYTE,X PHA LDA LOBYTE,X PHA RTS
Affects Flags: S V Z C
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Immediate SBC #$44 $E9 2 2 Zero Page SBC $44 $E5 2 3 Zero Page,X SBC $44,X $F5 2 4 Absolute SBC $4400 $ED 3 4 Absolute,X SBC $4400,X $FD 3 4+ Absolute,Y SBC $4400,Y $F9 3 4+ Indirect,X SBC ($44,X) $E1 2 6 Indirect,Y SBC ($44),Y $F1 2 5+ + add 1 cycle if page boundary crossedSBC results are dependant on the setting of the decimal flag. In decimal mode, subtraction is carried out on the assumption that the values involved are packed BCD (Binary Coded Decimal).
There is no way to subtract without the carry which works as an inverse borrow. i.e, to subtract you set the carry before the operation. If the carry is cleared by the operation, it indicates a borrow occurred.
Affects Flags: none
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Zero Page STA $44 $85 2 3 Zero Page,X STA $44,X $95 2 4 Absolute STA $4400 $8D 3 4 Absolute,X STA $4400,X $9D 3 5 Absolute,Y STA $4400,Y $99 3 5 Indirect,X STA ($44,X) $81 2 6 Indirect,Y STA ($44),Y $91 2 6
These instructions are implied mode, have a length of one byte and require machine cycles as indicated. The "PuLl" operations are known as "POP" on most other microprocessors. With the 6502, the stack is always on page one ($100-$1FF) and works top down.
MNEMONIC HEX TIM TXS (Transfer X to Stack ptr) $9A 2 TSX (Transfer Stack ptr to X) $BA 2 PHA (PusH Accumulator) $48 3 PLA (PuLl Accumulator) $68 4 PHP (PusH Processor status) $08 3 PLP (PuLl Processor status) $28 4
Affects Flags: none
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Zero Page STX $44 $86 2 3 Zero Page,Y STX $44,Y $96 2 4 Absolute STX $4400 $8E 3 4
Affects Flags: none
MODE SYNTAX HEX LEN TIM Zero Page STY $44 $84 2 3 Zero Page,X STY $44,X $94 2 4 Absolute STY $4400 $8C 3 4
Last Updated March 30, 2001.