Applicant RNGesus Posted Sunday at 04:28 PM Applicant Posted Sunday at 04:28 PM (edited) ET: Legacy 2.83.2 – Console Commands and CVAR Reference This comprehensive reference lists all client console commands and console variables (CVARs) in ET: Legacy 2.83.2, organized by category. For each entry, we provide the name, a description, default value (for CVARs), common or possible values, usage context, and whether it is cheat-protected (requires sv_cheats enabled, e.g. in a local dev session Cheat-protected commands/CVARs are typically for developers or offline practice and cannot be used on pure servers. Console Commands Console commands are entered into the in-game console (opened with ~ by default) and can also be bound to keys via the bind command. They perform immediate actions or toggle behaviors. Below, commands are grouped by their purpose or context. Developer & Debug Commands These commands are primarily for development, testing, or debugging. They often require cheat mode because they can affect the game state in ways not normally allowed. testgun – Developer test for weapon display or animation. Loads a test model of a gun and may fire it continuously for debugging. Usage: Only relevant for developers testing weapon effects; no use in normal play. Cheat-protected: Yes (dev-only). testmodel <modelname> – Spawns and displays a specified model for testing purposes. You can then use frame advance commands to inspect animations. Usage: Used by mappers/devs to preview models in-game. Cheat-protected: Yes. nextframe / prevframe – Step forward or backward one frame in the animation of the model loaded by testmodel. Usage: With a test model loaded, allows scrubbing through its animation frames. Cheat-protected: Yes (only works in dev mode). nextskin / prevskin – Cycle to the next or previous skin for the test model. Usage: Used after testmodel to view different skins on the model. Cheat-protected: Yes. viewpos – Prints the player’s current world coordinates and view angle to the console . Usage: Useful for map makers or admins to get exact locations (for scripts or callouts). Cheat-protected: No (available to any client for reference). generateTracemap – Generates the tracemap (overhead map navigation data) for the current map. Usage: Mappers use this to create the command map paths; not used during normal play. Cheat-protected: Yes (only in dev mode, since it writes files). editSpeakers / modifySpeaker / undoSpeaker / dumpSpeaker – Opens the ambient speaker editor and related functions (to add/modify/undo environmental sounds). Usage: Level designers use these to place sounds in maps. Cheat-protected: Yes (mapping tool). noclip – No clipping mode: allows you to move freely through walls and objects . Usage: Debug movement or explore maps; sv_cheats must be 1. Cheat-protected: Yes. god – God mode: you become invulnerable to damage . Usage: Testing gameplay without dying. Cheat-protected: Yes. notarget – Makes you notargetable by AI (bots) . Usage: Testing AI behavior; since ET is multiplayer, this is rarely used except with bots. Cheat-protected: Yes. give <item> – Gives you an item or all items . E.g. give all grants all weapons, give ammo refills ammo. Usage: Testing weapons or scenarios. Cheat-protected: Yes. kill – Instantly suicides your player (kills yourself) . Usage: Commonly used in gameplay to respawn quickly (especially in competitive play to rejoin with team wave). Cheat-protected: No (intended for players; note: ET: Legacy 2.83.2 blocks /kill during spawn protection to prevent abuse fade – Fades out the screen (used in scripts or cutscenes). Usage: Rarely used by players; mostly a cinematic tool or used in some mods' scripts. Cheat-protected: No (but situational). toggleConsole – Opens/closes the console. (Usually bound to ~ by default). Usage: Can be bound if one wants an alternate key to toggle the console. Cheat-protected: No. UI & Menu Commands These commands interact with menus, the HUD, or UI elements. They are often bound to keys by the game’s UI scripts. openlimbomenu – Opens the Limbo menu (class/team selection screen) at any time . Usage: Bound to L by default; allows changing team or class during game. Cheat-protected: No. spawnmenu – Opens the spawn-point selection menu. Usage: Shows the map with available spawn points (if multiple spawns exist on the map). Cheat-protected: No. classmenu – Opens the class selection menu directly . Usage: Can be used to quickly bring up class select (instead of full limbo menu). Cheat-protected: No. teammenu – Opens the team selection menu (Allies/Axis/Spectator) . Usage: Allows changing team during gameplay. Cheat-protected: No. class <number> – Chooses a class (and possibly weapon loadout) via a number without opening the menu. Classes are typically Soldier=0, Medic=1, Engineer=2, FieldOps=3, CovertOps=4. Usage: Players can bind this for quick class switches (effective on next spawn). Cheat-protected: No. readhuds – Reloads HUD definitions from disk. Usage: If you manually edited a HUD layout file (*.huddat), this command applies changes without restarting the game. Cheat-protected: No. toggleScoreboard – (By script) Toggles the scoreboard. In practice, the scoreboard is shown by holding Tab (+scores and -scores are the underlying binds). Usage: Not typed manually; +scores is bound to Tab key to show scores while held . Cheat-protected: No. +stats / -stats – When held, displays the stats overlay (your personal match statistics) . Usage: Bound to a key (default not set; players bind this to see XP and kill stats during a game). Cheat-protected: No. +objectives / -objectives – When held, shows the objectives list overlay. Usage: Often bound to a key to quickly check map objectives status. Cheat-protected: No. +topshots / -topshots – Shows the “top shots” overlay (leader stats like best aim, highest kills) when held. Usage: For intermission or spectator to view top performers. Cheat-protected: No. mp_quickmessage – Opens the Quick Chat (vsay) menu. Usage: Bound to v by default to choose voice commands (e.g. “Need Medic!”, “Incoming!”). Cheat-protected: No. mp_fireteammsg – Opens the Fireteam chat menu. Usage: Bound to b by default to send voice/chat to your fireteam (subgroup). Cheat-protected: No. mp_fireteamadmin – Opens the Fireteam administration menu. Usage: Used to create/disband fireteams or invite players. Cheat-protected: No. wm_sayPlayerClass / wm_ftsayPlayerClass – Announces your class to the team (or fireteam). Usage: Often bound so you can quickly say “I am a Medic/Engineer/etc.” to your team. Cheat-protected: No. VoiceChat <alias> – Triggers a specific voice chat line (vsay). VoiceTeamChat and VoiceFireTeamChat do the same for team-only or fireteam-only voice lines. Usage: The UI uses these internally when you select a quickmessage. They can be bound directly to specific vsays (e.g. bind x "VoiceChat GreatShot" to compliment team). Cheat-protected: No. messageMode / messageMode2 / messageMode3 – Initiates chat prompt for different channels. Usage: messageMode is global chat (bind Enter by default), messageMode2 team chat (bind to Team Chat key [default Y]), messageMode3 fireteam chat. Once pressed, you can type and hit Enter to send (or use messageSend). Cheat-protected: No. messageSend – Sends the typed chat message. Usage: Bound to Enter by default when in chat mode. Not used manually except by the UI. Cheat-protected: No. SetWeaponCrosshair <slot> <crosshair> – Internal command to set a specific crosshair for a weapon slot. Usage: Not typically used by players directly (the game calls this when you select a weapon if custom crosshairs per weapon are enabled). Cheat-protected: No. Gameplay & Player Action Commands These commands involve direct player actions or game state that aren’t covered by the UI menus. Many are bound to keys or typed for quick actions. Movement commands: ET has the standard “+command” structure for movement keys (press = activate, release = deactivate). These are usually bound to WASD and other keys: +forward / +back – Move forward/backward. +moveleft / +moveright – Strafe left/right. +moveup / +movedown – Move up/down. (Jump is bound to +moveup and crouch to +movedown by default.) +leanleft / +leanright – Lean left/right (peak around corners). +turnleft / +turnright – Turn your view left/right (usually bound to arrow keys if used; most use mouse instead). +lookup / +lookdown – Look up/down (also mostly obsolete due to mouse). Usage: These commands are not typed manually in normal play; they are bound to keys in the default config (WASD, etc.). Players can rebind them as needed. Cheat-protected: No. Combat and use commands: +attack – Fire weapon (primary attack) . Bound to Mouse1 by default. +attack2 – Secondary attack (alternate fire). E.g. use rifle grenade, deploy MG42, or zoom scope (depending on weapon). +reload – Reload the current weapon . (By default, R key.) +use (alias +activate) – Use key for various actions (open doors, pull levers, pick up objective or items) . Bound to F by default. +sprint – Sprint (hold to run faster at cost of stamina) . Bound to Shift by default. +speed – Walk modifier (hold to walk if always-run is enabled, or vice-versa) . This toggles your movement speed mode. +prone – Go prone (lie down) . Bound to Ctrl by default (tap crouch while already crouching to prone). +zoom – Use binoculars / zoom (for Covert Ops binoculars or mounted MG zoom). Bound to B (binoculars) by default. weapnext / weapprev – Switch to next/previous weapon. (Mouse wheel typically triggers these: MWheelUp = weapnext, MWheelDown = weapprev.) weapon <slot> – Switch to a specific weapon bank (1-10) by slot number. (The game also provides aliases like weaponbank which does the same) . Usage: These are all bound in the default controls. Players often tweak these binds for optimal play (e.g., binding specific weapon slots directly). Cheat-protected: No (these are core gameplay actions). forcetapout – Immediately “tap out” when incapped, i.e., go to limbo (death) instead of waiting for bleedout . Usage: If you are downed and waiting for a medic, typing /forcetapout (or pressing your jump key which sends the same signal) forces you to respawn. Often bound to Jump (Spacebar) by default. Cheat-protected: No. timerSet <seconds> – Starts a personal timer counting down from the given seconds. timerReset resets your timer, and resetTimer is an alias to reset. Usage: Legacy mod feature – players can set a local timer (e.g., “20 seconds until next spawn wave”) that shows on their HUD. You can share it with teammates using the share commands below. Cheat-protected: No. sharetimer / sharetimer_buddy – Shares your active timer with your team, or with your fireteam buddy only. Usage: In competitive play, a player might start a timer for an objective (like dynamite) and use /sharetimer to send it to teammates’ HUDs for synchronized awareness. Cheat-protected: No. loc – Prints your current location name (based on map-defined location markers) and coordinates in console. Usage: Can be used to call out exact locations (the output is like “Position: (1234 5678 240) near ‘Allied Spawn’”). Cheat-protected: No. listspawnpt – Lists info about spawn points on the current map (probably an index and name of each spawn). Usage: Debugging spawn issues or for mods. Not typically used by players. Cheat-protected: No (informational). oinfo – Outputs objective information. (E.g., status of objectives or entities in the map.) Usage: This is a debugging command to get data about current objectives; it may list which objectives are complete. Cheat-protected: Likely Yes (used by developers or shoutcasters, not standard gameplay). Chat & Communication Commands These commands handle text and voice communications between players. say <message> – Send a public chat message . Usage: Typing /say Hello will display “Hello” in global chat. (In-game, players usually just press Enter to open chat rather than typing “say”.) Cheat-protected: No. say_team <message> – Send a team chat message. Usage: Only your team sees it (in blue text). For example, /say_team Need backup at north tunnel!. (Bound to team chat key by default.) Cheat-protected: No. say_buddy <message> – Send a fireteam chat message. Usage: Only members of your fireteam (sub-team) see it (in a different color). Alias: some mods use /fireteamchat. Cheat-protected: No. tell <player> <message> (or m <player> <msg>) – Send a private message to a specific player. Usage: In some mods (e.g., ETPro) you can do /m PlayerName message to PM someone. In Legacy, /tell by client number may be available. Cheat-protected: No. vsay <command> – Play a voice chat line (and accompanying text) globally. vsay_team and vsay_buddy do the same for team and fireteam respectively. Usage: Allows binding specific voice quotes. Example: /vsay GreatShot plays “Great shot!” voice line. A full list of <command> aliases exists (e.g. “NeedAmmo”, “Medic!”, etc.). Cheat-protected: No. voiceChat <num> – Another way to trigger voice lines by numeric ID. Usage: Not used directly; the menu uses this internally. Cheat-protected: No. ignore <player_id|name|all> – Ignore a player’s chats (text and voice). Usage: /ignore 5 will mute the player with client ID 5. You can also ignore “allies” or “axis” or “all”. Cheat-protected: No. unignore <player_id|all> – Stop ignoring a player (or everyone). Usage: /unignore all to clear your ignore list. Cheat-protected: No. cpm <text> – Center print a message on your own screen. (Think “center print message”). Usage: If you type /cpm Objective secured!, it will show “Objective secured!” in the center of your screen as a bold text (only for you). This does not send to others – it’s mostly a scripting tool or for mods (e.g., some mods use it to display custom messages to the client). Cheat-protected: No. tell_target <message> – Sends a private message to the player you’re directly aiming at (your crosshair target). Usage: A quick way to PM someone in front of you (if enabled by mod). Cheat-protected: No. Demo & Recording Commands ET: Legacy offers tools for recording gameplay and taking screenshots or videos. These commands manage demo recording and media capture. record <demoname> – Start recording a demo to demoname.dm_83. Usage: Captures gameplay for later viewing. Typically, players bind this or use autoRecord. Cheat-protected: No. stoprecord – Stop recording the current demo. Usage: Ends the demo file. The demo is saved in etlegacy/demos. Cheat-protected: No. autoRecord – Toggles auto-demo recording on each match/map start . When enabled, the client will automatically /record at the beginning of each map and stop at end. Usage: Set once (or use cg_autoAction CVAR, see below) so you never forget to record a match. Cheat-protected: No. toggleRecord – Starts recording if not recording, or stops if you are. Usage: A convenient toggle bind for demo recording (Legacy addition). Cheat-protected: No. autoScreenshot – Toggles automatic screenshots at end of match. Usage: If enabled, the client will take a screenshot of the final scoreboard each round. (Also configurable via cg_autoAction CVAR bitflags.) Cheat-protected: No. currentTime – Prints the current real local time to the console (and possibly HUD). Usage: Useful for competitive players recording video, to sync events with real clock, or to timestamp demo footage. When used, it displays the current system time (e.g., “21:34:15”) on your screen. Cheat-protected: No. screenshot – Takes a screenshot and saves it as a TGA image (uncompressed) . Usage: Bound to F11 by default. Use for high-quality screenshots (large file size). Cheat-protected: No. screenshotJPEG – Takes a JPEG screenshot (compressed) . Usage: Bound to F12 by default. Produces a smaller file but with some quality loss. Cheat-protected: No. video-pipe – (New in 2.83) Starts piping the game’s video output to an external ffmpeg process for recording . This essentially records a video on the fly using ffmpeg (which must be in your PATH or in the ET: Legacy folder). Usage: Typically used after starting a demo: e.g., open a demo, then enter /video-pipe to begin capturing. The output video file is encoded by ffmpeg (allowing high quality and smaller size Use stopvideo (if available) or simply stop the demo/close game to end recording. Cheat-protected: No (this affects only the client’s recording, not gameplay). Context: This is a movie-making feature for creating frag videos or tutorials. Ensure ffmpeg is installed; ET: Legacy will feed it raw frames. timescale <value> – Alters the game speed (affecting time progression) . Usage: Primarily for demo playback or testing. timescale 0.5 = half speed, timescale 2 = double speed, etc. Cheat-protected: Yes (cannot be changed on a pure server – only works locally or in demos). Note: In demo playback, this is very useful for slow-motion or fast-forward. timedemo 1 – A special mode to benchmark demo playback (turn off after). Usage: When set to 1, playing a demo will output framerate stats. It’s used to measure performance. Cheat-protected: No (benchmark only). Spectator & Shoutcaster Commands When you’re spectating or broadcasting a match (as a referee or shoutcaster), these commands become useful. They control the multi-view camera and spectator-specific features. follow <playerID> – Spectate a specific player by ID. Usage: In console, you can type /follow 2 to follow player with ID 2. (The UI also allows clicking names.) Cheat-protected: No. **+dropbomb / +dropflag – (If implemented) These would drop the objective you’re carrying. In ET, dropping obj is usually a bound key (default not in vanilla, but mods let you bind a key to “drop objective”). If available, would be used to drop the objective (e.g., the Gold or Documents). Cheat-protected: No (but only works when holding an objective). Multi-View (ETTV) controls: If watching through ETTV or using the Legacy TV features: mvactivate – Activate multi-view window selection. mvdel, mvshow, mvhide, mvswap, mvtoggle – Manage multiple POV windows. Usage: These commands allow a shoutcaster to open windows for several players at once. For example, mvnew opens a new small view, mvactivate toggles control of a specific view, etc. A caster can thus show 2, 3, 4 players at once in a grid. Cheat-protected: No (requires shoutcaster mode on server). spechelp – Displays a list of spectator controls and commands (help screen) . Usage: Type /spechelp to see available spectator shortcuts. Cheat-protected: No. Freecam controls: freecam toggles a free-fly camera (no player POV). While in freecam, +freecam_turnleft, +freecam_turnright, +freecam_turnup, +freecam_turndown, +freecam_rollleft, +freecam_rollright let you rotate the camera, and you can move with movement keys. Use the - counterparts or release keys to stop turning . freecamsetpos and freecamgetpos can save/restore camera coordinates (to jump to fixed angles). Usage: Useful for cinematic shots or spectating objectively. Cheat-protected: No (spectator only). statsdump – Dumps the current match stats to a file or console. Usage: A shoutcaster or player might use this to save stats for later analysis (if enabled). In Legacy mod this writes a statsdump.txt with player stats. Cheat-protected: No. Shoutcaster team view control: speclock and specunlock – These are used by team captains or referees to lock spectators out of viewing a team. /speclock prevents spectators from seeing your team (used in tournaments to avoid ghosting), and /specunlock allows it again . Cheat-protected: No (but requires referee or team captain rights to use). Pause control: pause – Pauses the match (freezes all players) . unpause (or timeout / timein) – Resumes the match . Usage: In competition, each team can call a timeout (pause) usually via /pause (if server allows, or if referee). The game will display a “Game Paused” message. Use /unpause to resume (there’s usually a countdown). Cheat-protected: No (but server must allow it; otherwise only referee can pause). Match readiness: ready / unready – Mark yourself ready or not ready in tournament mode . Usage: During warmup, teams use /ready when they are prepared to start. /unready can be used if you need to cancel ready status. readyteam – Marks all players on your team as ready (team captain or referee use). Cheat-protected: No. Team locking: lock / unlock – Captain command to lock your team (prevent others from joining) and unlock it . Usage: In clan matches, after teams are set, the captain does /lock to avoid interruptions. Cheat-protected: No. (Referee can also “ref lock” both teams if needed.) Configuration & Scripting Commands These commands help configure controls, execute scripts, or get information. Players often use them in config files for advanced setups. bind <key> "<command>" – Bind a key to a command or script . Usage: e.g. bind F5 "say Great Game!" or bind MOUSE1 "+attack". Cheat-protected: No. unbind <key> – Remove any bind from the specified key . Usage: e.g. unbind F5 clears the F5 key. Cheat-protected: No. unbindall – Unbind all keys . Usage: Use with caution – it will wipe out your controls (often used when executing a new config to clear old binds). Cheat-protected: No. bindlist – Prints all current key binds to console (Note: antman documentation says “Displays list of cvars” but actually it lists binds). Usage: Good for reviewing or debugging your control setup. Cheat-protected: No. set <cvar> <value> – Set a console variable value. This is identical to typing the cvar name followed by value. Usage: e.g. set cg_fov 110. Cheat-protected: N/A (depends on the cvar being set – setting cheat-protected cvars will require cheats). seta <cvar> <value> – Set a cvar and mark it “archived” (will persist in config) . Usage: e.g. seta name "Player1" sets your name and saves it in the config file. setu <cvar> <value> – Set a “userinfo” cvar (these are sent to server, like name, rate, etc.). Usage: e.g. setu name "Player" (similar to seta for specific user info fields). sets <cvar> <value> – Set a “serverinfo” cvar (only if you are hosting a server). Usage: Not used on client normally (server admin command). toggle <cvar> [val1] [val2] ... – Toggles a cvar’s value between the given options . Usage: A scripting convenience. E.g., bind F3 "toggle cg_drawFPS" will turn the framerate display on and off on each press . If multiple values are provided, it cycles through them. Cheat-protected: N/A (depends on cvar). vstr <alias> – Execute the contents of a variable as commands (a "variable string"). Usage: Often used with binds to create complex toggles. For instance, you can do: set sneak "cg_drawGun 0; set nextvstr vstr unsneak" and set unsneak "cg_drawGun 1; set nextvstr vstr sneak" then bind a key to vstr nextvstr. The engine will execute the sequence of commands stored in those cvars. Cheat-protected: N/A. +vstr <down_alias> <up_alias> – Execute one vstr when a key is pressed, and another when released . Usage: For example, bind ALT "+vstr zoomOn zoomOff" could zoom in while holding ALT and zoom out when released, with zoomOn/zoomOff defined as vstrs. Cheat-protected: No. (This is an ETPro/Legacy feature for advanced scripting.) wait <ticks> – Pause execution of a script for a number of game ticks (typically 50 ticks per second) . Usage: In config scripts, inserting wait 50 can ensure a pause (~1 second) between commands. Cheat-protected: No. (But excessive use can be disallowed on some servers to prevent exploits.) exec <filename.cfg> – Execute a configuration file . Usage: e.g. /exec autoexec.cfg runs the commands in that file. Used to load custom configs (graphics configs, class configs, etc.). Cheat-protected: No. writeconfig <filename.cfg> – Save the current cvar states to a config file . Usage: e.g. /writeconfig mysettings.cfg will create a config with all your current settings (similar to how the game writes etconfig.cfg). Cheat-protected: No. condump <filename.txt> – Dump the console text to a file . Usage: If something important scrolled by in console (like error or stats), condump log.txt will save the console contents to log.txt in your game folder. Cheat-protected: No. clear – Clear the console screen of all text . Usage: Simply empties your console for readability. Cheat-protected: No. cvarlist – List all console variables and their values in the console . Usage: Useful to discover new cvars or check what’s set. Cheat-protected: No. (The list will be huge.) cmdlist – List all console commands. Usage: Useful to discover commands. Cheat-protected: No. toggleConsole – (duplicate entry) Bound to ~ by default, opens/closes console. Same as above in UI section. Console Variables (CVARs) Console variables (CVARs) control almost all configurable aspects of the game – graphics, sound, HUD, etc. They can be changed via the console or config files. Many are exposed in the Options menus, while others are “hidden” or for advanced tweaking. Below, CVARs are organized by category. We list the name, description, default value, common values/ranges, usage context, and cheat-protection status. Note: Cheat-protected CVARs (often marked with a [C] in some lists) require the server to have cheats enabled (or to be in a local game started with /devmap). Regular players cannot change those on a standard server . Developer CVARs (often cheat-protected) are noted accordingly. Graphics & Rendering CVARs These variables control the graphics engine (rendering quality, resolution, etc.) and visual effects. Tuning these can improve performance or visuals. Most are under the r_ prefix (renderer) or cg_ if it’s a game-side visual toggle. r_mode – Screen resolution mode (preset). Default: 4 (which corresponds to 800x600 in vanilla ET). Values range from -1 (use custom resolution) or 0–11 corresponding to various resolutions. Usage: Set to -1 to use r_customwidth/r_customheight. Common presets: 3=640x480, 4=800x600, 6=1024x768, etc. Cheat-protected: No (can be changed anytime, but requires a vid_restart to apply). r_customWidth, r_customHeight – Custom resolution width/height. Default: Undefined (only used if r_mode -1). Usage: To use a modern resolution, set r_mode -1; r_customWidth 1920; r_customHeight 1080 for 1080p, then vid_restart. Cheat-protected: No. r_fullscreen – Fullscreen toggle. Default: 1 (Fullscreen on). 0 for windowed. Usage: Can be toggled if you want to run the game in a window. Requires vid_restart to apply. Cheat-protected: No. r_colorbits, r_depthbits, r_texturebits – Color, depth, and texture color depth (in bits). Default: Typically r_colorbits 32, r_depthbits 24, r_texturebits 32. Usage: Lowering these (e.g., 16) can improve performance on old GPUs at cost of quality. Cheat-protected: No (but requires restart). r_picmip – Texture detail level (mipmapping detail). Default: 1 in Legacy (medium). Range: 0 = highest detail, higher values = more texture blur (less detail, more performance). Usage: Competitive players often use r_picmip 2 or 3 for better performance and to see enemies more clearly (very blurry world textures though). Cheat-protected: No. r_textureMode – Texture filtering mode. Default: GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST (bilinear filtering). Can set to GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR (trilinear) for better quality, or GL_NEAREST for pixelated look. Usage: For crisp textures (no filtering), use nearest; for best quality, use trilinear or even anisotropic via driver. Cheat-protected: No. r_ext_maxAnisotropy – Anisotropic filtering level (if supported). Default: 0 (off). Range: typically 1–16. Usage: Improves texture clarity at angles when set to e.g. 16. Cheat-protected: No. r_swapInterval – VSync setting. Default: 0 (Off). 1 = enable VSync (caps FPS to monitor refresh). Usage: Enable to prevent tearing (at cost of input latency), disable for lowest latency. Cheat-protected: No. r_gamma – Screen brightness (gamma correction). Default: 1.8 in Legacy (ETLegacy may default a bit higher than vanilla 1.3). Range ~0.5–3.0. Usage: Increase if game is too dark. Many players use higher gamma so they can see in dark areas. Cheat-protected: No. (But some servers enforce max gamma.) r_mapOverBrightBits – Brightness boost for lightmaps. Default: 2 (legacy). Range: 0–4. Usage: Higher values make dark areas brighter (helps visibility) . Setting too high washes out lights. Cheat-protected: No. r_ignorehwgamma – If set to 1, the game ignores hardware gamma tables. Default: 0. Usage: If you have issues with brightness not applying or want to prevent the game from altering desktop gamma, set this on. Cheat-protected: No. r_overBrightBits – Brightness boost for world textures. Default: 1. Range: 0–1 (in Legacy; in vanilla ET 2 was max). Usage: Controls overbrightening of textures in light. Keep at 1 for standard. Cheat-protected: No. r_lodCurveError – Level of detail curve tolerance. Default: 250 (higher = better curved surfaces). Reducing it may increase performance at the cost of curve quality. Usage: Leave at default for best visuals; lower to maybe 100 for slight performance gain. Cheat-protected: No. r_lodbias – Level of detail bias for models. Default: 0 (highest model detail). Range: -2 to 2 in original ET (Legacy might deprecate this in favor of r_lodScale). Usage: Increase to 1 or 2 to reduce model polygon detail at distance (improve FPS but characters appear blockier). Cheat-protected: No. r_lodScale – (New in 2.83) Replacement for r_lodbias. Default: 5 (mid-range). Higher values allow more detail on models at distance (scale of LOD transitions). Usage: Use the menu “Geometric Detail” to set this. E.g., setting to a higher value may reduce pop-in of model detail. Cheat-protected: No. vid_restart – Command that restarts the video rendering subsystem. Apply new r_ cvars (resolution, etc.) by using this. Usage: After changing any r_ settings like resolution or FS, type vid_restart. Cheat-protected: No (but disrupts your game briefly). Advanced Graphics / Effects: cg_shadows – Enable player shadows. Default: 1 (simple blob shadow). Values: 0 = off, 1 = simple blob, 2 = projected shadows (if supported). Usage: Many turn this off (0) to improve performance and remove distraction. Cheat-protected: No. cg_markTime – Time in milliseconds that bullet marks (scorch marks) stay on surfaces. Default: 30000 (30 seconds) in Legacy. Usage: Lower if you want less decal clutter (or raise for realism, but could cost performance). Cheat-protected: No. cg_brassTime – Time in ms that ejected bullet shells remain. Default: 2500 (2.5 sec). Usage: Set 0 to not render shells at all (gain a bit of FPS). Cheat-protected: No. cg_bloodFlash – Opacity of the red damage flashes on screen when you are hit . Default: 1.0 (full). Range: 0.0 (no red flash) to 1.0. Usage: Some players reduce this (e.g. 0.25) so getting hit doesn’t obscure vision as much. Cheat-protected: No. cg_bloodDamageBlend – Opacity of the blood splatter on the screen when shot . Default: 1.0. Range: 0.0–1.0. Usage: Similar to above; can turn off blood on screen by 0. Cheat-protected: No. cg_bloodTime – Duration that blood spatters stay on screen (ms). Default: 3000 (3 sec). Usage: Lower for less blood persistence, or 0 to essentially disable blood spatters. Cheat-protected: No. cg_showBlood – Toggle blood effects (gore). Default: 1 (on). Usage: Set 0 to disable blood entirely (no blood puffs or splatter). This can improve clarity or is useful for those who prefer no gore. Cheat-protected: No. cg_atmosphericEffects – Toggles weather effects like rain and snow . Default: 1 (on if map has weather). Usage: Many players set 0 to remove rain/snow for better visibility and performance. Cheat-protected: No. cg_coronas – Toggle light coronas (glows around lights). Default: 1 (enabled). Usage: 0 to disable light halos, which can improve FPS slightly and reduce visual distraction at distance. Cheat-protected: No. cg_coronaFarDist – Distance beyond which coronas are not rendered . Default: 6000. Usage: If you keep coronas on but want them only up close, reduce this distance. Cheat-protected: No. cg_weatherEffects – (Legacy mod) Perhaps same as cg_atmosphericEffects (older name). If present, controls weather as well. Default: 1. Cheat-protected: No. cg_gibs – Toggle gibs (gore chunks) when players explode. Default: 1 (on). Usage: Set 0 to disable flying gibs for performance or preference. Cheat-protected: No. cg_wolfparticles – Toggles certain particle effects (like smoke trails). Default: 1. Usage: Set 0 to disable some minor particle effects if you need a performance boost. Cheat-protected: No. cg_muzzleFlash – Toggles the muzzle flash effect when firing . Default: 1 (show muzzle flash). Usage: Some competitive configs set 0 to remove muzzle flash for an unobstructed view when shooting . Cheat-protected: No. cg_muzzleFlashOld – (New in 2.83) Use old style muzzle flashes. Default: 0 (use new improved muzzle flashes). Usage: If you prefer the legacy large muzzle flash (or for consistency with old configs), set this to 1 . Otherwise, keep 0 to use ET: Legacy’s smaller, less intrusive muzzle flash. Cheat-protected: No. cg_tracers – Toggle bullet tracers. Default: 1 (on). Usage: Tracers are the white smoke trails from MG42 and other high-rate-of-fire weapons. Some turn it off (0) to possibly reduce distraction. Cheat-protected: No. cg_tracerChance – Probability of a bullet having a tracer . Default: 0.4 (40%). Range: 0.0–1.0. Usage: At default, about 40% of shots show a tracer. To reduce tracers frequency without disabling completely, lower this value. Cheat-protected: No. cg_tracerLength – Length of the tracers in game units . Default: 160. Usage: Shorter length might make tracers less visible. Cheat-protected: No. cg_tracerSpeed – Speed of the tracer effect . Default: 4500. Usage: Largely cosmetic. Cheat-protected: No. r_trisColor – If using r_showtris (see Debug CVARs), sets the color of the wireframe. Default: “1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0” (white). Four floats (RGBA). Usage: Only relevant if visualizing geometry. Cheat-protected: Yes (since r_showtris is cheat). r_finish – If 1, forces the GPU to finish each frame fully (glFinish). Default: 0. Usage: This can reduce micro-stuttering at cost of some FPS. Some set 1 to reduce screen tearing if not using vsync. Cheat-protected: No. r_fastsky – If 1, draws a flat color sky instead of skybox textures. Default: 0 (full detail sky). Usage: Set 1 to turn sky into a plain color – improves FPS and removes moving clouds (some comp players do this so enemies aren’t lost against cloud movement). Cheat-protected: No. r_dynamicLight – Toggles dynamic lights from explosions, gunfire etc. Default: 1 (on). Usage: Setting 0 may improve performance during heavy action (less dynamic lighting), but you lose some visual cues (like muzzle flash lighting). Cheat-protected: No. cg_forceModel – If 1, all enemy players appear as the same model (and same for teammates). Default: 0 (off). Usage: Popular in competitive play – forcing models (often to e.g. Axis soldier and Allied soldier, the two largest models, or something bright colored in mods) so that enemies are easier to see and consistent. ET: Legacy might use an enemy model override feature via profile UI or this cvar. Cheat-protected: No (allowed on pure servers, purely client-side). cg_fov – Field of view angle (in degrees) . Default: 90. Range: 80–120 (allowed range on most servers; values above 120 might be capped). Usage: A higher FOV gives you a wider view (peripheral vision) at cost of some distortion; many players use around 100–110 for better awareness. Cheat-protected: No. **cg_gunX, **cg_gunY, cg_gunZ – Offsets for the first-person gun model position . Default: all 0. Usage: These let you move your gun model on screen (X = left/right, Y = forward/back, Z = up/down). Some players adjust to see more or less of the weapon. E.g., setting cg_gunX 10 moves weapon to the right. Cheat-protected: No. (Cannot be used to peek around corners – only affects view model, not your actual hitbox position.) cg_drawGun – Toggle the first-person gun model display. Default: 1 (show gun). Values: 0 = hide gun, 1 = show gun, 2 = hide primary/secondary weapons but show pistol/knife . Usage: Some players hide the gun (0) to have an unobstructed view . Value 2 is a compromise to hide big guns but show small ones. Cheat-protected: No. cg_gunFovOffset – (New in 2.83) Adjusts how the weapon model FOV is handled. Default: 0 (ET: Legacy dynamic FOV scaling). Usage: This affects how “large” or “small” your gun appears with FOV. Setting to 75 mimics ET: Legacy 2.82 behavior, 90 mimics original Wolf ET. At 0, Legacy now dynamically scales the weapon model with FOV to keep it from stretching too much . Cheat-protected: No. cg_fovDefault – The default FOV when not zoomed. (May not exist if cg_fov used directly). In some mods, this is used to store the base FOV. Default: 90. cg_zoomStepSniper, cg_zoomDefaultSniper – Controls the zoom levels for sniper scopes . Default: cg_zoomDefaultSniper 20 (FOV when zoomed in), cg_zoomStepSniper 2 (how much each “zoomin/zoomout” command changes zoom) . Usage: You can adjust these to change how far sniper/binocular zoom goes and in how many steps. Cheat-protected: No. HUD & UI CVARs These CVARs affect the Heads-Up Display (HUD), user interface elements, and other on-screen indicators. They are often personal preference and many can be set through the in-game Options > HUD menus. cg_draw2D – Master toggle for 2D HUD elements. Default: 1 (on). Usage: Setting 0 will hide all HUD overlays (no gun, no ammo, no crosshair, no UI at all). Useful for taking clean screenshots or cinematics. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawFPS – Shows the framerate counter on the HUD . Default: 0 (off). Usage: Set 1 to display your current FPS in the top-right corner. Common for performance tuning . Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawPing – Shows your ping (latency) on the HUD . Default: 0 (off). Usage: Set 1 to display ping (below the FPS counter on HUD). Useful to monitor connection quality. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawTime (or cg_drawClock) – Shows the current time (system time) on HUD. Default: 0 (off). Usage: 1 to enable a clock (often in top-right). Some like to have a real-time clock in-game to keep track of time outside game. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawTimer – Shows the match timer on HUD. Actually in ET this is usually always on (mission time). In Legacy, cg_drawRoundTimer controls match time and cg_drawReinforcementTime controls spawn timer: cg_drawRoundTimer – Show the main mission time on HUD . Default: 1 (on). If set 0, it hides the match countdown clock . Note: turning this off also hides the reinforcement timer in ETLegacy UI. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawReinforcementTime – Show your team’s spawn wave timer . Default: 1 (on). When on, it appears as a smaller timer (in light blue) under the main clock, showing seconds until your next respawn wave . If you set 0, you won’t see the spawn countdown. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawCrosshair – Selects the crosshair shape. Default: 1. Range: 1–10 (various built-in crosshair graphics). Usage: Choose crosshair number, or 0 to hide the crosshair entirely. Cheat-protected: No. cg_crosshairSize – Size/scale of the crosshair. Default: 20 (depends on crosshair type, but medium). Range: any positive integer (pixels). Usage: Increase for a larger crosshair, or decrease for a fine dot. Cheat-protected: No. cg_crosshairColor – Crosshair color. Default: “White” (in ETLegacy, might be a color string like 0xFFFFFF). Usage: Set via a color name or hex code in some versions. E.g., in Legacy you might use cg_crosshairColor "green". Cheat-protected: No. cg_crosshairAlpha – Crosshair opacity (0–1). Default: 1.0 (solid) . Usage: You can make the crosshair semi-transparent. For example, 0.5 for half transparent. Cheat-protected: No. cg_crosshairColorAlt / cg_crosshairAlphaAlt – Some crosshairs have two parts (like a dot and circle); this sets the secondary color and opacity. Default: varies (often red or green). Usage: Customize multi-color crosshairs. Cheat-protected: No. cg_crosshairPulse – If 1, the crosshair pulses (slightly changes size when over a target). Default: 1 (pulse enabled). Usage: Some disable it (0) so crosshair is static (no distraction). Cheat-protected: No. cg_crosshairHealth – If 1, crosshair color indicates your health (green to red as health drops). Default: 0 (off) . Usage: Can be enabled for a quick health feedback via crosshair color. Cheat-protected: No. Custom crosshairs: ET: Legacy 2.83 introduced sharper custom crosshairs. cg_customCrosshair (and related cg_customCrosshairSize, etc.) – A set of cvars that define a custom crosshair shape drawn with vectors (not just the default ones). Default: off/not used unless you select a “Custom” crosshair in options. Usage: Legacy allows up to 4 custom crosshair definitions. They have cvars for thickness, length, gap, etc. (Exact cvar names not documented here, but accessible via Legacy’s crosshair editor or documentation You can tweak those to design an optimal crosshair (e.g., a small cross or dot). Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawCrosshairNames – Show the name of the player under your crosshair (if friendly and crosshair over them). Default: 1 (on). Usage: You might turn this off for immersion or if it’s distracting. Most leave it on to identify teammates. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawCrosshairInfo – Show additional info for target under crosshair (e.g., health bar for team, or “Enemy” for foe). Default: 1. Usage: Can disable if you want a minimalist HUD. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawCompass – Toggle the compass HUD element (mini-map). Default: 1 (on). Usage: 0 hides the round compass in the lower right. (Objective and team icons on the compass will also hide.) Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawCompassIcons – Toggle icons on the compass (objectives, fireteam members, etc.). Default: 1. Usage: Can set 0 to remove icons but still show the compass outline. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawFireteamOverlay – Shows the fireteam members HUD overlay (typically on the right side: team member names, class, health). Default: 1. Usage: If you find the fireteam HUD unnecessary, set 0 (in pubs you might not use fireteams). Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawGunIcon – Shows the weapon icon (usually bottom right) – this may be part of cg_drawAmmo or similar. (In ETLegacy, the HUD editor can remove weapon icon if desired.) Default: 1. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawAmmo, cg_drawFuelBar – These control displaying your ammo and charge bars. By default on. Usage: You could hide them, but generally you keep them. cg_drawStatus – Master toggle for status bar (the lower left HUD showing health, charge, stamina). Default: 1. Usage: Setting 0 removes those – not practical to play without, except for movie-making. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawFragMessage – Toggle the “You killed X” message that appears middle-top on kills. Default: 1. Usage: Some may turn off to reduce text clutter. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawNotifyText – Toggles the pop-up text messages (upper left notification area) . Default: 1 (on). Usage: 0 would disable the text that appears for objectives, pickups, etc. (Though the log still records them). Cheat-protected: No. cg_popupTime, cg_popupFadeTime, cg_popupStayTime – These control the timing of the small pop-up messages (like “You killed X”). Defaults: cg_popupTime 0 (immediate display), cg_popupStayTime 2000 (2 sec stay), cg_popupFadeTime 2500 (2.5 sec fade) . Usage: You can tweak how long those notifications persist. Cheat-protected: No. cg_popupFadeTime – (As above) how long the fade-out effect lasts in ms cg_chatHeight, cg_chatTime – (In Legacy, named cg_teamChatHeight and cg_teamChatTime for team chats). These determine how many lines of chat to show and how long they stay. Defaults: TeamChatHeight 8 lines TeamChatTime 16000 ms (16 sec) for team chat. Usage: Increase height if you want to see more chat lines on screen. Cheat-protected: No. cg_chatFont, cg_chatScale – Font and scale for chat text. Default: scale 0.2 (Legacy). Usage: If you want larger chat text, increase the scale. Cheat-protected: No. cg_chatAlpha, cg_chatShadow, cg_chatColor – Customize chat text transparency, drop shadow, and color. Usage: e.g. increase shadow for better readability on bright backgrounds. Cheat-protected: No. **cg_chatX, cg_chatY – Adjust the on-screen position of chat text . Default: (X: 0, Y: 420) – position from top-left. Usage: Through HUD editor or manually, you can move the chat area. Cheat-protected: No. cg_teamChatsOnly – If 1, only show team chat, hide global chat . Default: 0. Usage: In competitive matches, players often set this true to avoid seeing enemy or global chatter and focus only on team communications. Cheat-protected: No. cg_teamChatHeight – Number of team chat lines to show on HUD . Default: 8. Usage: If your team chats a lot, you might increase this to not miss messages, or decrease for a cleaner screen. Cheat-protected: No. cg_teamChatTime – Milliseconds that team chat messages stay on screen. Default: 8000 (8 sec) or 16000 in some versions. Usage: Extend if you tend to miss messages, or shorten if you want them to clear out faster. Cheat-protected: No. cg_teamChatFade – (In some mods) time after which chat starts to fade. Not sure if Legacy uses this; but if present, controls gradual fade. cg_teamChatMention – If enabled, highlights your name when mentioned in chat (and possibly plays a sound) . Default: 1. Usage: Great for noticing when someone calls you out (e.g., "Player1 ^1MEDIC" might flash if your name is Player1). Cheat-protected: No. cg_hudAlpha – Global HUD transparency (for certain HUD elements). Default: 1 (opaque). Usage: Set <1 to make HUD elements semi-transparent. Some minimal HUD configs use 0.5 to 0.8 to see more of the game world. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawStatusNames – Show player class icon and name next to crosshair for teammates. Default: 1. Usage: Toggles those little class icons that appear when looking at teammates (so you know who they are and their class). Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawPickupIcons – Show icons for items you just picked up (e.g., ammo, health). Default: 1. Usage: 0 would disable the brief icon + text that appears when you get something. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawSpreadScale – Show the dynamic crosshair spread indicator. Default: 1 (show expanding crosshair to indicate weapon spread). Usage: Set 0 to keep crosshair static even when firing/moving. Many competitive players leave it on as it helps gauge accuracy. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawBreathPuffs – Shows the breath vapor of players in cold maps (snow maps) . Default: 1. Usage: Purely cosmetic. Some turn it off to eliminate a tiny distraction/performance cost on snow maps. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawSmallPopupIcons – If 1, use smaller icons in pop-up notifications (like headshot icon, etc.) . Default: 0 or 1 (depending on Legacy’s design). Usage: Turn on to reduce size of reward icons/popups for a less cluttered view. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawObjectiveIcons – Toggles objective icons on HUD (like “Dynamite planted” icon). Default: 1. Usage: Probably always want this on, but can toggle if needed. cg_screenDamage – (If exists) toggles the red vignette when hurt (some mods call it screen damage). In Legacy, this is tied into bloodFlash. If separate: default on. cg_specHelp – Show spectator help text (like hints on how to follow players) . Default: 1. Usage: If spectating, you can disable these hints with 0 once you know the controls. Cheat-protected: No. cg_limboMusic – Toggles music during limbo menu. Default: On (1). You can set 0 to silence the background music when you’re in limbo menu. Cheat-protected: No. Gameplay & Miscellaneous Client CVARs These CVARs affect gameplay behaviors on the client side (but do not change server rules). They include auto actions, prediction toggles, and other quality-of-life settings. cg_autoReload – Automatically reload when your weapon clip is empty . Default: 1 (enabled) . Usage: If you prefer manual reload control, set 0 (you won’t auto-reload on empty, giving you the option to switch weapon or reload when you choose). Cheat-protected: No. cg_autoSwitch – Auto-switch to a weapon you just picked up . Default: 0 (disabled) . Usage: In ET, if you walk over a weapon, you can pick it up. With auto-switch on (1), your player immediately switches to it, which can be undesirable in combat. Most leave this off to avoid sudden weapon change. Cheat-protected: No. cg_noAmmoAutoSwitch – Auto-switch to next weapon when you run out of ammo in current gun . Default: 1 (enabled) . Usage: If you empty your SMG, it’ll automatically pull out your pistol. Some players set 0 to prevent unexpected switches (preferring to manually switch). Cheat-protected: No. cg_autoActivate – Automatically pick up items by running over them . Default: 1 (on) . Usage: If set 0, you must press the Use key (F) to pick up weapons/ammo/health from the ground. In most cases, leave this on for convenience, except maybe in situations where you don’t want to accidentally grab a weapon. Cheat-protected: No. cg_autoAction – Bitflag for automatic actions at match end/start (demo recording, screenshots, stat saving) . Default: 0 (none) . Usage: This one CVAR replaces the need to individually set auto-record, etc. It’s a bit value: add values for each action: 1 = auto record demo on map start , 2 = auto screenshot at end of match , 4 = auto stats dump to file . For example, cg_autoAction 3 would record demos and take end-game screenshots. Cheat-protected: No. cg_autoFolders – If enabled, automatically save autoscreenshots, autodemos, etc. into date-stamped subfolders . Default: 1 (on) . Usage: With this on, your files will be neatly organized by YYYY-MM (year and month). It applies to the outputs from cg_autoAction and the autoScreenshot command . Cheat-protected: No. cg_predictItems – Predict picking up items client-side. Default: 1 (on). Usage: With prediction, the moment you touch an item, your client shows it picked up without waiting for server confirmation (makes it feel more responsive). Virtually always leave this on; 0 might make item pickup feel laggy. Cheat-protected: No. cg_predictWeaponEffects – Predict firing effects like muzzle flash and brass ejection. Default: 1. Usage: Should be on for smooth experience; turning off may cause a slight delay in those effects (for debugging only). Cheat-protected: No. cg_deferPlayers – If 1, model/skin loading for new players is deferred until after respawn (to avoid hitch mid-game). Default: 1. Usage: This prevents framerate stutters when someone with a new skin joins – best to keep it on. Cheat-protected: No. cg_drawTeamOverlay – (if exists in Legacy separate from fireteam) Toggles the team overlay (list of team members, not fireteam, usually on left of screen with health/class). Default: 0 in ETMain (was an ETPro feature). In Legacy mod, the fireteam overlay covers this. cg_useWeapsForZoom – Use weapon alt-fire for zooming scopes. Default: 1. If off, it might require using the +zoom key for sniper. Usually leave on so right-click (weapalt) zooms the sniper. Cheat-protected: No. cg_ghostPlayers – (Legacy mod feature) If enabled (1), during warmup players are non-solid (“ghost”). Default: 1 likely. Usage: In warmup, you can run through teammates. This just visual; server enforces it anyway. Cheat-protected: No. cg_disableWeaponZoom – If 1, disables the weapon-zoom while using mortar/bino (some mod feature). Default: 0. cg_railTrailTime – In milliseconds, how long bullet tracers (“rail trails”) last for the cg_debugBullets feature . Default: 500 (0.5 sec) in Legacy. Usage: Only relevant if debugging bullets; can be ignored otherwise. Cheat-protected: No (the cvar itself isn’t cheat, but the related debugBullets is cheat). cg_noAmmoAutoSwitch – (mentioned above in autoSwitch section) Prevents auto-switch on empty clip. (Note: Legacy distinguishes between picking up a weapon (cg_autoSwitch) and running out of ammo (cg_noAmmoAutoSwitch) Default: 1 (so it will switch on empty). Setting 0 means if you run dry, you’ll stay on the empty weapon until you manually switch or reload cg_viewsize – Field of view portion used for world (versus HUD). In RTCW/ET, this is fixed at 100 usually (meaning HUD doesn’t cover area). Possibly not exposed in ETL. Player Physics/Predictive: cg_trueLightning – (From ETPro, might be in Legacy if they integrated) A value 0–1 that affects how much of the muzzle flash/weapon sway is “true” versus client-smoothed. Default: 0 in ETPro (original behavior). If present, not too important for ET (was for Q3’s lightning gun feel). cg_autoJump – Possibly a Legacy addition for accessibility: auto jump when holding jump? (Not confirmed, hypothetical). Default: 0. cg_bunnyhop – Also hypothetical if Legacy allowed easier jumping. Likely not present (game physics left original). Network & Performance CVARs These CVARs affect your network connection settings and some client-side performance settings (frame caps, memory). Properly adjusting network settings can reduce lag and packet loss. rate – The maximum bytes per second your client will receive from server. Default: 25000 in ET: Legacy (in old ET it was often 13000). Usage: Broadband users set high (25000 or even 40000) for smoother data. It’s essentially your connection cap. On modern servers, keep at least 25000. Cheat-protected: No (but server may clamp min/max). cl_maxPackets – The maximum number of command packets your client will send to the server per second Default: 100 in ET: Legacy (commonly), or 30 in old ET. Usage: Higher cl_maxPackets results in more frequent updates from you to server (smoother movement). Values 60, 100, or 125 are common. On unstable connections, a lower value (like 60) may be better. Cheat-protected: No. (Server can enforce a cap though.) cl_packetdup – Number of duplicate packets sent Default: 1. Range: 0–5 (rarely above 1). Usage: If set to 1, each of your outgoing commands is sent twice, which can help mask packet loss at the cost of extra bandwidth On a stable connection, you can set 0 for minimal bandwidth usage. Cheat-protected: No. snaps – The number of snapshots (world updates) you request from the server per second Default: 20. Usage: This is typically matched to server’s tickrate (20 on most ET servers). On servers that allow, setting 40 can give more frequent world updates (if server is running 40+ fps). Cheat-protected: No (server caps it). cl_timenudge – Client-side lag simulation/compensation tweak (in ms) Default: 0 (no timenudge). Usage: A negative value (e.g., -20) can attempt to compensate by extrapolating ahead (making your view slightly “ahead” at risk of misprediction), while a positive value adds intentional lag. Generally not recommended to use (ET has antilag) In competitive play, some used -20 or -30 in the past, but modern antilag makes it unnecessary. Cheat-protected: No (but some mods limited range to prevent abuse). cl_autoupdate – Whether to check for game updates from master server. Default: 1 (on). Usage: You can set 0 to disable auto-update checks. Cheat-protected: No. cl_wwwDownload – Enable HTTP redirect downloading for files Default: 1 (enabled) in Legacy. Usage: If a server has fast HTTP download for custom maps, this should be on to use it Only set 0 if troubleshooting download issues (then it falls back to slow UDP download). Cheat-protected: No. cl_allowDownload – Allow any file downloading from server (maps, etc.) Default: 1 (yes). Usage: If you set 0, you will refuse downloads – you won’t automatically get maps or mods. Typically leave on, or if you strictly want no custom content, set off. Cheat-protected: No. cl_wwwFallback – Fallback to UDP download if HTTP fails. Default: 1. Usage: Keep 1 to get the file via normal means if the fast download fails. cl_maxPing – Max ping to show servers in the server browser Default: 800 (ms). Usage: Server browser will filter out servers with ping above this. Increase if you want to see distant servers. Cheat-protected: No. cl_packetDelay – (Cheat) Introduce an artificial delay to packets (for testing high ping situations). Default: 0. Usage: Developers might use /cl_packetDelay 100 to simulate 100ms lag. Cheat-protected: Yes (dev cvar). cl_forcePrediction – Force client prediction on/off. Default: 1 (force on). If 0, you rely entirely on server (feels very laggy). Only for debugging if ever. Cheat-protected: No. cl_predict – Master toggle for client-side prediction. Default: 1. (If 0, similar to above, you get no prediction.) Keep this on always. cl_nodelta – (for demos) If 1, request non-delta compressed snapshots (full updates each time). Default: 0. Only used in demo playback or debugging network issues. Cheat-protected: No. cl_freezeDemo – For demo playback – setting 1 pauses the demo. Bound to demo controls usually. Network info display: cg_lagometer – Shows the lag-o-meter graph (small graph bottom-right) of packet latency/loss Default: 0 (off). Usage: Set 1 to enable a graph: bottom half (blue) indicates your command flow to server, top half (yellow/green) indicates snapshots from server. Spikes or gaps indicate packet loss or jitter. Good for diagnosing connection issues. Cheat-protected: No. cg_nopredict – If set to 1, disables prediction (similar to cl_predict 0). Likely not exposed in Legacy UI but may exist for debugging. Default: 0. cg_showMiss – If 1, prints debugging info for aim misses (not typically used by players) . Default: 0. Cheat-protected: Yes (dev only). cg_drawSpreadScale – (reiterated) If on, shows a little expanding marker or numeric value of your weapon spread. Might be dev or mod specific. In Legacy, the crosshair itself pulses for spread, so this might not be separate. cg_errordecay – Controls decay of error for prediction smoothing. Default: 100. Lower values might make movement less smooth on prediction errors. Usually leave it. Performance and System: com_maxFPS – Limit the maximum frames-per-second. Default: 125 in ET: Legacy. Usage: Many players set this to a value that syncs well with physics or their monitor. Common values: 76, 125, 144, 155, 160 (depending on hardware). Setting a consistent cap can reduce jitter and take advantage of quirks (in old ET engine, certain FPS values gave slight jump advantages – 125 was a magic number). Cheat-protected: No. com_hunkMegs – Memory allocated for the game assets (hunk heap). Default: 256 in ET: Legacy (was 56 in original ET which is too low for many custom maps). Usage: If you get “Hunk_AllocateTempMemory” errors loading big mods/maps, increase this. Set before launching or in cfg (e.g., 512). Cheat-protected: No (but cannot be changed after map load). com_zoneMegs – Memory for zone (small strings, etc). Default: 64 in Legacy (was 24 in vanilla). Usually fine. Cheat-protected: No. com_soundMegs – Memory for sound buffering. Default: 64. If custom soundpacks are huge, you could raise this, but generally fine. com_introPlayed – Flag that the intro cinematic was shown. Default: 1 after first run. (Not something to tweak, just prevents intro video each launch.) com_logfile – If 1, logs console output to etconsole.log. Default: 0. Usage: Enable if you want a persistent log of console (for debugging or chat logging). Cheat-protected: No. com_allowConsole – If 1, allows toggleConsole with the ~ key. Default: 1. If set 0, you might need Shift+Esc to bring console (or it might disable console entirely). Leave it on. Renderer flushes and sync: r_finish (mentioned above), r_swapInterval (vsync). Use these to control sync/tearing. Threading (if any): ETLegacy might have r_smp from Q3 (symmetric multi-processing). In vanilla ET it was disabled (caused issues). It’s likely always off or removed. cg_sleep – If non-zero, client will sleep that many ms each frame (to reduce CPU usage). Default: 0. Rarely used, could set a small value if you want to cap CPU usage when at maxFPS with ease. cg_battery – (Hypothetical for VRAM or similar? Possibly not real, ignore if unsure). cg_marktime – (Already above in graphics). Audio CVARs These control sound volumes and quality. The s_ prefix denotes sound system settings. s_volume – Master sound volume (game effects) . Default: 0.8 (on a 0.0–1.0 scale). Usage: You can adjust overall game volume. 0 is mute, 1.0 is max. Cheat-protected: No. s_musicvolume – Music volume (background music in menus or certain maps) . Default: 0.3 (30%). Range 0.0–1.0. Usage: Set to 0 to disable music, or higher if you like the menu/map music. Cheat-protected: No. s_mute – Mutes all game audio instantly . Default: 0 (off). Usage: If set to 1, all sound stops (same as pulling volume to 0). Cheat-protected: No. (This can be toggled quickly if needed.) s_khz – Sound mixing frequency (sample rate) . Default: 44 (44 KHz) in Legacy. Options: 11 = low, 22 = medium, 44 = high quality . Usage: If you have performance issues, you could drop to 22 kHz to reduce CPU usage at cost of sound quality. Cheat-protected: No (requires restart of sound system). s_bits – Sound resolution in bits. Default: 16. (Legacy likely fixed at 16-bit). Usage: 8-bit would degrade quality a lot, so keep 16. s_channels – Number of audio channels for mixing. Default: 2 (stereo). Some mods allowed 6 for surround, but ET main is stereo. Legacy may support surround if using OpenAL. Usage: Leave at 2 unless you know you have surround support and set up. s_doppler – Doppler effect toggle for moving sound sources. Default: 1 (on). Usage: Disabling may slightly improve performance but you lose the doppler shift realism (e.g., sound pitch change of moving planes). Cheat-protected: No. s_mixahead – Mixer ahead buffer time in seconds (or portion of). Default: 0.2 (200 ms) in original ET. Usage: Lowering this can reduce audio latency but risk stutter if too low. Setting to 0.1 might tighten sound sync at risk of chop on slower systems . Cheat-protected: No. s_mixPreStep – Audio mixer prestep (in ms). Default: 20. Used internally to reduce dropouts. Leave default. s_wavonly – Play only .wav files (ignore .ogg) . Default: 0. Usage: If 1, the game will not use any compressed sounds (like .ogg music), perhaps forcing older .wav versions or silence if only ogg available . Generally keep at 0. Cheat-protected: No. s_nocompressed – Don’t use compressed audio at all . Possibly similar effect to s_wavonly – likely not needed unless troubleshooting. Default: 0. s_background – If 1, sound continues to play even when game is in background (alt-tabbed). Default: 0. Usage: Set 1 if you want to hear in-game sounds while tabbed out (for example, waiting in spectator). Cheat-protected: No. s_muteOnFocusLoss – (If Legacy added) Similar to above, mutes sound when game not focused. Default likely on. s_music – (Generic toggle if any). Possibly in Legacy one can toggle music via s_music 0/1. If exists, does same as setting volume 0. s_multiChannel – ET Legacy might use OpenAL for surround. If so, this toggles multi-channel audio. Default: 0 (stereo). Usage: If you have 5.1 speakers and Legacy supports it, you’d enable. s_volumeVoice – Volume of voice chat (if separately controllable). Possibly not separate in ET (voice uses normal sound channel). s_separation – Stereo separation value (for 3D sound width) . Default: 0.5. Range 0–1. Usage: Low values make sound more mono (good for headphones to better pinpoint). Rarely changed. Cheat-protected: No. s_musicTrack – The current music track name (read-only). E.g. when a map is playing a music. s_device – (If using OpenAL) to select audio output device. s_muteAll – Might be same as s_mute. Input & Controls CVARs These variables adjust mouse, joystick, and other input settings. sensitivity – Mouse sensitivity setting . Default: 5 (arbitrary scale). Usage: Higher values = faster cursor movement. This is one of the primary settings players tweak to their liking. No cheat flag. Many pro players use low sens (e.g., 2–4) combined with high DPI or vice versa. Cheat-protected: No. cl_mouseAccel – Mouse acceleration factor. Default: 0 (no acceleration). Usage: If you want your turns to accelerate when you move mouse faster, set this above 0. A common mild accel might be 0.2 or 0.5. Many players keep it 0 for consistent aim. Cheat-protected: No. cl_freelook – If 1, mouse movement controls view (freelook) . Default: 1. Usage: If set to 0, the mouse would move the cursor like in menu even in game (only useful for debug or weird control setups). Always leave on for FPS play. Cheat-protected: No. m_pitch – Mouse pitch (vertical) sensitivity scale . Default: 0.022 (in ET). A negative value inverts the vertical look. Usage: To invert mouse Y axis, set m_pitch to -0.022. Otherwise, leave positive. You can also fine-tune vertical sensitivity by adjusting this slightly. Cheat-protected: No. m_yaw – Mouse yaw (horizontal) sensitivity scale . Default: 0.022. Usage: Leave as is for 1:1 with pitch. If you want horizontal sensitivity different from vertical, you can change this (not common). Cheat-protected: No. m_forward, m_side – Mouse sensitivity for moving forward/back and side when using mouse to move (rarely used) . Default: 0.25 or similar. Usage: These are legacy from when mouse could be used for movement as well. Not relevant unless you bind mouse axes to move. m_filter – Mouse filter (smooths mouse input) . Default: 0 (off). Usage: If 1, the game averages your mouse movements over two frames – can feel smoother but also less responsive. Most turn this off for raw input. Cheat-protected: No. in_mouse – Mouse input mode selection (specific to platform) . Default: -1 (in Legacy, that means auto, use OS defaults). In original ET on Windows, 1 = DirectInput, -1 = Win32, on Linux -1 or 1 for different handlers . Usage: In ET: Legacy, raw input is enabled by default. If experiencing issues, you could try forcing different values. Cheat-protected: No (requires restart of input system). in_joystick – Enable joystick. Default: 0. Usage: Set 1 to enable gamepad/joystick input. Legacy has better joystick support than original. Cheat-protected: No. in_debugJoystick – If 1, prints joystick debug info to console (for dev). Default: 0. Cheat-protected: No. joy_threshold – Joystick deadzone threshold . Default: 0.15 perhaps. Usage: Increase if your analog stick is too sensitive around center. Cheat-protected: No. m_pitch – (already above) used also to invert if negative. cl_run – “Always run” setting (if 1, forward is run by default) . Default: 1 (always run). Usage: If you set 0, your default movement will be walking and you have to hold Shift to run (the opposite of default behavior). Most players keep always-run ON (1) . Cheat-protected: No. cl_autorun – Perhaps same as cl_run in UI contexts. (some games use cl_run). cl_doubletapdelay – Delay for double-tap actions (like double-tap forward to sprint in some configs). Default: 200 (ms) in ET. Usage: If you double-tap crouch to go prone, this might control that timing window. View bobbing & sway: cg_bobpitch, cg_bobyaw, cg_bobroll – Amount of view bobbing (camera swaying) for each axis when moving . Default: 0.002 to 0.005 range in ET (small values). Usage: By lowering these, you can reduce how much your view bobs when running. Some players reduce bob for a steadier view. Cheat-protected: No. cg_bobup – Amount of vertical bob amplitude . Default: about 0.005. Lower to reduce up/down bounce. cg_bobbing – Master toggle for view bobbing . Default: 1 (on). Usage: Set 0 to completely disable gun/view bob while moving. (You’ll have a perfectly still view when running.) Many competitive configs turn off bob for aiming consistency. Cheat-protected: No. cg_runpitch, cg_runroll – Additional run-view tilt in original ET (legacy from Q3) . ET uses cg_bob* instead. In Legacy these might be deprecated (they noted as Q3 relic) . cg_leanOffset – If present, how much the camera shifts when leaning. Legacy might allow tuning lean amount but likely fixed by server. cg_leanSpeed – Speed of lean motion (if adjustable). Possibly not exposed. Mod-Specific and Other CVARs ET: Legacy includes the “Legacy” mod, which adds extra features for competitive play, shoutcasting, etc. These CVARs might not exist in vanilla ET but are present in ET: Legacy’s mod. cg_announcer – Toggles the “Fight!” voice at match start . Default: 1 (on). Usage: Set 0 if you find the “Prepare to fight… FIGHT!” audio annoying at every round start . Cheat-protected: No. cg_countryFlags – Show country flag of players next to their name. Default: 1 (on, if GeoIP data is present). Usage: Requires cg_allowGeoIP. If enabled, when looking at players or on scoreboard, you’ll see a small flag of their IP’s country. Cheat-protected: No. cg_allowGeoIP – Allow the game to lookup player IP geographic info【14†L113-120】. Default: 1. Usage: If disabled (0), no country flags or country info is shown. Leave 1 to use the nice flag feature (it only runs locally and uses a provided GeoIP database). Cheat-protected: No. cg_noVoiceChats – Mutes incoming voice chat audio (vsays). Default: 0. Usage: If you set 1, you will not hear any voice audio (“MEDIC!”, etc.), though text still appears. Helpful if voice spam is annoying. Cheat-protected: No. cg_noVoiceText – Hides the text from vsays. Default: 0. Usage: You might turn this on to completely ignore voice commands (no text popup like “Player (Fireteam): MEDIC”). Cheat-protected: No. cg_teamOverlayUserinfo – If on, sends your fireteam info in userinfo so that mods show team overlay. (Probably always on in Legacy to support fireteam HUD). cg_debugBullets – Draws a line showing bullet paths (client-side) . Default: 0. Usage: When set to 1, every bullet you fire draws a line from muzzle to impact . Used to debug hit registration. Cheat-protected: Yes (dev tool). cg_debugDrawFPS – (Hypothetical) If Legacy added some FPS graph debug. Not likely needed. cg_etVersion – Displays the ET:L version on HUD or scoreboard. Default: (various) – It might be a legacy cvar that holds version string. Not useful to change (read-only). cg_gameType – Possibly stores current gametype (Stopwatch, etc.) as a client cvar. (Read-only, for UI scripts). Legacy Shoutcaster CVARs: These are used when g_shoutcast is enabled on a server and a client connects as a shoutcaster (spectator with extra info): cg_shoutcastDrawBalance – Possibly show team balance info. cg_shoutcastDrawClock – Show actual clock on HUD. (speculative naming) cg_shoutcastDrawTeamNames – Show custom team names on HUD (instead of generic “Allies/Axis”) . Default: TeamNameBlue “Allies”, TeamNameRed “Axis” by default . Shoutcasters can set these (via server or client) to actual team names (“Team A vs Team B”). Cheat-protected: No (but only relevant in shoutcast mode). cg_shoutcastTeamNameRed/Blue – The actual names to display for Red/Blue teams . Usage: e.g. cg_shoutcastTeamNameRed "Team ABC" so HUD shows “Team ABC” instead of Axis. Cheat-protected: No. cg_shoutcastDrawPlayers – Possibly toggles an on-screen list of players with stats for casting . Default: 1. Cheat-protected: No. cg_shoutcastDrawHealth – If 1, displays all players’ health bars above their heads (for the shoutcaster) . Usage: Only for casters to easily see health of everyone. Cheat-protected: No (requires shoutcast mode). cg_shoutcastDrawMinimap – If 1, perhaps shows a mini-map with player positions for shoutcaster . Cheat-protected: No. cg_shoutcastGrenadeTrail – Possibly highlights grenades trajectory for shoutcaster . Default: maybe 1. Usage: Could render a colored trail following thrown grenades, to help audience track them. Cheat-protected: No (again, only active for shoutcasters). These shoutcast CVARs are only effective when the server flags you as a caster. They give additional info that regular players cannot see (and they do not affect your actual gameplay – they’re broadcast aids). cg_atiFixtabilis – (Fake example: some mods had weird named cvars for hardware fixes). If present, some compatibility toggle. Not in Legacy likely. Finally, internal/unused CVARs: ET: Legacy has removed many unused cvars over time. For completeness, some cvars exist but do nothing (marked as “was not used” in documentation). These include things like cg_enableBreath, cg_footsteps (controlled by server in ET), etc. They do not affect gameplay. All the above variables can be set in your config or console. After tweaking, don’t forget to use /writeconfig YourName.cfg to save them if you want to keep changes. With these commands and cvars, you can customize ET: Legacy to your liking – whether for competitive play (e.g., simple visuals, no distractions), casual play (e.g., more effects, music), or development/debugging. Adjust settings carefully, and use the cg_drawFPS and cg_lagometer to gauge the effect of your changes on performance Sources: ET: Legacy Official Documentation (v2.82) – List of Commands and Cvars etlegacy.readthedocs.io Wolfenstein: ET Console Command & Cvar Reference antman.info ET: Legacy Changelog and Team Blog (2.83 updates) etlegacy.com Community guides and discussions fearless-assassins.com Edited Sunday at 04:32 PM by RNGesus 3 1 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.