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Dota 2

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
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Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.
Dota 2
Dota 2 cover
Developers
Valve Corporation
Engines
Past Source
Current Source 2
Release dates
Windows July 9, 2013
macOS (OS X) July 18, 2013
Linux July 18, 2013
Dota 2 guide on StrategyWiki
Dota 2 on Wikipedia

Warnings

This game requires a constant internet connection for all game modes.
Dota
Dota 2 2013
The Lab: Secret Shop 2016
Artifact 2018
Dota Underlords 2020

General information

Official forums
Developer forums - Information on ongoing development.
Steam Community Discussions
GitHub Issue Tracker for DOTA 2 on OS X and Linux
Dota 2 subreddit

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Steam
Icon overlay.png
free-to-play
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
All versions require Steam DRM.

Essential improvements

Performance tweaks

Lowering graphics settings[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Edit autoexec.cfg (make the file if it does not exist).
  3. Add the following code:
    dota_cheap_water "1"
    dota_embers "0"
    cl_globallight_shadow_mode "0"
    r_deferred_height_fog "0"
    r_deferred_simple_light "1"
    r_screenspace_aa "0"
  4. Save the file.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Steam <path-to-game>/dota/cfg/
It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Input settings

Keyboard and camera settings.
Keyboard and camera settings.

Template:Input settings

Mouse acceleration

Disable mouse acceleration[1]
  1. Open the game's launch options.
  2. Input the following code: -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd -useforcedmparms
  3. Press OK and close the properties window.

Audio settings

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Bulgarian
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Thai
Turkish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
10 Supported but requires an internet connection for Steam authentication.[2]
Online play
10 Custom games support 20 players.

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP 27015-28999
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes State GG3D Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
See also Helix Mod: DOTA 2.
Headsets
SteamVR
Oculus VR (LibOVR)
This game might be playable with the SteamVR.
Windows Mixed Reality
This game might be playable with the Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR.
Devices
Tracked motion controllers
Traditional controller
Keyboard/Mouse
Play area
Seated
Standing
Room-scale

Issues fixed

Blurry graphics

Set render quality to highest[3]

Missing health and mana bar

Console command: hud_sf_reload dota_sf_hud_actionpanel[4]

2D sprites and effects displaying over geometry [AMD 7000 series)

Do not override catalyst control center, turning it off or overriding it with programs like "Radeon Pro" will cause graphical issues in Dota due to poor AMD GPU support, re enabling it should fix this issue[citation needed]

Pixelated shadows

Instructions[citation needed]
  1. To make shadows smoother, go to <path-to-game>\dota\cfg\video.txt
  2. change "setting.cpu_level" "0" to "setting.cpu_level" "2".

Game changes microphone gain at launch

Modify configuration file[5]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open config.cfg.
  3. Find the line voice_mixer_volume, it should be near the bottom of the file. If the line doesn't exist you may create it.
  4. Set the value to whatever you prefer your mic volume to be, I set mine to .5 which translates to 50% gain.

Notes

Removing the line does not work.
This will set a fixed value, and might not be a solution for people who are using dynamic gain which Windows (or other applications) automaticly adjusts.
Disable exclusive control of microphone (Windows)[6]
  1. Right click on the speaker icon located at the tray bar.
  2. Select Recording devices.
  3. Double click on your microphone in the newly opened window.
  4. Go to Advanced and untick Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.

Notes

Most applications ignores this, and many users are reporting that it isn't working.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9, 11
OpenGL 2.1 Optional (free) DLC on Windows.
Vulkan 1.0 Use -vulkan launch option after installing the Vulkan DLC.[7]
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics Havok / Rubikon (Source 2)
Audio Miles Sound System
Cutscenes Bink
Multiplayer Steamworks

Command line arguments

To access the game's launch options: right click Dota 2 in Steam's library window > Properties > Set launch options...
If you use multiple launch options, separate them with a space (e.g., -high -console).
Command Notes
-console Enables the in-game console.
-dashboard international_2012 Launches the game using the International 2012 theme.
-dashboard international_2013 Launches the game using the International 2013 theme.
-dashboard frostivus_2013 Launches the game using the Frostivus theme.
-dashboard spirits_2013 Launches the game using the Three Spirits theme.
-dashboard newbloom_2014 Launches the game using the New Bloom Festival theme.
-noforcemaccel -noforcemspd -useforcedmparms Disables mouse acceleration.
-high Assigns a high CPU priority to the game's client.
-heapsize # Changes the game's RAM/memory allowance (e.g., -heapsize 2048)
-windowed -w # -h $ -noborder Starts the game in a borderless window with the specified resolution (e.g., -windowed -w 1920 -h 1080 -noborder).
-override_vpk Overrides the game's content files with content found in <path-to-game>\*\ (Disables Public Matchmaking)
-enable_addons Overrides the game's content files with content found in <path-to-game>
-vulkan Launches the game using the Vulkan renderer if the Vulkan DLC is installed.

General tweaks

To use these tweaks you need to create a file called autoexec.cfg in the configuration file(s) location.[8][9]
Each tweak must be in a separate line, and contain a string and a value (e.g., dota_screen_shake "0").
Creating autoexec.cfg[citation needed]
  1. Open Notepad.
  2. From the File menu, choose Save As...
  3. In the Save as type: field, choose All Files (*.*).
  4. In the File name: field, input autoexec.cfg
  5. Save it in the configuration file(s) location.

Notes

After editing the file with tweaks, simply use File > Save to apply.
Tweak Notes Default Value
dota_force_right_click_attack "1" Deny creeps using right-click. Disables the ability to follow allies with right-click. 0
dota_disable_range_finder "0" Shows range-finder when using targeted spells. 1
dota_camera_accelerate "49" Controls camera acceleration (49 = camera behaves most accurately). 10
dota_ability_quick_cast "1" Self-casts an ability when double-tapping the keyboard shortcut. 0
dota_screen_shake "0" Disables the screen shake effect that triggers when certain spells are cast. 1
dota_player_multipler_orders "1" Allows ctrl-clicking to order all controlled units. 0
dota_player_add_summoned_to_selection "#" Summoned units are automatically added to the specified control group. 0
dota_minimap_hero_size "700" Controls the size of hero symbols on the minimap (higher values = bigger symbols). 600
dota_unit_fly_bonus_height "10" Controls elevation of flying units (higher values = farther from the ground). 150
dota_sf_game_end_delay "0" Controls the end-game delay before the scoreboard appears (0 = appears immediately). 5
dota_gamescon_althack "1" Allows using Alt+Q/W/E/A/S/D to use inventory items. 0
dota_minimap_misclick_time "#" Controls the delay before minimap clicks are registered (# = seconds, 0 = no delay). 1
dota_minimap_ping_duration "#" Controls the delay before minimap pings disappear (# = seconds). 3
dota_minimap_ping_tag_duration "#" Controls the delay before attack/defend pings disappear (# = seconds). 10
dota_unit_use_player_color "2" Colours players by team instead of assigning individual colours. 0
dota_minimap_simple_colors "1" Changes minimap colour scheme to resemble the original DotA. 0
dota_shop_force_hotkeys "1" Enables shop hotkeys (q/w/e/r/t/y selects a tab, 1,2,3... selects an item). 0
dota_hud_healthbars "1" Removes the vertical lines on health bars (0 = health bars disabled). 3
dota_health_per_vertical_marker "#" Defines the amount of health between vertical lines. 250
dota_always_show_player_names "1" Shows player names above heroes. 0
bind "key" "command" Allows a custom keybinding (e.g., bind "p" "say_team Missing top!")
dota_sf_old_heropedia "1" Switches the Learn interface to the old layout instead of the web-based version. 0
con_enable "1" Enables the in-game console. 0
chat_join "name" Automatically joins a chat channel upon launch.
tv_nochat "1" Disables spectator chat by default. 0

Network tweaks

The following values tweak network usage. They may be beneficial in reducing lag.
Changing these settings may affect lag for the worse. Do not tweak these if you are unsure about what you're doing.
Tweak Notes Value for slow connections
rate "100000" Total bandwidth Dota 2 can use. 40000
cl_updaterate "60" Updates received from server per second. 20
cl_cmdrate "100" Updates sent to server per second. 20
cl_interp "0"
cl_interp_ratio "0"
cl_smoothtime "0"

System requirements

Windows
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 7
Processor (CPU) Dual core from Intel at 2.8 GHz
Dual core from AMD at 2.8 GHz
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 8 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI/AMD Radeon HD2600/3600
Nvidia GeForce 8600/9600GT
DirectX 9.0c compatible
Sound (audio device) DirectX Compatible
macOS (OS X)
Minimum
Operating system (OS) Lion 10.7
Processor (CPU) Dual core from Intel
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 8 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 320M
AMD Radeon 7000
Intel HD 3000
Linux
Minimum
Operating system (OS) Ubuntu 12.04
Processor (CPU) Dual core from Intel at 2.8 GHz
Dual core from AMD at 2.8 GHz
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 8 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI/AMD Radeon HD2600/3600
Nvidia GeForce 8600/9600GT
OpenGL 2.1 compatible
Sound (audio device) OpenAL Compatible Sound Card
Other (Graphic Drivers: Nvidia 310, AMD 12.11)
Tom's Hardware benchmarked Dota 2's performance and concluded that integrated Intel or AMD graphics should be enough for 30fps at 1920x1080 on low settings.

References