minetest.conf

Note: Since version 0.4.14, Minetest has an “advanced settings” feature to change virtually all settings in Minetest, including a brief description of what each setting does. You will now rarely need to edit minetest.conf manually.

minetest.conf is the configuration file used for numerous purposes. This file is read every time the game starts and is always created/modified when the menu quits.

The configuration file is located in one of these locations:

• ../minetest.conf - (RUN_IN_PLACE version, relative to executable)
• ../../minetest.conf - (RUN_IN_PLACE version, relative to executable)
• ~/.minetest/minetest.conf - (globally installed version on Linux)

A custom path to a configuration file can be specified in command line using the option --config /path/to/minetest.conf.

A file called minetest.conf.example is provided as an example. See that file for a more complete list of options.
This C++ code automatically generates minetest.conf, it contains all the default settings: [1]

Default Settings (Excerpt)

Raw file

Key	Type	Default Value	Description
video_driver	string	opengl	Allows the user to chose the video renderer used to render Minetest. null - No rendering at all. software - Software rendering (not accelerated by graphics card, everything done by the processor), very slow. burningsvideo - Also software rendering, very slow. direct3d8 - Uses Direct3D 8, unlikely to work. directdd9 - Uses Direct3D 9, may not work. opengl - Uses OpenGL, latest version possible. Best stability.
address	string	blank	The address used for connecting to a server, if it is blank, the game will start a local server when attempting to connect.
port	integer	30000	The port used when connecting to, or creating a server. For creating a server, ports above 1024 are preferred for security, compatibility and standards compliance reasons.
creative_mode	boolean	0	Enables creative mode. This only affects local server. 1 - Creative mode enabled. 0 - Creative mode disabled.
enable_damage	boolean	0	Enables damage. When disabled, players cannot die or receive damage of any kind. This only affects local server. 1 - Damage enabled. 0 - Damage disabled.
name	string	blank	The name of the player.
new_style_leaves	boolean	1	Whether to make leaves transparent (1) or opaque (0); opaque leaves are faster, thus recommended on slower computers. 1 - Leaves are transparent. 0 - Leaves are opaque.
new_style_water	boolean	0	Whether to lower water surface (1) or not (0) compared to other nodes; default water is faster to render and more accurate. 1 - Water surface is lowered compared to other nodes, does not affect physics or gameplay. 0 - Water surfaced is not lowered.
opaque_water	boolean	0	Whether to enable opaque water. 1 - Opaque water enabled. 0 - Opaque water disabled.
show_debug	boolean	0	Whether to enable debug info (coordinates, draw times...) on startup. 1 - Debug info shown by default. 0 - Debug info hidden by default.
smooth_lighting	boolean	1	Whether to use smooth lighting. 1 - Smooth lighting enabled. 0 - Smooth lighting disabled.
client_delete_unused_sectors_timeout	integer	600	This will set the client to forget parts of the map from the memory when they haven't been accessed for N seconds.
invert_mouse	boolean	0	Allows the user to invert their mouse vertical axis. 1 - Mouse vertical axis inverted. 0 - Mouse vertical axis not inverted.
texture_path	string	blank	Allows the user to specify an additional texture directory, from which Minetest will first search for textures.
time_speed	integer	72	This changes the speed of the day-night cycle (also applies to local/singleplayer game). When set to 0, the day-night cycle stops. The higher is the value, the faster the day-night cycle will be. 1 is equivalent to real world's day-night cycle.
viewing_range_nodes_min	integer	25	Allows the user to change their minimal view range. This is very useful for slow computers. Can be changed using KP + and KP - in-game.
viewing_range_nodes_max	integer	160	Allows the user to change their maximal view range. This is very useful for slow computers.
fov	integer	72	Allows the user to change their field of view.
view_bobbing	boolean	1	Whether to enable view and wield item bobbing. 1 - View bobbing enabled. 0 - View bobbing disabled.
view_bobbing_amount	float	1.0	Controls view bobbing intensity, 1.0 being 100%, 1.5 being 150% and so on. When set to 0.0, view bobbing is disabled but the wield item still bobs.
enable_fog	boolean	1	Whether to fog out the end of the visible area. 1 - Fog enabled. 0 - Fog disabled.
enable_clouds	boolean	1	Whether to draw clouds. 1 - Clouds enabled. 0 - Clouds disabled.
enable_3d_clouds	boolean	0	Allows the user to enable 3D clouds. 1 - 3D clouds enabled. 0 - 3D clouds disabled (2D clouds used instead).
enable_sound	boolean	1	Whether to enable sound; sound can only be enabled if you have installed OpenAL. 1 - Sound enabled. 0 - Sound disabled.
sound_volume	float	0.8	Allows the user to change sound volume. 1 is 100% volume whereas 0 is 0% volume.

Controls

In minetest.conf, you can configure most (but not all) keys, but a few more keys can be configured which are not configurable in the in-game settings menu; most notably, camera mode and minimap.

A few things to note:

• Controls are written in the format keymap_<action name> = <key name>, e.g. keymap_forward = KEY_KEY_W
• The list of possible controls (value right of the equals sign) can be seen in [2]. If your key isn't listed there, try writing the literal character
• To disable a control completely, leave the part right of the equals sign empty, e.g. keymap_toggle_debug =

See Controls for a list of controls and their setting name (if available).