DotA 1 Commands
Commands are instructions that the player types in the in–game chat bar (by pressing Enter) to activate hidden functions, adjust settings, or access additional information. Most begin with a hyphen (-) and are recognized by the DotA map, not by Warcraft III.
| Mode | Type | Description | Requirements / Timers | Notes / Incompatibilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Pick | -ap | Each player can choose a hero from any tavern. | — | — |
| All Random | -ar | Each player automatically receives a random hero from any tavern. | — | Incompatible with Reverse Mode (-rv). |
| Captains Mode | -cm | Blue and Pink are team captains. Each captain bans 4 heroes in a 1/1/1 rotation; if time runs out a random hero is banned. Then a 1/2/2 rotation selects heroes for each team. After selection, the 5 heroes chosen by the captain are shown with a check mark so the team can pick one of them. The captain who starts is random (force Sentinel first with -cm1 or Scourge with -cm2). |
Ban Phase: 40s Pick Phase: 60s (+45s extra if needed) Creeps spawn 90s after hero selection ends. |
Incompatible with all Secondary Game Modes. |
| Extended League Mode | -xl | 10-player mode. Blue and Pink can ban 4 heroes within the first 20s. Picks proceed in the order 1-2-2-2-2-1 (similar to -lm). | Requires 10 players. Ban window: first 20s. | Incompatible with all Secondary Game Modes except -sp. |
| League Mode | -lm | 10-player mode. Players pick in a fixed order similar to tournament drafts. If a player runs out of time (20s) a random hero is chosen. |
Requires 10 players. Pick time: 20s per pick. |
Incompatible with all Secondary Game Modes except -sp. |
| Mode Random | -mr | Randomly chooses one of the game modes (-ar / -rd / -sd / -vr). | — | Incompatible with: All Agility, All Intelligence, All Strength, Death Match, Melee Only, Mirror Match, Range Only, Reverse Mode, Same Hero. |
| Random Draft | -rd | 20 random heroes from the full pool are placed in the upper-left corner; remaining heroes are removed. Players then pick in the same order as -lm. | Requires equal number of players on both teams. |
Goblin Techies cannot be selected in this mode. Incompatible with: All Agility, All Intelligence, All Strength, Death Match, Melee Only, Mirror Match, Range Only, Reverse Mode, Same Hero. |
| Single Draft | -sd | Each player is shown 3 random heroes (1 AGI / 1 STR / 1 INT) in their circle of power and may select one. | — | Incompatible with: All Agility, All Intelligence, All Strength, Death Match, Melee Only, Mirror Match, Range Only, Reverse Mode, Same Hero. |
| Team Random | -tr | Each player receives a random hero from the taverns belonging to their side (Sentinel or Scourge). | — | Incompatible with Death Match, Reverse Mode. |
| Vote Random | -vr | 3 groups of heroes (Scourge vs Sentinel) are chosen at random. Each player votes by typing "-option #" where # is 1, 2, or 3. | Requires equal number of players on both teams. | Incompatible with: All Agility, All Intelligence, All Strength, Death Match, Melee Only, Mirror Match, Range Only, Reverse Mode, Same Hero. |
| Mode | Type | Description | Requirements / Timers | Notes / Incompatibilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Agility | -aa | Only Agility heroes are allowed. | — | Incompatible with All Intelligence, All Strength, Death Match. |
| All Intelligence | -ai | Only Intelligence heroes are allowed. | — | Incompatible with All Agility, All Strength, Death Match. |
| All Strength | -as | Only Strength heroes are allowed. | — | Incompatible with All Agility, All Intelligence, Death Match. |
| Death Match | -dm |
When your hero dies, it respawns as another random hero, keeping all your items. Usable only in games with more than 4 players (2v2 to 5v5). Optional: -nd (no death time), -lives xx (life limit). |
Can add extra options up to 15 seconds after using -dm. | Incompatible with All Agility, All Intelligence, All Strength, Melee Only, Mirror Match, Range Only, Reverse Mode, Same Hero. |
| Duplicate Mode | -du | Allows multiple players to pick or receive the same hero. | — | — |
| Easy Mode | -em | Towers become weaker; creeps give more XP; gold is gained faster. | — | — |
| Item Drop | -id | When a hero dies, one random inventory item is dropped. Undroppable items or items on cooldown do not drop. | — | — |
| Melee Only | -mo | Only melee heroes are allowed. | — | Incompatible with Death Match, Range Only. |
| Mirror Match | -mm |
Both teams must have the same number of players. After 1 minute, paired players exchange heroes, making both teams identical. |
Requires equal team sizes. | Incompatible with Death Match, Same Hero. |
| No Bot | -nb | Disables creep production on the bottom lane. | Towers remain vulnerable. | — |
| No Mid | -nm | Disables creep production in the middle lane. | Towers remain vulnerable. | — |
| No Top | -nt | Disables creep production on the top lane. | Towers remain vulnerable. | — |
| No Powerups | -np | Disables rune spawns. | — | — |
| Only Mid | -om | Disables creep production and tower vulnerability on the top and bottom lanes. | — | — |
| Range Only | -ro | Only ranged heroes are allowed. | — | Incompatible with Death Match, Melee Only. |
| Reverse Mode | -rv | Each team picks heroes normally, then exchanges them with the enemy team. | — | Incompatible with Death Match, Same Hero. |
| Same Hero | -sh | All players receive the hero chosen by Blue. | — | Incompatible with Death Match, Mirror Match, Reverse Mode. |
| Shuffle Players | -sp | Randomly shuffles player teams, colors, and sides. | — | — |
| Super Creeps | -sc | Every 13 minutes, a random Super Creep (Siege Golem, Scary Fish, or Ancient Hydra) spawns for both teams in a random lane. | Spawns every 13 minutes. | — |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| -experimentalrunes / -er | Replaces the standard rune system with an experimental version. Runes spawn on both sides every 3 minutes. |
| -fastrespawn / -fr | Reduces hero respawn time by 50%. |
| -miniheroes / -mi | All heroes appear at half their normal size. |
| -norepick / -nr | Disables the -repick command. |
| -noswap / -ns | Disables the -swap command. |
| -observerinfo / -oi | Enabled by default. In games with observers, this disables extra hero information displayed when hovering the cursor (observer-only). |
| -poolingmode / -pm | Enables item pooling (allows sharing items with allies without muting them). |
| -randomside / -rs | Randomly selects which faction your team will play (Sentinel or Scourge). |
| -switchon / -so | Enables all switch-related commands. |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| -gold xxxx | Adds xxxx gold. |
| -kill | Kills your own hero. |
| -killall | Kills all creeps. |
| -killscourge | Kills all Scourge creeps. |
| -killsent | Kills all Sentinel creeps. |
| -lvlup # | Increases your hero’s level by #. If you only type -lvlup, it increases 1 level. |
| -neutrals | Respawns neutral creeps in all camps. |
| -noherolimit | Allows obtaining multiple heroes. Must be entered within the first 15 seconds. |
| -powerup | Adds a rune. |
| -refresh | Resets cooldowns of all abilities and items. |
| -spawncreeps | Creates a creep wave for both Sentinel and Scourge in all lanes. |
| -time # | Sets the map time to #. |
| -trees | Instantly regrows all cut trees on the map. |
| Command | Type | Description | Notes / Extra Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFK | -afk | Shows how long a player has been inactive. | |
| APM | -apm | Displays your actions per minute. | |
| Bonus | -bonus | Shows how much bonus XP and gold you gained from hero kills. | |
| Creep Stats | -cs | Temporarily displays creep kill and deny statistics. | |
| Clear | -clear | Clears all text messages from the screen. | |
| Courier | -courier | Pings the courier’s location. | |
| Creep Stats Board | -cson / -csoff | Shows or hides a window with creep kill/deny statistics. | |
| Death Timer | -don / -doff | Shows or hides the respawn timer. | |
| Help ON/OFF | -enablehelp / -disablehelp | Enables or disables allied abilities affecting your hero. | Examples: Test of Faith, Astral Imprisonment, Sprout. |
| Game Info | -gameinfo | Displays information about the active game mode. | |
| Show/Hide Deny | -showdeny / -hidedeny | Shows or hides a color marker when an ally denies a creep or structure. | |
| Hide Hero Names | -hhn | Hides the hero class after player names in chat. | |
| Hide/Show Messages | -hidemsg / -showmsg | Hides or shows certain on-screen messages. | |
| Invoke List | -invokelist | Displays all of Invoker’s spell combinations. | |
| Item Swap | -itemswap x y | Swaps items between inventory slots. | Works with undroppable items and items on cooldown. |
| Kick AFK | -kickafk # | Kicks a player inactive for more than 10 minutes. | |
| Match Up | -ma | Displays a list of enemy heroes and players. | |
| Movement Speed | -ms | Shows your movement speed. | |
| Music | -music # | Changes the game music. | Options: off, random, NE1–3, HU1–3, ORC1–3, UD1–3, other1–5, special. |
| Mute | -mute | Disables kill announcement sounds. | |
| Quote Hero | -quote # / random | Displays a hero quote. | Use random for a random line. |
| Random Hero | -random | Gives a random hero and bonus gold. | 250 gold normally; 150 gold for -random agi/int/str. |
| Recreate | -recreate | Restores control of bugged heroes near the fountain. | Only available to certain heroes. |
| Repick | -repick | Replaces your hero with a new random one. | Costs 100g (400g in -ar/-tr). First minute only. |
| Rickroll | -rickroll | Displays a random funny message. | Max 10 uses. |
| Roll | -roll # | Generates a random number between 1 and #. | |
| Roll Hero | -rh | Displays a random hero name. | |
| Roll ON/OFF | -rollon / -rolloff | Enables or disables showing -roll results. | |
| Terrain | -terrain | Changes terrain to snow or default. | |
| Tips | -tips | Activates basic hero tips during the match. | Shows 5 tips over time. |
| Unstuck | -unstuck | Freezes your hero and teleports it to base after 60s. | Cannot be cancelled. Gains XP during wait. |
| Water | -water | Changes water color. | Options: red, blue, green, default, random, RGB values. |
| Weather | -weather | Changes map weather. | rain, snow, moonlight, wind, random, off |
| Swap Hero | -swap # | Swaps heroes with an ally. |
-swapall: sends requests to all allies -swapcancel: cancels your requests Not usable with -noswap/-ns. |
| Switch | -switch # | Swaps heroes with an enemy player. |
60s to accept (-ok) or decline (-no) Requires -switchon / -so. |