Launch Options - Cities Skylines

This guide lists the various command line options (launch options / parameters) that you can use with Cities: Skylines.

Note: This is an extension to the main Troubleshooting FAQ.

Using Launch Options

Updated: March 2022

Launch parameters (options) let you override certain configuration settings in the game.

Launch options are added via the game properties in Steam client:

• Open Steam client
  
• Right click the game (or click the gear icon shown on the game main screen)
  
• Choose "Properties" from the menu that appears
  
• In the "General" section, you'll see the text box for Launch Options

Alternatively, watch this video (it's a bit outdated but still relevant).

You can use multiple options, just put a space between each option (see the two Screen Resolution options, later in this guide, which are often used together).

Problems with Paradox Launcher?

Updated: March 2022

Some users report that the Paradox Launcher app prevents launch options from working, although I'm not encountering this problem myself.

Here are some possible workarounds if you are affected by launcher app breaking launch options (most users shouldn't need these):

• See this topic in discussion forum (thanks Riddick for link)
  
• Use Load Order Mod and follow these instructions[github.com]

Workshop (Assets / Mods)

Updated: March 2022

Note: These options have an uppercase letter at the start of the second word.

Disable Workshop (Assets and Mods)

-noWorkshop

Disable Mods

-disableMods

Paradox Support will ask you to use these options

You will often be advised to add both of these parameters when a new game patch is released or when you are requesting support from Paradox[forum.paradoxplaza.com]. They will disable some or all workshop subscriptions while present, leaving sections of the Content Manger empty.

Changing subscriptions from outside the game

If you want to change your existing subscriptions while those options are active: Select the "Workshop" tab at top of this page (on steam guides site), then hover mouse over "Your Files" in the right sidebar. A pop-up menu will appear; choose "Subscribed Items" and you'll get a list of everything you are currently subscribed to. They will be ordered by date subscribed, most recent at top. You can change the order to date updated to quickly find what was changed recently.

Finding/fixing broken mods

The Compatibility Report mod will tell you if you have broken or incompatible mods and suggest alternatives:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2633433869
There's also a google spreadsheet listing broken or incompatible mods[docs.google.com].

Finding/fixing broken assets

There's a guide for that:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1846793796

Content Manager issues?

See Content Manager section[github.com] in the TM:PE wiki on github.

Continue last save

Updated: January 2020

To make the game skip the main menu and automatically load your last save game (since v1.12.3 "Launcher" update):

--continuelastsave

Log File location

Verified: January 2022

The Unity log file (Player.log or output_log.txt) location can be changed with this option:

-LogFile "Path\To\output_log.txt"

Note: Some mods use hard-coded paths.

Modders, see TM:PE PR 1151[github.com] for details of how to make your mod respect the `LogFile` option.

Monitor Selection

Last edited: July 2019

If you have multiple disaplays, you can force the game to run on a specific display:

-adapter n

When `n` is the adaptor number (0 = first, 1 = second, etc). For example, to use the 2nd monitor:

-adapter 1

There are also some multi-monitor mods in the Steam workshop which apparently can stretch the game across multiple monitors; I've not tried them so no idea if they work as advertised.

Screen Resolution

Updated: March 2022

When setting screen resolution, if your aspect ratio isn't listed try these mods first:

(note: workshop page doesn't list all the ratios, more were added in later updates)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=561218257
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2487213155
If all else fails, you can try setting screen resolution via launch options:

You can specify a specific screen resolution with this parameter:

-screen-width <width> -screen-height <height>

For example, if you wanted 1024x768 use:

-screen-width 1024 -screen-height 768

Note, however, the game will still try and use one of it's "known" resolutions unless you have mods listed above.

Window Mode

Last edited: July 2019

You can toggle between normal windowed and full screen in the game via Options > Graphics menu.

Alternatively you could experiment with these launch options (probably only work on Windows / Linux, haven't tested on Mac)...

To run in borderless window:

-popupwindow

To run in normal window:

-windowed

To run full screen:

-fullscreen

Apparently this is a better way to set full screen mode:

-screen-fullscreen m

Where `m` is either 0 (not full screen) or 1 (full screen).

Graphics Mode

Last edited: July 2019

Avoid using these options unless you are suffering graphics issues or crashes.

DirectX 11 feature level (Windows only)

Use only one of these at a time (I've no idea what the default will be, I assume most recent so 11-0):

-force-feature-level-9-3
-force-feature-level-10-0
-force-feature-level-10-1
-force-feature-level-11-0

Force DirectX 9 (Windows only)

Before using it, try and upgrade your graphics card drivers to the latest stable release form the manufacturer website as that will often fix the problem at source.

This option often resolves serious graphics issues on Windows platform, at the expense of some graphics quality and frame rate:

-force-d3d9

Tip: If you see the "d3d11: failed to create staging 2D texture" error in your log files, the -force-d3d9 option often will fix it.

Force single-threaded rendering

Only use this if you see the "HandleD3DDeviceLost" error in your log files:

Use either this:

-force-gfx-direct

Or this (not both):

-force-gfx-st

Alternatively, if you're using DirectX 11, you can use this:

-force-d3d11-singlethreaded

Force OpenGL

You can force use of OpenGL instead of DirectX. Note that this can cause problems with the UI of some mods and possibly also cause issues with some of the more elaborate workshop assets.

To use the latest version of OpenGL, limited to version 4.5:

-force-opengl

Or this (not both):

-force-glcore

You can specify which context version of OpenGL to use:

-force-glcoreXY

Where `XY` is the version. Accepted values for XY: 32, 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 or 45.
(thanks to Darth_Jimbo for this info!)

Force Metal (Mac OS only)

Note, this might not work with C:SL (haven't checked, sorry).

Force the game to use Metal graphics mode.

-force-gfx-metal

Select GPU (Mac OS only)

This only works in conjunction with `-force-gfx-metal` (see above). If your Mac has multiple GPUs, you can select which one the game uses:

-force-device-index n

Where `n` is the device index to use.

Use Automatic Config

This parameter must be used on it's own (don't use any of the other graphics card or screen settings options).

-autoconfig

User feedback indicates it doesn't do anything, but leaving it here just in case.

Limit frame rate (fps)

Updated: March 2022

This option is useful if your graphics card is overheating (more than ~70ºC depending on your graphics card), especially if you are using a laptop in summer months. It might also be useful if your monitor can't handle higher frame rates.

-limitfps <fps>

For example, to limit to 30 fps use:

-limitfps 30

Not working?

Some users report the Launcher app prevents this option from working. An alternative is to use FPS Booster mod which contains an fps limiter for different game states (eg. pause menu, asset editor, etc).

Reverting to default framerate

Note that setting fixed frame rate will disable `V-sync` in game options. If you want to return game to normal (default) framerates, remove the `-limitfps` option and re-enable `V-sync` in game options screen.

Game running slow?

Try this guide (also includes a section on how to display in-game frame rates):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=465790009

Disable log file

Section added: July 2019

This is probably a bad idea, but if you want to reduce load times at the expense of not knowing about any errors, you can disable the log file completely:

-nolog

Developer UI

Verified: May 2020

Add the following launch option:

--enable-dev-ui

After loading a save, press the Tab key and you'll get the dev UI. Note, however, several mods (particularly first person camera / autowalking mods) also use Tab key so it might conflict with those.

Another way to enable the developer UI is to create a file called `dev` in the same folder as Cities.exe, prior to loading the game. It does the same as the launch option.

If you just want to explore the assets in the city and learn more about the internal workings of the game, a better altenative might be Mod Tools - it has an '>' inspector button (top right of screen) that does the exact same thing, however it also allows you to click on something to open it in the Mod Tools scene explorer!

Related, for modders only: If you build TM:PE (master branch, any version) in DEBUG mode, there's several additional debug overlays on the Maintenance tab in mod options and an extra in-game menu with loads of extra tools.

There might be more...

Found some pages that list a bunch of other stuff but no idea if they work or not. Some are likely game or game engine specific:

• Generic launch options
  
• Unity engine launch options[docs.unity3d.com]

.

Feedback

If you can think of other useful things to add to this guide, or have any comments, let me know in the comments below.

If you found the guide useful, please consider supporting me on ko-fi[ko-fi.com].
.

[Qule0]

Как удалить эту залупу ?????

[millernairb02(&kitty)]

How do you enable mods?

[cockmaster421]

@Angelhearth on the steam library page you scroll down and on the right you should see manage dlc, you just untick all your dlc

[Angelhearth]

How do I disable DLC's? I want to disable the last 4 or 5 DLC's as using the content in them (Airports, Campuses etc) eats memory and slows the game.

[snowflitzer]

I think "--disableAssets" should work

[VictorWolf_]

is there a option or mods to only Disable Assets but also keep mods on, yk.

[Rush Knight]

Linux issue: the launch parameter "-popupwindow" doesn't seem to work. I still get a border, and the bottom of the game screen is cut off by my taskbar (which considering that's also where the game's toolbar is makes it a bit difficult to play). Attempts to launch using a shorter vertical resolution invariably end with the game overriding it. Any ideas on what might be going wrong?

[Dźwiedziu]

Why the launch options could not be added as a list instead of a video? I'm troubleshooting my crashing instance and I was looking for a reference to disable all mods.

[Virtus]

Custom luncher doesn't work, I encountered error "launcher not found". Now the game can't launch after uninstallation per instructions... Couldn't fix, have to reinstall the game..

[macluk]

@stmSantana
I think it used to be advised everywhere, including paradoxwikis and steam website, to have double hyphen.
They might have changed that - I just tested it this morning (I've been using double hyphen right until yesterday) and both options seem to work the same.