blender - a full-featured 3D application

NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OPTIONS Render Options: Cycles Render Options: Format Options: Animation Playback Options: Window Options: Python Options: Network Options: Logging Options: Debug Options: GPU Options: Misc Options: Other Options: Argument Parsing: Arguments must be separated by white space, eg: Argument Order: Arguments are executed in the order they are given. eg: ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES SEE ALSO AUTHORS

NAME

blender − a full-featured 3D application

SYNOPSIS

blender [args ...] [file] [args ...]

DESCRIPTION

blender is a full-featured 3D application. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline - modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking, and video editing.

Use Blender to create 3D images and animations, films and commercials, content for games, architectural and industrial visualizations, and scientific visualizations.

https://www.blender.org

OPTIONS

Usage: blender [args ...] [file] [args ...]

Render Options:

−b or −−background

Run in background (often used for UI−less rendering).

The audio device is disabled in background−mode by default
and can be re−enabled by passing in '−setaudio Default' afterwards.

−a or −−render−anim

Render frames from start to end (inclusive).

−S or −−scene <name>

Set the active scene <name> for rendering.

−f or −−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 or −−frame−start <frame>

Set start to frame <frame>, supports +/− for relative frames too.

−e or −−frame−end <frame>

Set end to frame <frame>, supports +/− for relative frames too.

−j or −−frame−jump <frames>

Set number of frames to step forward after each rendered frame.

−o or −−render−output <path>

Set the render path and file name.
Use '//' at the start of the path to render relative to the blend−file.

You can use path templating features such as '{blend_name}' in the path.
See Blender's documentation on path templates for more details.

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 or −−engine <engine>

Specify the render engine.
Use '−E help' to list available engines.

−t or −−threads <threads>

Use amount of <threads> for rendering and other operations
[1−1024], 0 to use the systems processor count.

Cycles Render Options:

Cycles add−on options must be specified following a double dash.
−−cycles−device <device>

Set the device used for rendering.
Valid options are: 'CPU' 'CUDA' 'OPTIX' 'HIP' 'ONEAPI' 'METAL'.

Append +CPU to a GPU device to render on both CPU and GPU.

Example:
# blender −b file.blend −f 20 −− −−cycles−device OPTIX

−−cycles−print−stats

Log statistics about render memory and time usage.

Format Options:

−F or −−render−format <format>

Set the render format.
Valid options are:
'TGA' 'RAWTGA' 'JPEG' 'IRIS' 'PNG' 'BMP' 'HDR' 'TIFF'.

Formats that can be compiled into Blender, not available on all systems:
'OPEN_EXR' 'OPEN_EXR_MULTILAYER' 'FFMPEG' 'CINEON' 'DPX' 'JP2' 'WEBP'.

−x or −−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>.
−c <cache_memory>
Amount of memory in megabytes to allow for caching images during playback.
Zero disables (clamping to a fixed number of frames instead).

Window Options:

−w or −−window−border

Force opening with borders, in a normal (non maximized) state.

−M or −−window−maximized

Force opening maximized.

−W or −−window−fullscreen

Force opening full−screen.

−p or −−window−geometry <sx> <sy> <w> <h>

Open with lower left corner at <sx>, <sy> and width and height as <w>, <h>.

−con or −−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−frame

Disable all window decorations (Linux only).

−−no−window−focus

Open behind other windows and without taking focus.

Python Options:

−y or −−enable−autoexec

Enable automatic Python script execution.

−Y or −−disable−autoexec

Disable automatic Python script execution (Python−drivers & startup scripts), (default).

−P or −−python <filepath>

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.

−−python−use−system−env

Allow Python to use system environment variables such as 'PYTHONPATH' and the user site−packages directory.

−−addons <addon(s)>

Comma separated list (no spaces) of add−ons to enable in addition to any default add−ons.

Network Options:

−−online−mode

Allow internet access, overriding the preference.

−−offline−mode

Disallow internet access, overriding the preference.

Logging Options:

−−log <match>

Enable logging categories, taking a single comma separated argument.

−−log "*": log everything
−−log "event": logs every category starting with 'event'.
−−log "render,cycles": log both render and cycles messages.
−−log "*mesh*": log every category containing 'mesh' sub−string.
−−log "*,ˆoperator": log everything except operators, with 'ˆprefix' to exclude.

−−log−level <level>

Set the logging verbosity level.

fatal: Fatal errors only
error: Errors only
warning: Warnings
info: Information about devices, files, configuration, operations
debug: Verbose messages for developers
trace: Very verbose code execution tracing

−−log−show−memory

Show memory usage for each log message.

−−log−show−source

Show source file and function name in output.

−−log−show−backtrace

Show a back trace for each log message (debug builds only).

−−log−file <filepath>

Set a file to output the log to.

−−log−list−categories

List all available logging categories for '−−log', and exit.

Debug Options:

−d or −−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−handlers

Enable debug messages for event handling.

−−debug−libmv

Enable debug messages from libmv library.

−−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−depsgraph−uid

Verify validness of session−wide identifiers assigned to ID data−blocks.

−−debug−ghost

Enable debug messages for Ghost (Linux only).

−−debug−wintab

Enable debug messages for Wintab.

−−debug−gpu

Enable GPU debug context and information for OpenGL 4.3+.

−−debug−gpu−force−workarounds

Enable workarounds for typical GPU issues and disable all GPU extensions.

−−debug−gpu−compile−shaders

Compile all statically defined shaders to test platform compatibility.

−−debug−gpu−shader−debug−info

Enable shader debug info generation (Vulkan only).

−−debug−gpu−vulkan−local−read

Force Vulkan dynamic rendering local read when supported by device.

−−debug−wm

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

−−debug−xr

Enable debug messages for virtual reality contexts.
Enables the OpenXR API validation layer, (OpenXR) debug messages and general information prints.

−−debug−xr−time

Enable debug messages for virtual reality frame rendering times.

−−debug−all

Enable all debug messages.

−−debug−io

Enable debug messages for I/O.

−−debug−fpe

Enable floating−point exceptions.

−−debug−exit−on−error

Immediately exit when internal errors are detected.

−−debug−freestyle

Enable debug messages for Freestyle.

−−disable−crash−handler

Disable the crash handler.

−−disable−abort−handler

Disable the abort handler.

−−verbose <verbose>

Set the logging verbosity level for debug messages that support it.

−q or −−quiet

Suppress status printing (warnings & errors are still printed).

GPU Options:

−−gpu−backend

Force to use a specific GPU backend. Valid options: 'opengl' or 'vulkan'.

−−gpu−vsync

Set the VSync.
Valid options are: 'on', 'off' & 'auto' for adaptive sync.

* The default settings depend on the GPU driver.
* Disabling VSync can be useful for testing performance.
* 'auto' is only supported by the OpenGL backend.

−−gpu−compilation−subprocesses

Override the Max Compilation Subprocesses setting (OpenGL only).

−−profile−gpu

Enable CPU & GPU performance profiling for GPU debug groups
(Outputs a profile.json file in the Trace Event Format to the current directory)

Misc Options:

−−open−last

Open the most recently opened blend file, instead of the default startup file.

−−app−template <template>

Set the application template (matching the directory name), use 'default' for none.

−−factory−startup

Skip reading the 'startup.blend' in the users home directory.

−−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−extensions

Set the BLENDER_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS 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.
'None' 'Default' 'SDL' 'OpenAL' 'CoreAudio' 'JACK' 'PulseAudio' 'WASAPI'.

−c or −−command <command>

Run a command which consumes all remaining arguments.
Use '−c help' to list all other commands.
Pass '−−help' after the command to see its help text.

This implies '−−background' mode.

−h or −−help

Print this help text and exit.

Print this help text and exit (Windows only).

−r or −−register

−−register−allusers

−−unregister

Unregister blend−file extension for current user, then exit (Windows & Linux only).

−−unregister−allusers

Unregister blend−file extension for all users, then exit (Windows & Linux only).

−−qos <level>

Set the Quality of Service (QoS) mode for hybrid CPU architectures (Windows only).

default: Uses the default behavior of the OS.
high: Always makes use of performance cores.
eco: Schedules Blender threads exclusively to efficiency cores.

−v or −−version

Print Blender version and exit.

−−

End option processing, following arguments passed unchanged. Access via Python's 'sys.argv'.

Other Options:

−−disable−depsgraph−on−file−load

Background mode: Do not systematically build and evaluate ViewLayers' dependency graphs
when loading a blend−file in background mode ('−b' or '−c' options).

Scripts requiring evaluated data then need to explicitly ensure that
an evaluated depsgraph is available
(e.g. by calling 'depsgraph = context.evaluated_depsgraph_get()').

NOTE: this is a temporary option, in the future depsgraph will never be
automatically generated on file load in background mode.

−−disable−liboverride−auto−resync

Do not perform library override automatic resync when loading a new blend−file.

NOTE: this is an alternative way to get the same effect as when setting the
'No Override Auto Resync' User Preferences Debug option.

−−debug−ffmpeg

Enable debug messages from FFmpeg video input and output.

−−debug−cycles

Enable debug messages from Cycles.

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_RESOURCES Replace default directory of all user files.
Other 'BLENDER_USER_*' variables override when set.
$BLENDER_USER_CONFIG Directory for user configuration files.
$BLENDER_USER_SCRIPTS Directory for user scripts.
$BLENDER_USER_EXTENSIONS Directory for user extensions.
$BLENDER_USER_DATAFILES Directory for user data files (icons, translations, ..).
$BLENDER_SYSTEM_RESOURCES Replace default directory of all bundled resource files.
$BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS Directories to add extra scripts.
$BLENDER_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS Directory for system extensions repository.
$BLENDER_SYSTEM_DATAFILES Directory to replace bundled datafiles.
$BLENDER_SYSTEM_PYTHON Directory to replace bundled Python libraries.
$BLENDER_CUSTOM_SPLASH Full path to an image that replaces the splash screen.
$BLENDER_CUSTOM_SPLASH_BANNER Full path to an image to overlay on the splash screen.
$BLENDER_OCIO Path to override the OpenColorIO configuration file.
If not set, the 'OCIO' environment variable is used.
$TMPDIR Store temporary files here (UNIX Systems).
The path must reference an existing directory or it will be ignored.

AUTHORS

This manpage was written for a Debian GNU/Linux system by Daniel Mester <[email protected]> and updated by Cyril Brulebois <[email protected]> and Dan Eicher <[email protected]>.

Updated 2026-06-01 - jenkler.se | uex.se