There are 8 cardinal directions in NetHack. You can use either the number keys or the vi-keys:

If you have a number pad on your keyboard, you can turn on the num lock and set number_pad:1 in your options to use the keys for directions and movement:

7	8	9
4		6
1	2	3

To use the vi-keys for directions or movement, set number_pad:0 in your options:

y	k	u
h		l
b	j	n

Whenever you are prompted for a direction, you can also use the following:

• upwards, <
• downward, >
• towards yourself, s or .