---
name: "quake3"
section: "6"
platform: "linux"
package: "quake3"
version: "85.1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/quake3"
---

# quake3(6)

Quake III Arena client

## NAME

quake3 - Quake III Arena client

## SYNOPSIS

**quake3**\[**-h**\|**--help**\]\[**-q**\|**--quiet**\]\[*debugging options*\]\[**+set** *option* *value*\]...

## DESCRIPTION

**quake3** is the client for Quake III Arena, a multiplayer network game.

## OPTIONS

The wrapper script used for Quake III Arena in Debian accepts these options:

- **-h**, **--help**

  Display a short help summary

- **-q**, **--quiet**

  Disable all console output

- **--demo**

  Run the demo version, even if the full game is installed

- **--debugger=***DEBUGGER*

  Prepend a debugger or other prefix (such as **strace**) to the engine command line

- **--print-backtrace**

  Use [**gdb**(1)](/gdb/1.md) to get a backtrace if the engine crashes (the **gdb** package must be installed)

Additionally, if **quake3** is run via a symbolic link whose name is **quake3-team-arena**, it will play the expansion pack, **Quake III Team Arena**. This requires that additional data files are installed. Similarly, a symbolic link named **quake3-demo** is equivalent to the **--demo** option.

Any console command can also be prefixed with **+** and used as a command-line option (press Shift+Esc to access the in-game console), including:

- **+set** *option* *value*

  Set an option (see below for some options)

- **+connect** *server*\[**:***port*\]

  Connect to a server

Options that can be set with **+set** (note that this is not a full list!) include:

**cg\_drawFPS** \<bool\>

**cg\_drawTeamOverlay** \<bool\>

**cg\_fov** \<value\>

**cg\_lagometer** \<bool\>

**cg\_shadows** \<bool\>

**cg\_thirdPerson** \<bool\>

**cg\_thirdPersonAngle** \<value\>

**cg\_thirdPersonRange** \<value\>

**cg\_zoomfov** \<value\>

**cl\_mouseAccel** \<bool\>

**com\_blood** \<bool\>

**com\_hunkMegs** \<value\>

**com\_maxfps** \<value\>

**com\_soundMegs** \<value\>

**com\_zoneMegs** \<value\>

**fs\_basepath** \<string\>

**fs\_game** \<string\>

**r\_allowExtensions** \<bool\>

**r\_allowSoftwareGL** \<bool\>

- **r\_customheight** \<value\>

  (Requires +set r\_mode -1)

- **r\_customwidth** \<value\>

  (Requires +set r\_mode -1)

**r\_dynamiclight** \<bool\>

**r\_ext\_compress\_textures** \<bool\>

**r\_ext\_compressed\_textures** \<bool\>

**r\_fullscreen** \<bool\>

**r\_ignoreGLErrors** \<bool\>

**r\_mode** \<value\>

## FILES

- *~/.q3a/baseq3*

  Configuration and state for Quake III Arena

- *~/.q3a/missionpack*

  Configuration and state for Quake III: Team Arena, if installed

## SEE ALSO

[**quake3-server**(6)](/quake3-server/6.md), [**ioquake3**(6)](/ioquake3/6.md)

## AUTHOR

The Quake III Arena binary used is a modified ioQuake3; originally created by Id Software, now maintained by the ioQuake3 community.

This manual page was written by Jack "jscinoz" Coulter \<jscinoz@gmail.com\>, Bruno "Fuddl" Kleinert \<fuddl@gmx.de\> and Simon McVittie \<smcv@debian.org\> for the Debian project (but may be used by others). Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2.