exec

exec is a console command available in all Source games. It is used to execute .cfg files, namely a sequence of console commands.

Usage

exec <filename> [path id]

The command executes the file "//[path id]/cfg/<filename>" if it exists. The default value of [path id] is *, resulting in the default path <game>/cfg/<filename>.

• The <filename> argument is the name of the file either with or without the .cfg extension. A path can also be prefixed. If the <filename> argument is given, the game always prints the line Execing config: <filename> in the console. If the file does not exist, the game also prints the line exec: couldn't exec <filename>.
• The optional [path id] argument can be used to specify a different path to execute CFG files from. Its first character must be *.

Tip:The exec command can be used in the launch options with -exec <filename>, for example -exec autoexec will always execute the CFG file <game>/cfg/autoexec.cfg when the game starts (which is overkill, because the game already executes autoexec.cfg even without this launch option).

Tip:exec can save a lot of time if a sequence of commands should be executed multiple times. Instead of typing the commands into the console every time, one can save them in a CFG file and execute it using exec.

Warning:Recursive executions crash the game!

Example:If the CFG file <game>/cfg/keybinds.cfg contains the line exec keybinds, then its execution will cause a game crash!

Examples

Command	Executed file
exec config	<game>/cfg/config.cfg
exec config.cfg
exec config *
exec config */maps	<game>/maps/cfg/config.cfg
exec folder/config	<game>/cfg/folder/config.cfg
exec folder/config */maps	<game>/maps/cfg/folder/config.cfg

Similar Commands

There are console commands that are identical to exec, but with slight differences.

ConCommand	Availability	Description
execifexists		There is no error message execifexists: couldn't exec <filename> in the console if the specified file does not exist.
execwithwhitelist		All console commands in the specified CFG file are executed with whitelistcmd. Commands are ignored if they are not whitelisted in <game>/bspconvar_whitelist.txt.