Command Line Options

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1 Source Games
2 GoldSrc Games
3 Source 2 Games
- 3.1 Command-Line Parameters
4 Steam
- 4.1 Command-Line Parameters
  - 4.1.1 Deprecated Command-Line Parameters
5 HldsUpdateTool (Windows), Steam (Linux)
6 SteamCMD
7 Source Dedicated Server
8 GoldSrc / Half-Life Dedicated Server
9 Troubleshooting the Server Console
10 See Also

Source Games

These command-line parameters will work with any Source engine games ( Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, etc.).

Syntax: hl2.exe <parameter1> <parameter2> <cvar1> <cvar2>

Note: Parameters are written inside the "<" and ">" characters.

Usage

These options can be used with:

Hammer editor Run Map dialog.
Windows shortcuts pointing to hl2.exe directly.
Windows shortcuts pointing to steam.exe with the proper -applaunch <AppID> specified (see Steam section below).
Command-line batch script files launching these applications.
Linux shell scripts pointing to the application with launch options. executable -command

Examples

steam.exe -applaunch 280 -dev -console -sw +sv_lan 1 +map MyMap
hl2.exe -game cstrike -dev -console -fullscreen +sv_lan 1 +map de_dust

Command-Line Parameters

Argument	Description
-32bit	Forces the engine to start in 32-bit mode. Only useful on 64-bit Operating Systems and 64-bit version of the engine.
-NoLoadPluginsForClient
-NoQueuedPacketThread	(Linux) No queued packet thread will be created.
-NoVConfig	Prevents the filesystem library from running VConfig if it encounters a filesystem error where it cannot find the game content.
-adapter	Sets the GL graphics adapter. Default is 0.
-all_languages	Loads all language files.
-allowdebug	Fakes a debugger for phonehome, and is the same as -dev, unless -nodev is specified.
-allowmultiple (in all games since )	Allows multiple Source games to run at the same time. Only works if a `VPROJECT` environment variable is set. Use `-multirun` instead for Source 2013. Note: Source games that do not support this (or `-multirun`) can be run at the same time as a game that does, as long as the other game that doesn't support it was started first. Note: In Strata Source, both `-allowmultiple` and `-multirun` are supported, `VPROJECT` is not required, and using either will disable creating the Source mutex entirely, so any other game can still be started at the same time. Confirm:Windows only?
-allowstalezip	Suppresses console warnings from stale.txt existing.
-autoconfig	Restores video and performance settings to default for the current hardware detected. Ignores settings inside any .cfg files until this parameter is removed.
-background `n` (only in )	Forces the main menu background ID to the integer `n` for the current session.
-basedir	Sets the base directory for the game files. On Xbox 360 RFS, this is forced to smb://hostname/game.
-bi	Defines the build identifier ID which is used in phonehome
-bugbait	Used internally to tell the game it is loading a Bugbait (the name of the bug reporting system) bug report.
-bugreporterdll	Name of the bug reporter DLL to use
-buildcubemaps	Builds cubemaps when fully loaded into a map, then quits the game.
-ccsyntax	Spew details about the localized strings we load.
-clientport	Sets the client port. Default is 27002.
-collate	Skips everything, just merges the reslist from temp folders to the final folder again.
-conclearlog	Clears the `console.log` text file on start. Only works if -condebug set.
-condebug	Logs all console output into the `console.log` text file.
-console	Starts the game with the developer console enabled. Same as having con_enable enabled.
-d3d9ex	Reduce CPU memory about %40. "csgo" only.
-deathsonly	Supposed to only count deaths while parsing tf2 gamestats, but actually pointless because there is only code for deaths.
-debugdxsupport	Writes debug DirectX information as keyvalues to the console as shader devices are loading configuration.
-defaultgamedir	Fallback directory if "-game" is not set. Default is "hl2".
-demo	Enters the game into demo mode. Only works for Half-Life 2 and Portal
-dev	Enables developer mode. Also disables the automatic loading of menu background maps and stops the quit dialog from appearing on exit.
-disallowhwmorph	Same as `mat_disablehwmorph 1`. Disables HW morphing for particular mods.
-dti	Prints the datatable when being sent
-dumpvidmemstats	Spews video memory statistics to vidmemstats.txt. This forces CModelLoader to quit.
-dvd	Enables strict DVD mode. Allows loading files from DVD only. Xbox 360 only.
-dvddev	Enables developer DVD mode. Allows loading files from a remote path as a fallback as well as the DVD. Xbox 360 only.
-dxlevel <level>	Forces the game to start using specified DirectX API version. Officially supported values are: 60, 70, 80, 81, 90, 91, 95 (recommended), 98 (Xbox 360 only), and 100 ( only). After starting the game with this launch parameter, the selected value will be saved for future start ups and video settings will be temporarily reset (but not saved), so it is highly recommended to remove this launch parameter after first launch with it. See mat_dxlevel.
-edit	According to comments, intended to replace -tools. Does nothing except disable all file logging for building reslists.
-enablefakeip
-endgamevid	If specified startup videos will not be skipped, and EndGameVids.txt will be used instead of StartupVids.txt. This can also be invoked by the command "startupmenu playendgamevid", which bails back to the menu and plays the end game video.
-exit	Quits the game after fully loading into a map.
-filmgrain	Enables the `filmgrain` screen space effect. Crashes the game on "hl2". In effect works and enabled by default
-floathdr	Forces HDR to use float values.
-flushlog	Causes log files to be flushed to disk once per second (rather than after every 4kbytes of log data).
-forcenovsync	Forces vsync to be disabled.
-forcestartupmenu	Forces the background menu map to always load, even if developer mode is active or the game is loading straight to a level.
-forcexboxreconfig	Forces default config settings to be loaded on Xbox 360.
-forever	When you get to the end of the maplist, start over from the top
-freq <rate>	Same as -refresh
-fs_log	Starts creating a batch file to copy files at the specified filename. This works on the latest engine branch.
-fs_logbins	Logs binaries to the batch file from -fs_log.
-fs_nopreloaddata	Loads in the precompiled keyvalues data for each type. Works only with dedicated servers.
-fs_target	Sets the target game directory to copy files to, used with -fs_log.
-full_memory_dumps
-fullscreen or -full	Forces the engine to start in fullscreen mode.
-g15	Enables Logitech G15 support. G15 is only supported in SiN Episodes: Emergence. ^[confirm]
-game	Sets game or mod directory to load the game from. Usually is set by default if not user specified. Default is "-defaultgamedir"'s setting. If -defaultgamedir is not set, "hl2" is used.
-gamepadui	(in ) Enables the controller-oriented UI used on Steam Deck, and also enables the Vulkan renderer. (in ) Makes the main menu logo and loading screen bigger, also enables the Vulkan renderer. (in ) Makes the HUD bigger, also enables the Vulkan renderer. This is launched by default on Steam Deck.
-gamestatslogging	Enables game stats logging.
-gamestatsloggingtofile	Enables game stats logging out to a file, gamestats.log. Passing this parameter automatically forces -gamestatslogging.
-gamestatstag <tag>	Tags each map reported with the specified tag.
-gl_enablesamplerobjects	(Linux) Use OpenGL Sampler Objects for better texture preloading
-gl_texclientstorage	(MacOS) Reduce memory usage by relying on GPU memory instead of a host copy
-heapcheck	(Windows only) Check if the heap isn't damaged or empty at the initiation of the game and every frame
-heapsize <kilobytes>	Specifies the heapsize (in kilobyte) the game will use. This no longer exists on later version of Source 2009 and Source Multiplayer.
-height <height>, -h	Forces the engine to start with resolution set to `<height>`. Ex: `-h 768`
-hideconsole	Forces the console hidden, whatever parameters are passed. This overrides -console, -dev, and all others.
-high	Sets the game's priority to High
-hijack	Take control of an existing instance of the game, if any, instead of complaining about already running.
-host	Sets hostname. On Xbox 360, this sets the host computer name to be used for RFS. Xbox name must be <HostPC>_360.
-hushasserts	Disables a number of asserts in core Source libraries, skipping some error checks and messages.
-hushsteam
-ignoredxsupportcfg	Skips reading DirectX support file, dxsupport.cfg.
-insecure	Disable Valve Anti Cheat (VAC).
-interactivecaster (only in )	Starting your client with this will switch it into camera man mode (reference tv_allow_camera_man_steamid/tv_allow_camera_man_steamid2)
-internalbuild	Causes the bug reporter panel to be drawn as internal
-ip	Does the same as the ipname Cvar
-language %l	Sets the game language to the one specified. (Examples: "english", "german").
-leakcheck	Dumps statistics about memory leaks.
-limitvsconst	Limits the number of vertex shaders to a maximum of 256.
-localcser	Sets a custom gamestats CSER other than the Steam-provided public one (default is steambeta1:27013)
-log_opened_files	Logs all opened files to `opened_files.txt` file. (useful for debugging which files are failing to load)
-low	Sets the game's priority to Low
-lowmemworkshop (only in )	Allow updating very large map files on Steam Workshop.
-makedevshots	Used for taking screenshots, causing entities to not fade. Enables the use of the devshots_nextmap concommand
-makereslists	Makes reslists. Need to run with -textmode. Passing a parameter here uses a script file to control more complex makereslists operations (multiple passes, etc.)
-mat_aaquality	Set MSAA quality level, does the same as the Convar mat_aaquality
-mat_antialias	Antialiasing. Can be set to 8, amount past 8 won't sharpen the edges of game world.
-mat_softwaretl	Enables software vertex processing.
-mat_vsync	Enables Vertical Sync
-maxdownloadfilesizemb	CS:GO 5/1/2014, client launch option -maxdownloadfilesizemb N if clients needs to download even larger files from community servers.
-maxdxlevel	Limits the maximum `dxlevel` to use. Default is 0.
-maxplayers	Set the maximum players allowed to join the server. This does the same as the maxplayers convar, the maximum you can set it to is limited by the game/mod
-minmemory	Set startup memory to mem_min_heapsize ?1024 1024?
-monitorTextureSize	Set the size of the texture used to render point_cameras.
-multirun (only in )(also in )	Allows the game to run even if another Source game is already open. Note: Source games that do not support this (or `-allowmultiple`) can be run at the same time as a game that does, as long as the other game is started first. Note: In Strata Source, both `-allowmultiple` and `-multirun` are supported, and using either will disable creating the Source mutex entirely, so any other game can still be started at the same time. Confirm:Windows only?
-navanalyze	Used for developer purposes when launching a map. Immediately analyzes the navagation map of the loaded map to provide data about hiding spots and other data. Nav Mesh Commands
-navforceanalyze	Used for developer purposes when launching a map. Forces an immediate navagation analyze even if the action is not necessary to perform.
-netspike	Sets the trace threshold to the specified value (the limit of the number of records that will be written to netspike.txt before all records are removed).
-newdialogs	Forces new Steam dialog to be used.
-no_compressed_verts	Disables vertex compression for shaders.
-no_compressed_vvds	Enables thin VVD data, even if the client is not an Xbox 360.
-noassert	Allows attaching to a debugger instead of directly asserting.
-noasync	Disables asynchronous filesystem access.
-noborder	When used with the game set to windowed mode, will make the game act as if in fullscreen mode (no window border).
-nobots	Allows Counter-Strike server hosts to force bots disabled to enforce CPU limits.
-nobreakpad	Disable the Breakpad crash handler.
-noclearsave	Skips clearing the save directory after restoring a save.
-noconvert	(xbox360) "No conversions during retail"
-nocrashdialog	Stop some windows crash message boxes from showing up.
-nodefaultmap	(Linux only^[confirm]) Supresses the addition of -map
-nodev	Disables -dev and -allowdebug during startup so sv_cheats and developer mode dosent get set.
-nodns	Disable DNS requests and resolving DNS adresses.
-nodttest	Skips datatable testing.
-noff	Disables force feedback for controllers.
-noforcemaccel	Use the Windows mouse acceleration settings. Only works if -useforcedmparms is set.
-noforcemspd	Use the Windows mouse speed settings. Only works if -useforcedmparms is set.
-nogamedll	Do not load the Game DLL, this most likely will cause your game/server to crash
-nogamestats
-nohltv	Disable SourceTV
-noip	Do not bind to an ip and disables all multiplayer support
-nojoy (not in )	Disables joystick support.
-nomaster	Hides server from master serverlist.
-nomessagebox	Stop various windows error message boxes from showing up
-nominidumps	Dont write minidumps
-nomouse	Disables in-game mouse support.
-nop4	Forces the Engine to bypass Perforce Integration
-nopreload	Forces models to not be preloaded. Takes priority over cl_forcepreload and -preload.
-nopreloadmodels	Same as -nopreload
-nops2b	Disables Pixel Shader 2b support.
-noqueuedload	Disables queued loading of map resources.
-norebuildaudio	Opposite of and overrides -rebuildaudio for the map reslist generator.
-norfs	Forces Remote Filesystem disabled. Xbox 360 only.
-noshaderapi	Loads a non-existent shader API dll, shaderapiempty.dll. Effectively disables shader and texture loading completely. May be useful with -textmode to load the game quickly since a GUI is not required.
-nosound	Disables sound support
-nosrgb	Disables support for SRGB.
-nostartupsound	Disables menu music (`sound/ui/gamestartup*.mp3`) to play on startup.
-nosteamcontroller	Disables Steam controller system
-nouserclip	Uses software clipping instead of hardware user clip planes
-novid	When loading a game with this parameter, the intro video will not play.
-olddialogs	Forces old Windows dialogs instead of new Steam ones.
-override_vpk	Forces actual files to override VPK.
-particles	Sets the number of beam trails to allow (2048 by default, minimum is 512).
-phonehome	If debug mode is also enabled, forces the init of phonehome ?which handles some build information and sends them via netmessages to steam?
-pidfile <pidfile>	Use the specified <pidfile> to store the server pid. Default is srcds.pid^[confirm] (Unix/Linux only).
-pixel_offset_x	Sets the pixel offset to translate on the X axis in MatSystemSurface.
-pixel_offset_y	Sets the pixel offset to translate on the Y axis in MatSystemSurface.
-playtest	Tells the engine to record the names of all sounds played via `S_StartSound` call without any of the sound flags `SND_CHANGE_PITCH`, `SND_CHANGE_VOL`, and `SND_STOP`. Note: You may dump this list of sounds using ConCommand `snd_dump_filepaths`. Bug:In Left 4 Dead 2, ConCommand `snd_dump_filepaths` will ignore ConVar `snd_store_filepaths` and attempt to write to an inaccessible hard-coded path.
-pme	Activate the performance monitoring events code, this again only works on Intel processors newer then PENTIUM4
-port <variable>	Sets port for a listen server. Default is 27015.
-preload	Does the same as the sv_forcepreload Cvar. If -nopreload or -nopreloadmodels, this behaviour is disabled
-primarysound	If surround sound isn't enabled, forces the use of the primary sound buffer
-profile	If using Xbox360 or enabling this, additional debugging information are logged like the map startup time and similar
-publicbuild	Is this build a public one? If not, phonehome will not post information of this build to steam
-r_emulate_gl	Emulates OpenGL on Windows, provides a framerate boost for most GPUs
-random_invariant	Forces the game's random number generator value to be invariant.
-rebuildaudio	Forces rebuild of _other_rebuild.cache (metacache) file at exit for the map reslist generator.
-recapvid	RecapVids.txt will be used instead of EndGameVids.txt. This can also be invoked by the command "startupmenu playrecapvid", which bails to the mainmenu and plays the recap video.
-ref	Sets MATERIAL_INIT_REFERENCE_RASTERIZER on the shader material adapter.
-reflectionTextureSize	Set the size of the texture used to render the Water shader's real-time reflection and refraction.
-refresh <rate>	Force a specific refresh rate. Ex: `-refresh 60`
-refreshrate <rate>	Same as -refresh
-remote	Sets the remote file path to be used with -dvddev.
-replay	Increases maxplayers by 1 at startup and automatically executes replay.cfg for the server.
-requirecubemaps	If a map dosen't have cubemaps, the game will promt up with "Map X does not have cubemaps!"
-resizing	Allows resizing the window lower than a specific resolution.
-reslistdir	Default is "reslists", use this to override. Reslist generator only.
-reuse	Reuse network sockets
-rpt	Same as having -condebug, -conclearlog, and -console enabled
-safe	Enables video safe mode, which sets the game to windowed, the width to 640, the height to 480, refresh rate to default, and disables antialiasing.
-shader	Loads a specific shader library instead of depending on hardware. Debug only.
-shaderdll	Loads a different shader dll. Default is shaderapidx9.dll. Todo:Is this the same as -shader?
-shadersondemand	Creates shaders on access, helps reduce D3D memory for tools, but causes I/O hitches.
-sillygibs	(Goldsource only) Forces more gibs like skull and others to be spawned all time on NPC's death.
-skiploadingworkshopaddons (only in )	Only load addons from the addons folder, not subscriptions on the Steam Workshop.
-small	Allow window sizing smaller then 640x480
-sndcachedebug	Prints sound cache debug messages (developer must be enabled to see)
-snoforceformat	Skips sound buffer creation
-soft	Enables Software hardware rendering mode.
-softparticlesdefaultoff	Sets particles to be rendered without feathering (scene depth blending) by default.
-softparticlesdefaulton	Opposite of -softparticlesdefaultoff.
-spewsentences	Spew out vox sentence names during reslist generation
-startmap	Restarts devshot generation at the specified map if resuming from a crash.
-startstage	When running from script file, this starts at specified stage, and sets current work item (default is 0). Reslist generator only.
-startwindowed, -windowed, -window, -sw	Forces the engine to start in Windowed mode.
-steam	Enables Steam support (if the game is launched from Steam, this is enabled by default). Working directory must be Steam directory. Works only for singleplayer games.
-steamlocal	Similar to -steam. Runs Steam in local filesystem mode (all content off HDD), as opposed to remote filesystem mode (requiring Steam backend).
-steamport	Master server updater port. Steam authentication port is this port + 1. (default is 26900)
-storeambientcache (only in )	Stores an ambient cache file in every loaded BSP. Todo:What is ambient cache?
-strictportbind	If you launch the game with this option it will quit with an error message if it can't bind to the default or specified port.
-sv_benchmark	Enables benchmarking through sv_benchmark_force_start.
-swapcores	Swaps threads for the particle and material systems each init
-tempcontent	Searches for game content in a folder called "_tempcontent" relative to the absolute game path. This option is enabled by default for Portal 1
-testscript <filename>	Loads a .vtest file.
-testshaders	Loads the shader_test library. Debug only.
-testsub
-textmessagedebug	Spews client text messages to console.
-textmode (not in )	Runs the game without graphics
-threads	Number of threads to allocate for the thread pool, default is 3
-tickrate	Sets the game tick interval. Disabled in code for TF2 because "server ops are abusing it".
-timedemoloop
-toconsole	Starts the engine directly in the console, unless a map is specified with `+map`.
-tools	Enables engine tools.
-trackdeletions	Logs what files are marked for deletion in Reslist Generator.
-tvmasteronly	Only one person allowed in HLTV.
-untrusted (only in )	Allows the game to launch in "Untrusted Mode".
-usedevshotsfile	Get map list from specified file, default is to build for maps/*.bsp
-useforcedmparms	Allows the use of -noforcemspd and -noforcemaccel.
-usegh	Loads ghostinj.dll to allow support for third party dlls (gamehost)
-uselogdir	Logs various data to logs/(mapname)/*
-usercon	Enable RCON for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive servers
-usereslistfile	Get map list from specified file, default is to build for maps/*.bsp. Reslist generator only.
-usetcp	Disable TCP support
-vcrplayback	Plays back a VCR recording. Nothing is simulated on the server, but all server packets are recorded. Note: VCR recording and playback only fully working on a leaked HLS build, other games and versions crash
-vcrrecord	Records a client's game and allows you to play it back and reproduce it exactly. Requires -nosound See this video on how it is different.
-vguifocus	Enables debug VGUI messages related to input focus.
-vguimessages	Enables debug VGUI messages.
-vproject	Manually sets the VProject directory to load game content for tools.
-vulkan	Forces the engine to use the Vulkan renderer.
-vxconsole	Waits for Valve Xbox console to initialise. Xbox 360 only.
-wavonly	Disables DirectSound and makes the engine attempt to play all sounds in PCM format.
-x <x position>	In borderless windowed mode, determines where the window should be horizontally. Ex: `-x 0`. Note: Setting this to 0 will make it align with the left side of your main monitor, rather than its center. Negative values also aren't accepted.
-xnet_bypass_security	Disables Xbox 360 secure networking, to allow cross-platform testing.
-y <y position>	In borderless windowed mode, determines where the window should be vertically. Ex: `-y 0`. Note: Setting this to 0 will make it align with the top side of your main monitor, rather than its center. Negative values also aren't accepted.
-width <width>, -w	Forces the engine to start with resolution set to `<width>`. Ex: `-w 1024`

Console Variables

+<console variable> <arg> - Sets the Cvar (or console variable) to the specified setting when the game launches.

Some Useful Console Variables

Console Variable	Description
+cl_showfps <0/1/2/3>	When set to 2, shows the framerate and map name.
+connect	Immediately connects to a server address.
+load	Console Command
+map <map-name[.bsp]>	Immediately loads the map specified after the engine starts.
+map_background <map name>	Forces a specified background map to be used. Useful for testing custom background maps. To avoid loading standard background maps for speed reasons, use the `-dev` command-line parameter.
+mat_hdr_level	Sets HDR level before the background map loads. HDR Lighting Basics
+maxplayers	Sets maxplayers. This will set maxplayers before the background map loads. To change when running, run <disconnect> to escape the current map, including background maps.
+physcannon_mega_enabled <0/1>	Makes Gravity gun a super gravity gun.
+playdemo <demo>	Immediately plays a demo file.
+port	Console Command
+sv_cheats <0/1>	When set to 1, starts the game with cheats enabled.
+sv_lan <0/1>	When set to 1, launches the game in LAN mode. Useful to stop players from joining your game from the Internet.
+timedemo	Console Command
+timedemoquit	Console Command