GODOT3(6)

📦 version 3.6.2, in debian trixie, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 GODOT3(6) — NAME 💖

godot — a multi-platform 2D and 3D game engine with a feature-rich editor. yes bestie, the whole engine. it lives in section 6 of the manual (Games), and this particular page is for the server build, godot3-server.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

godot3-server [options] [path to scene or 'project.godot' file]

like… that's it. that's the whole vibe. options first, then optionally point it at a scene or a project.godot file. 🫶

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so. Godot Engine is an advanced, feature-packed, multi-platform 2D and 3D game engine. that's the official line and honestly it's not even exaggerating.

the whole point is that it hands you a huge set of common tools already built in, so you can just focus on making your game without reinventing the wheel. no cap. the wheel has been invented. go make your game. 💅

🎀 General options:

  • -h, --help — shows you this help message. your lil map of the whole thing.
  • --version — prints the version string, so you know exactly which flavor of Godot you're running.
  • -v, --verbose — verbose stdout mode. it gets chatty. very chatty. 💬
  • --quiet — quiet mode, silences stdout messages. errors are still displayed though — it's not gonna hide the important stuff from you, bestie.

🦋 Run options:

  • -e, --editor — start the editor instead of running the scene.
  • -p, --project-manager — start the project manager, even if a project is auto-detected. yes, even then. it insists.
  • -q, --quit — quit after the first iteration. one and done. 🫡
  • -l, --language <locale> — use a specific locale, where <locale> is a two-letter code.
  • --path <directory> — path to a project. <directory> must contain a project.godot file, okay? that's the rule.
  • -u, --upwards — scan folders upwards looking for a project.godot file.
  • --main-pack <file> — path to a pack (.pck) file to load.
  • --render-thread <mode> — render thread mode: 'unsafe', 'safe', 'separate'.
  • --remote-fs <address> — remote filesystem, given as a <host/IP>[:<port>] address.
  • --remote-fs-password <password> — the password for that remote filesystem.
  • --audio-driver <driver> — audio driver: 'PulseAudio', 'ALSA', 'Dummy'.
  • --video-driver <driver> — video driver: 'GLES3', 'GLES2'.

🌈 Display options:

  • -f, --fullscreen — request fullscreen mode. the whole screen. main character energy. 👑
  • -m, --maximized — request a maximized window.
  • -w, --windowed — request windowed mode.
  • -t, --always-on-top — request an always-on-top window. it stays above everything. iconic.
  • --resolution <W>x<H> — request window resolution.
  • --position <X>,<Y> — request window position.
  • --low-dpi — force low-DPI mode (macOS and Windows only).
  • --no-window — disable window creation (Windows only). useful together with --script.
  • --enable-vsync-via-compositor — when vsync is enabled, do vsync via the OS' window compositor (Windows only).
  • --disable-vsync-via-compositor — disable vsync via the OS' window compositor (Windows only).

🔥 Debug options:

  • -d, --debug — debug (local stdout debugger).
  • -b, --breakpoints — breakpoint list as source::line comma-separated pairs, no spaces (use %20 instead).
  • --profiling — enable profiling in the script debugger.
  • --remote-debug <address> — remote debug, as a <host/IP>:<port> address.
  • --debug-collisions — show collisions shapes when running the scene.
  • --debug-navigation — show navigation polygons when running the scene.
  • --frame-delay <ms> — simulate high CPU load by delaying each frame by <ms> milliseconds. (yes, deliberately. it's a stress test thing.)
  • --time-scale <scale> — force time scale. higher values are faster, 1.0 is normal speed.
  • --disable-render-loop — disable the render loop so rendering only occurs when called explicitly from script.
  • --disable-crash-handler — disable the crash handler when supported by the platform code.
  • --fixed-fps <fps> — force a fixed number of frames per second. > heads up bestie: this setting disables real-time synchronization.
  • --print-fps — print the frames per second to the stdout.

💅 Standalone tools:

  • -s, --script <script> — run a script.
  • --check-only — only parse for errors and quit (use with --script).
  • --export <preset> <path> — export the project using the given preset and matching release template. the preset name should match one defined in export_presets.cfg.

<path> should be absolute or relative to the project directory, and include the filename for the binary (e.g. 'builds/game.exe'). the target directory should exist.

  • --export-debug <preset> <path> — same as --export, but using the debug template.
  • --export-pack <preset> <path> — same as --export, but only export the game pack for the given preset. the <path> extension determines whether it will be in PCK or ZIP format.
  • --doctool <path> — dump the engine API reference to the given <path> in XML format, merging if existing files are found.
  • --no-docbase — disallow dumping the base types (used with --doctool).
  • --build-solutions — build the scripting solutions (e.g. for C# projects). implies --editor and requires a valid project to edit.
  • --gdnative-generate-json-api — generate a JSON dump of the Godot API for GDNative bindings.
  • --test <test> — run a unit test. your options are: 'string', 'math', 'physics', 'physics_2d', 'render', 'oa_hash_map', 'gui', 'shaderlang', 'gd_tokenizer', 'gd_parser', 'gd_compiler', 'gd_bytecode', 'ordered_hash_map', 'astar'.

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • XDG_DATA_CONFIG/godot/ or ~/.config/godot/ — user-specific configuration folder. it holds your persistent editor settings, script and text editor templates, and projects metadata.
  • XDG_DATA_HOME/godot/ or ~/.local/share/godot/ — contains the default configuration and user data folders for Godot-made games (that's the user:// path, iykyk), plus export templates.
  • XDG_DATA_CACHE/godot/ or ~/.cache/godot/ — cache folder for generated thumbnails and scene previews, and also the temporary location for downloads.
  • /usr/share/doc/godot3-server/ — additional documentation files and detailed licensing information. read it, bestie, it's good for you. 📚

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

see the project website at https://godotengine.org and the source code repository at https://github.com/godotengine/godot for more details. go on, click around, it's free. 💜

💀 BUGS 💀

Godot Engine is a free and open source project and welcomes any kind of contributions. in particular, you can report issues or make suggestions on Godot's issue tracker at https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues.

not me telling you to file a bug report — but fr fr, if something's broken, tell them. they wanna know. 🫶

👑 AUTHOR 👑

man page written by Rémi Verschelde <remi@godotengine.org> on behalf of the Godot Engine development team.

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 💖 this was the Godot 3.2 version of the manual, dated January 2020, and it's page GODOT3(6) out of the Games section — so next time you see godot3-server doing its thing, you'll know exactly which flag to reach for. slay, go make a game. 🌈✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from