VARIABLES.md

Console variables

This file lists the game's console variables: what each one does, its default, and whether it is new in the modern build. Commands are listed in CONSOLE.md.

It is not every variable the engine knows. It leaves out internal tuning values with no visible effect, and most renderer debug switches. Set (in the console) prints every client variable and its current value; serv ShowGameVars prints the server's.

How variables work

• Setting one. Type Name value in the console, or put the same line in autoexec.cfg. On the command line, use +Name value.

• Names are not case-sensitive. ShowFramerate and ShowFrameRate are the same variable, and so are LODScale and LodScale.

• Toggling. A value of ! toggles a variable between 0 and 1.

• What is saved. The game writes autoexec.cfg when you leave an options menu and when it quits. It saves only variables marked for saving:

  • those an options menu has set;
  • those set as +Name value (in the console, the config, or ++Name value on the command line);
  • those that came from a config file.

  Creating a variable does not mark it, so a value you type without the + lasts until the game quits. -Name removes the mark.

• Config files. The game starts from autoexec.cfg, or from the file named by -config <file>. The launcher's "restore defaults" starts from defaults.cfg. A dedicated server reads s_autoexec.cfg.

• Server variables. Some variables live on the server. In single player the modern console sends every line to the server too, so these work when typed there; in retail, prefix them with serv.

• Per-level values. Each level sets FarZ, the fog variables and the volumetric fog itself when it loads, so changing them in the console only lasts until the next level.

"Modern" in a table means the variable exists, or does something, only in the modern build.

Modern build

Variable	Default	What it does
FramerateLimit	240	The most frames a second in single player; 0 is no limit. Multiplayer is always held at 60, and loading is never limited. Interface options: "Frame rate limit" (60, 120, 144, 240, unlimited).
ShowFramerate	0	1 draws a frame-rate counter at the bottom left. Interface options.
UIScale	0.5	HUD size, times the screen's height ratio (never smaller than retail, at most 4). Interface options: "HUD size".
RestrictCinematicsTo4x3	0	1 puts black bars beside cinematics on screens wider than 4:3. Interface options.
UseGotyMenu	1	Main-menu art: 1 Game of the Year, 0 the original release's. Interface options.
NoFunMenus	0	1 always shows the plain main menu. Otherwise it has a winter Cate from 15 to 31 December and a casual Cate on Fridays.
WindowMode	1	Only applies when Windowed is 1: 2 is a borderless window at the desktop's resolution, anything else a framed window. Display options: "Window mode".
Windowed	0	1 runs in a window (retail variable; Display options now sets it).
OldMouseLook	0	1 uses retail's mouse look (DirectInput, re-centring the cursor) instead of raw mouse input. Mouse options: "Legacy mouse look".
NoRawInput	0	1 keeps the new mouse look but reads the cursor's movement instead of raw input. It is also used automatically when raw input is unavailable.
CrouchToggle	0	1: one press of Duck crouches, the next stands up (Duck still works as a hold while swimming, on a ladder or on a vehicle). Game options: "Toggle crouch".
QuickSwitch	0	1: next/previous weapon switch at once, without confirming. Game options: "Quick weapon switch".
PadLookSpeed	1	Controller: right-stick turn rate (times 180 degrees a second across, 120 up and down). Controller options.
PadInvertY	0	Controller: 1 inverts the right stick's up and down. Controller options.
PadLookDeadZone	0.15	Controller: the right stick's dead zone (0-0.9 of its travel). Controller options.
PadMoveDeadZone	0.2	Controller: the left stick's dead zone. Past three quarters of its travel the player runs. Controller options.
PadLookCurve	2	Controller: right-stick response; the deflection is raised to this power (1 = linear).
VSync	0	d3d9.ren and opengl.ren: 1 waits for the display's refresh. Read when the renderer starts.
Antialiasing	0	d3d9.ren and opengl.ren: multisample antialiasing, 0 (off), 2, 4 or 8. Read when the renderer starts. Advanced display options.
EnableScreenTinting	1	0 draws screen tints with an overlay (the Intel graphics fix). Applies only with d3d7.ren.
EnableLightScale	1	0 turns light scaling off (the Intel graphics fix). Applies only with d3d7.ren.
ConsoleBackdrop	0	The developer console's background: 0 or 1 the menus' blank tag, 2 black.
BigHeadMode	0	Heads drawn 1.8 times this size (0 is off). Ignored in multiplayer. Also a server variable; the console passes it on.
DisplayTriggers	0	Server: 1 draws trigger volumes as yellow boxes.
MasterServer	master.openspy.net	The master server for the internet server list and for hosted games (host or host:port; none turns it off).
NetJoinPassword	(none)	The password +connect uses to join a locked server.
ModPatchNum	0	The last modern config version applied (now 1.5); it drives one-time upgrades of an old config. Leave it alone.
FramerateLock	(gone)	The old on/off limit. An old config's FramerateLock 0 becomes FramerateLimit 0 once.

Display and window

Variable	Default	What it does
RenderDll	d3d9.ren (modern), d3d.ren (retail)	The renderer. The modern build has d3d9.ren (default), opengl.ren and d3d7.ren; a config naming d3d.ren gets d3d9.ren.
ScreenWidth, ScreenHeight	640, 480	The screen mode.
BitDepth	16	The screen's colour depth.
FovX, FovY	90, 78	The game camera's field of view, in degrees. The modern build widens the horizontal one for wide screens.
HardwareCursor	0	1 uses the hardware cursor in menus (DisableHardwareCursor 1 forbids it).
TripleBuffer	0	d3d7.ren: 1 uses two back buffers.
ForceClear	0	1 clears the whole screen every frame.
LetterBox	0	1 forces the cinematic letterbox bars on.
ScreenFadeAtLevelStart	1	0 skips the fade-in when a level starts.
DynamicLoadScreen	1	0 shows a still loading screen instead of the animated one.
PerformanceLevel	1	The overall detail preset, 0-2. It also sets how many effects (such as gibs) are made.

Rendering

Variable	Default	What it does
32BitTextures	1 (modern), 0 (retail)	1 keeps textures at 32 bits instead of 16. Display options: "Texture depth".
Bilinear, Trilinear, Anisotropic	1, 0, 0	Texture filtering. Advanced display options: "Texture filtering".
MipmapOffset	0	Skips the most detailed mip levels; higher is blurrier.
MaxTextureSize	16384	The largest texture side kept.
GroupOffset1 ... GroupOffset6	0	Mip levels dropped from the world, weapon, character, prop, effect and sky textures; added to each texture file's own offset (0 or 1), and below 0 the result is 0. Texture resolution's sliders (slider 3 - offset); Low/Medium/High/Ultra set them.
DetailTextures	1	Detail textures on the world. Advanced display options.
LightMap	1	Lightmaps on the world.
DynamicLight	1	Dynamic lights.
FastLight	0	1 uses cheaper dynamic lighting on the world.
MaxModelLights	4	Dynamic lights per model.
EnvMapEnable	0	Environment maps (chrome) on models. Advanced display options.
EnvMapWorld	1	Environment maps on the world.
DrawPortals	1	Mirrors. Advanced display options.
DrawShadows	0	Model shadows. Advanced display options sets it, together with MaxModelShadows.
MaxModelShadows	1	Model shadows on or off. Cinematics turn it off; the modern build turns it back on afterwards.
ModelShadowProj	0	1 uses projected model shadows.
Saturate	0	1 doubles the brightness ramps ("saturated" lighting).
LightSaturate	1	Lightmap brightness scale.
ModelLODOffset, LodOffset, LODScale	0, 0, 1	Model level-of-detail bias and scale.
FarZ	10000	The far clip distance. Each level sets its own.
FogEnable	0	Distance fog. Each level sets it, with FogR, FogG, FogB, FogNearZ, FogFarZ.
DrawSky	1	0 hides the sky.
DrawWorld, DrawModels, DrawGuns, DrawSprites, DrawParticles, DrawPolyGrids, DrawLineSystems, DrawCanvases, DrawWorldModels	1	0 hides each kind of object (DrawGuns: the weapon in your hands).
Wireframe	0	1 draws everything as wireframe.
LightmapsOnly, DrawFlat	0	Debug views: lightmaps only; flat shading.
ShowPolyCounts, ShowTextureCounts	0	Print polygon and texture counts.
OptimizeSurfaces	0	d3d7.ren: 2D surface optimisation. The modern build sets it to 1 at start-up (text draws in black boxes otherwise).

Sound and music

Variable	Default	What it does
SoundEnable, MusicEnable	1, 1	Sound and music on or off. Sound options.
SoundVolume	70	Effects volume, 0-100. Sound options.
MusicVolume	-1100	Music volume. Sound options.
Sound16Bit	1	Sound quality. Sound options.
SoundFilters	0	Reverb and filters by area. Performance options.
Max3DVoices, MaxSWVoices	16, 32	Sound voices.
ReverbLevel		Reverb level (the launcher passes it).
DisableSound, DisableMusic, NoMovies / DisableMovies	0	1 turns sound, music or the intro movies off (the launcher's "Advanced" options).

Input

Variable	Default	What it does
MouseSensitivity	5	Mouse sensitivity, 0-10. Mouse options.
MouseInvertY	0	1 inverts the mouse's up and down. Mouse options.
MouseLook	1	Mouse look. Mouse options.
InputRate	20	Smoothing of input read through DirectInput: the least time between samples, in ms. In the modern build that is the mouse wheel (and the mouse with OldMouseLook). Mouse options: "Mouse smoothing" (retail), "Wheel smoothing" (modern).
LookSpring	0	1 centres the view when you stop looking. Keyboard options.
NormalTurnRate, FastTurnRate, LookUpRate	1.5, 2.3, 2.5	Keyboard turning and looking speeds. Keyboard options.
VehicleTurnRateScale	1	Vehicle steering speed. Mouse and keyboard options.
RunLock	1	Always run (Run then walks). Game options.
JoystickDisable	0	1 turns DirectInput joysticks off (retail). The modern build uses only its own XInput controller and has no DirectInput joysticks.
CursorCenter	1	Re-centre the cursor every frame (retail mouse look). The modern build sets it to 0 unless OldMouseLook is 1.

Game and HUD

Variable	Default	What it does
Difficulty	1	0 easy to 3 very hard. Game options.
Subtitles	0	Subtitles. Game options.
Gore	1	Blood and gore. Game options.
FadeBodies	0	Bodies fade away. Game options.
HeadBob, WeaponSway	1, 1	Head bob and weapon sway, 0-1. Game options.
HUDLayout	0	HUD layout. Game options.
PickupMessageDuration	5	Seconds a pickup message stays. Game options.
ObjectiveMessages	1	Show a message when the objectives change. Game options.
MaxNumMessages	5	Message lines kept on screen.
CrosshairStyle, CrosshairColorR/G/B, CrosshairAlpha, CrosshairDynamic		The crosshair. Crosshair options.
DrawInterface	1	0 hides the whole HUD (for screenshots).
SkipTitle	0	1 goes straight to the main menu.
Tracers, ShellCasings, MuzzleLight, EnableWeatherFX	1	Effects on or off. Effects options.
DebrisFXLevel	2	Debris amount, 0-2. Effects options.
BulletHoles	300	Bullet marks kept (the modern build makes it at least 100).
BigBlood	0	1: much more blood (also the mpexorbitantamounts cheat).
EnableDamageFX	1	0 turns damage screen effects off (poison, stun, sleep, burn).
PlayerGravity	-2000	The player's gravity.
FallDamageMinHeight, FallDamageMaxHeight	300, 500	Falls higher than the first hurt; the damage grows up to the second.

Multiplayer

Variable	Default	What it does
NetPlayerName	Player	Your name. Player setup.
NetPlayerModel, NetPlayerSkin, NetPlayerHead, NetPlayerTeam		Your character and team. Player setup.
UpdateRate	6 on first run	Server updates a second to ask for (2-60). Player setup: "Connection speed".
CSendRate	7	Your position updates to the server a second.
AutoWeaponSwitch, AutoAmmoSwitch	1, 1	Switch to a better weapon or ammo when you pick it up.
IgnoreTaunts	0	1 neither plays nor sends taunts.
connect		+connect <address> joins a server at start-up.
NetPort	27888	The port a hosted game uses. Host options.
NetSessionName, NetPassword, NetUsePassword		A hosted game's name and password. Host options.
NetMaxPlayers	8	Players on a hosted game.
NetGameType	2	Hosted game type: 2 deathmatch, 1 co-op assault (H.A.R.M. vs. UNITY).
NetEndFrags, NetEndTime, NetEndScore	25, 15, 50	When a hosted game ends. Host options.
NetFriendlyFire, NetWeaponsStay, NetHitLocation, NetAudioTaunts, NetFallDamageScale, NetRunSpeed, NetRespawnScale		A hosted game's rules. Host options.
SendBandwidth	0	Server: the bandwidth to use, set by the host options' connection choice.
Say		Server: serv Say <text> sends a message from the host.

Debugging

Variable	Default	What it does
DebugLevel	0	How much debugging text the engine and game print.
ShowTickCounts	0	Timing counters (also the ShowTicks command).
ShowTiming	0	Client and server timing printouts.
ShowConnStats, ShowPing, ShowThruput	0	Network statistics.
ShowGameTime, ShowMemStats, ShowFileAccess	0	Print the game time, memory use or every file opened.
InputDebug	0	Print input device activity.
PlayerDims	0	1 draws the player's bounding box.
CanShowDims + ShowDims	0	Server: both 1 draw every object's bounding box.
ShowTriggers	0	Server: print trigger messages (FilterTriggerMsgs narrows them).
DamageScale, HealScale	1, 1	Server: multiply all damage and healing.
TimeScale	1	Server: game speed.
WorldTime, WorldTimeSpeed	-1, -1	Server: force the hour of day, and how fast it passes.
UpdateServer		See the UpdateServer command: 0 freezes the local world.
alwaysfocused	0	1 keeps the game running while its window is in the background.
HighPriority	0	1 runs the game at high process priority.
ErrorLog, AlwaysFlushLog	0	Write errors to a log file; flush it after every line.
LatencySim, DropRate	0	Simulate network lag and packet loss.

Variables that do nothing

The engine creates these, but nothing in this source reads them: MaxFPS (the frame-rate limit is FramerateLimit), ShowFrameRate (the modern ShowFramerate, which is the same variable, does work), Gamma, ImpactFXLevel, ConsoleEnable, ModelTransitionMS, Software.