Command line arguments

Typically, Unity will be launched by double-clicking its icon from the desktop but it is also possible to run it from the command line (ie, the MacOS Terminal or the Windows Command Prompt). When launched in this way, Unity can receive commands and information on startup, which can be very useful for test suites, automated builds and other production tasks.

Under MacOS, you can launch Unity from the Terminal by typing:-

 /Applications/Unity/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity

…while under Windows, you should type

 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Unity\Editor\Unity.exe"

…at the command prompt.

Standalone Unity games can be launched in a similar way.

Options

As mentioned above, the editor and also built games can optionally be supplied with additional commands and information on startup. This is done using the following command line options:-

Example usage

// C# example
using UnityEditor;
class MyEditorScript
{
     static void PerformBuild ()
     {
         string[] scenes = { "Assets/MyScene.unity" };
         BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer(scenes, ...);
     }
}


// JavaScript example
static void PerformBuild ()
{
    string[] scenes = { "Assets/MyScene.unity" };
    BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer(scenes, ...);
}

The following command executes Unity in batch mode, executes the MyEditorScript.MyMethod method and then quits upon completion.

Windows: C:\program files\Unity\Editor\Unity.exe -quit -batchmode -executeMethod MyEditorScript.MyMethod

Mac OS: /Applications/Unity/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity -quit -batchmode -executeMethod MyEditorScript.MyMethod

The next command executes Unity in batch mode and updates from the asset server using the supplied project path. The method is executed after all assets have been downloaded and imported from the asset server. After the method has finished execution, Unity automatically quits.

/Applications/Unity/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity -batchmode -projectPath ~/UnityProjects/AutobuildProject -assetServerUpdate 192.168.1.1 MyGame AutobuildUser l33tpa33 -executeMethod MyEditorScript.PerformBuild -quit

Unity Editor special command line arguments

These should only be used under special circumstances, or when directed by Support.

Unity Standalone Player command line arguments

Standalone players built with Unity also understand some command line arguments:

Windows Store Command line arguments

Windows Store Apps don’t accept command line arguments by default, so to pass them you have to call a special function from App.xaml.cs/cpp or App.cs/cpp. For example,

appCallbacks.AddCommandLineArg("-nolog");

You should call this before the appCallbacks.Initialize*() function.