> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/SnowyMouse/chimera/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# INI Settings Overview

> Complete reference for chimera.ini configuration file

## About chimera.ini

The `chimera.ini` file provides additional configuration for Chimera beyond console commands. This file is NOT automatically generated, so you are responsible for keeping it up-to-date. Using the INI file is optional unless you want to take advantage of features configured through it.

<Note>
  You can get a fresh copy of chimera.ini from the [Chimera repository](https://github.com/SnowyMouse/chimera/).
</Note>

## File Format

### Encoding

<Warning>
  The chimera.ini file **MUST** be encoded using UTF-8. Other encodings will not work.
</Warning>

### Comments

Lines that begin with a semicolon `;` are comments and are ignored by the parser. Comments are also used to "comment out" settings:

```ini theme={null}
;setting_name=value
```

Removing the semicolon before `setting_name` ("uncommenting" the line) will activate the setting.

## Configuration Sections

The chimera.ini file is organized into the following sections:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Halo Settings" icon="gamepad" href="/configuration/halo-settings">
    Game initialization, paths, ports, and core Halo settings
  </Card>

  <Card title="Video Settings" icon="display" href="/configuration/video-settings">
    Resolution, refresh rate, vsync, windowed mode, and graphics options
  </Card>

  <Card title="Chat Settings" icon="comments" href="/configuration/chat-settings">
    Custom chat, server messages, console, and messaging display
  </Card>

  <Card title="Font Settings" icon="font" href="/configuration/font-settings">
    Override game fonts with custom system fonts
  </Card>

  <Card title="Controller Settings" icon="gamepad-modern" href="/configuration/controller-settings">
    Gamepad configuration and button mapping
  </Card>

  <Card title="Hotkeys" icon="keyboard" href="/configuration/hotkeys">
    Function keys and keyboard shortcuts for commands
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Additional Sections

### Error Handling

Control how Chimera handles errors:

<ParamField path="suppress_fatal_errors" type="boolean" default="0">
  Set to `1` to not show any error boxes created by Chimera.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="show_segmentation_fault" type="boolean" default="0">
  Set to `1` to show segmentation fault errors.
</ParamField>

### Scoreboard

Customize the scoreboard appearance:

<ParamField path="font" type="string" default="small">
  Font to use for the scoreboard. Options: `smaller`, `small`, `large`, `console`, `system`
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="fade_time" type="number" default="0.5">
  Fade time in seconds. `0.5` is default, `0` is instant.
</ParamField>

```ini theme={null}
[scoreboard]
font=small
fade_time=0.5
```

### Player Names

Customize names displayed when looking at players:

<ParamField path="font" type="string" default="small">
  Font to use for player names. Options: `smaller`, `small`, `large`, `console`, `system`
</ParamField>

```ini theme={null}
[name]
font=small
```

### Server List

Configure server list behavior:

<ParamField path="auto_query" type="boolean" default="1">
  Enable automatically getting the server list on open.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="master_server_list" type="string">
  Master server hostname for server list queries.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="master_server_key" type="string">
  Master server key hostname.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="master_server_nat_primary" type="string">
  Primary NAT negotiation server.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="master_server_nat_secondary" type="string">
  Secondary NAT negotiation server.
</ParamField>

```ini theme={null}
[server_list]
auto_query=1
;master_server_list=s1.master.hosthpc.com
;master_server_key=s1.ms01.hosthpc.com
```

### Maps

Map compatibility settings:

<ParamField path="map_compatibility_list" type="boolean" default="1">
  Enable/disable the map compatibility list. Used to support legacy maps that depend on Gearbox renderer regressions and legacy Chimera hacks.
</ParamField>

```ini theme={null}
[maps]
map_compatibility_list=1
```

### Memory

Map loading and memory settings:

<ParamField path="enable_map_memory_buffer" type="boolean" default="0">
  Load maps directly into RAM rather than use temporary files. Requires LAA-patched haloce.exe.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="map_size" type="number" default="1024">
  Size of buffer (in MiB) to allocate for both the UI and one non-UI map.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="benchmark" type="boolean" default="0">
  Show the time it took to decompress maps.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="download_font" type="string" default="small">
  Font to use when downloading maps. Options: `smaller`, `small`, `large`, `console`, `system`
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="download_template" type="string">
  URL template used to download maps. Supports RFC 3986 URLs with placeholders:

  * `{map}` - map name
  * `{game}` - game type ("halor" for PC, "halom" for CE, "halod" for trial)
  * `{server}` - current server's IP address
  * `{password}` - server password
  * `{mirror<x,y,...>}` - comma-separated mirror values
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="download_retail_maps" type="boolean" default="0">
  Enable downloading of retail (HaloMD / Halo PC) maps. OFF by default due to potential incompatibility.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="load_embedded_lua" type="boolean" default="0">
  Enable loading Lua scripts embedded in maps. No effect on Halo Trial.
</ParamField>

```ini theme={null}
[memory]
map_size=1024
download_font=small
load_embedded_lua=0
```

<Warning>
  Ensure you have an English copy of retail Halo PC bitmaps.map and sounds.map before enabling `download_retail_maps`. Incompatible maps will result in corrupt assets and extremely loud sounds.
</Warning>

### Debug

Advanced debug settings:

<ParamField path="use_external_pixel_shader_collection" type="boolean" default="0">
  Use pixel shader collection from the "shaders" folder rather than built-in collections.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="use_external_vertex_shader_collection" type="boolean" default="0">
  Use vertex shader collection from the "shaders" folder rather than built-in collections.
</ParamField>

```ini theme={null}
[debug]
use_external_pixel_shader_collection=0
use_external_vertex_shader_collection=0
```

<Warning>
  Don't modify debug settings unless you know what you're doing.
</Warning>