Command Line Arguments¶

Blender 2.79-branch Usage: blender [args ...] [file] [args ...]

Render Options¶

-b, --background

Run in background (often used for UI-less rendering).

-a, --render-anim

Render frames from start to end (inclusive).

-S, --scene <name>

Set the active scene <name> for rendering.

-f, --render-frame <frame>

Render frame <frame> and save it.

+<frame> start frame relative, -<frame> end frame relative.
A comma separated list of frames can also be used (no spaces).
A range of frames can be expressed using .. seperator between the first and last frames (inclusive).

-s, --frame-start <frame>

Set start to frame <frame>, supports +/- for relative frames too.

-e, --frame-end <frame>

Set end to frame <frame>, supports +/- for relative frames too.

-j, --frame-jump <frames>

Set number of frames to step forward after each rendered frame.

-o, --render-output <path>

Set the render path and file name. Use // at the start of the path to render relative to the blend-file.

The # characters are replaced by the frame number, and used to define zero padding.

ani_##_test.png becomes ani_01_test.png
test-######.png becomes test-000001.png

When the filename does not contain #, The suffix #### is added to the filename.

The frame number will be added at the end of the filename, eg:

blender -b foobar.blend -o //render_ -F PNG -x 1 -a

//render_ becomes //render_####, writing frames as //render_0001.png

-E, --engine <engine>

Specify the render engine use -E help to list available engines.

-t, --threads <threads>

Use amount of <threads> for rendering and other operations [1-64], 0 for systems processor count.

Format Options¶

-F, --render-format <format>

Set the render format. Valid options are TGA RAWTGA JPEG IRIS IRIZ AVIRAW AVIJPEG PNG BMP

Formats that can be compiled into Blender, not available on all systems: HDR TIFF EXR MULTILAYER MPEG FRAMESERVER QUICKTIME CINEON DPX DDS JP2

-x, --use-extension <bool>

Set option to add the file extension to the end of the file.

Animation Playback Options¶

-a <options> <file(s)>

Playback <file(s)>, only operates this way when not running in background.

-p <sx> <sy>: Open with lower left corner at <sx>, <sy>.
-m: Read from disk (Do not buffer)
-f <fps> <fps-base>: Specify FPS to start with.
-j <frame>: Set frame step to <frame>.
-s <frame>: Play from <frame>.
-e <frame>: Play until <frame>.

Window Options¶

-w, --window-border: Force opening without borders.
-W, --window-borderless: Force opening without borders.
-p, --window-geometry <sx> <sy> <w> <h>: Open with lower left corner at <sx>, <sy> and width and height as <w>, <h>.
-con, --start-console: Start with the console window open (ignored if -b is set), (Windows only).
--no-native-pixels: Do not use native pixel size, for high resolution displays (MacBook Retina).

Game Engine Specific Options¶

-g Game Engine specific options

fixedtime

Run on 50 hertz without dropping frames.

vertexarrays

Use Vertex Arrays for rendering (usually faster).

nomipmap

No Texture Mipmapping.

linearmipmap

Linear Texture Mipmapping instead of Nearest (default).

Python Options¶

-y, --enable-autoexec: Enable automatic Python script execution (default).
-Y, --disable-autoexec: Disable automatic Python script execution (pydrivers & startup scripts).
-P, --python <filename>: Run the given Python script file.
--python-text <name>: Run the given Python script text block.
--python-expr <expression>: Run the given expression as a Python script.
--python-console: Run blender with an interactive console.
--python-exit-code: Set the exit-code in [0..255] to exit if a Python exception is raised (only for scripts executed from the command line), zero disables.
--addons: Comma separated list of add-ons (no spaces).

Debug Options¶

-d, --debug

Turn debugging on.

Enables memory error detection
Disables mouse grab (to interact with a debugger in some cases)
Keeps Python’s sys.stdin rather than setting it to None

--debug-value <value>

Set debug value of <value> on startup.

--debug-events

Enable debug messages for the event system.

--debug-ffmpeg

Enable debug messages from FFmpeg library.

--debug-handlers

Enable debug messages for event handling.

--debug-libmv

Enable debug messages from libmv library.

--debug-cycles

Enable debug messages from Cycles.

--debug-memory

Enable fully guarded memory allocation and debugging.

--debug-jobs

Enable time profiling for background jobs.

--debug-python

Enable debug messages for Python.

--debug-depsgraph

Enable debug messages from dependency graph.

--debug-depsgraph-no-threads

Switch dependency graph to a single threaded evaluation.

--debug-gpumem

Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.

--debug-wm

Enable debug messages for the window manager, also prints every operator call.

--debug-all

Enable all debug messages.

--debug-fpe

Enable floating point exceptions.

--disable-crash-handler

Disable the crash handler.

Misc Options¶

--factory-startup: Skip reading the startup.blend in the users home directory.
--env-system-datafiles: Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_DATAFILES environment variable.
--env-system-scripts: Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS environment variable.
--env-system-python: Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_PYTHON environment variable.
-nojoystick: Disable joystick support.
-noglsl: Disable GLSL shading.
-noaudio: Force sound system to None.
-setaudio: Force sound system to a specific device. NULL SDL OPENAL JACK
-h, --help: Print this help text and exit.
-R: Register blend-file extension, then exit (Windows only).
-r: Silently register blend-file extension, then exit (Windows only).
-v, --version: Print Blender version and exit.
--: End option processing, following arguments passed unchanged. Access via Python’s sys.argv.

Experimental Features¶

--enable-new-depsgraph: Use new dependency graph.
--enable-new-basic-shader-glsl: Use new GLSL basic shader.

Other Options¶

/?: Print this help text and exit (windows only).
--debug-freestyle: Enable debug messages for FreeStyle.
--debug-gpu: Enable gpu debug context and information for OpenGL 4.3+.
--disable-abort-handler: Disable the abort handler.
--verbose <verbose>: Set logging verbosity level.

Argument Parsing¶

Arguments must be separated by white space, eg:
blender -ba test.blend
...will ignore the a.
blender -b test.blend -f8
...will ignore 8 because there is no space between the -f and the frame value.

Argument Order¶

Arguments are executed in the order they are given. eg:
blender --background test.blend --render-frame 1 --render-output '/tmp'
...will not render to /tmp because --render-frame 1 renders before the output path is set.
blender --background --render-output /tmp test.blend --render-frame 1
...will not render to /tmp because loading the blend-file overwrites the render output that was set.
blender --background test.blend --render-output /tmp --render-frame 1
...works as expected.

Environment Variables¶

BLENDER_USER_CONFIG:
	Directory for user configuration files.
BLENDER_USER_SCRIPTS:
	Directory for user scripts.
BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS:
	Directory for system wide scripts.
BLENDER_USER_DATAFILES:
	Directory for user data files (icons, translations, ..).
BLENDER_SYSTEM_DATAFILES:
	Directory for system wide data files.
BLENDER_SYSTEM_PYTHON:
	Directory for system python libraries.
TEMP:	Store temporary files here.
TMP:	or $TMPDIR Store temporary files here.
SDL_AUDIODRIVER:
	LibSDL audio driver - alsa, esd, dma.
PYTHONHOME:	Path to the python directory, eg. /usr/lib/python.