Particle Debugging with Console Variables
Particle Debugging with Console Variables
Use the following console variables to monitor and debug particle system issues. For more information, see Using the Console Window.
Particle Console Variables
| Console Variable | Description | Valid Values |
|---|---|---|
| e_Particles | Activates drawing of particles. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| e_ParticlesAllowRuntimeLoad | Allows loading of dynamic particle effects at runtime. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| e_ParticlesAnimBlend | Blends between animated texture frames. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) 2 = Force |
| e_ParticlesAudio | Toggles audio for particles. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| e_ParticlesCullAgainstOcclusionBuffer | Culls particles against the occlusion buffer. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| e_ParticlesCullAgainstViewFrustum | Culls particles against the view frustum. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| e_ParticlesDebug | Displays the particle counts on the screen. You can also specify the particle debug flags that you want to add or remove. To add or remove a particle debug flag, you can use the Console command line or the .cfg files. Type the console variable followed by the flag and a + or –. For example, if you want to use the m flag to show memory usage, enter the following command: e_ParticlesDebug b+ To remove the m flag, enter the following command: e_ParticlesDebug b- For more information, see
Using the Console Window. | 0 = Hide basic stats. (default) 1 = Show basic stats. m = Show memory usage. r = Show reiteration, rejection, and collision stats. b = Draw bounding boxes and labels and show bounding box stats. x = Show bounding box stats. d = Force dynamic bounds and update for all emitters. c = Disable clipping against water and visible area bounds. z = Freeze the particle system. |
| e_ParticleDumpMemorAfterMapLoad | Specify a value of 1 to dump particle memory after map load. | 0 = Off (default) 1 = On |
| e_ParticlesGI | Applies global illumination to appropriate particle effects. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) 2 = Force |
| e_ParticleShadowsNumGSMs | Number of global shadow maps (GSM) used for particle shadows. | Default value: 3 |
| e_ParticlesIndexPoolSize | Memory size of index pool between particle and render thread. | Default value: 16 |
| e_ParticlesLightMinColorThreshold | Threshold for minimum particle light color. | Default value: 0 |
| e_ParticlesLightMinRadiusThreshold | Threshold of minimum particle light radius. | Default value: 0 |
| e_ParticlesLights | Allows a light source to be attached to every particle. | 0 = Off 1 = Deferred lights |
| e_ParticlesLightsViewDistRatio | Sets the view distance ratio for particle lights. | Default value: 256 |
| e_ParticlesLod | Multiplier to particle count. | Default value: 0 |
| e_ParticlesMaxDrawScreen | Screen size maximum per particle. Particles that reach this limit fade out, even if the particle does not reach its lifetime. | Default value: 256 |
| e_ParticlesMaxScreenFill | Screen size maximum of total particles to draw. | Default value: 160 |
| e_ParticlesMinDrawAlpha | Alpha cutoff for rendering particles. | Default value: 0.004 |
| e_ParticlesMinDrawPixels | Pixel size minimum per particle. Particles that reach this limit fade out, even if the particle does not reach its lifetime. | Default value: 1 |
| e_ParticlesMotionBlur | Enables motion blur for particles. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) 2 = Force |
| e_ParticlesObjectCollisions | Enables particle and object collisions for the SimpleCollision parameter. For more information, see Collision Attribute. | 1 = Against static objects only. 2 = Against dynamic objects also. (default) |
| e_ParticlesPoolSize | Particle system pool memory size in KB. | Default value: 16384 |
| e_ParticlesPreload | Enables preloading of all particle effects at the beginning. | Default value: 0 |
| e_ParticlesProfile | Displays particle information on the screen. | 0 = Off (default) 1 = Always show the statistics about particle pool usage. 2 = Disable the warning message when running out of pool memory. |
| e_ParticlesQuality | Specifies the quality of particle detail. | Default value: 4 |
| e_ParticlesShadows | Displays shadows on particles. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) 2 = Force |
| e_ParticlesShowMainThreadUpdates | Renders a list of containers not updated by a job and provides details why. | Default value: 1 |
| e_ParticlesSoftIntersect | Renders appropriate particles with soft intersection. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) 2 = Force |
| e_ParticlesSortQuality | Minimum sort quality for new particle insertion. | 0 = Basic (default) 1 = Better 2 = Best |
| e_ParticlesThread | Enables particle threading. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| e_ParticlesUseLevelSpecificLibs | Allows searching for level-specific version of effects files. | 0 = Off (default) 1 = On |
| e_ParticlesVertexPoolSize | Memory size of vertex pool between particle and render thread. | Default value: 256 |
| e_SkipParticleOcclusion | Skips occlusion testing for particles in the occlusion buffer. The particles may be too small to return reliable results. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| gpu_particle_physics | Enables graphics processing unit (GPU) for physics, if available. | 0 = Off (default) 1 = On |
| g_breakage_particles_limit | Imposes a limit on particles generated during 2D surfaces breaking. | Default value: 160 |
| mfx_ParticleImpactThresh | Impact thread for particle effects. | Default value: 2 |
| r_GPUParticleDepthCubemapResolution | Resolution for the cubemaps used by the cubemap depth collision feature for GPU particles. | Default value: 256 |
| r_ParticlesAmountGI | Global illumination (GI) amount for particles without an assigned material. | Default value: 0.15 |
| r_ParticlesDebug | (Advanced) Evaluates what particles on screen may impact performance. Particles marked in blue are ideal, while particles marked in red or white can impact performance. | 0 = Off (default) 1 = Display particle screen coverage. Blue = Good Red = Bad 2 = Display particle overdraw. Blue = Good Red = Bad White = Poor |
| r_ParticlesHalfRes | Enables or forces the render of particles in a half-resolution buffer. | 0 = Off (default) 1 = On 1 = Force |
| r_ParticlesHalfResAmount | Specifies the particle half-resolution buffer to a half or quarter of the screen size. | 0 = Off (default) 1 = Half of screen size 1 = Quarter of screen size |
| r_ParticlesHalfResBlendMode | Specifies which particles can be rendered in half resolution. | 0 = Alpha (default) 1 = Additive |
| r_ParticlesInstanceVertices | Enables instanced-vertex rendering. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| r_ParticlesRefraction | Enables refractive particles. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| r_ParticlesSoftIsec | Enables particle soft intersections. | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| r_ParticlesTessellation | Enables particle tessellation for higher quality lighting (DX11 only). | 0 = Off 1 = On (default) |
| r_ParticlesTessellationTriSize | Sets the particle tessellation triangle screen space size in pixels (DX11 only). | Default value: 16 |
| r_ParticlesVerticePoolSize | Maximum number of particle vertices to support. | Default value: 15360 |
| r_ShadowParticlesAnimJitterAmount | Amount of animated jittering for particle shadows. | Default value: 1 |
| r_ShadowsParticlesJitterAmount | Amount of jittering for particle shadows. | Default value: 0.5 |
| r_ShadowsParticlesKernelSize | Blurs kernel size for particle shadows. Specify higher values for more blur. | 0 = Hard edge Default value: 1 |
| r_ShadowsParticleNormalEffect | Shadow taps on particles affected by normal and intensity (breaks lines and uniformity of shadows). | Default value: 1 |
| sys_spec_particles | The console variable group to apply settings for multiple console variables. Specify a number to switch the group of particle console variables. You can find the group number, the specified console variables, and their values in the sys_spec_Particles.cfg file in the lumberyard_version\dev\Engine\Config\CVarGroups directory. For example, when sys_spec_particles = 1, the console variable uses the settings defined in group 1 in the sys_spec_Particles.cfg file. | N/A |