Launch options

Every command-line switch below is parsed by console_start.cs [script] — the loose script at the GameData/ root that the engine executes first. Because it is a plain text file you can read, this list is exhaustive rather than folklore.

The switches you will actually use

Switch	Effect
`-mod <path>`	`setModPaths(<path>)`. Puts your mod on the search stack. Also sets `$PureServer = false`.
`-nologin`	`$SkipLogin = true`; launch mode becomes `Offline` (unless already `DedicatedServer`). The standard way to start a modded client today.
`-dedicated`	Launch mode `DedicatedServer`. Enables the Windows console, sets `$Host::Dedicated`, and calls `CreateServer()` immediately.
`-connect <address>`	Launch mode `Connect`; `$JoinGameAddress` set. Skips the menus.
`-mission <name> <type>`	Preselects map and gametype, validated by `validateMissionAndType()`.
`-bot <count>`	Sets `$CmdLineBotCount`, which becomes `$Host::BotCount`.

The complete list

Parsed in the argument loop of console_start.cs:

Switch	Args	What it sets
`-mod`	path	`setModPaths(path)`; `$PureServer = false`
`-dedicated`	—	`$LaunchMode = "DedicatedServer"`
`-nonpure`	—	`$PureServer = false`
`-clientprefs`	file	`$clientprefs` (default `prefs/clientPrefs.cs`)
`-serverprefs`	file	`$serverprefs` (default `prefs/serverPrefs.cs`)
`-host`	—	`$LaunchMode = "HostGame"`
`-mission`	map type	`$mission`, `$missionType`
`-telnetParams`	port pass listenpass	`telnetSetParameters(...)` — the remote console
`-connect`	address	`$LaunchMode = "Connect"`, `$JoinGameAddress`
`-password`	pass	`$JoinGamePassword`
`-jload` / `-jsave` / `-jplay`	file	Journal record/playback; each sets `$PureServer = false`
`-navBuild`	map type	`$LaunchMode = "NavBuild"` — regenerate AI navigation graphs
`-spnBuild`	map type	`$LaunchMode = "SpnBuild"` — regenerate terrain spawn data
`-demo`	—	`$LaunchMode = "Demo"`
`-login`	name pass	Non-interactive WON login; `$PureServer = false`
`-show`	—	`$LaunchMode = "TSShow"` — the shape viewer
`-con`	—	`$LaunchMode = "Console"` — console only, no canvas
`-light`	map	`$LaunchMode = "SceneLight"` — precompute lighting
`-prepbuild`	—	Compiles every `.cs` and `.gui` to `.dso`, enables logging; `$PureServer = false`
`-quit`	—	Exits immediately
`-nologin`	—	`$SkipLogin = true`; `$LaunchMode = "Offline"`
`-online`	—	`$fromLauncher = true` (the online listen-server path)
`<file>.dif`	—	`$LaunchMode = "InteriorView"` — view an interior file directly

A second, later loop handles a few Linux-porting aliases [script]:

Switch	Alias	Effect
`--nosound`	`-s`	`$noloadAudio = 1`
`--fullscreen`	`-f`	`$pref::Video::fullScreen = 1`
`--windowed`	`-w`	`$pref::Video::fullScreen = 0`
`--gllibrary <lib>`	`-g`	`$pref::OpenGL::driver`

Things worth knowing about these

`-mod` disables PURE

else if ( $arg $= "-mod" && $hasNextArg )
{
   setModPaths( $nextArg );
   $i += 2;
   $PureServer = false;
}

PURE mode is the server-side asset-integrity check: a PURE server requires every executed script to come from a hash-validated .vl2. Loose mod scripts cannot satisfy it, so -mod turns it off. You do not need to pass -nonpure as well. See Hosting and testing.

`-mod` advances the argument index by two

The -mod branch does $i += 2 where the loop already increments $i — so it consumes three slots for a two-token switch. Put -mod <path> last on your command line, or accept that the argument immediately after your mod name may be skipped. [script] This is a genuine quirk of the shipped parser, not a documented behaviour; the shipped Classic_*.bat files all place -mod Classic last.

`-prepbuild` is the batch compiler

function prepBuild()
{
   for(%file = findFirstFile("*.cs"); %file !$= ""; %file = findNextFile("*.cs"))
      compile(%file);
   for(%file = findFirstFile("*.gui"); %file !$= ""; %file = findNextFile("*.gui"))
      compile(%file);
}

Useful when shipping a mod as compiled .dso only. See Packaging.

The three launch scripts Sierra shipped

File	Command
`Classic_LAN.bat`	`Tribes2.exe -nologin -mod Classic`
`Classic_online.bat`	`Tribes2.exe -online -mod Classic`
`Classic_dedicated_server.bat`	`ispawn.exe 28000 Tribes2.exe -dedicated -mod Classic`

All three delete every .dso under both base/scripts/ and Classic/scripts/ first. Copy that pattern for your own mod — see Your first mod, step 4.

Preference files, not switches

Most tuning is not a command-line switch. console_start.cs loads, in order [script]:

exec("scripts/clientDefaults.cs", true);
exec("scripts/serverDefaults.cs", true);
exec($clientprefs, true, true);      // prefs/clientPrefs.cs
exec($serverprefs, true, true);      // prefs/serverPrefs.cs

then autoexec.cs twice — once before defaults for command-line overrides, once after for video/window settings. Anything you want configurable belongs in a pref variable, not a switch. See Global variables.

Under the community patches

The argument parser is vanilla console_start.cs and is not modified by either patch — every switch above works unchanged. What changes is what some of them lead to.

Switch	Difference on a patched install
`-nologin`	Still the standard modding launch. Skips login entirely, so the TribesNEXT auth stack stays idle.
`-login <name> <pass>`	Drives TribesNEXT account login, not WON. The vanilla WON entry points are replaced with no-op stubs so the vanilla scripts that call them do not error [binary].
`-dedicated`	`IFC22.dll` carries an embedded script fragment redefining `dedCheckLoginDone` to a stub that just clears the login globals [binary] — that is how a dedicated server gets past a login step whose servers no longer exist.
`-mod`	Unchanged. Still sets `$PureServer = false`.
`-online`	Routes to the TribesNEXT server list rather than the dead WON master.

The patch’s own script is not reached through any command-line switch — console_client_patches.cs is a loose root file executed by the DLL, outside the mod path stack. See TribesNEXT QoL patch.

Switches added by the support pack

The community support pack parses two of its own in DispatchLaunchMode() [support-script]. They are script-side additions and do nothing on an install without the pack:

Switch	Effect
`-noautoload`	`$AutoloadEnabled = false` — skip the autoload system entirely
`-skipnewautoload`	Skip the scan for other autoloading `.cs` files

Both are useful for isolating whether a bug is yours or the library’s.

Boot sequence — what happens after argument parsing
Hosting and testing — dedicated servers and PURE mode
Debugging — -con, telnet, and logging
07 · Community Patches — patched-install behaviour