Skip to content

Console Variables

Brad Harding edited this page Oct 11, 2024 · 211 revisions

Here is a list of DOOM Retro’s console variables (CVARs). To get the value of a CVAR, type its name in the console and press ENTER. To change the value of a CVAR, type its name followed by its new value and then press ENTER. Changes to CVARs are saved in doomretro.cfg.

alwaysrun off Toggles you to always run instead of walk.
am_allmapcdwallcolor 109 The color of unmapped lines in the automap indicating a change in a ceiling’s height once you have a computer area map power-up (0 to 255).
am_allmapfdwallcolor 110 The color of unmapped lines in the automap indicating a change in a floor’s height once you have a computer area map power-up (0 to 255).
am_allmapwallcolor 108 The color of unmapped solid walls in the automap once you have a computer area map power-up (0 to 255).
am_antialiasing off Toggles anti-aliasing in the automap.
am_backcolor 0 The color of the automap’s background (0 to 255).
am_bloodsplatcolor 124 The color of blood splats in the automap when you cheat (0 to 255).
am_bluedoorcolor 162 The color of doors in the automap unlocked with a blue keycard or skull key (0 to 255).
am_bluekeycolor 112 The color of blue keycards and skull keys in the automap when you cheat (0 to 255).
am_cdwallcolor 162 The color of lines in the automap indicating a change in a ceiling’s height (0 to 255).
am_corpsecolor 116 The color of corpses in the automap when you cheat (0 to 255).
am_correctaspectratio on Toggles aspect ratio correction in the automap. (This CVAR will become available in DOOM Retro v5.6.)
am_crosshaircolor 4 The color of the crosshair in the automap when follow mode is off (0 to 255).
am_display 2 The display used to show the external automap.
am_dynamic on Toggles dynamically updating the automap while it is open. (This CVAR will become available in DOOM Retro v5.6.)
am_external off Toggles showing the automap on an external display.
am_fdwallcolor 64 The color of lines in the automap indicating a change in a floor’s height (0 to 255).
am_followmode on Toggles follow mode in the automap.1
am_grid off Toggles the grid in the automap.
am_gridcolor 6 The color of the grid in the automap (0 to 255).
am_gridsize 128×128 The size of the grid in the automap (width×height).
am_markcolor 89 The color of marks in the automap (0 to 255).
am_path off Toggles your path in the automap.
am_pathcolor 89 The color of your path in the automap (0 to 255).
am_playercolor 4 The color of your arrow in the automap (0 to 255).
am_playerstats off Toggles your stats in the automap.
am_playerstatscolor 4 The color of your stats in the automap (0 to 255).
am_reddoorcolor 162 The color of doors in the automap unlocked with a red keycard or skull key (0 to 255).
am_redkeycolor 112 The color of red keycards and skull keys in the automap when you cheat (0 to 255).
am_rotatemode on Toggles rotate mode in the automap.
am_teleportercolor 184 The color of teleporter lines in the automap (0 to 255).
am_thingcolor 112 The color of things in the automap when you cheat (0 to 255).
am_tswallcolor 104 The color of lines in the automap indicating no change in height (0 to 255).
am_wallcolor 180 The color of solid walls in the automap (0 to 255).
am_yellowdoorcolor 162 The color of doors in the automap unlocked with a yellow keycard or skull key (0 to 255).
am_yellowkeycolor 112 The color of yellow keycards and skull keys in the automap when you cheat (0 to 255).
ammo 50 The amount of ammo you have for your currently equipped weapon.
animatedstats on Toggles animating your health, armor and ammo in the status bar and widescreen HUD when they change.
armor 0% Your armor (0% to 200%).
armortype none Your armor type (none, green or blue).
autoaim on Toggles vertical autoaiming as you fire your weapon while using mouselook.
autoload on Toggles automatically loading the last savegame when you die.2
autosave on Toggles automatically saving the game at the start of each map.
autotilt off Toggles automatically tilting your view while going up or down a flight of stairs.
autouse off Toggles automatically using doors and switches in front of you.
centerweapon on Toggles centering your weapon when fired.
crosshair none Toggles your crosshair (none, cross, or dot).
crosshaircolor 112 The color of your crosshair (0 to 255).
english american Toggles the use of American or British English (american or british).
episode 1 The currently selected DOOM episode in the menu (1 to 6).
expansion 1 The currently selected DOOM II expansion in the menu (1 or 2).
facebackcolor 5 The color of your face’s background in the status bar (0 to 255).
fade on Toggles a fading effect when transitioning between some screens.
flashkeys on Toggles flashing the keycard or skull key that is needed when you try to open a locked door.
freelook off Toggles freely looking up and down using the mouse or a controller.
gametime 00:00 The amount of time DOOM Retro has been running.3
groupmessages on Toggles the grouping of identical player messages.
health 100% Your health (-99% to 200%).
infighting on Toggles infighting amongst monsters once you die.
infiniteheight off Toggles giving you and everything else in the current map infinite height.
joy_analog on Toggles whether movement using the controller’s thumbsticks is analog or digital.
joy_deadzone_left 15% The dead zone of the controller’s left thumbstick (0% to 30%).
joy_deadzone_right 15% The dead zone of the controller’s right thumbstick (0% to 30%).
joy_invertyaxis off Toggles inverting the vertical axis of the controller’s right thumbstick when you look up or down.
joy_rumble_barrels 100% The amount the controller rumbles when you are near an exploding barrel (0% to 200%).
joy_rumble_damage 100% The amount the controller rumbles when you take damage (0% to 200%).
joy_rumble_pickup on Toggles rumbling the controller when you pick something up.
joy_rumble_weapons 100% The amount the controller rumbles when you fire your weapon (0% to 200%).
joy_sensitivity_horizontal 64 The horizontal sensitivity of the controller’s thumbsticks (0 to 128).
joy_sensitivity_vertical 64 The vertical sensitivity of the controller’s thumbsticks (0 to 128).
joy_swapthumbsticks off Toggles swapping the controller’s left and right thumbsticks.
joy_thumbsticks 2 The number of thumbsticks on the controller (1 or 2).
m_acceleration on Toggles the acceleration of mouse movement.
m_doubleclick_use off Toggles double-clicking a mouse button to perform the +use action.
m_invertyaxis off Toggles inverting the vertical axis of the mouse when using mouselook.
m_novertical on Toggles no vertical movement of the mouse.
m_pointer on Toggles the mouse pointer in the menu.
m_sensitivity 16 The mouse’s sensitivity (0 to 128).
maptime 00:00 The amount of time you have been in the current map.
melt on Toggles a melting effect when transitioning between some screens.
menuhighlight on Toggles the highlighting of selected items in the menu.
menushadow on Toggles items in the menu casting a shadow.
menuspin on Toggles spinning the player’s view in the menu’s background.
messages on Toggles displaying player messages at the top of the screen.
movebob 75% The amount your view bobs as you move (0% to 100%).
negativehealth on Toggles allowing your health to be less than 0% when you die.
obituaries on Toggles displaying obituaries when you or monsters are killed.
playergender male Your gender (male, female or other).
playername “” Your name.
r_althud off Toggles an alternate heads-up display when in widescreen.
r_antialiasing off Toggles anti-aliasing when the graphic detail is low.
r_berserkeffect 3 The intensity of the red effect when you have a berserk power-up and your fists equipped (0 to 8).
r_blood nofuzz The colors of the blood spilled by you and monsters (all, none, red, green or nofuzz).
r_blood_gibs on Toggles spawning blood when monsters are gibbed.
r_blood_melee on Toggles spawning blood during melee attacks from monsters.
r_bloodsplats_max 131,072 The maximum number of blood splats allowed in each map (0 to 1,048,576).
r_bloodsplats_total 0 The total number of blood splats in the current map.3
r_bloodsplats_translucency on Toggles the translucency of blood splats.
r_brightmaps on Toggles brightmaps on some wall textures.
r_corpses_color on Toggles randomly colored marine corpses.
r_corpses_gib on Toggles some corpses gibbing when barrels or rockets explode nearby.
r_corpses_mirrored on Toggles randomly mirrored corpses.
r_corpses_moreblood on Toggles blood splats spawned around corpses at the start of each map.
r_corpses_nudge on Toggles corpses and the items they drop being nudged when walked over.
r_corpses_slide on Toggles corpses sliding when barrels or rockets explode nearby.
r_corpses_smearblood on Toggles corpses leaving blood splats behind as they slide.
r_damageeffect on Toggles the red effect when you take damage.
r_detail high Toggles the graphic detail (high or low).
r_diskicon off Toggles showing a disk icon when loading and saving.
r_ditheredlighting on Toggles dithered lighting cast on all textures and sprites.
r_fixmaperrors on Toggles fixing many mapping errors in the official DOOM and DOOM II WADs.4
r_fixspriteoffsets on Toggles fixing sprite offsets.
r_floatbob on Toggles some power-ups bobbing up and down.
r_fov 90° Your field of view (45° to 135°).
r_gamma 0.90 The screen’s gamma correction level (off, or 0.50 to 2.0).
r_graduallighting on Toggles gradual lighting under doors and crushing sectors.
r_homindicator off Toggles a flashing “Hall Of Mirrors” indicator.
r_hud off Toggles a heads-up display when in widescreen.
r_hud_translucency on Toggles the translucency of the heads-up display when in widescreen.
r_levelbrightness 0% The additional brightness applied to all of the lighting in the current map (0% to 100%).
r_linearskies off Toggles horizontally linear skies.
r_liquid_bob on Toggles the bobbing of liquid sectors.
r_liquid_bobsprites on Toggles the bobbing of sprites in liquid sectors.
r_liquid_clipsprites on Toggles clipping the bottom of sprites in liquid sectors.
r_liquid_current on Toggles a slight current being applied to liquid sectors.
r_liquid_lowerview on Toggles lowering your view when you are in a liquid sector.
r_liquid_swirl on Toggles the swirl of liquid sectors.
r_lowpixelsize 2×2 The size of each pixel when the graphic detail is low (width×height).
r_mirroredweapons off Toggles randomly mirroring the weapons dropped by monsters.
r_pickupeffect on Toggles the gold effect when you pick something up.
r_playersprites on Toggles showing your weapon.
r_radsuiteffect on Toggles the green effect while you wear a radiation shielding suit power-up.
r_randomstartframes on Toggles randomizing the start frames of certain sprites.
r_rockettrails on Toggles the trail of smoke behind rockets fired by you and cyberdemons.
r_rockettrails_translucency on Toggles the translucency of the trail of smoke behind rockets fired by you and cyberdemons.
r_screensize 7 The screen size (0 to 8).
r_shadows on Toggles sprites casting shadows.
r_shadows_translucency on Toggles the translucency of shadows cast by sprites.
r_shake_barrels on Toggles shaking your view when you are near an exploding barrel.
r_shake_berserk on Toggles shaking your view when you have a berserk power-up and punch something.
r_shake_damage on Toggles shaking the screen when you take damage.
r_sprites_translucency on Toggles the translucency of certain sprites.
r_textures on Toggles showing all textures.
r_textures_translucency on Toggles the translucency of certain BOOM-compatible wall textures.
s_channels 32 The number of sound effects that can be played at the same time (8 to 64).
s_lowermenumusic on Toggles lowering the music’s volume in the menu and console.
s_musicinbackground off Toggles continuing to play music in the background when DOOM Retro’s window loses focus.
s_musicvolume 100% The volume level of music (0% to 100%).
s_randommusic off Toggles randomizing the music for each map.
s_randompitch off Toggles randomizing the pitch of sound effects made by monsters.
s_sfxvolume 100% The volume level of sound effects (0% to 100%).
s_stereo on Toggles playing sound effects in mono or stereo.
savegame 1 The currently selected savegame in the menu (1 to 8).
secretmessages on Toggles displaying a message when you find a secret.
skilllevel 3 The currently selected skill level in the menu (1 to 5).
stillbob 0% The amount your view and weapon bob up and down when you stand still (0% to 100%).
sucktime 1 The amount of time you must complete a map before you “SUCK” (off, or 1 to 24 hours).
tossdrop on Toggles tossing items dropped by monsters when they die.
turbo 100% The speed you move (10% to 400%).
units imperial The units used by certain stats (imperial or metric).
version 5.5.1 DOOM Retro’s version.3
vid_aspectratio auto The aspect ratio of the display when in widescreen (16:9, 16:10, 21:9, 32:9 or auto).
vid_blue 0% The intensity of blue on the screen (-100% to 100%).
vid_borderlesswindow on Toggles using a borderless window when fullscreen.
vid_brightness 0% The screen’s brightness (-100% to 100%).
vid_capfps 200 The number of frames at which to cap the framerate (off, or 35 to 1,000). There is no interpolation between frames when this CVAR is 35.
vid_contrast 0% The screen’s contrast (-100% to 100%).
vid_display 1 The display used to play DOOM Retro on.
vid_fullscreen on Toggles between fullscreen and a window.
vid_green 0% The intensity of green on the screen (-100% to 100%).
vid_motionblur 0% The amount of motion blur when you turn quickly (0% to 100%).
vid_pillarboxes off Toggles using the pillarboxes either side of the screen for certain effects when not in widescreen.
vid_red 0% The intensity of red on the screen (-100% to 100%).
vid_saturation 0% The saturation of the colors on the screen (-100% to 100%).
vid_scaleapi “direct3d11” The API used to scale every frame (“direct3d9”, “direct3d11”, “opengl” or “software”).
vid_scalefilter “nearest_linear” The filter applied when scaling every frame (“nearest”, “linear” or “nearest_linear”).
vid_screenresolution desktop The screen’s resolution when fullscreen (desktop or width×height).
vid_showfps off Toggles showing the number of frames per second.5
vid_vsync off Toggles vertical sync with the display’s refresh rate (on, off or adaptive).
vid_widescreen off Toggles widescreen.
vid_windowpos centered The position of the window on the desktop (centered or (x,y)).
vid_windowsize 854×480 The size of the window on the desktop (width×height).
wad “” The last WAD to be opened by the WAD launcher.3
wadfolder “C:\” The folder the currently loaded WAD is in.
warninglevel 1 The console’s warning level (0, 1 or 2).
weapon pistol Your currently equipped weapon (fists, chainsaw, pistol, shotgun, [supershotgun], chaingun, rocketlauncher, [plasmarifle] or [BFG9000]).
weaponbob 75% The amount your weapon bobs up and down as you move (0% to 100%).
weaponbounce on Toggles the bounce of your weapon when you land after a fall.
weaponrecoil off Toggles the recoil of your weapon when you fire it.


1This CVAR is reset to its default at the start of each map.
2This CVAR has no effect while the pistolstart CCMD is used.
3This CVAR is read-only.
4Changing this CVAR won’t be effective until the next map.
5This CVAR is reset to its default during startup.

Clone this wiki locally