Viewer parameters
For versions of Second Life prior 1.20 see: Pre 1.20 Client parameters
Command Line Options
| -option <argument> [<optional argument>] | Description | Overridden Setting |
| --help | Show a message box with available options listed. | |
| --port <port number> | Set the TCP port for the client; useful to run multiple instances of SL on the same local home network. Values that may work: 13000 and 13001 (Valid numbers are 13000 to 13050) | ViewerPort |
| --drop <percentage> | Specify a percentage of packets to drop. | PacketDropPercentage |
| --inbw <bits per sec> | Specify input bandwidth limit. | InBandwidth |
| --outbw <bits per sec> | Specify output bandwidth limit. | OutBandwidth |
| --grid <grid choice> | Specify the grid to connect to. Can be an IP address. | GridChoice |
| --loginuri <URI> | Login server to connect to. | LoginURI |
| --helperuri | Helper web cgi prefix to use ??? | HelperURI |
| --debugviews | Enable UI view debugging info. | DebugViews |
| --skin <folder> | Specify the skin folder to use. (eg. korean, spanish) | SkinFolder |
| --autologin | Login in as last saved user. | AutoLogin |
| --quitafter <secs> | Have the client quit after the specified duration. | QuitAfterSeconds |
| --rotate | Force the Avatar to rotate to the right. (For Testing) | RotateRight |
| --noaudio | Disable sound from the client. | NoAudio |
| --nosound | Disable sound from the client. | NoAudio |
| --noprobe | Disable hardware checking at startup. | NoHardwareProbe |
| --noquicktime | Disable use of quicktime by the client. | NoQuickTime |
| --nopreload | Disable precaching of sound and bitmaps used by the client. | NoPreload |
| --purge | Force the client to clear cached downloads during startup. | PurgeCacheOnNextStartup |
| --noinvlib | Do not request inventory library. | NoInventoryLibrary |
| --log | Log network messages. | LogMessages |
| --logfile <filename> | Specify a file name for log output. | UserLogFile |
| --settings <filename> | Specify the name of the user settings file. | UserSettingsFile |
| --set <setting> <value> | Specify the value of the named setting. | Maps to <setting> arg. |
| --login <firstname> <lastname> <password> | Specify login info. | UserLoginInfo |
| --god | Log in as god if you have god access. | ConnectAsGod |
| --console <show> | Show a debugging console (Windows only) | ShowConsoleWindow |
| --safe | Reset preferences, run in safe mode. | SafeMode |
| --multiple | Allow multiple viewers running concurrently. | AllowMultipleViewers |
| --novoice | Disable voice chat. | DisableVoice |
| --url <SLURL> | Specify the starting region and position (eg. secondlife://Ahern//128/128).
This must be the last parameter on the command line. |
SecondLifeURL |
| --ignorepixeldepth | Ignore pixel depth settings. | IgnorePixelDepth |
| --cooperative <ms to yield> | Yield specified time to host on each frame. | YieldTime |
| --no-verify-ssl-cert | Disable SSL certificate verification. | NoVerifySSLCert |
| --channel <name> | Specify version channel name. (For Testing) | VersionChannelName |
| --qa | Enable UI features for used for testing. | QAMode |
Using Client Parameters
There are many ways of passing command line options to the viewer. These are among the most common and useful:
Command Line
From all supported platforms, arguments may be specified manually when running the viewer from a shell.
Windows Shortcuts
Create a shortcut to the SecondLife.exe executable. Edit the shortcut properties and add any of the above options in the first editable text field. The arguments go at the end of the line, *after* the closing quotation mark, if any.
OS X Parameter File
In OS X, create a file called Second Life.app/Contents/Resources/arguments.txt and list the options you like, one per line.
Visual Studio
In Visual Studio, the command line paramaters are in the Debug Options pane of the newview project preferences. Ensure newview is your startup project, and launch the compiled viewer from within the debugger for these options to take effect.
XCode
In XCode, first select "newview" under the "Executables" group in XCode. Then open the "Get Info" dialog and click the "Arguments" tab. Add any of the above options to the "Arguments to be passed on launch" pane.
Specifying new command line parameters
New command line parameters can be added to the client via the configuration file app_settings/cmd_line.xml. Using this file a command line paramter can be mapped to a user setting. Parameter can have the following options:
- desc - A description of the paramter.
- short - a single character to map to the paramter.
- count - the number of tokens to follow a option.
- compose - true if the option can be specified multiple times.
- positional - true if the option can be specified without --name.
- last_option - true if the option should be the last option.
- map-to - specify a user setting to map the option to.
The file uses LLSD syntax. Use the existing options as reference.