Red Faction Command Line Parameters

Red Faction has support for command-line parameters that specify variables to the EXE before loading.

The command-line is often known as command-line, commandline, cmdline.

Purposes of the command-line parameters

Various command-line parameters are available to control operation of the game's EXE.

General command-line parameters/switches

• -level <RFL name> - Specifies a level to load in single player mode. The .rfl extension can be omitted.
• -mod <mod name> - Runs a client/serverside mod. The parameter must match the name of the mod's folder in /mods/.
• -dedicated <config name> - Hosts a dedicated server with the specified config (set up in dedicated_server.txt). If no config name parameter is given, it will default to the first configuration in dedicated_server.txt
• -port <port number> - Runs a server or client on the specified port. No lower boundary is known. The upper boundary is 65535, imposed by Windows. It is safe to assume that ports from 1024-65535 are valid.

An example of using the command-line to run a dedicated server

• -lanonly - Forces a server to not contact the game tracker. However, using this switch does not restrict connections from non-LAN clients. Assuming ports are forwarded and NAT is set up appropriately, people outside of a LAN can still join the server, assuming they know the IP and port. The -lanonly switch is often used to run clanwar servers, requiring that players must add the IP and port to their Favourites list to see and play in the server.
• -trackerip <tracker ip/domain> - This command-line switch, although undocumented by Volition, is verified to exist in all released versions of Red Faction, official and non-official. (Multi Beta Test, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, Pure) An IP or domain is specified, and the game will use that server as the game tracker. (Ex: -trackerip 70.15.179.92 or -trackerip twt.ath.cx)

Command-line parameters/switches for mappers

• -timedemo <RFL name> - When an appropriate RFL name is specified (with the .rfl extension omitted), a player will be automatically spawned at the origin of the level (XYZ: 0, 0, 0) and spin in a circle once. Framerate statistics are displayed in the console and dumped to timedemo.txt
• -frameratetest <RFL name> - This does the same as -timedemo, with the exception that the test will be performed at the origin, and every path node in the level. Caution must be used if not playing RF in windowed mode, as there is no way to exit the game until the test has completed (except for killing the process, which is difficult in fullscreen mode).

Command-line switches for graphics

• -voodoo - Forces RF to use a Voodoo graphics card, ignoring the card specified in the launcher.
• -voodoo3 - Same results as -voodoo, except for Voodoo3 cards as opposed to the original Voodoo.

Deprecated command-line switches

• -multilog - Only working in Red Faction Multiplayer Test (beta). When used, the server will write a log of joining players and runtime to NAME_DayMoDD_HHMM.txt. An example can be seen below:

12/16 15:37:38~ Player Default has joined

12/16 15:38:18~ Player nick has joined

12/16 16:18:43~ Red Faction has been active for 0 hours, 42 minutes, and 1 seconds

12/16 17:00:44~ Red Faction has been active for 1 hours, 24 minutes, and 2 seconds

12/16 17:42:45~ Red Faction has been active for 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 3 seconds

12/16 18:16:20~ Player digi has joined

Related Pages

• Console Commands