DS4Windows Command Line Options – Does it Have?
Did you know that DS4Windows has a facility to run commands through CLI as well? Since version 1.7.13, DS4Windows supports controlling the processes through different commands via Windows BAT or CMD tool.
In this post, we are going to throw light on these commands and their functionality.
DS4Windows – CLI Commands
1. Stop/Start/Cycle
You must have used the Stop/Start button available on the Settings screen of DS4Windows. This Stop/Start command provides the same functionality through CLI. Cycle command does a switch between start and stop or vice-versa.
Tips
- The command supports all supported gamepads provided the operations are already running in the background.
- The stop command simply disconnects all the controllers connected to DS4Windows.
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2. Shutdown
As you have read above, the stop command does not shut down the DS4Windows app but only disconnects the controller. If you want to disconnect the controllers and shut down the app then you must utilize the Shutdown command.
3. Load Profile / Load Temp Profile (no spaces)
As the name suggests, these commands load and activate a profile.
Tips
- With the help of these commands, the process of selecting a correct profile for a particular game can be automated for those folks who use batch files to start games.
- Load Profile sets up a new profile (default one).
- Load Temp Profile also loads up a new profile but temporarily. It does not make the profile default.
For Example, LoadProfile.1.ABC_Game, will load a profile ABC_Game for the first controller that it detects.
4. OutputSlot
With this command, you can plug or unplug a virtual controller in the output slots of your choice. These output slots are on the OutputSlot tab of DS4Windows.
Tips
- If you use the Unplug command with OutputSlot (OutputSlot.1.Unplug), this will unplug a virtual controller from Slot 1 only if that slot has a permanent output controller in an unbound state. There should be no physical gamepad connection for this command to work.
- To connect a controller, you are required to use OutputSlot.1.PlugDS4. This will plug a virtual controller with DS4 output. Change the name of the controller to PlugX360, and a virtual controller with Xbox 360 output will come up.
If you are looking for a latest updated version of DS4Windows, here is the perfect page to get it right away –
5. Disconnect
With this command, you can either disconnect a particular controller or all the controllers at once.
Tips
- Use Disconnect.1 to disconnect the first controller.
Use Disconnect to disconnect all the connected controllers at once.
6. Query
Working just like a SELECT statement, the query command checks the values of different settings or profiles and instantly fetches the results for you. Below are the various property names that you can use with the Query command.
- Query.1.ProfileName > myprofile.txt will fetch the name of the current profile into a myprofile text file.
- Profile Name > Name of the current profile.
- OutContType > type of virtual controller set up for a profile.
- ActiveOutDevType > same as OutContType, but the controller should be in an active state.
- UseDInputOnly > the value for the Use Dinput Only option for a profile.
- DeviceVIDPID > Vendor and product hardware ID of the controller that you will specify.
- DevicePath > Hardware device path of the controller.
- MacAddress > MAC Hardware Address for a controller.
- DisplayName > Vendor sets the display name for the controller.
- ConnType > Type of connection whether USB, BT, or SONYWA.
- Battery > Current battery level (ranges from 0 to 100).
- Charging > Returns true (1) or false (0) to indicate whether charging is active or not.
- OutputSlotType > Current slot type whether DS4 or X360.
- OutputSlotPermanentType > Permanent type of the slot. In this case, None will indicate that the slot is dynamic.
- OutputSlotAttachedStatus > This tells whether the device in a particular output slot is attached or unattached.
- OutputSlotInputBound > This tells whether the state of the input is bound or unbound.
AppRunning > This tells whether DS4Windows is running in the background or not.
Also, check out –
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7. DriverInstall
This command brings up a dialog box and a prompt that helps you to install the ViGEm virtual gamepad driver. This usually happens automatically when the app is unable to find the driver.
8. Re-Enable Device
If a gamepad is stuck in a disabled mode, this command will enable it under an exclusive mode. Again, the app takes care of this automatically when it is closed.
Final Words
These are some of the popular commands that you can use with DS4Windows CLI. Please note if you do not wish to use the Windows BAT / CMD tool for the purpose, you can also utilize the optional DS4WindowsCmd.exe tool for the same.
