Console Commands (Q1)

 

NOTE: All commands are case-insensitive and without quotations. Some codes are exclusive to one Source port, such as the gl codes (controlling OpenGL) existing for only GLQuake.

Console Commands

A console command is a cheat or other command intended to be written in the Console.

• +attack and -attack - When attack is active the player is firing their current weapon.
• +back and -back - When back is active the player is moving backwards.
• +forward and -forward - When forward is active the player is moving forward.
• +jump and -jump - When jump is active the player jumps.
• +klook and -klook - When klook is active forward and back become lookup and lookdown.
• +left and -left - When left is active the player is turning left.
• +lookdown and -lookdown - When lookdown is active the player's view is moving down.
• +lookup and -lookup - When lookup is active the player's view is moving up.
• +mlook and -mlook - When mlook is active moving the mouse forwards and backwards performs a lookup and lookdown respectively.
• +movedown and -movedown - When movedown is active the player is swimming down in a liquid.
• +moveleft and -moveleft - When moveleft is active the player is strafing left.
• +moveright and -moveright - When moveright is active the player is strafing right.
• +moveup and -moveup - When moveup is active the player is swimming up in a liquid.
• +right and -right - When right is active the player is turning right.
• +showscores and -showscores - When showscores is active in Single Player mode the current level stats are shown on the status bar. In Multiplayer mode the current frags are shown on the full screen.
• +speed and -speed - When speed is active the player is running. Doesn't do anything if Always Run is set to On.
• +strafe and -strafe - When strafe is active left and right function as +moveleft and +moveright strafing in that direction.
• +use and -use - Completely useless in the vanilla game, deprecated use function from the days of Doom. 
• _cl_color - Cvar (console variable) used by server when signing into a multiplayer game. Players should use the color function as using this variable directly can result in the new colors not being recognized by the server until a refresh (such as a map change or a reconnection). This means that only the player will see the new colors if they use this command.
• _cl_name - Cvar (console variable) used by server when signing into a multiplayer game. Players should use the name function as using this variable directly can result in the new name not being recognized by the server until a refresh (such as a map change or a reconnection). This means that only the player will see the new name if they use this command.
• alias # "X; Y; Z" - Shortens a string of commands into a single alias command. # represents the name of the command that the player will use, simply typing this command in the future will cause the string of commands to be performed. "X; Y; Z" represents the string of commands, which must be written in quotations. Each command is separated from each other by a semicolon. To clear the command, simply type the alias and command name without adding a string of commands.
• ambient_level - Default value is 0.3. Lowering this decreases the volume of ambient sounds.
• begin - Part of the Quake client/server protocol. When the client is ready to begin updating messages this command is sent. This command will state "Not valid from Console" if trying to run it manually.
• bind - used in conjunction with a button to specify the function of the button (any previous function set for the button in the configuration menu will be eliminated to make room for the new function).
• bf - causes a background flash, the effect used when an item is picked up.
• bgmvolume - default is 1.0, setting this lower causes the volume of the music to decrease. 0 is muted.
• cd on - Turns on music system after using cd off command. Note that music will not start playing again until a track is requested.
• cd off - Shuts off music system.
• cd info - States the currently playing track, the number of tracks on the CD, and the volume.
• cd loop - Similar to cd play, this loops the specified track so that it will continue playing until stopped or changed.
• cd play - Plays a specified track (by track number).
• cd reset - Restarts music
• cd stop - Stops a track.
• centerview - realigns the view of the player to the center of the screen. Does not work with mouselook, instead force_centerview must be used.
• changelevel - changes the level to the specified map, similar to the map command. Unlike the latter, the player preserves their state (such as health and weapons).
• cl_backspeed - having a default of 400, lowering this value slows the player's speed of movement when moving backwards.
• cl_bob - having a default of 0.02, setting this to a lower or higher value causes the weapon bob as the player walks to become less or more noticeable respectively
• cl_bobcycle - having a default of 0.6, this value controls the time it takes for a weapon to bob. A lower value will bob more rapidly, while a higher value will bob less frequently. While both this and cl_bobup control the frequency of the bob, this controls the time and therefore works exponentially (meaning values are more extreme).
• cl_bobup - having a default of 0.5, this value controls the frequency that the weapon bobs. A lower value will bob more rapidly, while a higher value will bob less frequently.
• cl_forwardspeed - having a default of 400, lowering this value slows the player's speed of movement when moving forwards.
• cl_movespeedkey - having a default of 2<c/ode>, lowering this value slows the speed that the player runs when holding down the run key. Does not control the speed of autorun.
• cl_rollangle - having a default of 2 (meaning it is somewhat marginal), the angle that the camera tilts to when the player moves to a side. With a lower value the tilt is less extreme, with a higher value the tilt is more extreme.
• cl_rollspeed - having a default of 200, lowering this value will cause the roll to appear at a lower value (0 meaning the roll is always on unless the player switches to the opposite side), whilst raising will cause the roll to appear at a higher value and might make it so that the roll might not appear with a large enough value.
• cl_sidespeed - having a default of 350, lowering this value slows the player's speed of movement when strafing
• cl_upspeed - having a default of 200, lowering this value slows the player's speed when using the up and down movement keys.
• clear - clears all console messages
• cmdline - displays the values of the target property line
• color - used with a number between 1 and 13 for various presets of the color of the player's shirt and pants.
• crosshair - setting this value to 1 displays a crosshair
• demos - cycles through the game Demos, which by default are the three .dem files of E1M3: the Necropolis, E1M4: the Grisly Grotto, and E1M6: The Door to Chthon loaded at startup.
• deathmatch - setting this value to 1 and restarting or changing the level will result in the game switching to deathmatch mode.
• developer - setting this value to 1 will start a constant output of data about the level as it is rendered. Useful for finding bugs that exist in the game.
• edgefriction - having a default of 2, lowering this value will cause less friction to exist on edges (meaning it is easier to walk off a surface to a lower level) while raising this value will make it harder to walk off edges.
• exec - when used with the name of a script file, the file will be run by Quake. This causes an effect similar to the autoexec.cfg file, which can be created to preload commands instead of needing to use the exec command each time the game is started.
• fly - the player can fly instead of walk
• force_centerview - realigns the player's viewing angle to the default, unlike centerview this can be used even with mouselook present.
• fov # - changes the field of view, or how much the player can see to their sides
• fraglimit # - determines the amount of kills necessary to win a deathmatch game.
• give # - give weapon number #; doesn't give corresponding ammo. For example, give 3 will give you the Double-Barrelled Shotgun
• give X ### - give ### of X; X can be S (Shells), N (Nails), R (Rockets), C (Cells), or H (Health).  The ammo counter can only go as high as 255, meaning players with more ammo will appear to have less ammo than they honestly have (it overlaps, meaning after firing at an ammo count of 0 it will go back to 255). If the player picks up any type of ammo dropped by an enemy, all ammo amounts will revert back to the maximum obtainable without console commands (for example, if the player has 255 nails and picks up a drop, they will have 200 nails). The player can have up to 294911 health, afterwards their view will turn sideways and they will appear to be dead. It is still possible for the player to move around and finish the level in this angle, though if the player is injured enough to go below 294912 their view will be immediately corrected. Note also that Health over 100 will only last for the duration of the level, similar to the effects of the 100 Health powerup.
• give health - "kills" the player (the player can still jump and shoot, but cannot move and is lying on their side).
• gl_affinemodels - By default set to 0, setting this to 1 deactivates the textures autocorrecting on models (which is done to fix persective) and increases performance.
• gl_doubleeys - By default set to 1, setting to 0 makes this setting like the software mode. GlQuake had difficulty rendering eyes in comparison to the software engine and tried to fix the problem by doubling the size of the eyes. 
• gl_finish - By default set to 0. Setting it to 1 causes a gl_finish to be added after each frame, which basically requires the cpu to wait for the gpu to prevent lag.
• gl_flashblend - By default set to 1 for performance, altering this changes how dynamic lights are rendered. Setting this to 0 sets it to be similar to the software mode, which many individuals believe is better. The new mode creates a bright sphere around the environment based on the color of the light instead of trying to light the world around it. Setting this to 2 makes it so the light only appears when the center of the light is visible.
• gl_keeptjunctions - By default set to 0 for better performance, setting to 1 increases the number of vertices that can exist on the same plane and gets rid of a few blinking pixels that might be seen on the screen.
• gl_picmip - By default set to 0 for best quality. This controls the rendering quality of the maps, with 1 to 3 getting progressively more blurry but also giving better performance.
• gl_playermip - By default set to 0 for best quality. This controls the rendering quality of the player models, with 1 to 3 getting progressively more blurry but also giving better performance.
• gl_texturemode - The default texture mode is GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST. GL_NEAREST is used to optimize performance, while GL_LINEAR uses interlopation to improve textures. Each has two different types of _MIPMAPs, _NEAREST and _LINEAR, that try to increase the look of faraway objects. _NEAREST attempts to do this by washing out textures to eliminate pixels, while _LINEAR tries to keep the quality of the pixels and render them from far distances.
• gl_triplebuffer - By default set to 1. Set to 0 to deactivate triple buffering, which might not be compatible with older graphics cards.
• gl_ztrick - By default set to 1. The Z buffer, used to determine spacial relativity, is prevented from being refreshed by being buffered. By setting it to 0 it turns off this buffer, which can be useful for hardware that causes the status bar and console to flash every other second.
• god - the player becomes invincible
• help - displays the help menu
• impulse -1 or impulse 255 - the player receives Quad Damage
• impulse 1 to impulse 8 - selects the corresponding weapon.
• impulse 9 or impulse 265 - the player receives all weapons at full ammo, as well as both keys
• impulse 10 - selects the next weapon
• impulse 11 - One Rune; repeat 4 times to get all 4 runes
  • Note: If you use this code more than once, you need to exit and re-enter the console after every usage, otherwise you will always receive only 1 rune.
  • There is a glitch regarding the runes. A player can find that runes that she or he has completed an episode can disappear which means that she or he would have to redo an Episode. To avoid such a distressing replay, this code is perfect to get back those runes.
• impulse 12 - selects the previous weapon
• kill - restarts the current level by killing the player.
• load - loads a .sav file based on the value after the command
• m_filter - default is 0, setting this to 1 activates mouse smoothing.
• m_forward - default is 1, lowering this makes the player move slower when moving forwards and backwards with the mouse (Lookspring). 
• m_pitch - default is 0.022. Raising this value makes the player look up and down faster, while lowering this value makes the player look up and down slower (Mouselook). A negative value is used to invert mouselook.
• m_side - default is 0.8, lowering this makes the player move slower when strafing with the mouse (Lookstrafe).
• m_yaw - default is 0.022. Lowering this value makes the mouse slower when turning from side to side, while raising this value makes mouse turning from side to side faster. 
• map - the current level can be changed to the map typed, but unlike the changelevel command the player is reverted to the default state of 100 health and only an Axe and Shotgun.
• menu_keys - displays the customize controls menu
• menu_load - displays the load menu
• menu_main - displays the main menu
• menu_multiplayer - displays the Multiplayer menu
• menu_options - displays the options menu
• menu_save - displays the save menu
• menu_setup - displays the Multiplayer setup menu
• menu_singleplayer - displays the Single Player menu
• menu_quit - displays the quit menu
• menu_video - displays the video options menu
• name - changes the player's name to the variables typed after the command
• noclip - similar to fly, but the player can also move through solid objects, such as walls
• noexit - default is 0, setting this to 1 will cause any player that tries to step into a Level Exit to get killed with the death message - "Player" tried to leave. Setting this to 2 will cause similar results to 1, with the main difference being the ability to leave Introduction.
• nosound - setting this to 1 eliminates all sounds besides ambient noises
• notarget - enemies cannot target the player
• path - displays in the console the folder paths being used by the game, ID1 is always loaded whilst extra pak0 files might be loaded if playing a mod.
• pausable - default is 1, setting this to 0 forbids players from pausing the game
• pause - pauses/unpauses the game
• ping - sends request packets to the server to test the connection. A bug fixed by unofficial modern engines involved the client's connection being accepted but no packets being sent to the server due to problems with NAT. In WinQuake, GLQuake, and vanilla Quake if the client encounters this they can use this command to start sending packets (which allows them to enter the server),
• playdemo # - plays the specified demo file, like the three loaded upon startup. All demos are saved in the game folder as .dem files.
• quit - exits the game
• r_drawentities - setting this to 0 hides any models such as weapons, enemies, or doors. 
• r_drawviewmodel - setting this to 0 hides the Weapon.
• r_dynamic - setting this to 0 deactivates dynamic lights such as flickering lights.
• r_fullbright - setting this to 1 causes all surfaces of a level to be completely lit up
• r_mirroralpha - default is 1, lowering this value allows glass to reflect the image of the player. This also tends to cause sound problems in various maps, most notably E1M5.
• r_novis - default is 0, setting this to 1 allows the world to be pre-rendered instead of being rendered in real time. In the base game this is rarely noticeable, with the greatest change being that it is required to see through liquids. If r_wateralpha is activated the Water becomes transparent but until r_novis is set to 1 the player will not be able to see what is beyond the water (such as brushes or objects).
• r_shadows - setting this to 1 renders shadows underneath actors
• r_wateralpha - having a default value of 1, lowering this value to a decimal allows Water and other liquids to appear transparent.
• record # # - records a demo which is saved as a .dem file (like the three that play on startup). The first variable after the command specifies the name of the file. The second variable specifies the map, which loads the map and is required as the game cannot demo levels already in progress.
• registered - setting this to 1 causes the shareware version of Quake to behave like registered. This will allow the doors to Episodes 2, 3 and 4 to open as they do in the full version of the game, yet stepping onto the Slipgates will cause the game to crash because the level data for these Episodes are missing.
• restart - similar to"kill but without a suicide message.
• samelevel - setting this to 1 causes the level to restart upon attempting to leave the level
• save - saves an .sav file based on the value given after the command.
• say # - sends a message to other players.
• scr_conspeed - default is 300, increasing will make the console lower and rise at a faster rate, while lowering will slow the console's movement.
• scr_printspeed - default is 8, increasing will make text load at a faster rate, while decreasing causes the text (such as those at the end of an episode) to be displayed slower.
• screenshot - Takes a screenshot of the current screen (including the console). 
• sensitivity - having a default value of 11, setting this to a lower number results in a slower turning speed of the mouse. Setting this to a higher number allows for faster turning speeds, but setting it too high can cause the player to lose their bearings. This speeds up or slows both the m_pitch and m_yaw instead of being an individual command.
• skill - sets the current Difficulty, 0 being the easiest and 3 being the hardest
• showpause - having a default value of 1, setting this to 0 will hide the pause box from being displayed when the game is paused.
• showturtle - having a default value of 0, setting this to 1 will display a turtle icon when the game drops below 10 FPS. 
• sizedown - Decreases the size of the screen.
• sizeup - Increases the size of the screen.
• slist - displays a list of currently accessible servers
• snd_show - setting this to 1 causes the number of sounds being played to be displayed and updated constantly.
• soundinfo - Various information about sound is displayed including if a stereo output is being used, information about the samples, the playback speed, and the address for the DMA buffer which is used to bypass the CPU for real-time applications.
• status - displays server information such as players, map, hostname, and frags.
• stop - stops the recording of a demo.
• stopdemo - stops the playback of a demo.
• sv_aim - the default value of 0.93 gives the player a small amount of autoaim. Setting the value to 1 eliminates the autoaim, while lowering the value allows for more autoaim.
• sv_gravity - the default is 800, setting this lower causes the player to have less gravity. 100 is similar to what is found in E1M8: Ziggurat Vertigo
• sv_maxspeed - having a default value of 320, lowering this value causes the player to have a slower movement speed. Increasing this value causes the player to move at a faster rate.
• sv_maxvelocity - having a default value of 2000, lowering this value causes the player to have a slower movement speed like sv_maxspeed. Unlike the aforementioned command, lowering this value will also decrease the speed of all projectiles.
• sv_nostep - setting this to 1 causes the player to not be able to climb stairs
• sv_stopspeed - default is 100, lowering causes the player to slide more whilst increasing allows the player to stop moving immediately.
• teamplay # - default is 0, setting this variable to 1 will allow players on the same team to not injure each other. Teams are decided by the color of the pants, meaning both players must have the same color pants to be considered to be part of the same team.
• tell # # - sends a whisper to a specific player, the name is specified by the first variable. The second variable is simply the message itself. For example, Tell Player Hi would send a whisper to Player saying "Player Hi"
• timedemo # - plays a demo as a test to determine the frames per second, which is shown at the end of the demo to show how fast the game is able to display images on the screen.
• timelimit # - default is 0, setting this variable higher will specify the amount of time the players have until the level is completed.
• toggleconsole - Toggles the console on or off.
• unbind - used in conjunction with a button to get rid of key bindings.
• unbindall - used to immediately get rid of any key bindings besides the escape key.
• v_kickpitch - default is 0.6. The lower the number the less the player's view moves vertically after shot, while the higher the number the more displaced the player will be upon injury.
• v_kickroll - default is 0.6. The lower the number the less the player's view moves horizontally after shot, while the higher the number the more displaced the player will be upon injury.
• v_kicktime - default is 0.5. The lower the number the less time the player's view is moved by v_kickpitch and v_kickroll. The higher the number the greater the time.
• version - gives the date and version number of the .exe file.
• vid_describecurrentmode - displays the current resolution and color depth.
• vid_describemodes - gives a list of the different display resolutions in the console.
• vid_nummodes - displays the number of different display resolutions that exist.
• viewsize # - default is 100. Allows the player to set the exact size of the screen they wish, larger increases (hides the HUD) while smaller decreases.
• volume - raising this value to 1 will put the game at maximum volume, lowering this value to be between 0 and 1 will lower the volume, whilst 0 will mute the game.

Target Properties

Note that it is possible to use any console command as a target property by adding a + before the console command. This section shall therefore focus on the values specific to the target property line, these can often be determined by the necessary usage of - before the target command.

• conheight # - Height of the console, status bar, text, weapon display, and HUD.
• conwidth # - Width of the console, status bar, text, weapon display, and HUD.
• dinput - Allows the player to use direct input for their mouse. Note that this tends to cause problems with the mousewheel.
• game - Used in combination with a folder name to load the files within the folder, used with Add-ons.
• heapsize # - Allows a specific amount of memory to be allowed for general gameplay.
• height # - Height of the display resolution.
• nocdaudio # - Setting this to 1 will deactivate the music
• nomouse # - Setting this to 1 will deactivate the mouse
• nosound # - Setting this to 1 will deactivate all sounds
• port# - Specifies the specific port that the game should be run on instead of the default *26000#
• width # - Width of the display resolution.
• zone # - Allows a specific amount of memory to be allowed to console scripts.