Dota 2 console commands and cheats

What are all the Dota 2 console commands and cheats? Valve’s free-to-play MOBA is an uncompromising beast, and learning your way around it can be extremely challenging, especially as a new player. One of the best ways to get better at Dota 2 is to head into a practice lobby and start learning more about the game and its individual heroes and items, and console commands and cheats are your best friend to help you do so.

Naturally, you can’t just head into an online Dota 2 lobby and start breaking out cheats – the game simply won’t let you do this. While many console commands can be used at any time, even in public matches, you can’t employ any that allow you to alter the game, level up your character, or display features such as a rangefinder that you cannot typically view through the standard settings menu. These require you to be in a private lobby, hero test, or other custom game, and to have enabled cheats before starting.

Dota 2 console commands list

I’ve compiled all the Dota 2 console commands you’re likely to want to use to modify your game or enable and disable certain features. If a command is enabled by typing “1” at the end, you can usually disable it by repeating the command and replacing that with “0” instead, and vice-versa. Modern Dota 2 also accepts “true” and “false” in place of the numbers.

It’s worth noting that Dota 2’s console has a very good auto-complete, so if you’re trying to adjust a specific element of the game, you can simply type it into the box and look through the list to see what options are available to you. For example, you could search “minimap” to find all the toggles relating to the minimap. Valve occasionally removes commands from time to time as well, so keep that in mind.

Here are all of the Dota 2 console commands:

• bind [key] [command]: Adds a keybind for the chosen command.
• bind [key] “chatwheel_say 57”: Prints the current game time in chat when you press the chosen key. Helpful for tracking spawns.
• bind [key] “say_team [phrase]”: Binds a chat message that you can send to your team whenever you want. Don’t be mean.
• cl_dota_gridnav_show 1: Displays a grid showing all the places your character can (green) and can’t (red) stand. Also applies to wards, making it a great way to learn obscure, sneaky ward spots.

• cl_ent_skeleton: Shows the skeleton for a character or object that is currently under your cursor. You can scroll through and view many other similar entity attributes in the same way by typing “cl_ent” into the console.
• disconnect: Disconnects you from your current server.
• dota_ability_quick_cast 1: Enables quick cast, where skills and items are used at the target location immediately when you press the associated key, rather than requiring a confirmation click.
• dota_item_double_tap_self_cast 1: Enables self cast, where you can double-tap the associated key to use an item on yourself.
• dota_ability_self_cast_timeout x: Sets the maximum time between two key presses for a self cast to activate to x seconds. The default value is 0.6.
• dota_camera_disable_zoom 1: Prevents mousewheel zoom.
• dota_camera_disable_yaw 0: Allows you to rotate the camera and see Dota 2 from an entirely new perspective. You might have to experiment to find the control – by default it is usually ‘mouse 5,’ the upper-side button on a standard five-button mouse.
• dota_camera_yaw_rotate_hold_time 0: Stops the camera rotation from ‘snapping back’ to default after a short pause.
• dota_camera_distance x: Sets the camera distance to x. Default is 1200, higher numbers are further away.
• dota_create_unit [name]: Spawn the named unit at the cursor’s location. If you type the command and press space, you can scroll through a full list of the options at your disposal.
• dota_force_right_click_attack 1: Turns on ‘right-click deny,’ allowing you to attack your friendly minions with a simple right-click instead of having to manually use the attack key to deny.
• dota_hide_cursor 1: Turns off the cursor. Not useful in many cases other than playing pranks on your friends.
• dota_hud_colorblind 1: Turns on colorblind mode.
• dota_hud_extra_large_minimap x: Changes the size of the minimap. “0” is the smallest, “2” is the largest.
• dota_hud_hide_minimap 1: Turns off the minimap. Good for practicing. Not recommended in a real match.
• dota_hud_hide_topbar 1: Turns off the HUD at the top of the screen with the team roster, match time, and kill count.
• dota_hud_healthbars x: Adjusts the healthbar displayed over heroes in-game. “0” is off, “1” is a solid bar, “2” is the standard segmented version.
• dota_hud_netgraph 1: Turns on the netgraph, a set of network readouts including ping and packet loss.
• dota_minimap_hero_size x: Sets the size of hero icons on the minimap to x. The default value is 600, higher is bigger.
• dota_minimap_draw_fow 0: Turns off the fog of war effect on the minimap. Does not reveal things hidden by fog of war, however.
• dota_minimap_misclick_time x: Sets the amount of time you must hover your cursor over the minimap before you can issue move commands to x seconds. The default value is 0.2.
• dota_minimap_disable_rightclick 1: Prevent all right-click move commands on the map. You will still be able to adjust your camera or ping with left-click commands.
• dota_minimap_simple_colors 1: Turns off varied colors on the minimap, making all allies green, and all enemies red.
• dota_ping: Displays your current ping.
• dota_player_units_auto_attack_mode x: Sets your auto-attack mode. “0” never autoattacks unless you initiate it. “1” attacks unless you have recently moved, denied, or pressed the stop or hold key. “2” always attacks nearby enemies.
• dota_range_display x: Shows a ring around your character at x range. Useful for learning how far your abilities can go.

• dota_reset_camera_on_spawn 1: Stops the camera from moving automatically to your hero when you respawn.
• dota_screen_shake 0: Turns off the screen shake effect that occurs when certain abilities are used.
• dota_show_object_obstructions 1: Displays visual representations of all the map objects that block your character’s movement. A great way to learn exact paths through dense tree groups or find sneaky hiding spots.
• dota_show_nav_obstructions 1: As above, but with terrain obstructions such as walls and cliffs. Combine the two for a more complete perspective of where you can and can’t move.
• dota_toggle_free_camera: Allows you to fly around the map freely. Only usable in replays and as a spectator. Hold the Shift key to move slightly faster.
• dota_unit_show_collision_radius 1: Displays visual representations of the active hitboxes of all units and buildings. A great way to improve your understanding of Dota 2’s fundamentals.
• dota_unit_show_bounding_radius 1: Displays visual representations of bounding boxes. Similar to the above, but shows when spells and attacks will hit you.
• echo [text]: Prints the entered text to the console. If you’re using an autoexec, it’s worth putting a line like echo “Prepared for Digital Sports” at the end of your file to verify that it has been run correctly each time you boot up Dota 2.
• fow_client_visibility 1: Turns off the ‘darkened’ effect from fog of war. This does not reveal things hidden by fog of war, however.
• maps *: Displays a list of all the maps in the game, including developer test spaces. You can type “map [name]” to try loading into one, but note that some will be broken and may cause your game to boot back to the main menu or crash. Try “map creeptests” for a blank testing zone, for example.
• quit: Closes Dota 2. Now why would you ever do that?
• status: Displays a list of stats regarding all players in the current server, including their ping and packet loss.
• sv_cheats 1: Enables the use of cheat-flagged commands. This may be required even if you have already enabled cheats in the lobby creation settings – you’ll be warned if a command has been ignored because it is cheat protected.

Dota 2 cheats list

Below is a complete list of the best Dota 2 cheats to use:

• -lvlup x: Increase your hero’s level by x.
• -levelbots x: Increase all bot heroes’ level by x.
• -gold x: Give your hero x unreliable gold. Negative numbers reduce it.
• -item [name]: Give your hero a specific item. This is typically in the format item_black_king_bar, but there are some outliers. You can refer to a full list of item identifiers on the Dota 2 wiki.
• -givebots [name]: Give bot heroes a specific item. See above.
• -refresh: Restore the health, mana, and cooldowns of all heroes.
• -respawn: Respawns your hero, or moves them to the fountain if already alive.
• -teleport: Teleports the selected hero to the cursor’s location.
• -startgame: Skips the warmup phase and immediately starts the game, spawning creeps and beginning other timers.
• -spawncreeps: Spawns a creep wave for both teams.
• -disablecreepspawn: Prevents creep waves from spawning in lanes at their usual regular intervals, as well as neutral camp spawns.
• -enablecreepspawn: Turns the regular creep wave and neutral spawns back on after they have been disabled.
• -spawnneutrals: Spawns neutral creeps at empty camps, ignoring the standard blocking rules from other units.
• -killcreeps radiant/dire/neutral/all: Instantly kills all of the selected creep type on the map, with no on-death events.
• -spawnrunes: Spawns runes at all rune spots.
• -clearwards: Destroys all placed Observer Wards.
• -killwards: Destroys all placed Sentry Wards and Observer Wards.
• -trees: Respawns all trees on the map, unless their spot is blocked.
• -allvision: Enables shared vision between Radiant and Dire teams.
• -normalvision: Disables shared vision between Radiant and Dire.
• -wtf: Enables ‘WTF mode’ – disables the mana cost and cooldowns of all abilities and items, refreshing them immediately.
• -unwtf: Disables WTF mode when it is active.
• -gottagofast: Sets your hero level to maximum and equips you with Sange and Yasha, Drum of Endurance, Blink Dagger, Eul’s Scepter, Silver Edge, and Boots of Travel 2.
• -rapgod: Sets your hero level to maximum and equips you with three Divine Rapiers, Daedalus, Heart of Tarrasque, Boots of Travel 2, Aghanim’s Blessing, and Aghanim’s Shard.
• -hurtmebad: Sets your hero’s current health to one.
• -suicide: Instantly kills your hero.
• -win: Destroys the enemy Ancient and ends the match.

How to use Dota 2 console commands and cheats

In order to start using console commands in Dota 2, you first need to enable the console. This can be done either via the miscellaneous options in the ‘game’ section of the settings menu or using launch options. Right-click Dota 2 in your Steam library, select ‘properties,’ and enter ‘-console’ (without quotes) in the launch options field of the general tab. You’ll also want to check your keybinding to open the console in the settings menu – by default, it’s the backslash key.

As Dota 2 is an online multiplayer game, you obviously aren’t allowed to use cheats in regular matches. However, you can enable cheats when playing in a custom lobby, whether you’re doing so for testing purposes, to practice, or to mess around with your friends. In order to allow use of these, you must first tick the ‘enable cheats’ toggle when creating a custom game or bot match. Once you’ve done so, you can enter the small lines of text associated with each cheat, as seen below. Note that cheats, which usually start with a hyphen, are typically entered into the regular chat box, rather than the console.

Dota 2 supports a huge number of Source engine console commands, so this list will cover just those that you’re likely to need or want while playing Dota 2 specifically. Note that many commands are cheat-flagged, so if one doesn’t work when you first attempt it, you might need to enable cheats first. Even among those where this isn’t required, some will be inaccessible in public matches, such as the ability to display a rangefinding ring around your character.

How to use a Dota 2 Autoexec file

Entering all of your favorite commands every time you start playing Dota 2 would be a pain. If you have specific console commands that you know you always want to activate, you can create an autoexec.cfg file to run them automatically. This should be placed in your Dota 2 folder under ‘game\dota\cfg’ – if the file does not already exist, you can create one using Notepad. Place a list of console commands into this document, and Dota 2 will load them whenever you boot it up.

That’s all the custom commands and cheats that are likely to be of use. As mentioned up top, Dota 2 also supports the rather ridiculous number of commands that are available for the Source engine, but you’re unlikely to need these for the purposes of enjoying your time with Valve’s long-running MOBA. You’ll also want to study our rundown of the best Dota 2 heroes so you’re ready to tackle the current meta.