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.

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.

Usage

scummvm [option] [game]

By default executing scummvm on the command line starts the launcher. But if a game is specified, or if --auto-detect is used, this starts the game directly. And otherwise if a command option such as --list-games or --detect is specified, the result will be printed and ScummVM will quit immediately without starting a game or the launcher.

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 (it does not need to be added to ScummVM beforehand):

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 a save game to load.

The target is a name assigned to a game added to ScummVM. It can be seen and changed in the Game Options. If the same game is added twice to ScummVM, it will be given two different target names, and they can be configured differently. The list of configured targets can be obtained with:

scummvm --list-targets

The game id is a unique identifier for any game supported by ScummVM. You can get a list of all supported games for your ScummVM release by using:

scummvm --list-games

When using a target name on the command line to start a game, it will be using the settings configured for this target, unless overwritten by settings specified on the command line. There is also no need to specify the path for the game files since this is already part of the target configuration.

On the other hand using the game id or --auto-detect will start the games with default settings for any settings not specified on the command line, and 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, the engine name can be omitted 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 needs to 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
--add	-a	Adds all games from current or specified directory. If --game=NAME is passed, only the game with id NAME is added. See also --detect. Use --path=PATH before -a or --add to specify a directory.
--alt-intro		Uses alternative intro for CD versions
--aspect-ratio		Enables aspect ratio correction
--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).
--cdrom=DRIVE		Sets the CD drive to play CD audio from. This can be a drive, path, or numeric index (default: 0)
--config=FILE	-c	Uses alternate configuration file
--console		Enables the console window (default: enabled). Win32 and Symbian32 only.
--copy-protection		Enables copy protection
--debug-channels-only		Shows only the specified debug channels
--debugflags=FLAGS		Enables engine specific debug flags
--debuglevel=NUM	-d	Sets debug verbosity level
--demo-mode		Starts demo mode of Maniac Mansion or The 7th Guest
--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.
--dimuse-tempo=NUM		Sets internal Digital iMuse tempo (10 - 100) per second (default: 10)
--engine-speed=NUM		Sets frames per second limit (0 - 100) for Grim Fandango or Escape from Monkey Island (default: 60).
--dump-scripts	-u	Enables script dumping if a directory called ‘dumps’ exists in the current directory
--enable-gs		Enables Roland GS mode for MIDI playback
--engine=ID		In combination with --list-games or --list-all-games only lists games for this engine
--extrapath=PATH		Extra path to additional game data
--iconspath=PATH		Path to additional icons for the launcher grid view
--filtering		Forces filtered graphics mode
--fullscreen	-f	Forces full-screen mode
--game=NAME		In combination with --add or --detect only adds or attempts to detect the game with id NAME.
--gfx-mode	-g	Selects graphics mode
--gui-theme=THEME		Selects GUI theme
--help	-h	Displays a brief help text and exit
--joystick=NUM		Enables joystick input (default: 0 = first joystick)
--language	-q	Selects language (en, de, fr, it, pt, es, jp, zh, kr, se, gb, hb, ru, cz)
--list-audio-devices		Lists all available audio devices
--list-engines		Display list of supported engines and exit
--list-all-engines		Display list of all detection engines and exit
--list-debugflags=engine		Display list of engine specified debugflags. If engine=global or engine is not specified, then it will list global debugflags.
--list-all-debugflags		Display list of all engine specified debugflags
--list-saves --game=TARGET		Displays a list of saved games for the game (TARGET) specified
--list-targets	-t	Displays list of configured targets and exits
--list-themes		Displays list of all usable GUI themes
--logfile=PATH	-l	Uses alternate path for log file (SDL backend only).
--midi-gain=NUM		Sets the gain for MIDI playback. 0-1000 (default: 100). Only supported by some MIDI drivers
--multi-midi		Enables combination AdLib and native MIDI
--music-driver=MODE	-e	Selects preferred music device
--music-volume=NUM	-m	Sets the music volume, 0-255 (default: 192)
--native-mt32		True Roland MT-32 (disables GM emulation)
--no-filtering		Forces unfiltered graphics mode
--no-fullscreen	-F	Forces windowed mode
--opl-driver=DRIVER		Selects AdLib (OPL) emulator
--output-rate=RATE		Selects output sample rate in Hz
--path=PATH	-p	Sets path to where the game is installed
--platform=STRING		Specifes platform of game. Allowed values: 2gs, 3do, acorn, amiga, atari, c64, fmtowns, nes, mac, pc pc98, pce, segacd, wii, windows.
--recursive		In combination with --add or ``--detect recurses down all subdirectories
--render-mode=MODE		Enables additional render modes
--save-slot=NUM	-x	Specifies the saved game slot to load (default: autosave)
--savepath=PATH		Specifies path to where saved games are stored
--screenshotpath=PATH		Specify path where screenshot files are created (SDL backend only)
--sfx-volume=NUM	-s	Sets the sfx volume, 0-255 (default: 192)
--soundfont=FILE		Selects the SoundFont for MIDI playback.. Only supported by some MIDI drivers.
--speech-volume=NUM	-r	Sets the speech volume, 0-255 (default: 192)
--subtitles	-n	Enables subtitles
--talkspeed=NUM		Sets talk speed for games (default: 60)
--tempo=NUM		Sets music tempo (in percent, 50-200) for SCUMM games (default: 100)
--themepath=PATH		Specifies path to where GUI themes are stored
--version	-v	Displays ScummVM version information and exits
--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-path=PATH		Used with --md5 or `--md5mac to specify path of file to calculate MD5 hash of (default: ./scummvm)
--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. Of NUM is negative, the MD5 hash is calculated from the tail. Is overriden if passed with --md5-engine option. (default: 0)
--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 engineIds.