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929 days ago

Dota 2 console commands, launch options and cheats

Dota 2’s console is an immensely powerful tool. Using it properly is as important as picking
the best Dota 2 heroes in terms of improving your chances of victory and keeping your
enemies on the back foot.

It can reduce screen clutter, make the minimap more useful and give you powerful tools to keep
track of what’s happening around the map. Steam’s launch options are similar, letting you get
into the game faster and customise how it looks before it loads. Meanwhile cheats can be used
in non-competitive and offline sandbox modes to help improve your play, or to turn multiplayer
games with friends into far weirder affairs than normal.

We’ve scoured the internet for useful console commands, the best Dota 2 config files and the
most fun cheats and laid them out below in a handy list. You won’t want to leave the fountain
without our best Dota 2 console commands guide.
HOW DO YOU ENTER DOTA 2 CONSOLE COMMANDS?
To use Dota 2 console commands you, unsurprisingly, have to enable the console. This can’t
actually be done from in-game and you have to use Steam’s launch options. To access these,
right click on the game’s entry in your Steam library and go to Properties, then hit ‘Set Launch
Options…’

You’ll get a little pop up box which you can enter any text you like into. The syntax for launch
options is a dash followed by whatever the command is, then a space to separate it from the
next command. We’ll go over some examples in the next section, which is all about the…

BEST DOTA 2 LAUNCH OPTIONS

Enable Console
-consoleOR+con_enable 1
-console will bring up the console as soon as you get into the game, where as +con_enable 1 will
simply enable it so it can be accessed via a hotkey, the default for which is ` (that’s the button to
the left of your 1 key). If you’ve rebound this button, you’ll need to go into the options menu and
make sure a not-easily-pressed key is bound to console. It’s in the bottom right hand corner of
the hotkeys section. Personally I go with [.
That’s all you’ll need to use our console commands section later on, however there are other
useful launch options too, like…

Turn Off Intro Videos

-novid
This disables the Valve intro video, saving you 3-4 precious seconds every time you boot up the
game. You also won’t get spooked when you forget that his head turns around now.

High CPU Priority

-high
This gives the game high priority in the CPU, meaning it won’t be slowed down by other
processes you might happen to have running. Useful on slower machines where you want to
keep a browser open at the same time. Do be warned, messing with CPU priority can cause
some odd things to happen, so just be careful.

Mouse Settings
-useforcedmparms -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd
This trio of commands prevents the game from changing your mouse sensitivity and acceleration
settings, so it will use whatever Windows’ settings are.

Reset Graphics Settings

-autoconfig
If you have this enabled, every time you boot up the game it will reset the graphics options to
whatever the recommended ones for your hardware are. This is useful if you manage to set it to
some resolution your monitor doesn’t recognise, or massively screw up in some other way.
Cheers, Valve.

Faster Game Loading

-map dota
This loads the map along with the game when you start, meaning you’ll have a lower load time
on your first match. Again, very useful for frontloading that time so slower computers don’t take
too long to get into a game.
Different Load Screens
-dashboard[code]
A set of commands that will force the client to use the cosmetics of the various events that have
run through the years. The possible codes are:

international_2012 – Displays The International 2012 loading screen and main menu
background.
international_2013 – Displays The International 2013 loading screen and main menu
background.
international_2014 – Displays The International 2014 loading screen only.
frostivus_2013 – Displays Frostivus 2013 main menu background.
newbloom_2014 – Displays New Bloom 2014 loading screen and main menu background.
spirits_2013 – Displays Three Spirits main menu background.

I’m personally quite partial to the TI2012 one. Do remember that while this command is running
you won’t ever see any sexy new loading screens Valve introduces.

Run In Windowed Mode

-windowed
Boots the game in a window and -noborder makes it borderless. You can use…
-h[height]-w [width] -x [position horizontal] -y [position vertical]
To position where the window is on the screen. Again, this means you can customise these
factors from outside the game and is useful for putting it on a second monitor, if necessary. For
example, -window -noborder -h 1920 -w 1080 -x 1921 -y 0 would have the game window fill a
second 1080p monitor.

OpenGL Mode
-gl
Forces the game to run using the OpenGL graphics library.
DirectX 9 Mode
-dx9
Forces the game to run using DirectX 9, disabling several prettier graphics options. Useful on
older computers.

MOST USEFUL DOTA 2 CONSOLE COMMANDS

Console commands come in two categories: ones you put into the console individually to see
certain stats, and ones you want running every time you boot up the game. The former are
simple and will be covered later, the latter are a little more complex and use something called an
autoexec.cfg file to run every time.

This file is located or should be placed in [your Steam folder]/SteamApps/common/dota 2

beta/dota/cfg/. If there is not a file called autoexec.cfg, create a new notepad document, open it
and go to File -> Save As. Change the file type to all files then name it autoexec.cfg. Save and
close it, then reopen it, telling Windows to use Notepad to open .cfg files if necessary. That
done, you’re ready to start telling Dota 2 what to do every time you boot it up.

But what is an autoexec file? Well it’s a series of console commands that Dota 2 knows to load
every time. It can do everything the options menu in-game can do and much more besides. It
has advantages over using that menu not only in power, but in convenience. Once you have an
autoexec file ready, you can use it on any Dota 2 setup you can copy it to, instantly giving you
the options you’re used to.

Now that’s out of the way, here’s…

THE BEST DOTA 2 AUTOEXEC FILE COMMANDS

Bind keys to console commands
bind “[key]” “command”
This lets you bind keys to various commands. It’s useful for quickly getting your settings right on
a new machine, as discussed above, but also lets you bind console commands. That lets you do
things like…

Create keys to quickly look at runes

This set of commands will bind F2 to look at the position of the map where the top rune spawns
while you hold the key down, moving back to your hero when you let it go. F3 will be bottom
rune.

unbind F2
unbind F3
alias “+toprune” “dota_camera_set_lookatpos -2273 1800”
alias “-toprune”
“+dota_camera_center_on_hero;+dota_camera_center_on_hero;-dota_camera_center_on_hero”
alias “+botrune” “dota_camera_set_lookatpos 3035 -2350”
alias “-botrune”
“+dota_camera_center_on_hero;+dota_camera_center_on_hero;-dota_camera_center_on_hero”
bind F2 “+toprune”
bind F3 “+botrune”

Glancing at rune spots isn’t as useful as it once was (with there now always being one in each
location) but you putdota_camera_get_lookatposinto the command line to find the camera
coordinates of various useful locations and decide which you’d like to be able to hit a button and
see. Here’s some we made earlier:
 Mid-lane: -487 -214
Bot-lane: 6058 -4850
Top-lane: -6105 5006
Rosh pit: 4092 -1878
Dire Secret Shop: 3608 355
Radiant Secret Shop: -4384 1357

Just replace the numbers in the above example with these and you’re good to go. Remember
that you do also need buttons on your keyboard for things like abilities, items and telling your
team-mates just how bad they are.

Print current time in chat

bind [key] “chatwheel_say 57”
This will print the current game time in chat for your team when the corresponding button is
pressed. Useful for keeping track of Roshan spawns and the like.

Bind team messages to keys

bind [key] “say_team [phrase]”
This will bind whatever key you like to say whatever you want to your team. Don’t be mean.

Bind keys for spectating

bind [key] “demo_goto -120 relative”
bind[key]”demo_goto 120 relative”
These commands will move the seek bar in a demo backwards and forwards by about 4
seconds. The number is ‘ticks’ and operates at about 30 a second. Test to see what you prefer
for when you’re analysing replays.

Lower graphics settings

dota_cheap_water 1
cl_globallight_shadow_mode 0
r_deferred_height_fog 0
r_deferred_simple_light 1
r_screenspace_aa 0
mat_vsync 0
This set of commands will turn off lots of graphics settings, making the game run better on older
machines.

Instant health removal

dota_health_hurt_threshold 99999
dota_health_hurt_decay_time_max 0
dota_health_hurt_decay_time_min 0
dota_health_hurt_delay 0
dota_pain_decay 0
dota_pain_factor 0
dota_pain_fade_rate 0
dota_pain_multiplier 0

These will remove the scaling white bar that appears when a hero loses health instead just
immediately setting their health bar to the new value. You can modify these numbers if you
would prefer for the white bar to be there but fade quicker. While we’re on health…

Healthbar Settings
dota_health_per_vertical_marker 250
decides how much health will be shown per vertical line on the health bar. 250 is the default
value. Axe players may wish for different ones, for example. To turn the lines off entirely, set it to
99999.

The Netgraph
net_graphheight 64
net_graphinsetbottom 437
net_graphinsetleft 0
net_graphinsetright -30
net_graphpos 1
net_graphproportionalfont 0
net_graphtext 1
bind F10 “showgraph”
alias “showgraph” “showgraph_off”
alias “showgraph_on” “net_graph 1; alias showgraph showgraph_off”
alias “showgraph_off” “net_graph 0; alias showgraph showgraph_on”

This set will place the netgraph, a useful set of ping readouts and other network information, in
the unused space at the top right of the screen. F10 will toggle between it being on and off. It’s
optimised for 1920*1080, so you might need to adjust some values if that isn’t your resolution.

Hide the Minimap

dota_no_minimap 1
Hides the minimap.

Dichromatic Minimap
dota_minimap_simple_colors 1
Stops enemies and allies showing up in different colours on the minimap. All allied units are
green, all enemy ones are red.

You can also customise how enemies, allies and neutrals appear on the minimap with these
commands:

dota_enemy_color_b ###
dota_enemy_color_g ###
dota_enemy_color_r ###

dota_friendly_color_b ###
dota_friendly_color_g ###
dota_friendly_color_r ###

dota_neutral_color_b ###
dota_neutral_color_g ###
dota_neutral_color_r ###
These use standard blue/red/green colour definitions. Here’s a handy tool for finding out which
colours are what.

Flip the HUD

dota_hud_flip 1
Moves the minimap to be in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

Colourblind Mode
dota_hud_colorblind 1
Enables colour blind mode.

Heroes More Visible On Minimap

dota_minimap_hero_size 1000
Changes the size of hero icons on the minimap. The default is 600, 1000 or so makes it much
more obvious out of the corner of your eye.

Longer Pings On Minimap

dota_minimap_ping_duration 3
Changes how long pings remain on the minimap for in seconds. 3 is the default value.

Change the FPS Cap

fps_max 120
Sets the maximum FPS for the game. 120 is the default value.

Enable Range Finder

dota_disable_range_finder 0
Turns on a little green line between your hero and cursor whenever you start targeting an ability.
If the line disappears you’re out of range.

Enable Quick Self-casting

dota_ability_quick_cast 1
Makes double tapping an ability or item button use it on yourself.
Disable Auto-attack
dota_player_units_auto_attack 0
Disables auto-attack for your hero.

Right Click Denying

dota_force_right_click_attack 1
Turns on ‘right click deny’ – you don’t have to press the attack key and then left click on friendly
minions to hit them, you just right click as you would on enemies.

Prevent Minimap Misclicks

dota_minimap_misclick_time 0.2
The time in seconds that the mouse must be over the minimap before a move command can be
issued. Prevents misclicks when running away. Set to 0 if you’d rather have an instantly
responsive minimap, or 9999 if you don’t want it to be usable at all.

Disable Mousewheel Zoom

dota_camera_disable_zoom 1
Makes it so you can’t zoom the camera in with the mousewheel.

Disable Respawn Camera Move

dota_reset_camera_on_spawn 0
Stops the camera from moving to your hero when you respawn.

Disable Screen Shake

dota_screen_shake 0
Disables the distracting screen shake when certain abilities are used.

Enable Simple Ready Up

dota_simple_ready_up 1
Removes the ready animation when a game pops and allows you to get in immediately.

Enable The Console

con_enable 1
If you aren’t using a launch option to enable the console, you’ll need this.
Print Text To Console
echo “[text]”
Prints text to the console. I’d recommend having a line at the end of your autoexec that’s
something like of echo “PREPARED FOR DIGITAL SPORTS” – when you see that in the console
you know your autoexec has ran properly. If you end up with a particularly large autoexec it’s
worth splitting it into sections, each with their own echo command so you know which bits are
loading properly.

Alright, so you’ve got your autoexec sorted. What might you need to use the console in-game
for?

IN-GAME CONSOLE COMMANDS FOR DOTA 2

A small note: when typing commands into the console directly, you don’t need quotes around
your values.
Reconnect To Games
retry
This reconnects to the last server you were on.

Show FPS Counter

cl_showfps
Shows the FPS counter.

Show Player Pings

ping
Shows the ping of all players in the console.

Show Net Graph

net_graph 1
Shows the netgraph, if you’re not using the autoexec chunk from earlier.

DOTA 2 CHEAT COMMANDS

In a custom lobby you can enable cheats. This is useful for a couple of things – improving your
skills in a singleplayer sandbox or mucking about with your friends. You enter them into the chat
box as you would a message to your team mates. The syntax is always a dash and then the
command, then usually a space before whatever value. In the below examples, x will represent
where a numerical value can go.

Level Up
-lvlup x
Increases your hero’s level by x. You can’t delevel this way, entering negative values won’t do
anything.

Level Bots
-levelbots x
Increases bot heroes’ levels by x. See above.

Give Gold
-gold x
Gives your hero x unreliable gold. Negative numbers reduce it.

Give Items
-item [name]
Gives your hero the named item. You can see a list of item names on the Dota 2 wiki.

Give Bot Items

-givebots [name]
Gives bot heroes the named item. See above.

Refresh Heroes
-refresh
Restores the health, mana and cooldowns of all heroes on the map.

Force Respawn
-respawn
Respawns you. While alive, moves you to the fountain.
Skip Warmup Phase
-startgame
Immediately starts the game, causing creeps to spawn and such. Has no effect after the warmup
period ends.

Spawn Creep Wave

-spawncreeps
Spawns a wave of creeps in each lane for both teams.

Spawn Neutral Creeps

-spawnneutrals
Spawns neutrals at their respective camps. Doesn’t ignore usual blocking rules.

Stop Creep Spawns

-disablecreepspawn
Stops the regular spawning of creeps in lanes. -enablecreepspawn renables it.

Spawn Runes
-spawnrune
Spawns runes at the runespots. One will be a bounty rune, the other a random non-bounty rune.

Kill Wards
-killwards
Destroys all placed Sentry and Observer wards on the map.

Creat Heroes
-createhero [name]
Creates the specified hero at wherever the mouse cursor is pointing. You can see a list of the
codes for heroes on the Dota 2 wiki. If you add the “ neutral” or “ enemy” to the end it will create
the hero for that faction, but still under your control.

WTF Mode
-wtf
All spells and items have no manacost or cooldown. -unwtf turns this mode off.
Shared Vision
-allvision
Radiant and Dire vision is shared. -normalvision disables this.

And that’s all the custom commands we could find that seemed of use. If you want more
information on good autoexecs, or a complete list of the ridiculous number of commands in the
Source engine, here’s some handy links.

If you’ve any questions or additional advice, we’ve a lovely comments section for just those
sorts of things. GLHF!

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