Command line interface

Launching ScummVM from the command line lets you pass a number of options, some of which override the applicable global or game-specific settings. It also lets you launch straight into a game without going to the Launcher first.

Usage

scummvm [option] [game]

• By default, executing scummvm on the command line starts the Launcher.

• Specify a game or use --auto-detect to start a game directly.

• Some options, such as --help or --list-audio-devices, allow you to view information about ScummVM directly on the command line without starting the Launcher or starting a game.

Starting a game

To start a game on the command line, three options are possible.

For games that have previously been added to ScummVM:

scummvm <target>

For any supported games, even if they have not been added to ScummVM:

scummvm -p <path to game files> <game id>

or

scummvm -p <path to game files> --auto-detect

In all cases additional options can be specified on the command line, for example to specify the graphics mode or which saved game to load.

The target is a name assigned to a game added to ScummVM. It is also known as the ID in the GUI, and can be changed in the Game Options. In the configuration file, this is the game name in square brackets. If the same game is added to ScummVM twice, it will have two different target names, and they can be configured differently. To see the list of configured targets:

scummvm --list-targets

The game id is a unique identifier for any game supported by ScummVM. To see a list of all supported games for your ScummVM release:

scummvm --list-games

Specify a target on the command line to use settings already configured for that target, unless different options are specified on the command line. There is no need to specify the path for the game files since this is already part of the target configuration.

Use the game id or --auto-detect to start games with default settings for any settings not specified on the command line. The path to the game file needs to be specified.

The full game id contains both an engine name and a game name. For example, the game id for Full Throttle is scumm:ft, where scumm is the engine name. In many cases where there is no ambiguity, you can omit the engine name when specifying a game id on the command line. For example, both scumm:ft and ft can be used. However, if there is an ambiguity with the game name, the full game id must be used. For example, for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis only scumm:atlantis can be used as there would otherwise be an ambiguity with cryomni3d:atlantis.

Windows

The following examples assume that the path to ScummVM is C:\Program Files\ScummVM\scummvm.exe.

To run Monkey Island, fullscreen (-f), if the game has already been added to ScummVM under the target name monkey1:

C:\Program Files\ScummVM\scummvm.exe -f monkey1

To run Full Throttle, fullscreen (-f) and with subtitles enabled (-n), specifying the path to the game on a CD (-p):

C:\Program Files\ScummVM\scummvm.exe -f -n -p "D:\resource" scumm:ft

macOS

The following examples assume the path to the ScummVM app is Applications/ScummVM.app.

If you are unsure of the path to the app, drag the ScummVM app icon into the Terminal window. This prints the path to the ScummVM app.

To run ScummVM from the command line, add /Contents/MacOS/scummvm to that path.

To run Monkey Island, fullscreen (-f), if the game has already been added to ScummVM under the target name monkey1:

/Applications/ScummVM.app/Contents/MacOS/scummvm -f monkey1

To run Full Throttle, fullscreen (-f) and with subtitles enabled (-n), specifying the path to the game on a CD (-p):

/Applications/ScummVM.app/Contents/MacOS/scummvm -f -n -p "/Volumes/Full Throttle/resource" scumm:ft

Linux

The following examples assume the path to ScummVM is /usr/games/scummvm.

To run Monkey Island, fullscreen (-f), if the game has already been added to ScummVM under the target name monkey1:

/usr/games/scummvm -f monkey1

To run Full Throttle, fullscreen (-f) and with subtitles enabled (-n), specifying the path to the game on a CD (-p):

/usr/games/scummvm -f -n -p /cdrom/resource scumm:ft

Tip

If ScummVM is on PATH, there is no need to enter the full path to ScummVM. Similarly, if a game is already added to the Launcher, there is no need to specify the path to the game.

Options

The meaning of most options can be inverted by prefixing them with no-. For example, --no-aspect-ratio will turn aspect ratio correction off. This does not apply to short options.

Option parameters are shown below in capitals, and need to be replaced with real values.

Short options are listed where they are available.

Option	Short	Description	Default
--add	-a	Adds all games from current or specified directory. If --game=ID is passed, only the game with specified ID is added. See also --detect. Use --path=PATH before -a or --add to specify a directory.
--alt-intro		Uses alternative intro for CD versions, Sky and Queen engines only	false
--aspect-ratio		Enables aspect ratio correction	false
--auto-detect		Displays a list of games from the current or specified directory and starts the first game. Use --path=PATH before --auto-detect to specify a directory
--boot-param=NUM	-b	Pass number to the boot script (boot param).	0
--cdrom=DRIVE		Sets the CD drive to play CD audio from. This can be a drive, path, or numeric index	0
--config=FILE	-c	Uses alternate configuration file
--console		Enables the console window. Win32 and Symbian32 only.	true
--copy-protection		Enables copy protection	false
--debug-channels-only		Shows only the specified debug channels
--debugflags=FLAGS		Enables engine specific debug flags
--debuglevel=NUM	-d	Sets debug verbosity level	0
--demo-mode		Starts demo mode of Maniac Mansion or The 7th Guest	false
--detect		Displays a list of games with their game id from the current or specified directory. This does not add the game to the games list. Use --path=PATH before --detect to specify a directory.
--dirtyrects		Enables dirty rectangles optimisation in software renderer	true
--disable-display		Disables any graphics output. Use for headless events playback by Event Recorder	false
--dump-midi		Dumps MIDI events to ‘dump.mid’ while game is running. Overwrites file if it already exists.	false
--dump-scripts	-u	Enables script dumping if a directory called ‘dumps’ exists in the current directory	false
--enable-gs		Enables Roland GS mode for MIDI playback	false
--engine=ID		In combination with --list-games or --list-all-games only lists games for this engine
--engine-speed=NUM		Sets frame-per-second limit for Grim Fandango or Escape from Monkey Island. 0 is no limit. Allowed values 0 - 100	60
--extrapath=PATH		Extra path to additional game data
--filtering		Forces filtered graphics mode	false
--fullscreen	-f	Forces full-screen mode	false
--game=ID		In combination with --add or --detect only adds or attempts to detect the game with specified ID.
--gfx-mode	-g	Selects graphics mode	normal
--gui-theme=THEME		Selects GUI theme
--help	-h	Displays a brief help text and exit
--iconspath=PATH		Path to additional icons for the launcher grid view
--initial-cfg=FILE	-i	Loads an initial configuration file if no configuration file has been saved yet.
--joystick=NUM		Enables joystick input.	0
--language	-q	Selects language. Allowed values: en, de, fr, it, pt, es, jp, zh, kr, se, gb, hb, ru, cz	en
--list-all-debugflags		Lists all debug flags
--list-all-engines		Lists all detection engines, then exits
--list-audio-devices		Lists all available audio devices
--list-debugflags=engine		Lists engine-specific debug flags. If engine=global or engine is not specified, then it lists global debug flags.
--list-engines		Lists supported engines, then exits
--list-games	-z	Lists supported games, then exits.
--list-records=TARGET		Lists recordings for the specified target (Event Recorder)
--list-saves --game=TARGET		Displays a list of saved games for the game specified, or for all targets if no game specified.
--list-targets	-t	Lists configured targets, then exits
--list-themes		Lists all usable GUI themes
--logfile=PATH	-l	Uses alternate path for log file (SDL backend only).
--md5		Shows MD5 hash of the file given by --md5-path=PATH. If --md5-length=NUM is passed then it shows the MD5 hash of the first or last NUM bytes of the file given by PATH. If --md5-engine=ENGINE_ID option is passed then it auto-calculates the required bytes and its hash, overriding --md5-length
--md5mac		Shows MD5 hash for both the resource fork and data fork of the file given by --md5-path=PATH. If --md5-length=NUM is passed then it shows the MD5 hash of the first or last``NUM`` bytes of each fork.
--md5-engine=ENGINE_ID		Used with --md5 to specify the engine for which number of bytes to be hashed must be calculated. This option overrides --md5-length if used along with it. Use --list-engines to find all engine IDs.
--md5-length=NUM		Used with --md5 or --md5mac to specify the number of bytes to be hashed.If NUM is 0, MD5 hash of the whole file is calculated. If NUM is negative, the MD5 hash is calculated from the tail. Is overriden if passed with --md5-engine option	0
--md5-path=PATH		Used with --md5 or --md5mac to specify path of file to calculate MD5 hash of	./scummvm
--midi-gain=NUM		Sets the gain for MIDI playback Only supported by some MIDI drivers. 0-1000	100
--multi-midi		Enables combination AdLib and native MIDI	false
--music-driver=MODE	-e	Selects preferred music device	auto
--music-volume=NUM	-m	Sets the music volume, 0-255	192
--native-mt32		True Roland MT-32 (disables GM emulation)	false
--no-fullscreen	-F	Forces windowed mode
--opl-driver=DRIVER		Selects AdLib (OPL) emulator
--output-channels=CHANNELS		Select output channel count, for example, 2 for stereo.
--output-rate=RATE		Selects output sample rate in Hz, for example 22050Hz.
--path=PATH	-p	Sets path to where the game is installed
--platform=STRING		ref: Specifies platform of game <platform> Allowed values: 2gs 3do acorn amiga atari c64 fmtowns nes mac pc pc98 pce segacd wii windows
--random-seed=SEED		Sets the random seed used to initialize entropy
--record-file-name=FILE		Specifies recorded file name (Event Recorder)	record.bin
--record-mode=MODE		Specifies record mode for Event Recorder. Allowed values: record, playback, info, update, passthrough.	none
--recursive		In combination with --add or ``--detect recurses down all subdirectories
--renderer=RENDERER		Selects 3D renderer. Allowed values: software, opengl, opengl_shaders
--render-mode=MODE		Enables additional render modes. Allowed values: hercGreen hercAmber cga ega vga amiga fmtowns pc9821 pc9801 2gs atari macintosh macintoshbwdefault	default
--save-slot=NUM	-x	Specifies the saved game slot to load	0 (autosave)
--savepath=PATH		Specifies path to where saved games are stored
--scale-factor=FACTOR		Specifies the factor to scale the graphics by
--scaler=MODE		Selects graphics scaler. Allowed values: normal hq edge advmame sai supersai supereagle pm dotmatrix tv2x	default
--screenshotpath=PATH		Specify path where screenshot files are created. SDL backend only.
--screenshot-period=NUM		When recording, triggers a screenshot every NUM milliseconds.(Event Recorder)	60000
--sfx-volume=NUM	-s	Sets the sfx volume, 0-255	192
--show-fps		Turns on frames-per-second information in 3D games	false
--soundfont=FILE		Selects the SoundFont for MIDI playback.. Only supported bysome MIDI drivers.
--speech-volume=NUM	-r	Sets the speech volume, 0-255	192
--start-movie=NAME@NUM		Starts Director movie at specified frame. Either can be specified without the other.
--stretch-mode=MODE		Selects stretch mode. Allowed values: center pixel-perfect even-pixels fit stretch fit_force_aspect
--subtitles	-n	Enables subtitles
--talkspeed=NUM		Sets talk speed for games	60
--tempo=NUM		Sets music tempo (in percent, 50-200) for SCUMM games.	100
--themepath=PATH		Specifies path to where GUI themes are stored
--version	-v	Displays ScummVM version information, then exits.
--window-size=W,H		Sets the ScummVM window size to the specified dimensions. OpenGL only.