Deadfish has the following four commands:
| Standard | XKCD | Explanation |
| i | x | Increment memory cell |
| d | k | Decrement memory cell |
| s | c | Square operation |
| o | d | Output of the memory cell |
The data memory consists of a single cell that can hold values between 0 and 255. An overflow occurs for values less than 0 or greater than 255.