VMD Command-Line Options

When started, the following command-line options may be given to VMD. Note that if a command-line option does not start with a dash (-), and is not part of another option, it is assumed to be a PDB filename. Thus, the Unix command

        vmd molecule.pdb

will start VMD and load a molecule from the file molecule.pdb. On the Windows platform, one must preface the VMD invocation with the Windows start command

        start vmd molecule.pdb

• -h | -? : Print a summary a command-line options to the console.
• -e filename : After initialization, execute the text commands in filename, and then resume normal operation.
• -psf filename : Load the specified molecule (in PSF format) at startup. The PSF file only contains the molecular structure; a PDB or DCD file must also be specified when this option is used.
• -pdb filename : Load the specified molecule (in PDB format) at startup.
• -dcd filename : Load the specified trajectory file (in binary DCD format) at startup. The DCD file only contains atomic coordinates; a PDB or PSF file must also be specified when this option is used.
• -dispdev < win | text | cave | caveforms | none > : Specify the type of graphical display to use. The possible display devices include:
  • win: a standard graphics display window.
  • text: do not provide any graphics display window.
  • cave: use the CAVE virtual environment for display, forms are disabled.
  • caveforms: use the CAVE virtual environment for display and with forms enabled. This is useful with -display machine:0 for remote display of the forms when the CAVE uses the local screen.
  • none: same as text.
  It is possible to use VMD as a filter to convert coordinate files into rendered images, by using the -dispdev text and -e options.
• -dist z : Specify the distance to the VMD image plane.
• -height y : Specify the height of the VMD image plane.
• -pos x y : Specify the position for the graphics display window. The position (x,y) is the number of pixels from the lower-left corner of the display to the lower-left corner of the graphics window.
• -size x y : Specify the size for the graphics display window, in pixels.
• -nt : Do not display the VMD title at startup.
• -startup filename : Use filename as the VMD startup command script, instead of the default .vmdrc or vmd.rc file.
• -debug [level : Turn on output of debugging messages, and optionally set the current debug level (1=few messages ... 5=many verbose messages). Note this is only useful if VMD has been compiled with debugging option included.