Startup Command-Line Options

Startup command-line options can be specified on the Unigine executable file launching. These options control what rendering API to use, what resolution to set for Unigine window, where resources for initializing the engine are stored, etc. The options are either set in Unigine SDK Browser or manually via the command line.

NoticeIf no command-line options is specified, the options with default values will be used when launching the application.

The syntax of command-line options is as follows: the full name of the binary executable (32- or 64-bit, development or production version) is specified first and then the start-up options.

Shell commands

main_* -command argument

Shell commands

main_* -command "argument,argument"

Shell commands

main_* -console_command "command argument"

All paths are specified as absolute or relative to the binary executable or the data directory.

If the same command is specified multiple times, only the last command will be taken into account by the engine. For example, in the following case, only the argument3 will be used by the engine:

Shell commands

-command "argument1" -command "argument2" -command "argument3"

Notice

An exception is file system command-line options: they can accumulate all the specified values.

Notice

The CLI options specified on the application start-up always take precedence over the ones stored in the configuration file. Some of the CLI options can be changed through the console. Such options are automatically stored in the configuration file (this way, after the application is quit, they will be restored on the next start-up). All other CLI options don't change the configuration file.

Name	Description	Arguments	Default
-video_mode	Video mode to set window resolution or size	-1 is video_width ×video_height 0 is 640×360 1 is 960×540 2 is 1024×576 3 is 1280×720 4 is 1366×768 5 is 1600×900 6 is 1920×1080 7 is 2560×1440 8 is 3840×2160 9 is 640×400 10 is 960×600 11 is 1024×640 12 is 1280×800 13 is 1440×900 14 is 1680×1050 15 is 1920×1200 16 is 2560×1600 17 is 640×480 18 is 800×600 19 is 1024×768 20 is 1280×960 21 is 1280×1024 22 is 1600×1200 23 is 2048×1536 24 is 2560×2048	1
-video_width	Screen width Makes sense only if video_mode =-1	0 –10000	0
-video_height	Screen height Makes sense only if video_mode =-1	0 –10000	0
-video_resizable	Allows changing a window size on the fly, without having to restart the application	0 is a non-resizable mode 1 is a resizable mode	0
-video_fullscreen	Fullscreen mode	0 is a windowed mode 1 is a fullscreen mode 2 is a fullwindow mode when an application window is rendered without decorations	0

Name	Description	Arguments	Default
-video_app	Graphics API to be used for rendering: No renderer: do not render anything onto the screen (for example, for servers in case of playing over the network) Automatically choose the best option from available ones Direct X OpenGL The current value of -video_app can be obtained via the getVideoApp() method of Unigine API.	"null" "auto" "direct3d11" "opengl"	"auto"
-video_debug	Enables or disables the debug context of OpenGL or DirectX. Notice Enabling the debug context may cause performance drop (~30-40%).	Direct X: 0 to disable 1 to write all DirectX errors (red) and warnings (yellow). If the error occurred, it means that there is a mistake in API. 2 to write all DirectX errors (red) and warnings (yellow). If the error occurred, the engine will crash and the full callstack will be shown. OpenGL: 0 to disable 1 to write all OpenGL errors (red) and warnings (yellow). If the error occurred, it means that there is a mistake in API. 2 works in the same way as 1 mode.	0
-video_gamma	Gamma correction value	0.5 –3.5	1.0
-video_refresh	Graphics refresh rate	0 –200	0
-video_quad_buffer	Enables of disables quad buffered stereo.	0 to disable quad buffering 1 to enable quad buffering	0
-video_surround	Allows rendering of the application across 3 monitors.	0 to disable rendering across 3 monitors 1 to enable rendering across 3 monitors	0
-video_surround_border	Sets the size of monitor bezel compensation in pixels. It is used together with -video_surround 1.	Size of the bezel compensation in pixels.
-video_vsync	Vertical synchronization (synchronize FPS with monitor's refresh rate)	0 - don't use synchronization 1 - use synchronization	0

Name	Description	Arguments	Default
-data_path	The first specified -data_path is always a path to the data directory with all resources. The option can be specified multiple times: all additional-data_path options will refer to external resources. The paths can be specified as an absolute path or relatively to the the binary executable. The list of the specified -data_path directories can be obtained via the getNumDataPaths() and getDataPath(int num) methods. the getDataPath() function without arguments will return the first specified-data_path directory.	The arguments can be passed as follows: ../RELATIVE_PATH/ ABSOLUTE_PATH	../
-extern_package	UNG or ZIP package outside the data directory to be added to the file system. This enables to access resources by specifying a relative path to the file only inside the package. The path can be specified relatively to the binary executable or as an absolute path.	The arguments can be passed as follows: ../RELATIVE_PATH/ ABSOLUTE_PATH
-plugin_path	Path to a directory that contains plugins. All of the plugins in this directory will be loaded automatically on the start-up. The path can be specified relatively to the binary executable or as an absolute path. The list of the specified -plugin_path directories can be obtained via the getNumPluginPaths() and getPluginPath(int num) methods.	The arguments can be passed as follows: ../RELATIVE_PATH/ ABSOLUTE_PATH	plugins/

NoticeUnlike the other command-line options, these 3 options can accumulate all the specified values. It allows specifying multiple paths, each of which will be used by the engine.

For several directories or packages you should specify each item separately without commas, for example:

Source code

-extern_package ../RELATIVE_PATH_1/ -extern_package ../RELATIVE_PATH_2/ -extern_package ABSOLUTE_PATH

The same rule is true for the -data_path and -plugin_path options.

Name	Description	Arguments	Default
-engine_config	The configuration file used to read and store all global engine-related and project-related settings. Notice If the configuration file is stored in an .ung package, it won't be loaded and, therefore, the engine won't be initialized. However, when the file system is initialized, you can set the configuration file stored in the package via the config_load console command.		unigine.cfg
-engine_log	The log file to be created and used. The path can be specified as an absolute path or relatively to the binary executable. For relative paths, if the -project_name is set, the log file with the specified name will be created in the corresponding directory in the User profile (only the name will be used, the remaining part of the relative path will be discarded).		log.html
-editor_plugin	Loads the specified editor plugins. This command-line option should be used if the required editor plugins are located outside the data/editor/plugins directory. Paths to plugins should be relative to the data directory. Notice Several comma-separated plugins with no whitespaces can be specified.	../RELATIVE_PATH1/.plugin, ../RELATIVE_PATH2/.plugin, ...
-editor_script	Path to the editor script (specified relative to the data directory)		data/editor/editor.cpp
-gui_path	A path to a GUI skin to be used for the engine interface. The path can be specified as an absolute path or relatively to the first specified-data_path.		core/gui/
-project_name	Forces the engine to store all changing data (a log file, cache files and the configuration file) in the User profile rather than in a directory with binaries. For that, a directory will be created with a specified PROJECT_NAME. both a or a path to the project directory relative to the User profile (for example, unigine_projects/my_project).	PROJECT_NAME, namely: A name of the project directory. For example, -project_name my_project will create the following directory: On Windows, C:/Users/<username>/my_project/ On Linux, /home/<username>/.my_project/ A path to the project directory relative to the User profile. For example, -project_name unigine_projects/my_project will create my_project directory in the following directory: On Windows, C:/Users/<username>/unigine_projects/ On Linux, /home/<username>/.unigine_projects/ Notice The specified unigine_projects folder must exist in the User profile.
-system_script	Path to the system script (specified relative to the data directory).		core/unigine.cpp

Name	Description	Arguments
-console_command	Console command to be used at the engine start-up. Several commands can be separated using the && sequence.	command <arguments>
-extern_plugin	Load a plugin library (the path is specified relative to the binary executable). The library name should go without any prefixes and postfixes. (For example, libNetwork_x86d.so should be passed as "Network".) Several plugins are comma separated (no whitespace). If you want to clear the list of plugins (they are automatically loaded by the engine once specified on the start-up), simply pass "" as an argument to this command.	The arguments can be specified as follows: PLUGIN_NAME PLUGIN_NAME_1,PLUGIN_NAME_2,...,PLUGIN_NAME_N
-extern_define	External definition to be used. Several definitions are comma separated (no whitespace). You can also use the following syntax: -extern_define "A=B,C=D". (For example, -extern_define "TEST=42" .) If you want to clear all definitions, simply pass "" as an argument to this command. The current value of -extern_define can be obtained via the getExternDefines() method of Unigine API.	The arguments can be specified as follows: DEFINITION_NAME DEFINITION_NAME=VALUE DEFINITION_NAME_1,DEFINITION_NAME_2, DEFINITION_NAME_3=VALUE,...,DEFINITION_NAME_N

Name	Description	Arguments	Default
-sound_app	Sound API to be used: No sound Automatically choose the best sound library option from available ones (OpenAL) OpenAL sound library XAudio2 sound library The current value of -sound_app can be obtained via the getSoundApp() method of Unigine API.	null auto openal xaudio2	auto

In This Article:

Video Settings

Graphics Settings

File System

Other Data

Engine-related Settings

Sound Settings