Command Line Arguments¶

Blender 2.81 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 .. separator 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.

animation_##_test.png becomes animation_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 animation.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 OPEN_EXR OPEN_EXR_MULTILAYER MPEG 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)>

Instead of showing Blender’s user interface, this runs Blender as an animation player, to view movies and image sequences rendered in Blender (ignored if -b is set).

Playback Arguments:

-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 with borders.
-W, --window-fullscreen: Force opening in fullscreen mode.
-p, --window-geometry <sx> <sy> <w> <h>: Open with lower left corner at <sx>, <sy> and width and height as <w>, <h>.
-M, --window-maximized: Force opening maximized.
-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).
--no-window-focus: Open behind other windows and without taking focus.

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 <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 <addon(s)>: Comma separated list of add-ons (no spaces).

Logging Options¶

--log <match>: Enable logging categories, taking a single comma separated argument. Multiple categories can be matched using a .* suffix, so --log "wm.*" logs every kind of window-manager message. Use “^” prefix to ignore, so --log "*,^wm.operator.*" logs all except for wm.operators.* Use “*” to log everything.
--log-level <level>: Set the logging verbosity level (higher for more details) defaults to 1, use -1 to log all levels.
--log-show-basename: Only show file name in output (not the leading path).
--log-show-backtrace: Show a back trace for each log message (debug builds only).
--log-show-timestamp: Show a timestamp for each log message in seconds since start.
--log-file <filename>: Set a file to output the log to.

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 all debug messages from dependency graph.

--debug-depsgraph-eval

Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on evaluation.

--debug-depsgraph-build

Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on graph construction.

--debug-depsgraph-tag

Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on tagging.

--debug-depsgraph-no-threads

Switch dependency graph to a single threaded evaluation.

--debug-depsgraph-time

Enable debug messages from dependency graph related on timing.

--debug-depsgraph-pretty

Enable colors for dependency graph debug messages.

--debug-gpu

Enable gpu debug context and information for OpenGL 4.3+.

--debug-gpumem

Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.

--debug-gpu-shaders

Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.

--debug-gpu-force-workarounds

Enable GPU memory stats in status bar.

--debug-wm

Enable debug messages for the window manager, shows all operators in search, shows keymap errors.

--debug-all

Enable all debug messages.

--debug-io

Enable debug messages for I/O (collada, …).

--debug-fpe

Enable floating point exceptions.

--disable-crash-handler

Disable the crash handler.

--disable-abort-handler

Disable the abort handler.

Misc Options¶

--app-template <template>: Set the application template (matching the directory name), use default for none.
--factory-startup: Skip reading the startup.blend in the user’s home directory.
--enable-library-override: Enable Library Override features in the UI.
--enable-event-simulate: Enable event simulation testing feature bpy.types.Window.event_simulate.
--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.
-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.

Other Options¶

/?: Print this help text and exit (windows only).
--debug-freestyle: Enable debug messages for Freestyle.
--verbose <verbose>: Set logging verbosity level.

Argument Parsing¶

Arguments must be separated by white space, eg:
blender -ba test.blend
…will exit since -ba is an unknown argument.

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.