set mail [<0|1|2|3>]

This setting affects how the client checks for new mail. When set to 0 (zero), mail checking is disabled. When set to 1 (one), the client will periodically report how many new messages have arrived since the last check, and the total message count. When set to 2 (two), the client shows the sender and subject of each new message as well. When set to 3 (three), the client does everything it does when set to 2, and it will also reset the mtime and atime for your mail box after it is done reading it.

The client will only search for new mail in the user's mail spool. The mail spool directory location is hardcoded into the client at compile time.