Working modes

PN532Killer adds three working modes to the standard PN532 command set. A standard PN532 stays in reader operation and does not support hw mode.

Reader / PN532 mode

Enter Reader modePN532Killer

pn532> hw mode r

Stops the active extended mode and restores PN532-compatible reader operation.

Use Reader mode for normal hf 14a, hf mf, hf mfu, ntag, and PN532Killer hf 15 operations. Return here before moving directly between Emulator and Sniffer modes.

Emulator mode

Enter Emulator modePN532Killer

pn532> hw mode e -t TYPE -s SLOT

Activates one prepared emulator profile. Replace TYPE and SLOT with the values below.

Type	Profile
1	MIFARE Classic
2	MIFARE Ultralight / NTAG
3	ISO/IEC 15693
4	EM4100, with supported extension

The CLI shows slots as 1–8. Prepare the correct slot data before enabling it; the underlying protocol indexes those same slots as 0–7.

Sniffer mode

Sniff without the original tagPN532Killer

pn532> hw mode s -t 0

Selects the capture mode used by the authorized MFKey32v2 workflow.

Sniff with the original tagPN532Killer

pn532> hw mode s -t 1

Selects the capture mode used by the authorized MFKey64 workflow.

• Type 0: capture without the original tag, used by the MFKey32v2 workflow.
• Type 1: capture with the original authorized tag, used by the MFKey64 workflow.

Exit back to Reader mode after the intended interaction:

Exit Sniffer modePN532Killer

pn532> hw mode r

The PN532 CLI beta retrieves and analyzes the captured records with hf mf mfkey32v2 or hf mf mfkey64. Packaged beta releases include the helpers; source installations must build them with ./script/build_helpers.sh.

Authorized use only

Capture only systems and credentials that you own or have explicit authorization to assess.