The console

The developer console opens with the key left of 1 (`, ~). It runs commands and sets convars the way Source’s does, and so does everything else that runs text: a key binding, autoexec.cfg, a +command on the command line, a layout’s command(), a map’s script.

name prints a convar and its help; name value sets it.
; separates commands, // starts a comment, quotes keep a phrase together.
Tab completes a command’s name, and then its argument where that is a map, a save, a sound, a class or a convar. Pressing Tab again cycles.
Up and down walk history, which is kept between sessions in cfg/console_history.txt beside config.cfg.
find <text> searches names and help; help <name> explains one.

Cheats

A command or convar marked cheat works only with sv_cheats 1. Turning sv_cheats off puts every cheat convar back to its default, so a noclip left on does not outlive the permission for it. toggle, incrementvar and revert respect the flag like typing does.

Developer commands

Command	Does	Cheat
`god`	Take no damage	yes
`buddha`	Take damage, never below 1 health	yes
`notarget`	Go unnoticed; for a game’s AI to read (`Engine::notarget`)	yes
`noclip`	Fly through walls	yes
`kill`	Die, god mode or not
`give <class> [key value]...`	Spawn an entity where you stand	yes
`getpos`	Print where you are as a `setpos; setang` line
`setpos <x> <y> <z>`	Move there	yes
`setang <pitch> <yaw> [roll]`	Face that way	yes
`ent_fire <target> <input> [param] [delay]`	Fire an input at every entity with that name, else that class; `!picker` is what you are looking at	yes
`ent_create <class> [key value]...`	Spawn an entity where you are looking	yes
`ent_remove [name]`	Remove what you are looking at, or everything with a name	yes
`ent_info [name]`	Print an entity’s class, name, place, keys and outputs
`host_timescale <n>`	Run the world `n` times as fast, 0.01 to 10	yes
`phys_spawn [model]`	Drop a physics prop in front of you	yes
`restart`	Load the current map again from the start
`maps [filter]`	List the maps there are
`map <name>`	Load a map
`save <name>`, `load <name>`	Save and load a game
`screenshot`	Save the next frame under `screenshots/` in the player’s directory
`condump [name]`	Write the scrollback to a file in the player’s directory
`revert <convar>`	Put a convar back to its default
`host_writeconfig`	Write `config.cfg` now rather than on exit
`map_autoreload 1`	Reload the map, keeping your place, when it is rebuilt (`play --watch` sets it)

Video

r_fullscreen is 0 for a window, 1 for borderless fullscreen and 2 for exclusive fullscreen at the monitor’s own mode. It is saved like the other options, and the options menu has a switch for it. cl_fov takes 50 to 130.

The command line

game +map arena +sv_cheats 1     # any +command runs after config.cfg
game -w 1280 -h 720              # the window's size, over engine.kcfg's
game -fullscreen                 # or -windowed, over the saved r_fullscreen
game --headless 600 +map arena   # simulate without a window, then report
game --portable                  # keep saves and settings beside the content

--help (or -h on its own) lists the rest.

Where things are written

Everything the console writes – config.cfg, the history, screenshots, condump – goes into the player’s own directory (~/.local/share/<game>, %APPDATA%\<game>, ~/Library/Application Support/<game>), or with --portable into the content tree. Paths are virtual: nothing a command is given can reach outside that directory.