How to Add Command Line Arguments to Steam, GoG and Epic Games Store
A command-line argument is a special text string that you can add to a game’s startup sequence for various effects. These commands can be incredibly useful, but each digital game store has a different way of accessing them.
What is a command line argument and why should you care?
In the days of MS-DOS and other text-based operating systems, you started a game or application by typing in the “executable” file name. If you want, you can add special “arguments” after the executable name. For example, if you start ID Software’s classic shooter DOOM with “doom -cdrom”, you can run the game directly from the CD-ROM. Very useful when you don’t have enough space for DOOM!
Today we don’t launch games from a command line; We use graphical interfaces to click icons and buttons. However, command-line arguments (aka parameter) are still a common feature of modern games.
They allow you to access features or fixes that are simply not available from the main game interface, or they can cause a game to launch that won’t start at all on your computer since the command is there from the start and not by depend on the game that is already running.
You can find out what launch parameters are available for your games by searching the web to see what the developer has released or what other players have discovered. Once you have the parameters you want to use, follow these steps to implement them in the most popular game storefronts on PC.
How to add command line arguments to Steam
Go to your Steam library and right click on the game you want to change and then select “Properties”.
Under “Startup Options” you can add any command line arguments.
In this case, we’re using “-dx12” with the game Stray, which will unlock the game’s experimental ray tracing mode. Close the properties window and launch the game to see the results.
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How to add launch parameters to the Epic Game Store
From the Epic Games Store, click your profile icon in the top right corner of the app window, then click Settings.
Scroll down until you see the name of the game you want to change, then expand its entry and add the parameters of your choice to the text field.
Here we use “-NOTEXTURESTREAMING” to force the game to preload all graphical textures, which will fix framerate stuttering for many players.
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How to add custom arguments to GoG
In GoG Galaxy, right-click the game you want to change and select Manage Installation > Configure.
Go to the Features tab and check the box next to Custom Executables/Arguments.
From the list of executables, you can duplicate an existing executable and then modify it, or use the Add Another Executable/Argument option to create an empty list.
You need to select the game executable in the open file explorer window that pops up. Then add any arguments you want and give your modified executable a name under “My Label”. Click “OK” to save your changes.
Now go to your game library in GoG Galaxy and right click on the game and then go to “Additional Executables”.
Your modified executable should be listed under the name you gave it.
If you find a game not launching due to an argument or other issues, you can always go back and remove your parameters. There are other ways to optimize your games such as: B. with GeForce Experience.
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