Arma 3: Startup Parameters

Startup parameters are command line interface(CLI) arguments that go after the executable's name in order to set options; e.g arma3_x64.exe -window to start the game in windowed mode.

ⓘ

• Startup parameters' names are case-insensitive - e.g -WINDOW and -window are identical.
• Spaces in parameter values must be wrapped in quotations - e.g. -No content provided-
• Most of the following parameters can be set with the Arma 3: Launcher.

Steam

1. Choose the game in Steam\Library
2. Right click on the game
3. Select properties
4. Hit "Set launch options"

Example

-nosplash "-mod=test;x\test;c:\arma 3\test2"

Windows

When working with shortcuts, cmd launch options: there is max characters limit for the executing line, use -par (see: Startup Parameters Config File) to avoid it.

Startup Command Line	parameters file
arma3_x64.exe "-par=D:\Arma 3\Startup Parameters.txt"	-skipIntro -noSplash -enableHT -hugePages -noLogs

Path Definition

There are a few basics to keep in mind when defining path as part of a parameter.

Spaces

The path and -profiles need to be enclosed with quotes if it contains spaces, e.g "-profiles=E:\Arma 3\Profiles" or -profiles="E:\Arma 3\Profiles".

Relative vs Absolute

You can define most, if not all path in both ways.

Relative

-profiles=Profiles

Absolute

"-profiles=E:\Arma 3\Profiles"

The relative path is normally based on the game main folder, where the exe resides in. However when you use -profiles, some commands use this path defined there as base.

Display Options

window

Displays Arma 3 windowed instead of full screen. Screen resolution / window size are set in arma3.cfg.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -window

posX

Sets the default X Position of the Window.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -posX=50

posY

Sets the default Y Position of the Window.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -posY=50

adapter

Sets the default Video Adapter.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -adapter=MISSING_AN_EXAMPLE

Game Loading Speedup

noSplash

Tells the engine to bypass the splash screens on startup of Arma 3.

ⓘ

Real speed-up gained with this is likely to be negligible in Arma 3, as the loading screens are handled in parallel with the game data being loaded, and the loading itself takes quite long thanks to the amount of data needed.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noSplash

skipIntro

Disables world intros in the main menu permanently.

ⓘ

Real speed-up gained with this is likely to be negligible in Arma 3, as the loading screens are handled in parallel with the game data being loaded, and the loading itself takes quite long thanks to the amount of data needed.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -skipIntro

world

Select a world loaded by default. For faster game loading (no default world loaded and world intro in the main menu, only at game start, disabled): -world=empty.

Example

For faster game loading (no default world loaded and world intro in the main menu, only at game start, disabled)

arma3_x64.exe -world=empty

Load Altis

arma3_x64.exe -world=Altis

worldCfg

Inits a landscape by the given world config.

Profile Options

name

Sets the profile name.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -name=PlayerOne

profiles

Location of user-profile folder.

If a custom path is set, default files and folders (logFiles, AnimDataCache, DataCache, SteamPreviewCache....) located by default in %LocalAppData%/Arma 3 will be created in that new location.

However, old files will stay in the old location and will not be copied.

Example 1

arma3_x64.exe -profiles=C:\arma3\Profiles

Example 2

arma3_x64.exe -profiles=Profiles

Example 2 create a folder called Profiles in the Arma 3 root directory

⚠

The Windows user account needs write access in the chosen location.

unit

Parameter passes a unit's ID number to the binary, translates to https://units.arma3.com/my-units#?unit=<number>

Example

arma3_x64.exe -unit=1337

Misc.

buldozer

Starts Buldozer mode.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -buldozer

noLand

Starts with no world loaded. (Used for Buldozer)

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noLand

noSound

Disables sound output.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noSound

doNothing

Engine closes immediately after detecting this option.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -doNothing

mod

Loads the specified mod folders. Multiple folder need to be separated by a semicolon.

Example 1

arma3_x64.exe -mod=test;x\test;c:\arma3\test2

• "test" is located in the Arma 3 installation folder ("Arma 3\test") (relative path)
• "x\test" is in the installation folder ("Arma 3\x\test") (relative path; subfolder)
• "c:\arma3\test2" is in "c:\arma3\test2" (absolute path)

Example 2

On Windows

arma3_x64.exe "-mod=test;x\test;c:\arma3\test2"

Example 3

On Linux. Note the additional backslash in front of the semicolon

arma3_x64.exe "-mod=test\;x\test\;c:\arma3\test2"

ⓘ

"Relative path" starts from, or is rooted at, the directory from where the Arma 3 executable has been started and is not always the same where the executable is, like in betas.

Usually this is the same as the installation path and the same as what is written in Windows registry, but if you copy or symlink the necessary file and folders, you may have different roots.

It is useful when having multiple dedicated servers.

Client Network Options

connect

Server IP to connect to.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -connect=168.152.15.147

port

Server port to connect to.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -port=1337

password

Server password to connect to.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -password=1337abc

host

Start a non-dedicated multiplayer host.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -host

Server Options

setUpHost

Start the game in the setup server display. Works with the client exe. See reference image

Example

arma3_x64.exe -setUpHost

server

Start a dedicated server. Not needed for the dedicated server exe.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -server

port

Port to have dedicated server listen on.

Example

arma3server_x64.exe -port=1337

pid

File to write the server's PID (process ID) to.

• The file is removed automatically when the exe is stopped
• Only works for dedicated servers

Example

arma3server_x64.exe "-pid=C:\My Server\PID.txt"

ranking

Allowing you to output ranking information or otherwise know as player stats to a file.

The windows user account would need permissions to write to the folder of choice.

Output sample:

class Player1
{
	name = "PlayerName";
	killsInfantry = 71;
	killsSoft = 3;
	killsArmor = 5;
	killsAir = 5;
	killsPlayers = 0;
	customScore = 0;
	killsTotal = 84;
	killed = 3;
};

Example

arma3server_x64.exe "-ranking=C:\arma3\ranking.log"

netlog

Enables multiplayer network traffic logging. For more details see server configuration.

Example

arma3server_x64.exe -netlog

cfg

Selects the Server Basic Config file. Config file for server specific settings like network performance tuning.

⚠

Using this parameter overrides the game config (Documents\Arma 3\Arma3.cfg); use at your own risk on clients.

Example

arma3server_x64.exe "-config=C:\My Server\basic.cfg"

config

Selects the Server Config File. Config file for server specific settings like admin password and mission selection.

Example

arma3server_x64.exe "-config=C:\My Server\config.cfg"

profiles

Path to the folder containing server profile.

• By default, server logs are written to server profile folder
• If folder doesn't exist, it will be automatically created
• Does not work on Linux, no profile will be created or used - instead, remove this parameter and the profile will be created in ~/.local/share/Arma 3 - Other Profiles

Example

arma3server_x64.exe "-profiles=C:\My Server\profiles"

bePath

By default BattlEye will create BattlEye folder inside server profile folder. With -bePath param it is possible to specify a custom folder.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -bePath=C:\MyBattlEyeFolder

ip

Command to enable support for Multihome servers. Allows server process to use defined available IP address. (b1.57.76934)

Example

arma3_x64.exe -ip=145.412.123.12

par

Command to read startup parameters from a file. For more details see Startup parameters config file.

Example

arma3_x64.exe "-par=C:\Users\Player\Games\Arma 3\Arma 3 Parameter Files\par_common.txt"

client

Launch as client (console). Useful for headless clients.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -client

loadMissionToMemory

Server will load mission into memory on first client downloading it. Then it keeps it pre-processed pre-cached in memory for next clients, saving some server CPU cycles.

Example

arma3server_x64.exe -loadMissionToMemory

autoInit

Automatically initialize mission just like the first client does.

The server config file (server.cfg) must contain Persistent = 1; otherwise the autoInit parameter is skipped.

⚠

This will break the Arma 3: Mission Parameters function, so do not use it when you work with mission parameters, only default values are returned!

Example

arma3server_x64.exe -autoInit

serverMod

Loads the specified sub-folders for different server-side (not broadcasted to clients) mods.

• Separated by semi-colons
• Absolute path and multiple stacked folders are possible
• In Linux multiple folders arguments need the following separation syntax: -serverMod=mod1\;mod2\;mod3

Example

arma3server_x64.exe "-serverMod=myAwesomeMod;anotherAwesomeMod"

disableServerThread

Option to disable the server send messaging thread in case of random crashing (may also decrease performance of server on multicore CPUs)

Example

arma3_x64.exe -disableServerThread

bandwidthAlg

Set to 2 to use a new experimental networking algorithm that might be better than the default one.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -bandwidthAlg=2

1.98

limitFPS

Limits the server FPS to the provided value in 5..1000 FPS range (default 50).

Example

arma3_x64.exe -limitFPS=300

1.30

networkDiagInterval

Polls the status of bandwidth, traffic and similar data every X seconds. Since 2.18 is also logs size and count of public variables when using the Profiling binary.

Example

arma3_x64.exe networkDiagInterval=10

Performance

maxMem

Overrides memory allocation limit to a certain amount (in megabytes).

⚠

Until 2.14 there was a bug on the Linux server binary where it parses the maxMem value as a signed integer, therefore making 4096 interpreted as a negative value; in order to avoid this issue, use values like 2047, 4095, 8191, 16383, 32767 (2048 -1, 4096 -1 etc).

1024 MiB is a hard-coded minimum (anything lower falls back to 1024). The maximum is influenced by your operating system (any value over the maximum will be reverted to this value):

• 32-bit Windows + 32-bit game: 2047
• 64-bit Windows + 32-bit game: 3071
• 64-bit Windows + 64-bit game: (physical memory * 4) / 5

Without the -maxMem parameter the engine attempts to set this parameter internaly to a reasonable value often defaulting to max values as described above. The file cache is always excluded from the virtual address limit, see our developers blog: https://www.bistudio.com/blog/breaking-the-32-bit-barrier.

ⓘ

Note that setting maxMem to 2000 does not mean that the game will never allocate more then 2000 MiB. It says that the game will do everything in its power to not cross this limit. In general, it makes sense not using this parameter at all and only resort to it in case you experience issues with memory.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -maxMem=4096

maxVRAM

Defines video memory allocation limit to number (in megabytes).

• Minimum value is 128 MiB (anything lower falls back to 128)
• The value is ignored (under DX11) if engine properly detected VRAM size, minus 20% reserve with ceiling limit 300MB max
• Use to resolve e.g. Windows problem: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2026022/en-us?p=1

Example

arma3_x64.exe -maxVRAM=4096

maxFileCacheSize

2.14 Sets the default filecache size (when files are loaded from disk, they are cached in RAM. If the cache is full, the oldest file is thrown out).

ⓘ

• Default size was either maxMemory - 448 MB or if you had more than 2 GB of memory available to Arma 3, it would be limited to max 2048 MB.
• Setting lower than 1 GB is not recommended.
• Minimum possible value is 512 MB

Example

arma3_x64.exe -maxFileCacheSize=2048

noCB

Turns off multicore use. It slows down rendering but may resolve visual glitches.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noCB

CPUCount

Change to a number less or equal than numbers of available cores. This will override auto detection (which equate to native cores).

The best way to simulate dual core on quad core is to use -cpuCount=2 when you run the game and then change the affinity to 2 cores to make sure additional cores can never be used when some over-scheduling happens. It might be also possible to set the affinity in the OS before you launch the process, that would work as well.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -exThreads=8

exThreads

Change to a number 0,1,3,5,7. This will override auto detection (which use 3 for dualcore and 7 for quadcore).

All file operations go through a dedicated thread. This offloads some processing from the main thread, however it adds some overhead at the same time.

The reason why threaded file ops were implemented was to serve as a basement for other threads ops. When multiple threads are running at the same time, OS is scheduling them on different cores. Geometry and Texture loading (both done by the same thread) are scheduled on different cores outside the main rendering loop at the same time with the main rendering loop.

Ex(tra)threads table

Parameter	Description
Number	Geometry loading	Texture loading	File operations
0	0	0	0
1	0	0	1
3	0	1	1
5	1	0	1
7	1	1	1

Example

arma3_x64.exe -exThreads=7

malloc

Sets the particular memory allocator to be used. Significantly affects both performance and stability of the game. More details.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -malloc=someMalloc

hugePages

Enables hugepages with the default memory allocator (malloc) for both client and server.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -hugePages

enableHT

Enables the use of all logical CPU cores for parallel tasks processing. If your CPU does not support Hyper-Threading or similar technology, this parameter is ignored. When disabled, only physical cores are used.

ⓘ

Note that enabling this parameter may slightly improve or harm the performance depending on a scenario. This parameter may be overridden by -cpuCount so if you want to use the maximum number of CPU cores use "-enableHT" without "-cpuCount".

Example

arma3_x64.exe -enableHT

2.10

setThreadCharacteristics

Registers the game's executable as "Game" in Windows for performance improvements.

⚠

This flag can freeze the whole Operating System if running Windows Server!

Example

arma3_x64.exe -setThreadCharacteristics

Developer Options

noPause

Allow the game running even when its window does not have focus (i.e. running in the background)

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noPause

2.10

noPauseAudio

Keeps audio running in background while tabbed out. Should be used together with -noPause to work correctly

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noPauseAudio

showScriptErrors

Introduced to show errors in scripts on-screen. In Eden Editor, script errors are always shown, even when this parameter is not used.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -showScriptErrors

debug

Enables more verbose error logging. See Arma 3: Debug Mode

Example

arma3_x64.exe -debug

noFreezeCheck

Disables the freeze check. It creates otherwise max 4 dumps per game run in total - 2 per distinct freeze. Similar to Crash Files.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noFreezeCheck

noLogs

Be aware this means none errors saved to RPT file (report log). Yet in case of crash the fault address block info is saved.

More details here.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noLogs

noFilePatching

Ensures that only PBOs are loaded and NO unpacked data.

ⓘ

Since 1.50 this was replaced in favor of the -filePatching parameter.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -noFilePatching

1.50

filePatching

Allows the game to load unpacked data. For more info see CMA:DevelopmentSetup

Example

arma3_x64.exe -filePatching

init

Run scripting command once in the main menu. For example to start a certain SP mission of choice automatically. See also playMission. The Mission has to reside in the "arma3\Missions" folder, NOT the user directory.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -init=playMission["","M04Saboteur.Sara"]

<path>\mission.sqm

Load a mission directly in the editor. Example: "C:\arma3\users\myUser\missions\myMission.intro\mission.sqm"

autotest

Loads automatically a series of defined missions and on error writes to a log file.

The parameter can be used to automatically run a series of test missions. For example FPS measurement or scripting validation.

• The game runs in special mode. It runs all missions from the given list.
• If any mission fails (ends with other than END1), it is logged into the rpt file (search: <autotest).
• In case of any fail, the game also returns an errorlevel to DOS. This can be used to issue an notification by a secondary application.

Launch Arma 3 with

"-autotest=c:\Arma 3\autotest\autotest.cfg"

The autotest.cfg looks like:

class TestMissions
{
	class TestCase01
	{
		campaign = "";
		mission = "autotest\TestCase01.Desert_E"; // relative path to the arma directory
	};
	class TestCase02
	{
		campaign = "";
		mission = "C:\arma3\autotest\TestCase02.Desert_E"; // absolute path
	};
};

⚠

If -profiles is used, the relative path is relative to the specified profile path.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -autotest=c:\arma3\autotest\autotest.cfg

RPT entry

<AutoTest result="FAILED">
	EndMode = LOSER
	Mission = autotest\TestCase01.Desert_E
</AutoTest>

If possible use simple worlds, like Desert, to keep the loading times short. The loading screen command might be useful as well to speed up task that need no rendering.

beta

Loads the specified beta sub-folders. Separated by semicolons. Absolute path and multiple stacked folders are possible. In Linux multiple folders arguments need the following separation syntax:

Example

arma3_x64.exe -mod=betamod1\;betamod2\;betamod3

This allows use of beta build w/o disabling in-game mod/extension management (in UI menu).

checkSignatures

Provide a thorough test of all signatures of all loaded banks at the start game. Output is in .rpt file.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -checkSignatures

d3dNoLock

Doesn't lock the VRAM.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -d3dNoLock

d3dNoMultiCB

D3D uses Single Constant Buffers instead of Multiple Constant Buffers.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -d3dNoMultiCB

debugCallExtension

Logs extension calls in the rpt log like this:

Example

arma3_x64.exe -debugCallExtension

command

Creates named pipe "\\.\pipe\name" for receiving predefined set of commands. See Arma 3: Named Pipe.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -command=MyFancyPipeName

2.04

language

Starts client with preferred language. See Stringtable.xml - Supported Languages for a list of supported languages. Case-sensitive! (className column)

ⓘ

2.18 made the parameter work properly.

Example

arma3_x64.exe -language=German

2.06

preprocDefine

Defines a macro and optionally its value. Multiple macro can be defined by using this parameter multiple times.

Example 1

arma3_x64.exe -preprocDefine="CMD__MACRONAME=MACROVALUE"
arma3_x64.exe -preprocDefine=CMD__MACRONAME
arma3_x64.exe -preprocDefine=CMD__MACRO1 -preprocDefine=CMD__MACRO2

Example 2

arma3_x64.exe -preprocDefine=MACRO

The macro name will start with CMD__, the engine automatically adds the prefix if it is not present (CMD__MACRO).

2.14

dumpAddonDependencyGraph

dumps Graphviz text file into the RPT directory with a graph of all addon dependencies (requiredAddons)

Example

arma3_x64.exe -dumpAddonDependencyGraph