Launch options (also known as launch parameters, launch arguments or startup parameters) can be used to change game settings before running the game.
List of known launch options[ | ]
Launch options have to be separated by a space when used in combination with each other.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-dev |
Enables automatic script reloading, throws mod errors on game launch, opens the console in a separate window, and changes the behavior of some internal features. Not to be confused with Dev Mode. |
-window-w |
Opens the game in windowed mode. |
-connect_steam_id <SteamId64> |
Connects to the player with the specified Steam ID, but only if they are hosting a session. |
-friend_steam_id <SteamId64> |
Connects to the session that the player with the specified Steam ID is in, even if they are not hosting. |
-open <path to file> |
Automatically opens a save file, completely skipping the main menu. The path starts in the current working directory. Environment variables don't work, but data paths such as $GAME_DATA do.
|
-open RANDOM |
Automatically creates a new Survival Mode save file and opens it, completely skipping the main menu. A randomly generated UUIDv4 is used as the name of the save file. If the -dev flag is also specified, Dev Mode is enabled in the save file as well.
|
-no_future |
Unknown. Most likely disables the use of the $FUTURE_DATA data path key, which is used by the developers to test content meant for future releases of the game.
|
-tileeditor |
Automatically opens the tile editor, completely skipping the main menu. |
-last_save |
Automatically opens the last played save file, completely skipping the main menu. Works for Creative Mode, Survival Mode and Custom Games. |
--ugc <local id> |
Automatically creates a temporary in-memory Custom Game save file and opens it, completely skipping the main menu. The local id is the UUID found in the description.json of the Custom Game. Does not work for Custom Games downloaded from the Steam Workshop. Additionally, -dev is always enabled, regardless if the flag is specified in the launch options or not.
|
Steam browser protocol[ | ]
The Steam browser protocol can be used to launch the game with launch options by visiting a URL.
The usage is as follows: steam://rungameid/387990//<args>.
Because URLs can't contain spaces, %20 has to be used as separator instead.
Examples[ | ]
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
steam://rungameid/387990//-dev
|
Launches the game in developer mode. |
steam://rungameid/387990//-connect_steam_id%2076561198058083877%20-friend_steam_id%2076561198058083877
|
Launches the game and automatically tries to join Kacper (SteamId64: 76561198058083877), one of the developers. |
steam://rungameid/387990//--ugc%20f9c82217-1ac8-4098-a52d-1aa04da57e94
|
Launches Scrap Mechanic Golf, a custom game made by Axolot Games, if it is copied to the /Mods directory in %APPDATA%.
|
Steam Runtime Parameters[ | ]
By adding the path to the steam executable, you can run these startup parameters from the command line (not steam-cmd).
Command Window Examples[ | ]
C:\Windows\System32>"C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\steam.exe" -- "steam://rungameid/387990//"
C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\>steam.exe -- "steam://rungameid/387990//"