Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Tweak Guide

[Page 8] Advanced Tweaking (Pt.2)



This section lists all the major Enemy Territory: Quake Wars commands and command variables (cvars) by general function, and provides descriptions and recommendations for the important ones. The list is by no means exhaustive since there are literally almost 1,800 different commands and variables for ET:QW; I've only tried to cover the most useful working commands. To see a full list of the ETQW commands for yourself, type listcvars and listcmds in the in-game console. To get a saved list of the cvars with descriptions, type htmlcvars and a copy will be saved as cvars.html under the directory which holds your etqwconfig.cfg and etqwbinds.cfg files (See previous page).



Usage rules


Config and Console Usage: In the ET:QW engine, when you want to use a command - whether in a config file or in the console - you can simply type the name of the command, and then any values or parameters if required, however you must place exactly one space after the command and any following value or parameter. E.g: r_displayrefresh 85. You don't have to use "" (quotes) around the value, nor do you have to use the Set or Seta command in front of them.


Set vs. Seta: You will see in certain places, like the etqwconfig.cfg file, that a command is prefaced with the words Set or Seta. You can also insert these in front of your commands in the console or config file or in the command line, however they aren't absolutely necessary for a command to work. The Set command is used to tell the game engine to set a cvar to a particular value. Seta is more useful in that it tells the game engine to set the cvar value, and then archive it (store it) so it becomes permanent. So don't use Seta unless you want a value to 'stick', as it will remain there until you either manually change its value again.


Current and Default Values: If at any time you want to see the current value for a cvar, open the console and type the name of the variable without a value. For example, type r_displayrefresh and you will see the current value for this variable on your system. More importantly, you will also see the default value. There are different current and defaults for the commands depending on your particular system hardware configuration, that's why I don't provide the defaults here.


Note: if you can't remember the exact name of a command, type the first few letter(s) of it in the console and then press the TAB key - the console will show you all commands beginning with the same letter(s).



The following is a list of all the major commands for ET:QW, grouped by function, and with relevant descriptions. Note that I have tested all of these, and the following settings have been purposely excluded:


  • Variables which can be easily and fully changed in the In-Game Settings.
  • Useless commands/variables such as a range of developer and debugging commands.
  • Server Administrator commands
  • Commands which are already set to their optimal value by default and should not be changed.

  • Finally remember that some of these commands are considered cheats on certain servers, and may not be able to be used without the net_allowcheats command being enabled, or may result in being kicked by PunkBuster - it all depends on what the server administrator has set as being acceptable.



    Click to enlarge

    Common Commands


    com_showFPS [0,1] - If set to 1, shows the current frame rate in Frames Per Second (FPS) at the top right of the screen. If set to 0, disables the counter.


    com_allowConsole [-1, 0,1] - If set to 1, allows the command console to be opened by using only the '~' key, rather than CTRL + ALT + ~ (when set to 0). If set to -1, disables the console.


    bind [keyname, command] - Binds a command to a key. For example:


    bind F10 com_showFPS 1

    bind F11 com_showFPS 0


    Binds the F10 key to the command com_showfps 1 (which turns on the FPS counter), and the next line binds the F11 key to the command com_showfps 0 (which turns off the FPS counter). If you want to make a key binding 'toggle', that is pressing the same key turns a command on or off, then use the Toggle command instead, for example:


    bind F10 toggle com_showFPS


    Which means the F10 key alone will turn the FPS counter on and off, freeing up the F11 key.


    unbind [keyname] - Unbinds any existing commands from the single key named.


    unbindall - Unbinds any commands from all keys. This command is used most commonly as a starting command before setting bindings, so that you can be sure the keys you are binding are not already in use by another command.


    echo [text] - Prints the specified text onto the screen.


    exec [filename] - Executes the commands in the config filename provided.


    screenshot - Takes a screenshot and places it in your \base\screenshots directory as a .tga file.


    condump [filename.txt] - Dumps the entire contents of the console for the current session to the text filename specified and places it in your default .cfg directory.


    clear - Clears the console of all text to date. Useful if you want to clear the console before generating specific text (e.g. listcmds) then condump them cleanly.


    kill - Kills the player.


    timescale [0 - x] - Sets the rate at which time passes, with 1 being normal time, and the higher the value the quicker time passes.


    g_skipintro [0,1] - Skips any startup movies if set to 1.


    net_allowcheats [0,1] - This is an important command which when set to 1 allows the use of the 'cheat' commands, such as god, noclip and notarget below, and those tagged with (cheat) in this guide.


    god - Enables God mod, useful for troubleshooting or just having fun (cheat).


    noclip - Toggles clipping on/off. By default clipping is on. When clipping is turned off, you can walk through solid objects (cheat).


    notarget - Removes you as a target for the enemy (cheat).


    exit - Immediately exits to the Windows Desktop.



    HUD/User Interface/Display Commands


    g_showHud [0,1] - If set to 1, this enables the Heads Up Display (HUD). If set to 0, this removes the HUD from view.


    g_fov [angle] - Specifies the angle for the Field of View (FOV). The wider the angle, the larger the field of vision for the player, giving a 'fish eye' view in return for possibly lower performance. The smaller the angle, the less can be seen but the higher the performance. The default of 90 may not suit everyone.


    ui_showgun [0,1] - If set to 0 hides the gun model on the screen, but still allows the gun to be fired. This can improve performance and increase general visibility.


    g_chatDefaultColor [RGBA]

    g_chatFireTeamColor [RGBA]

    g_chatTeamColor [RGBA]


    The settings above adjust the color for various chat text shown on screen: the in-game chat, fireteam color, and team chat text respectively. These settings all use RGBA color values; RGB colors for the first three numbers, and an Alpha (transparency) value for the last number.


    g_chatLineTimeout [seconds] - Adjusts the time in seconds for each chat line to stay visible after new text is shown.


    g_weaponSwitchTimeout [seconds] - Adjusts the time in seconds for the weapon display on the right side of the HUD to stay visible after you switch/select a weapon.


    g_playTooltipSound [0,1] - If set to 0, disables the sound when a tooltip is displayed.


    g_commandMapZoom [%] - Determines the zoom level of the command map shown in the top right corner of the screen, from 0.00 (close) to 1.00 (far).


    g_enemyColor [RGBA] - Sets the color of enemy unit indicators in RGBA color value.


    g_friendColor [RGBA] - Sets the color of friendly unit indicators in RGBA color value.


    gui_doubleClickTime [seconds] - Amount of time in seconds between two clicks for them to be considered a doubleclick. If you find you're accidentally double-clicking often, raise this value.


    r_aspectRatio [0,1,2,3,-1] - Sets the Aspect Ratio of the display. Best adjusted via the In-Game Settings, however using a value of -1 allows you to set a custom aspect ratio with the r_customAspectRationH (Horizontal Ratio) and r_customAspectRatioV (Vertical Ratio) commands.


    r_mode [1-13,-1] - This setting determines the resolution of the game. It is best adjusted via the In-Game Settings, however using a value of -1 allows you to set a custom resolution using the r_customHeight (Pixel Height) and r_customWidth (Pixel Width) commands.


    r_displayRefresh [Hz] - Determines the refresh rate used for the game. If you want to set this manually, determine the maximum supported refresh rate on your monitor for the resolution you've chosen for ET:QW, and set this variable to that value.



    Control Commands


    m_rawInput [0,1] - This variable determines whether the RAW Input API is enabled for mouse input. This is enabled by default as of the 1.2 Patch onwards, but you can disable it to see if it improves your mouse input.


    m_smooth [value] - This variable determines the level of mouse smoothing applied. The higher the value, the smoother, but more laggy, mouse movements will feel. Set to 0 if you want to disable mouse smoothing altogether.


    m_pitch [value] - Determines the relative speed of up and down (pitch) mouse movements. The higher this value, the greater the sensitivity of the mouse to pitching vs. yawing.


    m_yaw [value] - Determines the relative speed of side to side (yaw) mouse movements. The higher this value, the greater the sensitivity of the mouse to yawing vs. pitching.


    sensitivity [value] - This value represents your mouse sensitivity, as set by the slider in the in-game menus (See In-Game Settings). Here you can assign higher values if you wish.


    Update: As of the 1.5 Patch the following control cvars have been added:


    m_bumblebeePitchScale [value], m_bumblebeeYawScale [value] - Control the Vertical and Horizontal mouse sensitivity respectively of the Bumblebee.


    m_heavyVehiclePitchScale [value], m_heavyVehicleYawScale [value] - Control the Vertical and Horizontal mouse sensitivity respectively of the Titan, Cyclops and Desecrator.


    m_helicopterPitchScale [value], m_helicopterYawScale [value] - Control the Vertical and Horizontal mouse sensitivity respectively of the Anansi and Tormentor.


    m_lightVehiclePitchScale [value], m_lightVehicleYawScale [value] - Control the Vertical and Horizontal mouse sensitivity respectively of the Trojan, Armadillo, Hog and Husky.


    m_playerPitchScale [value], m_playerYawScale [value] - Control the Vertical and Horizontal mouse sensitivity respectively of Infantry and the Icarus.



    The next page continues the command listing.