acdream/docs/launch-options.md

acdream launch options — operator reference

Every environment variable and command-line argument the acdream client reads, what it does, and what else it changes about the run.

This is an operator's reference, not user documentation. Players never set these: the launcher owns installation and login, and the in-client Options panel (F11) owns settings. If a flag here looks like something a player would want, that is a signal it belongs in the Options panel, not a signal to document it better.

How to use this document

• Running the client for yourself? Read Production launch and stop.
• Taking a measurement? Read Production launch, then read the Side effects column of every flag you are about to set. A flag that changes what you are measuring is the normal case, not the exception.
• Adding a flag? Add its row in the same commit. LaunchOptionsDocumentationTests fails the build otherwise — in both directions, so deleting a read site without deleting its row fails too.

Why the side-effects column exists

Two flags in this list were believed to be inert and were not:

• ACDREAM_AUTOMATION_ARTIFACT_DIR reads like an output path. It also constructs a per-frame diagnostics referee that re-enabled a retired render pass, costing ~6 MB and ~14 ms every frame — three days of performance measurements were silently taxed before anyone noticed (#432).
• ACDREAM_STREAM_RADIUS reads like a radius knob. It forces the near radius, only ever raises the far radius, and is then silently discarded by any later quality apply — so a measurement taken with it set is measuring a window production never uses.

Assume a flag has a side effect until its row says otherwise.

Conventions

• =1 means the code tests for exactly the string 1. Setting true, yes, or 0 does not enable such a flag (and 0 does not disable one whose test is "is the variable present").
• Default is the behavior when the variable is unset.
• Kind is one of:

Kind	Meaning
production	Ordinary configuration; safe in a real run.
measurement	Profiling/instrumentation. Read the side effects before trusting numbers taken with it on.
automation	Drives scripted runs; usually implies extra machinery.
permanent-probe	A diagnostic toggle owned by a subsystem's diagnostics class. Expected to persist.
temporary-probe	Tied to an open investigation. Deleted with its issue — never build tooling on one.
deprecated	Superseded. Do not use for new work.

---

Production launch

The canonical connected launch against a local ACE server. PowerShell, because the DAT path contains an apostrophe:

$env:ACDREAM_DAT_DIR   = "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\Asheron's Call"
$env:ACDREAM_LIVE      = "1"
$env:ACDREAM_TEST_HOST = "127.0.0.1"
$env:ACDREAM_TEST_PORT = "9000"
$env:ACDREAM_TEST_USER = "testaccount"
$env:ACDREAM_TEST_PASS = "testpassword"
$env:ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI = "1"
dotnet run --project src\AcDream.App\AcDream.App.csproj --no-build -c Release

Flag	Value	What it does	Side effects	Default	Read by
ACDREAM_A2C	unset/"" keep preset; "0"/"false"/"False"/"FALSE" → off; any other non-empty → on	Overrides preset's AlphaToCoverage blend flag	Changes MSAA alpha-to-coverage blending mode for foliage/translucent draws — a visual-behavior change, not just perf	preset's AlphaToCoverage (High/Ultra=true, Low/Medium=false)	QualitySettings.WithEnvOverrides (QualityPreset.cs:52)
ACDREAM_AC_DIR	=<path>	Points at a real retail AC install dir; loads <dir>/controls/controls.ini to source retail keybind display strings for the retained UI.	Only has any effect when ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI=1 (retained UI composed). Unset → ControlsIni.Parse(string.Empty), an empty (not error) controls table — silent, no fallback file is searched.	unset (null) → empty controls table	RuntimeOptions.AcDir → InteractionRetainedUiComposition.cs:610
ACDREAM_ANISOTROPIC	=<int> (int.TryParse, invariant)	Overrides preset's AnisotropicLevel texture filtering	Changes GPU texture sampling filter level (visual sharpness), not just perf	preset's AnisotropicLevel (Low=4, Medium=8, High/Ultra=16)	QualitySettings.WithEnvOverrides (QualityPreset.cs:49)
ACDREAM_CACHE_DIR	=<path>	Overrides the resolved cache-root directory (used for DiagnosticsDirectory, etc.)	none beyond redirecting cache I/O	Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\acdream\cache; Linux: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/acdream or ~/.cache/acdream	ApplicationPathSet.Resolve (ApplicationPathSet.cs:83), via IApplicationPathEnvironment seam
ACDREAM_CAMERA_ALIGN_SLOPE	=0 disables (anything else/unset = on)	selects whether the chase camera basis tilts to the player's 5-frame averaged velocity vs staying flat/horizontal on slopes	alters camera orientation / rendered view every frame; startup-only in practice (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	true (on)	AcDream.Core.Rendering.CameraDiagnostics.AlignToSlope
ACDREAM_CAMERA_COLLIDE	=0 disables (anything else/unset = on)	selects whether the chase camera sweeps a 0.3 m collision sphere from head-pivot to eye and stops at the first wall (retail spring-arm)	alters camera position every frame (camera can clip into geometry when disabled); startup-only	true (on)	CameraDiagnostics.CollideCamera
ACDREAM_CONFIG_DIR	=<path>	Overrides the resolved config-root directory (settings.json, keybinds.json)	none beyond redirecting config I/O	Windows: %APPDATA%\acdream; Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/acdream or ~/.config/acdream	ApplicationPathSet.Resolve (ApplicationPathSet.cs:79), via IApplicationPathEnvironment seam
ACDREAM_DATA_DIR	=<path>	Overrides the resolved data-root directory (logs, screenshots, plugins)	none beyond redirecting data I/O	Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\acdream; Linux: $XDG_DATA_HOME/acdream or ~/.local/share/acdream	ApplicationPathSet.Resolve (ApplicationPathSet.cs:81), via IApplicationPathEnvironment seam
ACDREAM_DAT_DIR	=<path>	Fallback dat-directory when no positional argument is given. App: single read at Program.cs:58. Cli: read independently per-subcommand (each subcommand does args.ElementAtOrDefault(N) ?? Env.GetEnvironmentVariable("ACDREAM_DAT_DIR")) plus once more for the default (no-subcommand) asset-inventory mode at line 152.	Two of the four Program.cs line numbers in the raw grep (91, 135) are not reads — they're the literal string ACDREAM_DAT_DIR inside Log.Error usage-text messages, not GetEnvironmentVariable calls. Only line 58 is a real read in AcDream.App.	none — hard usage error (exit 2) if unset and no positional arg	Program.cs:58 (App); Cli/Program.cs:24,35,47,59,71,84,113,125,137,152 (every Cli subcommand)
ACDREAM_DISPLAY_PROTOCOL	="auto" / "x11" / "wayland" (case-insensitive, trimmed); any other value throws InvalidOperationException at startup	Linux-only: forces the GLFW 3.4 platform-init hint (X11 vs Wayland vs auto) before any window is created; ignored entirely on Windows (always Windows protocol)	An invalid value is fatal at startup (throws before any window exists), not a silent fallback	unset → auto-detected from XDG_SESSION_TYPE/WAYLAND_DISPLAY/DISPLAY, falling back to GLFW Automatic	GraphicalWindowBackendSelection.Resolve (GraphicalWindowBackendSelection.cs:26-58)
ACDREAM_FAR_RADIUS	=<int>	Overrides preset's FarRadius (outer streaming/reveal window, landblocks)	Enlarging changes streaming memory budget and what's resident/rendered — CLAUDE.md: leave unset for measurement/gate runs (same family as legacy ACDREAM_STREAM_RADIUS)	preset's FarRadius (Low=5, Medium=8, High=12, Ultra=15)	QualitySettings.WithEnvOverrides (QualityPreset.cs:47)
ACDREAM_LIVE	=1 (exactly the literal string "1")	Core switch: connect to a live ACE server instead of running offline/no-connect.	The 4 non-RuntimeOptions.cs line numbers in the raw grep are all comments or log-message text, not reads — SessionStartComposition.cs:39 is inside the string "live: ACDREAM_LIVE set but TEST_USER/TEST_PASS missing; skipping"; Program.cs:126 is inside a --session-config override log line; GameWindow.cs:614,627 are doc comments. The only actual parse is RuntimeOptions.cs:141. Requires ACDREAM_TEST_USER/ACDREAM_TEST_PASS too (HasLiveCredentials) or the session silently reports MissingCredentials and skips. Forced to effectively-on (LiveMode=true) unconditionally by --session-config launches regardless of this var.	false	RuntimeOptions.LiveMode → SessionStartComposition.cs (log text only), Program.cs:126 (log text only), GameWindow.cs:614,627 (comments only), consumed for real via RuntimeOptions.HasLiveCredentials and WorldSession/GameRuntime session-start gating
ACDREAM_MAX_COMPLETIONS_PER_FRAME	=<int>	Overrides preset's per-frame streaming-completion throughput cap	Directly changes the streaming admission budget measured by perf/completion gates — do not vary during a measurement run	preset's value (Low=2, Medium=3, High=4, Ultra=6)	QualitySettings.WithEnvOverrides (QualityPreset.cs:59)
ACDREAM_MSAA_SAMPLES	=<int> (0/2/4/8)	Overrides preset's MSAA sample count	Changes GPU multisample anti-aliasing (visual + GPU-cost change)	preset's MsaaSamples (Low=0, Medium=2, High/Ultra=4)	QualitySettings.WithEnvOverrides (QualityPreset.cs:48)
ACDREAM_NEAR_RADIUS	=<int>	Overrides preset's NearRadius (inner streaming ring radius)	Changes the streaming/render window size — CLAUDE.md: leave unset for measurement/gate runs	preset's NearRadius (Low=2, Medium=3, High=4, Ultra=5)	QualitySettings.WithEnvOverrides (QualityPreset.cs:46)
ACDREAM_NO_AUDIO	=1	Suppresses OpenAL device init entirely (headless / driver-broken machines).	Fail-open design: even without this flag, a missing/broken OpenAL driver already makes IsAvailable=false and all Play* calls no-ops — this flag is the explicit, deliberate version of the same fallback. When set, LiveSessionWorldRuntime.WorldAudio is null and logout-audio reset/resume steps no-op.	false	RuntimeOptions.NoAudio → GameWindow.cs:1430 → ContentEffectsAudioCompositionPhase → OpenAlAudioEngine.cs (fail-open doc), LiveSessionRuntimeFactory.cs:71 (WorldAudio gate)
ACDREAM_PAK_PATH	=<path>	Overrides the path to the prepared machine-local asset bake (acdream.pak) that production world-mesh streaming reads through IPreparedAssetSource.	none beyond the obvious	unset → <datDir>/acdream.pak	RuntimeOptions.PreparedAssetPath → ContentEffectsAudioComposition.cs:53,372,379, GameWindow.cs:1420
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_ALPHA_SCRATCH_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default; overflow-checked)	Byte ceiling for the retail alpha (translucency) draw queue's scratch buffer	Shrinking below production working set changes translucency-queue eviction/reflow behavior — not comparable to a default-budget perf run	16 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (ResidencyBudgetOptions.cs:88-89), flows through RuntimeOptions.ResidencyBudgets→AlphaScratchBudgetProfile.Create→RetailAlphaQueue ctor (GameWindow.cs:721-725)
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_ANIMATION_ENTRIES	=<int> (>0, else default)	Entry-count ceiling for the retained animation-data cache	Changes cache eviction cadence for animation data — a perf/memory measurement under a non-default value is not representative	512	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:82-84)
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_ANIMATION_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Byte ceiling for the retained animation-data cache	Same cache-behavior-change caveat as the entries variant	64 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:79-81)
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_AUDIO_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Byte ceiling for the retained audio-buffer cache	Shrinking can force more frequent audio buffer re-decode/eviction	32 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:85-87), consumed by ContentEffectsAudioComposition.cs
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_COMPOSITE_PHYSICAL_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Byte ceiling for physically-resident composite (character palette/texture) GPU memory	Changes composite-texture eviction pressure — not representative of production if varied during a measurement run	128 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:67-69), consumed by TextureCache.cs
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_COMPOSITE_UNOWNED_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Byte ceiling for unowned/retained (not currently referenced) composite textures kept for reuse	Same eviction-pressure caveat	64 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:70-72), consumed by TextureCache.cs
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_MESH_GPU_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Byte ceiling for GPU-resident object mesh data	The single largest residency budget (1024 MiB default) — shrinking it directly forces more mesh re-upload/eviction; do not vary during an FPS/GPU-memory measurement run	1024 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:49-51), consumed by ObjectMeshManager.cs/WbDrawDispatcher.cs
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_MESH_STAGING_ENTRIES	=<int> (>0, else default)	Entry-count ceiling for the mesh upload staging cache	Changes staging-buffer churn/eviction cadence	256	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:64-66)
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_MESH_STAGING_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Byte ceiling for the mesh upload staging cache	Same staging-churn caveat	128 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:61-63)
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_MESH_UNOWNED_ENTRIES	=<int> (>0, else default)	Entry-count ceiling for unowned (retained-for-reuse) object mesh entries	Changes mesh-cache eviction cadence	50	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:52-54)
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_PREPARED_MESH_ENTRIES	=<int> (>0, else default)	Entry-count ceiling for the CPU-side "prepared mesh" cache (post-classification, pre-upload)	Changes eviction cadence for prepared-mesh CPU memory	100	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:58-60)
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_PREPARED_MESH_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Byte ceiling for the CPU-side prepared-mesh cache	Same eviction-cadence caveat	128 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:55-57)
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_STANDALONE_UNOWNED_ENTRIES	=<int> (>0, else default)	Entry-count ceiling for unowned standalone (non-composite) texture entries	Changes standalone-texture eviction cadence	256	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:76-78), consumed by TextureCache.cs
ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_STANDALONE_UNOWNED_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Byte ceiling for unowned standalone texture memory	Same eviction-cadence caveat	32 MiB	ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse (:73-75)
ACDREAM_RETAIL_CHASE	=0 disables (anything else/unset = on)	selects the retail-faithful RetailChaseCamera vs. the legacy rigid-follow ChaseCamera	swaps the entire active camera implementation — changes camera motion/feel; startup-only in practice (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	true (retail camera on)	CameraDiagnostics.UseRetailChaseCamera
ACDREAM_RETAIL_CLOSE_DEGRADES	inverted: ="0" disables; any other value (incl. unset) enables	Default-on real gameplay behavior: applies retail's close-range LOD mesh-part swap (GfxObjDegradeResolver) to humanoid setups (issue #47), matching retail's close-detail degrade.	Inverted default (opposite of every other boolean flag in this table — presence of the literal string "0" is what disables it, not presence of "1" enabling it). Documented explicitly as "set only for before/after diagnostic comparisons" — so although default-on production behavior, its disable path exists purely for A/B measurement.	true (enabled) unless value is exactly "0"	RuntimeOptions.RetailCloseDegrades → DatLiveEntityProjectionMaterializer.cs:275-276,480-498
ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI	=1	Switches on the retained retail UI host tree (UiHost/UiRoot, D.2b). Without it, no retained UI is composed at all — e.g. no chargen Appearance page, no Summary page.	Forced to true unconditionally for every --session-config / launcher launch (RuntimeOptions.cs:282, "a session-config launch IS a product launch — the retail UI is the shipped UI, not a dev option"), regardless of this env var's value — the env var only matters for the bare env-var dev-flow launch path.	false for the env-var dev flow; true always for --session-config launches	RuntimeOptions.RetailUi → LivePresentationComposition.cs:1108-1131 (gates retained-UI mount via InteractionRetainedUiComposition), GameWindow.cs:455,566 (comments), RuntimeOptions.cs:277
ACDREAM_TEST_HOST	=<host>	ACE server hostname for live-mode connect.	none	"127.0.0.1"	RuntimeOptions.LiveHost (RuntimeOptions.cs:142)
ACDREAM_TEST_PASS	=<string>	ACE account password for live-mode connect.	Redacted in RuntimeOptions.ToString()/diagnostic printing by design (PrintMembers override, RuntimeOptions.cs:326-342) — defense-in-depth so it can never leak into a log/exception via the record's default printing.	null (empty → HasLiveCredentials false)	RuntimeOptions.LivePass (RuntimeOptions.cs:145)
ACDREAM_TEST_PORT	=<int>	ACE server port for live-mode connect.	none	9000	RuntimeOptions.LivePort (RuntimeOptions.cs:143)
ACDREAM_TEST_USER	=<string>	ACE account name for live-mode connect.	none	null (empty → HasLiveCredentials false)	RuntimeOptions.LiveUser (RuntimeOptions.cs:144)
ACDREAM_VULKAN_DEVICE	=<int> (decimal index) or =<substring> (case-insensitive device-name match)	Overrides automatic Vulkan physical-device selection (normally: discrete > integrated > virtual > CPU, tie-broken by device-local heap size) — for multi-GPU machines.	A bare-digits value is matched as an index ONLY (never falls through to substring match) specifically because digits like "7" are substrings of real device names ("AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT") — a fallback would silently select the wrong device by coincidence. An override matching nothing falls back to the automatic choice (does not fail startup) and records why in the capability report.	null → automatic ranked choice	RuntimeOptions.VulkanDeviceOverride → VulkanPhysicalDeviceSelection.Choose (VulkanPhysicalDeviceSelection.cs:54-100), consumed at VulkanGraphicsContext.cs:207,322

Command-line arguments

AcDream.App

Arg	What it does	Side effects
<dat-directory> (positional)	Dat directory; outranks ACDREAM_DAT_DIR.	Not read at all once --session-config is present.
--session-config <path>	The launcher's launch path: endpoint, account, credential reference, character selector, status file, plugins, login commands.	Overrides ACDREAM_LIVE and every ACDREAM_TEST_* (logged at startup). Diagnostic flags stay env-controlled. Missing value is a startup error.

AcDream.Headless

Its usage banner matches the parser exactly. validate loads and checks a config without connecting; run connects.

Arg	What it does	Side effects
validate | run (positional)	Selects the mode; must be the first argument.	Anything else is a parse error.
--config <path>	The versioned headless session-configuration document. Required.	—
--config-dir / --data-dir / --cache-dir <path>	Override each portable path root.	Merged over the config document's own process.paths; the command line wins.
-user / --user, -password / --password	Direct single-session credentials, bypassing the config's credential source.	Plaintext in the process command line — prefer the config's credential reference.
--help / -h (or no args)	Prints usage, exits 0.	—

AcDream.Launcher

Arg	What it does	Side effects
--verify-publish	Packaging smoke probe: parses arguments and exits 0 without opening a display or resolving user paths.	—
--config-dir / --data-dir / --cache-dir <absolute path>	Override each path root.	All three or none — supplying a subset is an error. Must be absolute.
--update-manifest-uri <uri>	Points the self-updater at a different release manifest (test-feed seam).	Must be https:// (or loopback http://). Changes where updates come from — do not point a real install at a test feed.
--acdream-self-update-helper-v1, --acdream-self-update-confirm-v1	Internal re-exec markers for the self-update handoff.	Not user-facing; never pass these by hand.

AcDream.Cli

A dat-dump and measurement tool dispatched by a positional subcommand (args[0]); no --flag options. Most subcommands take a dat directory and fall back to ACDREAM_DAT_DIR.

• Measurement: summarize-frame-history <frames.csv> <checkpoints.jsonl> <markers.log> <out.json>, compare-screenshots <expected.png> <actual.png> <out.json> [channelTolerance=2] [maxDifferentFraction=0.001] [mask.png], probe <in.png> <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1>.
• Dat inspection: no subcommand (asset-type inventory), dump-vitals-bars, dump-vitals-layout [0xLayoutId], list-ui-layouts [0xRootType], dump-sprite-sheet <0xId,...>, dump-font-atlas [0xFontId] [sample] [outBase], dump-edges <0xId>, export-ui-sprite <0xId> [out.png].
• Mockup rendering: render-vitals-mockup [out.png], mock-selbar [out.png], crop <in.png> <x> <y> <w> <h> <zoom> <out.png>.

Measurement and profiling

Flag	Value	What it does	Side effects	Default	Read by
ACDREAM_CAPTURE_RESOLVE	=<path>	appends one JSON-Lines record (full before/after PhysicsBody snapshot) per player-side ResolveWithTransition call, filtered to IsPlayer movers	real per-tick allocation (snapshot object graph + System.Text.Json serialize) and buffered file I/O (AutoFlush=false) for the local player only; will skew any perf measurement of local-player physics while active; feeds CellarUpTrajectoryReplayTests fixtures	unset (off)	AcDream.Core.Physics.PhysicsResolveCapture (CapturePath)
ACDREAM_COLLISION_SHADOW_DIR	=<dir>	output directory for Slice I5 graph/flat collision-shadow mismatch artifacts	only takes effect when ACDREAM_COLLISION_SHADOW_EVERY>0; directory creation + file writes on mismatch	<CurrentDirectory>/.test-out/collision-shadow	PhysicsDiagnostics.CollisionShadowArtifactDirectory
ACDREAM_COLLISION_SHADOW_EVERY	=<positive int>	when >0 and the cache is constructed with requirePreparedCollision:false, arms a CollisionShadowVerifier that re-runs the graph-vs-flat collision referee every Nth traversal entry (PhysicsDataCache ctor)	extra CPU on sampled ticks + mismatch-artifact file I/O; graph path stays authoritative regardless of mismatch (doc-asserted, not independently verified here) — does not change production physics results, but does add work when active	0 (disabled)	PhysicsDiagnostics.CollisionShadowSampleEvery (parsed via ParsePositiveInt, non-positive → 0)
ACDREAM_DAY_GROUP	=<int>	Forces Dereth's day-group (weather preset) selection instead of the retail hash-based pick, "useful for visually A/B-testing each weather preset against retail" (own doc comment).	Dead second read: the SkyDescLoader.cs:252 raw read only feeds SelectDayGroupIndex, which is only called from ActiveDayGroup(double) and the DefaultDayGroup property — and grepping all of src/ finds zero production call sites for either. That whole path is unreachable; only the typed RuntimeOptions.ForcedDayGroupIndex → Runtime path is live. Bounds differ too: the typed path only checks >= 0 (TryParseNonNegativeInt) and Runtime clamps out-of-range to null; the dead Core-layer path checks forced >= 0 && forced < DayGroups.Count directly. SkyState.cs:400,403 are doc-comment mentions only, not reads.	unset → normal server/date-driven hash selection	RuntimeOptions.ForcedDayGroupIndex (typed) → GameWindow.cs:718 → WorldEnvironmentController → RuntimeWorldEnvironmentState (Runtime, live path); also raw Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable at SkyDescLoader.cs:252 (Core layer, separate parse)
ACDREAM_DISABLE_TIER1_CACHE	="1" (ordinal exact match; anything else = enabled)	A/B diagnostic that forces every static (non-animated) entity through the slow per-entity classification path, bypassing the Tier-1 classification cache (#53)	Materially changes per-frame CPU cost for entity classification — a perf/FPS measurement taken with this set is NOT representative of production and must not be compared against a normal run	unset (cache enabled)	WbDrawDispatcher ctor field _tier1CacheDisabled (WbDrawDispatcher.cs:473-474)
ACDREAM_FRAME_HISTORY	=<path>	opts into a per-frame CSV history capture (frame idx, timestamps, per-stage CPU us, GPU us, alloc bytes) alongside the aggregated 5 s [frame-prof] report	allocates a List<FrameHistoryRecord> with ~131,072-record (~9 MiB) initial capacity, growing further for longer captures (~72 B/record, ~43 MB/hour at 165 fps) held in memory for the whole run; CSV write happens ONLY at Dispose/shutdown (no frame-thread I/O); only takes effect while ACDREAM_FRAME_PROF is ALSO on	unset (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.FrameHistoryPath / AcDream.App.Diagnostics.FrameProfiler
ACDREAM_ORBIT_DISTANCE_METERS	=<float>, must be finite and >0	Diagnostic-only initial distance for the offline orbit camera, so deterministic renderer acceptance captures land inside a finite shadow reach.	Own doc comment: "used by deterministic renderer acceptance captures." Rejects non-finite/non-positive values silently (parses to null, camera default used).	null (unset) → normal camera default	RuntimeOptions.InitialOrbitDistanceMeters → GameWindow.cs:1412 → offline orbit-camera composition
ACDREAM_ORBIT_PITCH_DEGREES	=<float>, clamped [-89, 89]	Diagnostic-only initial orbit camera elevation.	Values outside [-89,89] or non-finite are silently rejected (→ null, default kept) rather than clamped.	null	RuntimeOptions.InitialOrbitPitchDegrees → GameWindow.cs:1414
ACDREAM_ORBIT_YAW_DEGREES	=<float>, must be finite	Diagnostic-only initial orbit camera heading.	Non-finite values silently rejected (→ null).	null	RuntimeOptions.InitialOrbitYawDegrees → GameWindow.cs:1413
ACDREAM_PROBE_REVEAL_RADIUS	=<int>=1 (unparsable or <1 → override absent; floor is 1, not 0)	#280 A/B measurement probe: forces the OUTDOOR reveal gate to use this landblock radius instead of the derived streaming window (near radius clamped to it), so a route can be measured with the pre-#280 behavior (=1, old OutdoorNeighborhoodRadius) vs. current	Changes what gets revealed, not just measured — genuinely resizes the reveal/visible window used by the live reveal gate. CLAUDE.md: "Leave it unset for any measurement or gate run — with it set you are measuring a different window than production." =0 is rejected by the parser specifically because it would hang the very A/B route it exists to measure (RequiredRenderRadius==0 fails invalid-readiness-shape). Not a user setting, not in Settings/RuntimeOptions, not persisted.	unset (derivation in charge, no override)	StreamingDiagnostics.RevealRadiusOverride (StreamingDiagnostics.cs:25-27,76-80), applied by StreamingDiagnostics.ApplyRevealRadiusOverride
ACDREAM_PROBE_WORLD_FRAME	=1	gates one [world-frame] agree line per projected conversion in DatLiveEntityProjectionMaterializer, recording the world-frame center both LiveWorldOriginState (App) and Runtime's physics-state owner used (issue #283, "measurement only; it never gates placement")	print-only	off	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeWorldFrameEnabled
ACDREAM_SKY_PHASE_SECONDS	=<float> (any finite value; negative accepted, taken mod 1 per axis)	Campaign V slice V7 instrument-determinism pin: freezes the sky's cloud-sheet UV scroll to a fixed elapsed-seconds value instead of wall-clock time, so two launches of a differential/offline gate agree about cloud position.	Non-obvious dual effect: this ONE var pins TWO independently-designed clocks that happen to share a name-adjacent purpose — the sky renderer's cloud scroll (SkyRenderer.AnimationPhaseSecondsOverride) AND, since Campaign VM slice VM6, the atmospheric post-process graph's foliage-wind clock (_windClockSecondsOverride). A gate that only knows about "sky clouds" and sets this to freeze them will also freeze foliage-wind evolution — deliberately snapped-to-target on the first advance per an A6 review fix, but still a second surface a naive reader wouldn't expect this var to touch. Distinct from ACDREAM_DAY_GROUP/ACDREAM_WORLD_TIME, which pin the OTHER sky clock (day group/sun angle) — retail's clouds drift independently of the calendar date by design.	null → wall-clock driven (every ordinary run)	RuntimeOptions.SkyAnimationPhaseSeconds → SkyRenderer.cs:79,85 (cloud UV scroll) and AtmosphericPostProcessGraph.cs:560,586,671 (foliage-wind clock)
ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_COMPLETIONS	=<int> (>0, else default)	Per-frame ceiling on streaming completion admissions on the update thread	Class doc comment states explicitly: this whole ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_* family "exists for A/B measurement only" — not a user/production setting. Directly changes streaming throughput per frame; do not compare a measurement taken with this set against a default run.	64	StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse (StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.cs:56-58)
ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_CPU_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Per-frame ceiling on adopted (newly resident) CPU bytes on the update thread	A/B-measurement-only family; changes per-frame CPU admission budget	8 MiB	StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse (:59-61)
ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_DEST_RESERVE_PERCENT	=<float percent>, exclusive 0 < x < 100, else default; stored as fraction (percent/100)	Fraction of the per-frame work budget reserved for the active reveal destination lane vs. background streaming	A/B-measurement-only family; reallocates frame budget between destination-lane and background streaming work, changing reveal-latency characteristics	0.75 (75%)	StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse/ParseReservePercent (:71-73,154-169)
ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_ENTITY_OPS	=<int> (>0, else default)	Per-frame ceiling on entity-cursor operations (small ops, e.g. one dictionary/index write each) on the update thread	A/B-measurement-only family. Doc comment: elapsed-time ceiling (ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_MS) remains the authoritative CPU guard — this is a secondary cap, deliberately loose (leaves >90% of the time budget unused at default)	4,096	StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse (:62-64)
ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_GL_RETIRE_OPS	=<int> (>0, else default)	Per-frame ceiling on GL/GPU resource-retirement operations on the update thread	A/B-measurement-only family; changes retirement cadence, which changes when GPU memory is actually reclaimed	64	StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse (:68-70)
ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_GPU_MIB	=<int MiB> (>0, else default)	Per-frame ceiling on GPU upload bytes on the update thread	A/B-measurement-only family; directly changes per-frame upload throughput	8 MiB	StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse (:65-67)
ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_HOLD_DEST_MS	=<double ms> (>0 and finite, else default 8.0)	Absolute (not quality-scaled) time ceiling for destination-lane work during a portal/login hold; never shrinks a profile whose own ceiling is already ≥ this value	Explicitly documented as "NOT a user setting... exists for A/B measurement only, matching the rest of the ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_* family" — do not set outside a deliberate hold-latency A/B comparison	8.0 ms	StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse (:74-76); HoldDestinationCeilingMilliseconds widens the frame meter via StreamingWorkBudget.WidenForDestinationHold while a destination reservation hides the world behind the authored tunnel (#418)
ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_MS	=<double ms> (>0 and finite, else default)	Per-frame elapsed-time ceiling for update-thread streaming work — "the authoritative CPU guard" per the entity-ops comment	A/B-measurement-only family; this is the primary per-frame time budget for streaming — changing it changes both perceived streaming latency and measured frame cost	2.0 ms	StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse (:53-55)
ACDREAM_UNCAPPED_RENDER	=1	Removes the normal VSync/refresh-rate software pacer, so the render loop runs as fast as the GPU/CPU allow.	Own doc comment (RuntimeOptions.cs:147-150): "Normal presentation is always bounded by VSync or a refresh-rate software pacer. This explicit diagnostic is the sole way to measure truly uncapped renderer throughput." Not representative of what a real player experiences — exists purely for throughput measurement.	false → VSync/pacer-bounded	RuntimeOptions.UncappedRendering → GameWindow.cs:765 → DisplayFramePacingController; also VulkanBringUpHost.cs:75
ACDREAM_WB_DIAG	=1 (raw string.Equals ordinal compare)	(a) GameWindow: gates the [FRAME-DIAG] render-thread entity-upload-distribution report; (b) WbDrawDispatcher: gates BeginRhiTimer/SampleRhiTimers, wrapping the opaque/detail/transparent draw passes in extra Vulkan GPU timer-scope queries and periodically logging a [WB-DIAG] CPU/GPU median/p95 report	adds extra per-pass GPU timestamp queries every frame while on — genuine measurement overhead; NOT read through RenderingDiagnostics or any diagnostics-owner class, unlike every other flag in this set — flag for whitelisting (see Notes #2); the flag's supposed interaction with ACDREAM_FRAME_PROF's GPU query is stale documentation (see Notes #1)	unset (off)	read directly at WbDrawDispatcher.cs:2061-2064 (every Draw()/BeginEntityDispatch call, i.e. effectively per frame, NOT cached) and cached once as a readonly field at GameWindow.cs:153-156
ACDREAM_WORLD_TIME	=<float>, accepted only in [0, 1)	Campaign V slice V7 instrument-determinism pin: freezes the Dereth day fraction (and therefore sun direction, sky keyframe, and every lit surface) instead of following the server clock.	Outranks BOTH the server TimeSync clock and the /time slash command's SetDebugTime (which is deliberately transient — the next TimeSync clears it); this pin does not clear. Distinct axis from ACDREAM_DAY_GROUP (day-group/weather-preset selection) and ACDREAM_SKY_PHASE_SECONDS (cloud scroll + foliage wind) — the calendar DATE still advances, only the intra-day fraction freezes. Anything outside [0,1) (including negative, unparseable, or unset) leaves the server clock alone entirely — no partial/clamped behavior.	null → server clock	RuntimeOptions.PinnedWorldDayFraction → GameWindow.cs:720 → WorldEnvironmentController → Runtime.WorldTime.PinnedDayFraction

Automation

A scripted route run adds three things at once — a session config so the client self-selects a character, a route script, and an artifact directory:

$env:ACDREAM_UI_PROBE_SCRIPT          = "$scratch\route.txt"
$env:ACDREAM_AUTOMATION_ARTIFACT_DIR  = "$scratch\artifacts"
$env:ACDREAM_FRAME_PROF               = "1"
$env:ACDREAM_FRAME_HISTORY            = "$scratch\frames.csv"
& $exe --session-config "$scratch\session.json"

Two traps this recipe exists to document:

1. Without --session-config, the client stops at character select and the route never runs. The session JSON supplies the endpoint, account, and a character index for auto-selection.
2. ACDREAM_AUTOMATION_ARTIFACT_DIR is not free. It constructs the render-scene oracle, which fingerprints every resident entity every frame. The allocation cost was fixed in #432, but the CPU walk remains — automation-run frame rates are diagnostics-loaded and must only be compared against other automation runs, never against a plain run. Some route verbs (wait world-*) additionally do nothing unless this is set.

Flag	Value	What it does	Side effects	Default	Read by
ACDREAM_AUTOMATION_ARTIFACT_DIR	=<path>	Output directory for the retail-UI automation probe's checkpoint JSON + screenshot PNG artifacts; gates whether the full WorldLifecycleAutomationController (checkpoint/screenshot/render-pack-automation capable) is composed at all vs. the cheaper facts-only WorldRevealFactsAutomationRuntime fallback (wait world-ready/visible verbs work either way per issue #415's fix; checkpoint/screenshot verbs report "requires ACDREAM_AUTOMATION_ARTIFACT_DIR" without it).	Known #432 surprise, confirmed still live: FrameRootComposition.cs:349-353 — AutomationArtifactDirectory is not null (together with RetainedUi?.Screenshots is not null) unconditionally constructs a CurrentRenderSceneOracle and a RenderSceneShadowComparisonController — a per-frame diagnostics referee — regardless of whether any checkpoint/screenshot is ever actually requested that session. Merely setting this var for its "just an output path" purpose pays the per-frame comparison cost for the whole run.	unset (null) → facts-only automation runtime, no per-frame referee constructed	RuntimeOptions.AutomationArtifactDirectory → FrameRootComposition.cs:351,543-627, WorldLifecycleAutomationController.cs, RetailUiAutomationScriptRunner.cs:108
ACDREAM_AUTOMATION_EXACT_FRAMEBUFFER	=1	Forces the graphical host to use the persisted display resolution as the initial size of a borderless window at creation, so the OS window manager cannot clamp a decorated window to the desktop work area — needed for pixel-exact automated screenshot comparison.	Changes window chrome (borderless) at startup — a visible difference from an ordinary launch, not just an internal measurement knob.	false → normal decorated window	RuntimeOptions.ExactAutomationFramebuffer → GameWindow.cs:852 (CreateStartupWindowOptions)
ACDREAM_BAKE_PUBLISH_NONCE_V1	=<32-hex GUID "N" format>	Launcher-to-bake-child authorization token: when present and valid, the bake child takes a cross-process publish file lock + writes an authorization file before atomic publication (serializes with launcher recovery)	If present but fails IsValidNonce (not a 32-char Guid "N"), throws InvalidOperationException and aborts the bake. When absent, bake runs unguarded (standalone mode). Never set this manually outside the launcher's own child-process spawn.	unset (standalone unguarded bake)	BakePublicationGuardPaths.cs:12, read by BakePublicationGuard.AcquireIfRequested (AcDream.Bake/BakePublicationGuard.cs:18); set by BakeProcessRunner.cs:150/162
ACDREAM_NET_DROP_DIR	="out"/"in"/anything-else (incl. unset) → Both (case-insensitive)	Selects which direction(s) — outbound, inbound, or both — the deterministic loss-injection decorator drops	Only takes effect when ACDREAM_NET_DROP_PCT>0 (decorator is structurally absent otherwise). Drives real datagram loss on the live connection — the injection point for tools/run-connected-loss-gate.ps1. Never set during a normal/measurement run.	Both	NetDiagnostics.NetDropDir (NetDiagnostics.cs:88-90,98-104), consumed by LossyTransportDecorator.WrapIfConfigured (Transport/LossyTransportDecorator.cs:21-22), also read at WorldSession.cs:901-907 (comment only)
ACDREAM_NET_DROP_PCT	=<int 0-100> (out-of-range or unparsable → 0)	Percent chance (post-handshake-arming, per droppable datagram) that the deterministic LossyTransportDecorator drops a packet in the configured direction(s)	Fault injection. >0 wraps the real socket transport in a packet-dropping decorator for the whole session — genuinely breaks/delays delivery to exercise N1-N4 reliable-transport recovery. At 0 the decorator is never constructed (zero structural cost). Must be 0/unset for any normal run or non-loss-gate measurement.	0 (off, decorator absent)	NetDiagnostics.NetDropPercent (NetDiagnostics.cs:60-69,92-96), consumed by LossyTransportDecorator.WrapIfConfigured (:21), wired at WorldSession.cs:901-907
ACDREAM_NET_DROP_SEED	=<int> (unparsable → 1)	PRNG seed for the loss decorator (outbound seeded with seed, inbound with ~seed) — same seed reproduces an identical drop pattern	Only matters when ACDREAM_NET_DROP_PCT>0; makes fault injection deterministic/reproducible for the connected loss gate	1	NetDiagnostics.NetDropSeed (NetDiagnostics.cs:75-82), consumed by LossyTransportDecorator (:21-22)
ACDREAM_OPEN_CHARGEN	=1	Campaign CC slice CC4 interim env/test-only seam: opens the character-creation screen (gmCharGenMainUI) automatically once Runtime's chargen view goes active, bypassing the real retail Create-Character-button transition. Fires once per mount (_openOnStartConsumed latch).	Own doc comment explicitly calls this "interim env/test-only" — Campaign CC (closed 2026-08-16, user-accepted) later wired the real Create button with its roster<55-slot ghost gate, so this flag is now a bypass of that gate for automation/testing rather than the only way in.	false	RuntimeOptions.OpenCharacterCreationOnStart → CharacterCreationUiController.cs:21,524-530
ACDREAM_UI_PROBE_DUMP	=1	Enables the retail-UI automation probe's diagnostic dump path and feeds RetailUiProbeBindings/RetailUiAutomationScriptRunner. Also part of RuntimeOptions.UiProbeEnabled (`UiProbeDump \	\	UiProbeScript is set`).	RuntimeOptions.UiProbeDump → LivePresentationComposition.cs:1465-1495, InteractionRetainedUiComposition.cs:1092-1100
ACDREAM_UI_PROBE_SCRIPT	=<path>	Path to a script file the RetailUiAutomationScriptRunner executes against the retained UI (pointer/semantic-input command playback) for scripted UI regression testing.	Also flips RuntimeOptions.UiProbeEnabled true even without ACDREAM_UI_PROBE_DUMP=1.	null	RuntimeOptions.UiProbeScript → InteractionRetainedUiComposition.cs:1094
ACDREAM_VULKAN_FORCE_UNSUPPORTED	=<feature-name> (case-insensitive property name, e.g. MultiDrawIndirect)	Test knob (Slice V5): clears one named required Vulkan feature from the capability record to synthetically fail the gate, so the NotSupportedException → exit-code-4 → report path can be exercised on hardware that actually supports everything.	Deliberately breaks Vulkan startup when set to a matched feature name — this is a "make it fail on purpose" gate-testing flag, never appropriate for a normal or measurement run.	null → real capabilities used unmodified	RuntimeOptions.VulkanForcedUnsupportedFeature → VulkanCapabilityRecord.Without (VulkanCapabilityRecord.cs:113-119), consumed at VulkanGraphicsContext.cs:339
ACDREAM_VULKAN_PROBE	=1	Runs the standalone Vulkan capability-probe/bring-up harness (opens its own window, runs the capability gate, presents synthetic V6c/V6d verification scenes, captures one screenshot) instead of the real client composition host, then exits.	Its class doc (VulkanBringUpHost.cs:11) is stale — claims it additionally requires ACDREAM_RENDER_BACKEND=vulkan, which is no longer read anywhere (see that flag's row); in the current code this flag ALONE gates entry (GameWindow.cs:828: if (_options.VulkanCapabilityProbe)).	false → normal composition host	RuntimeOptions.VulkanCapabilityProbe → GameWindow.cs:828 → VulkanBringUpHost
ACDREAM_VULKAN_PROBE_FRAMES	=<int> (non-negative)	Bounds the bring-up probe harness to N presented frames so it can run unattended in CI, instead of presenting until a human closes the window.	The frame budget never cuts a pending screenshot capture short — the loop stays open until the screenshot has been attempted even past the budget, so an unattended run's whole product (a PNG) is guaranteed. Zero (unset/unparseable/explicit 0) keeps the interactive wait-for-close behavior.	0 → interactive (wait for window close)	RuntimeOptions.VulkanCapabilityProbeFrames → VulkanBringUpHost.cs:141-249

Permanent diagnostics

Flag	Value	What it does	Side effects	Default	Read by
ACDREAM_CAPTURE_PLAYER_QUANTA	=<path> (any non-whitespace path)	Opt-in JSON-Lines trace of every admitted player physics quantum (position/orientation/velocity/contact-plane snapshots at each stage boundary of CPhysicsObj::UpdateObjectInternal)	Appends+flushes one JSON line per physics quantum to the file (real file I/O on the physics tick when enabled); disabled path costs one static string null/empty check, no allocation. Read once into a mutable static property (settable via ResetForTest) rather than a typed options object.	unset (disabled, zero-alloc)	PlayerPhysicsQuantumCapture static class (AcDream.Runtime/Gameplay/PlayerPhysicsQuantumCapture.cs:22)
ACDREAM_DUMP_MOTION	=1	prints UM/[UM_STALE]/[MOTIONDONE]/VU.land/raw-hex wire dump lines tracing inbound UpdateMotion handling, remote ground-contact edges, and motion-done callbacks (bug-a/#32 stuck-cast subthread is temporary; core trace is long-lived)	print-only, but the raw-site reads in LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController.cs and UpdateMotion.cs fire on EVERY inbound motion/UM event (not cached) — Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable call per packet even when off; UpdateMotion.cs's branch additionally builds a StringBuilder hex dump when on. Rule-5 violation (raw reads outside a diagnostics-owner class) at 5+ call sites	off	THREE independent readers: PhysicsDiagnostics.DumpMotionEnabled (owner, appears unconsumed — see Notes), AnimationPresentationDiagnostics.FromEnvironment() (App owner record, cached once at startup, consumed by LiveEntityAnimationPresenter), and raw Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable reads scattered across LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController.cs (4 sites) + Core.Net/Messages/UpdateMotion.cs:163 + Runtime/Physics/RuntimeRemotePhysicsUpdater.cs:630
ACDREAM_DUMP_PLAYSCRIPT	="1" (ordinal)	Traces PhysicsScript playback: missing/empty script resolution, malformed StartTime entries, and other [pes]-prefixed hook-dispatch events	print-only (Console.WriteLine) at all 4 use sites (:85-86,136,300,328)	unset (off)	PhysicsScriptRunner.DiagEnabled (PhysicsScriptRunner.cs:61-62) — per-instance settable property seeded from the env var, not a shared static diagnostics-owner class
ACDREAM_DUMP_SURFACES	="1" (ordinal)	One-shot (per session) surface-format histogram dump for the atlas-opportunity audit — fires once after _dumpFrameCounter>=600 OnRender ticks AND _uploadMetadata.Count>=100 uploaded textures; writes to the host diagnostics directory	Doc comment claims "Zero cost when off" but _uploadMetadata[name]=(w,h,fmt) (TextureCache.cs:1042) is written unconditionally on every texture upload regardless of the flag — real (small) always-on dictionary-write cost. TickSurfaceHistogramDumpIfEnabled also re-reads Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable every OnRender frame (not cached) until the one-shot fires. Dump-write failures are caught and logged to stderr, not fatal.	unset (off)	TextureCache (TextureCache.cs:102-113 fields, gate at TextureCache.cs:802-812, dump at TextureCache.cs:814-829), Phase N.6 slice 1
ACDREAM_FRAME_PROF	=1	master toggle for the frame profiler: CPU frame time, GPU time samples, per-stage CPU attribution, per-frame alloc/GC, [frame-prof] report every ~5 s (doc: "permanent apparatus ... do not strip with session probes")	when on, samples GC.GetAllocatedBytesForCurrentThread() and stage-scope timing every frame (cheap, by design); its own XML doc claims a GPU-query self-disable tied to ACDREAM_WB_DIAG=1 that FrameProfiler.cs says no longer exists — see Notes #1; startup-only in practice (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	false (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.FrameProfEnabled / FrameProfiler
ACDREAM_PROBE_ENVCELL	=1	emits one [envcells] line per indoor frame: CellsRendered/TrianglesDrawn + ourBldgs/otherBldgs/filter counts (phase a8 relic; its own render pass was removed but the probe was kept)	print-only; implicitly turned on whenever ACDREAM_PROBE_VIS is on (getter is `_probeEnvCellEnabled \	\	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeEnvCellEnabled (backing field OR'd with ProbeVisibilityEnabled)
ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_ALL	=1	master switch that reads as AND / writes as cascade across Walk, Lookup, Upload, Xform, Cull	print-only (every underlying probe is print-only); startup-only in practice (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	false (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.IndoorAll (cascades to the 5 flags below)
ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_CULL	=1 (also set by ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_ALL=1)	emits [indoor-cull] per culled cell entity with cull reason (visibleCellIds-miss / frustum / landblock)	print-only; startup-only (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	false (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeIndoorCullEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_LOOKUP	=1 (also via ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_ALL)	emits [indoor-lookup] per visible cell entity/sec: render-data hit/miss, IsSetup, parts-hit/parts-miss tallies	print-only; startup-only (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	false (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeIndoorLookupEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_UPLOAD	=1 (also via ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_ALL)	emits [indoor-upload] requested/completed lines per EnvCell id at WbMeshAdapter's staged-drain time	print-only; startup-only (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	false (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeIndoorUploadEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_WALK	=1 (also via ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_ALL)	emits [indoor-walk] per visible cell entity/sec: world position, parent cell, landblock/AABB-visible flags, "drew" flag	print-only; startup-only (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	false (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeIndoorWalkEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_XFORM	=1 (also via ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_ALL)	emits [indoor-xform] per visible cell entity/sec: cell-geometry SetupPart's composed world-matrix translation	print-only; startup-only (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	false (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeIndoorXformEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_LOGIN_FRAMES	="1"	Per-completed-frame login/portal-wormhole presentation classification (world/tunnel/black/void); logs [login-frames] on each classification transition	print-only. "Not a user setting; not in RuntimeOptions; not persisted" (doc comment).	unset (off)	RenderPresentationDiagnostics.ProbeLoginFrames (LoginPresentationFrameProbe.cs:28-29), consumed by LoginPresentationFrameProbe.Process
ACDREAM_PROBE_NET	="1"	Emits [net-out] (per outbound reliable message), [net-tick] (1 Hz WorldSession.Tick summary incl. reliable-transport rates), [net-final] (cumulative stats at Dispose), and [cmd-gate] (generation-gated command rejections)	print-only. Doc comment: "the counters themselves increment unconditionally in TransportStats; only the string work is gated" — i.e. the underlying stats tracking has a small always-on cost independent of this flag, but this flag itself gates only string/console formatting.	unset (off)	NetDiagnostics.ProbeNet (NetDiagnostics.cs:56-57), issue #260 probe family
ACDREAM_PROBE_RESOLVE	=1	gates one structured [resolve] line per PhysicsEngine.ResolveWithTransition call (in/target/out position+cell, ok-vs-partial, grounded/contact status, wall normal, walkable-polygon validity, responsible entity) (l.2a slice 1, general-purpose resolver probe)	print-only, ~30 Hz per moving entity while on	off	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeResolveEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_REVEAL	="1"	While a reveal destination's composite warmup is incomplete, emits one [composite-warmup] line/second: pending queue depth, scan state, upload-budget gate, first few unresolved GfxObj ids	print-only	unset (off)	NetDiagnostics.ProbeReveal (NetDiagnostics.cs:115-116), issue #260
ACDREAM_PROBE_REVEAL_TIMING	="1"	Wall-clock attribution of each login/portal reveal hold: [reveal-timing] lines for begin/first-true readiness edges (render/composites/collision/gate/materialized) with elapsed ms, 1 Hz progress, and one SUMMARY line at viewport reveal	print-only; doc comment: "never constructed unless the probe env is set, changes no behavior, and costs one branch per Evaluate poll otherwise" (i.e. genuinely near-zero cost when off — confirmed, RevealTimingProbe object itself is null when disabled)	unset (off)	StreamingDiagnostics.ProbeRevealTiming (StreamingDiagnostics.cs:65-66), consumed by LandblockPresentationPipeline.cs:69, PublicationTimingProbe.cs:34, RevealTimingProbe.cs (construction gated)
ACDREAM_PROBE_SOUND_WIRE	="1"	One line per inbound server Sound event (0xF750) and per wire-sound play decision, with the drop reason when nothing plays — used to determine whether missing interior soundscapes are server- or client-side	print-only, consumed at AudioHookSink.cs:159 and EntityEffectController.cs:123	unset (off)	AudioDiagnostics.ProbeWireSoundsEnabled (AudioDiagnostics.cs:20-21)
ACDREAM_PROBE_USEABILITY_FALLBACK	=1	gates a per-call log of IsUseableTarget calls that take the null-useability fallback path (creature/door/lifestone passes) (measures a real ace-vs-retail data gap, not a bug investigation)	print-only; measures how often ACE ships entities without _useability set	off	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeUseabilityFallbackEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_VIS	=1	emits [vis] line on root-cell CHANGE: visible cell ids, OutsideView poly/plane counts, per-cell plane counts, scissor-fallback count (phase u.2d repurposed the flag; its DebugPanel mirror is unreachable — #434)	print-only; ALSO implicitly enables the separate ACDREAM_PROBE_ENVCELL probe (its getter ORs with this flag — see Notes #3); startup-only in practice (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)	false (off)	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeVisibilityEnabled
ACDREAM_REMOTE_VEL_DIAG	=1	prints per-UM/per-tick remote-velocity and animation-cycle diagnostic lines; Runtime/Physics/RemoteMotion.cs carries diagnostic-only fields (PrevServerPos, PrevServerPosTime, MaxRootMotionSpeedSinceLastUP, LastOmegaDiagLogTime) unconditionally on every remote — small fixed per-instance memory regardless of the flag, not gated (long-lived remote-velocity/animation diagnostic, commit a.1)	print-only, but the raw-site reads in LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController.cs fire on every UM/tick even when off (rule-5 violation, Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable call per event, 6+ call sites)	off	THREE readers: AnimationPresentationDiagnostics.FromEnvironment() (App owner record, cached at startup, consumed by LiveEntityAnimationPresenter for [SEQSTATE]/[CURRNODE]/other part-diagnostic lines, throttled to 1/sec/entity) + raw Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable reads scattered across LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController.cs (6+ sites: [UM_RAW], [FWD_WIRE], [VEL_DIAG], [UPCYCLE_SRC], [UM_STALE]) + RemoteServerControlledVelocityCycle.cs:68 ([UPCYCLE])

Temporary probes

Each row names the issue that owns it. A temporary probe is deleted in the same commit as its investigation's fix — if you find one here whose issue is closed, the strip was missed; delete both.

Probe debt, measured 2026-08-24: 64 temporary probes exist. They cite 21 distinct issues, and 14 of those are already closed — 17 rows below are apparatus whose investigation ended without the strip. A further 14 rows name no owning issue at all, which is worse: nobody can tell when they are safe to remove. Tracked as #435; do not add to the pile. Every probe here still costs a branch on its hot path even when unset, and a handful re-read the environment per frame rather than caching (see their side-effects column).

Flag	Owning investigation	Value	What it does	Side effects	Read by
ACDREAM_A8_DUMP_PV	(unattributed)	=1	Dumps local→NDC→clipped portal geometry (first 2 Build calls per distinct camera cell)	print-only (Console.WriteLine)	PortalVisibilityBuilder.cs:270-271 (static field, not a diagnostics-owner class)
ACDREAM_AIRBORNE_DIAG	#42	=1	prints [SWEEP]/[SWEEP-OBJ] lines tracing airborne-sweep XY drift, only when !isOnGround	print-only; re-reads the env var (Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable) on every airborne resolve/candidate instead of caching — minor per-call overhead when the flag is unset too	raw reads in PhysicsEngine.cs:2300 + TransitionTypes.cs:3905 (issue #42)
ACDREAM_CLIP_DEBUG	#176	=1	forces the EnvCell SHELL pass to map every instance to clip slot 0 (no-clip) instead of its cell's portal-slice region	ALTERS RENDERED OUTPUT: shells draw whole/unclipped instead of trimmed — a visual isolation mode, not a log-only probe; no DebugPanel mirror	RenderingDiagnostics.ClipDebugNoShellTrim
ACDREAM_DUMP_APPEARANCE	#5	="1"	Logs every 0xF625 ObjDescEvent + 0xF7DB UpdateObject with body length, target guid, hex preview — used to debug remote-player appearance asymmetry	print-only (Console.WriteLine)	WorldSession static field DumpAppearanceEnabled (WorldSession.cs:792-793), raw scattered read, issue #5 diagnostic
ACDREAM_DUMP_CELLS	#98	=<comma list of hex cell ids>	one-shot JSON dump of any cached EnvCell whose id matches the list, to ProbeDumpCellsPath (issue #98 fixture capture)	file I/O once per matching cell id (no-op on repeat); fixture-generation tool, not a perf-neutral no-op when ids are listed	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeDumpCellIds (ParseHexIdList)
ACDREAM_DUMP_CELLS_DIR	(unattributed)	=<dir>	overrides the output directory for ACDREAM_DUMP_CELLS	print/file-path only; no effect unless ACDREAM_DUMP_CELLS is also set	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeDumpCellsPath
ACDREAM_DUMP_CLOTHING	(unattributed)	=1	Print-only: dumps clothing/part-swap diagnostics for a spawned entity when its setup has ≥10 mesh parts (humanoids). Gated additionally on part count even when the flag is on.	print-only	RuntimeOptions.DumpClothing → DatLiveEntityProjectionMaterializer.cs:251-258,1190
ACDREAM_DUMP_EDGE_SLIDE	(unattributed)	=1	gates five edge-slide: trace lines (stepdown-failed, stepdown-branch-enter, phase2, branch, cliffslide) inside the L.4-diag edge-slide/cliff-slide code path	print-only; property re-reads Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable on EVERY call (not cached in a field) — repeated env lookups during edge-slide resolution when active; raw read outside any diagnostics-owner class (rule-5 candidate)	Transition.DumpEdgeSlideEnabled (private expression-bodied property in TransitionTypes.cs, raw read)
ACDREAM_DUMP_ENTITY	#119	comma-separated hex ids, optional 0x prefix, malformed segments ignored	per-entity HYDRATE/DRAW/WALK-REJECT trace for a watchlist of Setup/GfxObj source ids across LandblockBuildFactory, WbDrawDispatcher	print-only; every call site fast-exits on Count==0. The same id set is ALSO reused (undocumented in its own XML doc) as the watchlist for the ACDREAM_PROBE_OUTSTAGE [outstage-own] per-entity verdict probe — see Notes	RenderingDiagnostics.DumpEntitySourceIds
ACDREAM_DUMP_GFXOBJS	#98	=<comma list of hex GfxObj ids>	one-shot JSON dump of any cached GfxObj's polygon table + BSP root metadata matching the list, to ProbeDumpGfxObjsPath (issue #98 fixture capture)	file I/O once per matching id (no-op on repeat)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeDumpGfxObjIds (ParseHexIdList)
ACDREAM_DUMP_GFXOBJS_DIR	(unattributed)	=<dir>	overrides the output directory for ACDREAM_DUMP_GFXOBJS	print/file-path only; no effect unless ACDREAM_DUMP_GFXOBJS is also set	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeDumpGfxObjsPath
ACDREAM_DUMP_LIVE_SPAWNS	(unattributed)	=1	Print-only: logs every live CreateObject spawn as it's processed, plus DROP lines when a setup dat id is missing.	print-only	RuntimeOptions.DumpLiveSpawns → DatLiveEntityProjectionMaterializer.cs:161-226, SessionPlayerComposition.cs:566,712
ACDREAM_DUMP_MOVE_TRUTH	(unattributed)	=1	Print-only: records the local player's last outbound movement wire truth (position, cell, contact byte, velocity) for comparing what was actually sent vs. local physics state. Early-returns with zero cost when disabled.	print-only	RuntimeOptions.DumpMoveTruth → GameWindow.cs:795 → MovementTruthDiagnosticController
ACDREAM_DUMP_OPCODES	#5	="1"	Logs first occurrence of each genuinely-unhandled inbound opcode (deduped by opcode)	print-only. Must stay the LAST else-if in the dispatch chain per comment (else it would intercept handled opcodes) — currently correct.	WorldSession static field DumpOpcodesEnabled (WorldSession.cs:788-789, consumed WorldSession.cs:2391-2398), issue #5 diagnostic. Also mirrored (display-only, non-functional) via DebugPanel.cs:241/DebugVM.cs:227.
ACDREAM_DUMP_SCENERY_Z	#48	=1	Per-spawn Z-placement diagnostic for procedural scenery (trees/bushes/rocks), added for issue #48 (the "trees-in-sky" bug).	NOT print-only — this is a real behavior fork, not just added logging. LandblockBuildFactory.cs:167-178: when the flag is on, the streaming worker calls a separate, duplicate scenery-building method (BuildSceneryEntitiesForStreaming, a full parallel reimplementation of GfxObj/Setup mesh resolution + placement inline in this file) instead of production's LandblockPhysicsContentBuilder.HydrateProceduralScenery. Any visual/measurement run taken with this flag set is exercising a different scenery-placement code path than production, which can drift from it silently.	RuntimeOptions.DumpSceneryZ → SessionPlayerComposition.cs:280 → LandblockBuildFactory.cs:23,42,168,335
ACDREAM_DUMP_SKY	(unattributed)	=1	Print-only: dumps decoded SkyDesc raw values on region load (SkyDescLoader.cs) and per-GfxObj Surface.Type/translucency flags on first upload (SkyRenderer.cs), plus gates a TimeSync console diagnostic in GameWindow. Built to resolve specific open questions about retail sky units and GfxObjReplace timing (2026-04-23 research), now answered but the dumps remain wired.	Three independent reads of the SAME env var, only one of which (RuntimeOptions.DumpSky) goes through the typed options object; the other two are raw scattered reads (see Notes). SkyRenderer.cs:582's raw read is in the App layer and has no architectural excuse for bypassing RuntimeOptions — _options.DumpSky was already available to that composition. print-only in all three sites.	RuntimeOptions.DumpSky (typed) → GameWindow.cs:704 (TimeSyncDiagnostic); also two independent raw Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable reads at SkyDescLoader.cs:392 (Core) and SkyRenderer.cs:582 (App)
ACDREAM_DUMP_STEEP_ROOF	(unattributed)	=1	gates [steep-roof] KILL-VELOCITY-APPLIED in PhysicsEngine.ResolveWithTransition when retail's kill_velocity zeroes body velocity on steep-slope impact, plus per-frame plane-normal traces in TransitionTypes/PlayerMovementController	print-only	PhysicsDiagnostics.DumpSteepRoofEnabled
ACDREAM_DUMP_STEPUP	(unattributed)	=1	prints stepup: enter normal=… verdict=WALKABLE/STEEP … on every step-up attempt	print-only; raw per-call Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable read outside a diagnostics-owner class (rule-5 violation); content is mirrored (not replaced) into the buffered [transit-fail-stepup] trace gated separately by ACDREAM_DUMP_TRANSIT_FAIL	raw read in Transition.DoStepUp (TransitionTypes.cs:5991, re-read every call — not cached)
ACDREAM_DUMP_TRANSIT_FAIL	#345	=1	buffers per-tick [transit-fail-insert]/[transit-fail-stepup]/[transit-fail-walk]/[transit-fail-adjust] trace lines into a [ThreadStatic] list and flushes them to console ONLY when a tick requested nonzero XY movement but delivered zero (self-selecting "stuck tick" predicate)	print-only, zero allocation when off (flag checked before touching any buffer per its own doc); buffer/list allocation only on ticks that are already stuck	PhysicsDiagnostics.DumpTransitFailEnabled
ACDREAM_DUMP_VENDOR	(unattributed)	="1"	[vendor-diag]-prefixed trace across ~25 call sites for two live-only vendor regressions: Chain A (far-click walk-to-use approach never opens the shop window) and Chain B (splittable vendor stack selection shows no quantity slider)	print-only (Console.WriteLine), verified true no-op when unset	VendorDiagnostics.DumpVendorEnabled (VendorDiagnostics.cs:25-26) — a proper diagnostics-owner class per Code Structure Rule 5, shared across App/Core.Net/Runtime
ACDREAM_DUMP_VITALS	(unattributed)	="1"	Logs every PrivateUpdateVital(Current) parse, every parsed PlayerDescription (vector flags/attr/spell counts), and PlayerDescriptionParser trailer/mid-walk FormatException failures with position	print-only at every site. PlayerDescriptionParser.cs:458/473 re-read the env var raw inside catch blocks on every parse failure (rare, but scattered/uncached).	Read independently (not shared) at 4 sites: WorldSession.cs:790-791 (DumpVitalsEnabled), GameEventWiring.cs:1041 (local dumpPd at PlayerDescription registration), PlayerDescriptionParser.cs:458 and :473 (per-catch-block raw reads). Also mirrored (display-only, non-functional) via DebugPanel.cs:240/DebugVM.cs:225.
ACDREAM_HIDE_PART	(unattributed)	=<int>	Hides one mesh part by index on entities with ≥10 parts (humanoids) — a debugging aid for equipment/clothing part-visibility issues.	Real (visible) behavior change, not print-only, but scoped to a single diagnostic index and off by default.	RuntimeOptions.HidePartIndex → LivePresentationComposition.cs:608 → LiveEntityAnimationPresenter.cs:21,38,243
ACDREAM_LIGHT_DEBUG	#176	=<int> (int.TryParse; unset/invalid → 0)	shader isolation mode uploaded as uLightDebug by EnvCellRenderer + WbDrawDispatcher: 0=off, 1=ambient-only vertex lighting, 2=kill dynamic point lights, 3=raw vLit visualization (texture ignored)	ALTERS RENDERED OUTPUT directly every draw pass (changes fragment-shader lighting/texturing) — not a log probe; no DebugPanel mirror	RenderingDiagnostics.LightDebugMode
ACDREAM_PROBE_AUTOWALK	issue #63	=1	gates [autowalk-out]/[autowalk-mt]/[autowalk-up] lines in LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController tracing local-player server-initiated auto-walk (SendUse/SendPickUp, inbound UpdateMotion, inbound UpdatePosition)	print-only; filtered to local player only, low volume	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeAutoWalkEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_BUILDING	l.2d slice 1	=1	gates the multi-line [resolve-bldg] BSP-shadow-hit trace in TransitionTypes.FindObjCollisions, one-time [entity-source] registration logs in GameWindow, [door-cycle] UM dispatch trail, and a one-shot [setstate-hex] wire dump of the first SetState (0xF74B) packet in WorldSession	print-only; also un-gates the PhysicsDiagnostics.LastBspHitPoly diagnostic side-channel (a static field write in BSPQuery/FlatBspQuery, read back by the [resolve-bldg] line) — no gameplay effect, but an extra static-field write per BSP hit while on; heavy output (one multi-line entry per BSP hit per physics tick)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeBuildingEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_CELL	(unattributed)	=1	gates one [cell-transit] line per PlayerMovementController.CellId change (old→new cell, position, reason tag)	print-only; low volume (only on actual cell crossings)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeCellEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_CELLSET	a6.p5	=1	gates PhysicsDiagnostics.LogCellSetBuild, one [cellset-build] line per BuildCellSetAndPickContaining call (seed cell, sphere XY, candidate list) from CellTransit.cs:1468	print-only; builds a StringBuilder of the candidate id list only when the flag is on	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeCellSetEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_CELL_CACHE	indoor walking phase d	=1	gates one [cell-cache] line per EnvCell first-cached in PhysicsDataCache.CacheCellStruct (poly counts, BSP root structure)	print-only; fires at most once per EnvCell (cache is no-op after first population); no DebugPanel mirror	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeCellCacheEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_CHILD_CELL	c4 route 7	=1	gates one [child-cell] line per Runtime committed-child canonical-cell write in RuntimeLiveEntitySessionController, RuntimeEntityObjectLifetime, RuntimeEntityDirectory (parent/child guid, old/new cell, cause tag)	print-only	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeChildCellEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_CLIPROUTE	"throwaway apparatus — strip once §4 ships"	=1	print-on-change [clip-route] / [clip-route-disp] / [clip-route-scis] lines: outside-slice clip routing, region-SSBO bytes, terrain-UBO head, actual GL/RHI scissor state	print-only	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeClipRouteEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_CONTACT_PLANE	spike-only, 2026-05-20	=1	gates one [cp-write] line per write to CollisionInfo.ContactPlane*/LastKnownContactPlane* fields (field, old→new, caller method via stack walk, source line); only logs on actual value changes	print-only, but performs a stack walk to identify the caller method when firing — real CPU cost per write while on (not just a string format); suppresses no-op writes to bound volume	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeContactPlaneEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_ENT	#138	="1"	Traces the persistent player entity across teleport streaming churn: presence in the render draw-set flat view vs. survival of the dynamics cull, to distinguish "missing from draw set" vs "present but culled"	print-only, "Observation-only — emits no behavior change" (doc comment). LogPlayerDynOnChange dedupes by transition to avoid per-frame spam. Marked STRIP-once-root-caused (like the dense-town FPS apparatus).	EntityVanishProbe.Enabled (EntityVanishProbe.cs:23-24), issue #138-B
ACDREAM_PROBE_FLAP	"throwaway apparatus — strip once the flap mechanism is confirmed"	=1	EVERY FRAME (unthrottled, not change-gated) while the camera root is indoor: [flap] from PortalVisibilityBuilder.Build (portal side-test/traverse/cull/projection) + paired [flap-cam] from PhysicsCameraCollisionProbe/[flap-sweep] (FindCameraCell resolution, eye positions)	print-only, but unthrottled per-frame StringBuilder allocation + Console.WriteLine on multiple call sites while indoor — heavy log volume/allocation under sustained indoor play; does not alter rendered output	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeFlapEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_GLSTATE	"throwaway apparatus — strip once §4 ships"	=1	print-on-change [gl-state] line: depth/blend/cull/scissor/viewport/draw-FBO/color-mask/glGetError snapshot	print-only per its docstring; the actual state-snapshot/comparison call site lives outside RenderingDiagnostics.cs and was outside this pass's cited read sites	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeGlStateEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_BSP	indoor walking phase 1 / cellar-lip wedge	=1	gates [indoor-bsp] (per BSPQuery.FindCollisions indoor call), [neg-poly] (near-miss polygon detail in BSPQuery), and [stepdown-decide] (step-down accept/reject inputs in TransitionTypes) trace lines	print-only; also un-gates the LastBspHitPoly diagnostic side-channel write (same as ACDREAM_PROBE_BUILDING)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeIndoorBspEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_INDOOR_LIGHT	#176/#177 discriminator, a7.l1	=1	rate-limited (1 Hz) [indoor-light] line from LightManager.BuildPointLightSnapshot: point-light pool set composition (pool/cellLess/registered/capped/byCell histogram)	print-only, explicitly "inert unless set" per the call-site comment (LightManager.cs:368-370); no DebugPanel mirror	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeIndoorLightEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_JUMP	campaign ch round 2	=1	gates the [jump] line in PlayerMovementController.ReportJumpRefusal, printed UNCONDITIONALLY (even when OnInterfaceText is null) to distinguish "branch never fired" from "branch fired, callback dropped it"	print-only; Headless/Policies/HeadlessBotPolicy.cs's JumpProbeHeadlessBotPolicy doc comment references this flag as a companion but does not itself read it — it is a headless bot behavior meant to be run alongside ACDREAM_PROBE_JUMP=1, not a second consumer	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeJumpEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_LIGHT	#133 a7	=1	rate-limited (1 Hz) [light] line + up to 3 [light-detail] lines: scene ambient/sun/registered/active light counts and nearest active point/spot light detail	print-only ("Output-only, inert when off" per doc)	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeLightEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_LOCAL_TELEPORT	c4 route 3 d-t8	=1	gates one [local-tp] line per local-player portal-arrival attempt (committed AND refused) from LocalPlayerTeleportController and RuntimeAcceptedPositionDriveController.LogPortalArrivalAttempt — the single Runtime chokepoint both graphical and headless hosts share	print-only; dual-host parity evidence (same line shape from both hosts)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeLocalTeleportEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_OUTSTAGE	#131	=1	print-on-change [outstage] line (outside-stage routing + per-slice cone verdicts) from RetailPViewRenderer; plus, when ACDREAM_DUMP_ENTITY also names watched ids, [outstage-own] per-entity PASS/CULL lines	print-only	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeOutStageEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_PARK	issue #309	=1	gates [park]/[park-restore] lines when a RuntimeSetPositionState placement parks or a cancelled park's withdrawal is rolled back	print-only, low volume (parks are rare); in a MULTI-session headless host, HeadlessStaticStateAudit.ValidateProcessIsolation THROWS HeadlessConfigurationException at startup if this (or any other process-global Probe*/Dump* boolean, CollisionShadowSampleEvery, or PhysicsResolveCapture) is enabled — refusal is waived only when sessionCount==1 (logs loudly and proceeds instead)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeParkEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_PHANTOM	#113, "throwaway apparatus — strip when the phantom closes"	=1	print-on-change [phantom-shell] / [phantom-objs] lines identifying which draw mechanism (shell pass vs. entity list) draws geometry unclipped/un-viewcone'd per cell	print-only	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbePhantomEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_PLACEMENT_FAIL	issue #98	=1	gates one [place-fail] line per Path-1 (Placement/Ethereal) Collided return in BSPQuery.FindCollisions, plus one per Transition.DoStepDown placement-insert rejection	print-only; low volume (fires only on actual rejection)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbePlacementFailEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_POLY_DUMP	a6.p3 slice 4, issue #98	=1	gates one [poly-dump] line (full polygon geometry: cell, poly index, sides, plane, all vertices) per AdjustSphereToPlane push-back call	print-only; HEAVY output (one full-geometry dump per push-back call) — doc explicitly says "use briefly, then turn off"	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbePolyDumpEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_PORTAL_CHURN	"throwaway apparatus — strip once the bound ships"	=1	one [portal-churn] summary per PortalVisibilityBuilder.Build call: per-cell pop/re-pop counts, re-enqueue totals, reciprocal-clip pre→post region growth	print-only	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbePortalChurnEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_PUSH_BACK	phase a6.p1	=1	gates [push-back] (BSPQuery.AdjustSphereToPlane), [push-back-disp] (BSPQuery.FindCollisions 6-path dispatcher), [push-back-cell] (Transition.CheckOtherCells multi-cell BSP) lines	print-only; the DebugVM.cs:380 "runtime mirror" is dead code — DebugVM/DebugPanel (AcDream.UI.Abstractions/Panels/Debug/) are never instantiated anywhere in src/ (the ImGui frontend they required was removed at Campaign V slice V11); only the startup env var takes effect	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbePushBackEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_PVINPUT	"throwaway apparatus — strip once the jitter source is pinned"	=1	one [pv-input] line/frame with 6-dp-precision PortalVisibilityBuilder.Build inputs (camera eye, player position, VP elements) + resulting flood-cell count; deliberately runs WITHOUT the heavier [flap] probe so the log stays diffable	print-only	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbePvInputEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_REACH	#334, temporary — strip with the probe family	=1	gates [reach-q] (per-cell candidate-disposition query summary, emitted even on zero-entry cells) and [reach-obj] (per-candidate disposition: exempt/no-shape/bsp-only-skip/tested) lines in Transition.FindObjCollisionsInCell	print-only; runs on a HOT path (per cell per transitional insert); de-duplicated via two Dictionary caches with a lock-protected gate (_reachGate) — a real per-call dictionary lookup + occasional lock contention while on, bounded emission (≤2/sec per cell, ≤1/sec per candidate)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeReachEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_REMOTE_LANDING	bug a / issue #32, temporary	=1	gates [remote-landing]/[remote-landing-gate]/[remote-landing-after] lines around remote ground-contact edges in LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController and RuntimeRemotePhysicsUpdater; MotionTableDispatchSink.ApplyMotion unconditionally forwards its result to PhysicsDiagnostics.RecordRemoteLandingDispatch (self-guarded internally, no behavior change)	print-only; uses [ThreadStatic] capture latches (_remoteLandingApplyCalls etc.) so a headless host ticking several sessions in parallel doesn't cross-contaminate	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeRemoteLandingEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_REMOTE_SLIDE	bug b, temporary — strip once two-client roof capture lands	=1 OR =<comma-separated hex GUID list>	gates [remote-slide-up]/[remote-slide-vec]/[remote-slide-snap]/[remote-slide-enq] lines across LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController, InterpolationManager, RuntimeRemotePhysicsUpdater, RuntimeRemoteSteadyStatePosition tracing two candidate remote-slide "blip" producers	print-only; BeginRemoteSlideAttribution/GUID-stamping calls are UNCONDITIONAL at several call sites (self-guard is internal), so a [ThreadStatic] field write happens on every remote tick regardless of the flag (cheap, non-allocating); a GUID allow-list narrows output to specific entities for a readable two-client capture	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeRemoteSlideEnabled + ProbeRemoteSlideGuids (raw string parsed via ParseHexIdList unless it's the literal "1")
ACDREAM_PROBE_REMOTE_TELEPORT	c4 route 4b-3, temporary	=1	gates one [remote-teleport] line per routed remote teleport arm in LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController.ApplyRemoteContactRouting	print-only; a 2026-08-04 fix moved the enabled-check to the CALL SITE because the probe's internal self-guard did not prevent teleportStatus.ToString() from being evaluated/allocated on every teleport regardless of flag state — now properly guarded	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeRemoteTeleportEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_SEAMDRAW	#176, "throwaway apparatus"	"1"/"true"/blank → default #176 Facility Hub cell set (7 fixed hex ids); otherwise comma-separated hex cell-id list	change-deduped + 2 s-heartbeat [seam-cell]/[seam-snap]/[seam-ent]/[seam-mask] lines from EnvCellRenderer.Render and WbDrawDispatcher describing per-instance transforms and resolved light-set identities at target cells	print-only	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeSeamDrawEnabled / SeamDrawTargetCells
ACDREAM_PROBE_SHELL	#78, "throwaway apparatus — strip once the indoor-enclosure render is fixed"	=1	one [shell] line per opaque-pass EnvCellRenderer.Render call: per filtered cell — snapshot presence, gfxObj/batch/index/translucent/zero-bindless-handle counts	print-only; allocates a StringBuilder and loops every visible cell on every opaque pass while enabled	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeShellEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_STEP_HEIGHTS	issue #338	=1	gates edge-triggered [step-h] lines at prepare/publish/resolve sites tracing step-up/step-down height provenance	print-only; AnnounceStepHeightProbeOnce prints TWO self-report lines EXACTLY ONCE PER PROCESS regardless of the flag's value (reports the flag's own state + the raw env var text + the running assembly's file path) — this self-report line is NOT gated by the flag itself, only rate-limited to once	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeStepHeightsEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_STEP_WALK	a6.p3 issue #98	=1	gates [step-walk] lines at select points in the transition sub-step loop and step-down probe (requested vs adjusted offset, sphere positions, contact planes, walkable flags)	print-only; no DebugPanel mirror	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeStepWalkEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_STICKY	r5-v3 issue #171	=1	gates [sticky] lifecycle lines (STICK/UNSTICK/LEASE-EXPIRE/TARGET-status teardown) and per-armed-tick steer lines in AcDream.Core.Physics.Motion.StickyManager, plus [sticky-snap-skip] in LiveEntityNetworkUpdateController when a server hard-snap is suppressed for a stuck entity	print-only; heavy while a pack is stuck (~60 Hz × stuck count)	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeStickyEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_SUPPORT	issue #337, temporary	=1	gates [support] (per resolve, per body INCLUDING corpses/NPCs — independent terrain sample at the body's out-XY compared against the contact plane's height/provenance) and [geom] (once per nearby GfxObj — physics-BSP vertex cloud vs visual mesh AABB coincidence verdict) lines in PhysicsEngine	print-only; [support] performs an INDEPENDENT terrain height sample every time it fires (real extra computation beyond the resolve itself, throttled to 4 Hz per body plus every 10 cm of vertical movement); pure reads only, never mutates production collision state	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeSupportEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_SWEPT	phase w stage 0	=1	gates one [cell-swept] line per ResolveWithTransition call comparing the transition's swept cell vs the legacy static ResolveCellId path	print-only	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeSweptEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_TELEPORT	2026-06-22, "removable diagnostic"	=1	gates [tp-probe] lines (LogTeleport) at AIM/ENQ/BUILD/APPLY/PLACED teleport-pipeline events across LocalPlayerTeleportController and RuntimeAcceptedPositionDriveController, with cross-thread monotonic timestamps	print-only	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeTeleportEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_TEXFLUSH	#105	=1	one [tex-flush] line whenever WbMeshAdapter.Tick's staged-texture-update picture changes (pending layer updates before/after the per-frame mipmap flush)	print-only	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeTexFlushEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_VIEWER	#119-residual	=1	one [viewer] line per CHANGE of (root cell, flood size, OutsideView poly count, player cell), with mm-precision projection eye — capture half of the tower-ascent capture→replay loop (TowerAscentReplayTests)	print-only	RenderingDiagnostics.ProbeViewerEnabled
ACDREAM_PROBE_WALK_MISS	issues #83, spike-only	=1	gates [walk-miss] (per Transition.TryFindIndoorWalkablePlane MISS) and [floor-polys] (per indoor cell cached, enumerating walkable-eligible polygons) lines	print-only; no DebugPanel mirror	PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeWalkMissEnabled
ACDREAM_WIRE_MESH	#337, explicitly "temporary"	=1	when the separate F2 collision-wireframe overlay is already active, replaces its cheap broadphase-proxy-cylinder drawing with the object's REAL physics-BSP polygon edges (cyan) + visual mesh AABB (magenta) + terrain triangle under the player (yellow), resolved live every frame	ALTERS RENDERED OUTPUT (debug overlay geometry): adds real per-frame physics-BSP polygon extraction + line-drawing cost while F2 is on; only takes effect when the separate F2 toggle (_state.CollisionWireframesVisible) is also enabled; also emits a throttled print-on-change stats line	RenderingDiagnostics.CollisionMeshWireframeEnabled
ACDREAM_WIRE_RADIUS	companion knob to #337/acdream_wire_mesh	=<float metres> (float.TryParse, invariant culture; falls back to 30 if unparsable or ≤0)	sets the radius around the player within which CollisionMeshWireframeEnabled resolves polygon geometry	larger radius = more physics-BSP polygon extraction/line-drawing cost per frame; only matters while ACDREAM_WIRE_MESH=1	RenderingDiagnostics.CollisionMeshWireframeRadius

Deprecated

Flag	Value	What it does	Side effects	Default	Read by
ACDREAM_DEVTOOLS	=1	logs a one-time "ImGui dev UI removed" notice; the only remaining functional consumer is VulkanGraphicsContext.cs:184 (enableOptionalExtensions: _options.DevTools, selects optional Vulkan validation/debug-utils extensions)	real effect: turns on Vulkan validation/debug-utils extensions (can change perf and can surface validation-layer errors that don't occur when off) — NOT measurement-neutral for a perf gate; GameWindow.DevToolsEnabled is a hardcoded false const (dead — no ImGui dev UI exists to gate); DevToolsInputCaptureSource(bool enabled) explicitly discards its enabled ctor arg (_ = enabled;) — dead parameter, always reports WantCaptureKeyboard=false	off	RuntimeOptions.DevTools (typed, Program.cs/RuntimeOptions.Parse)
ACDREAM_STREAM_RADIUS	=<int> (non-negative)	Legacy override for the streaming near/far radii, applied on top of the quality-preset's radii at session-start composition.	CLAUDE.md explicitly documents this as "legacy" and warns against using it for measurement. Confirmed in code (SessionPlayerComposition.cs:256-259): nearRadius = legacyRadius; farRadius = Math.Max(legacyRadius, farRadius) — it FORCES NearRadius and only ever RAISES (never lowers) FarRadius. It is set once at session-start composition and is silently discarded by any later Settings quality change: RuntimeSettingsController.ApplyQuality → RuntimeSettingsTargets.ApplyQuality → StreamingController.ReconfigureRadii recomputes radii straight from the quality preset with no knowledge of this override. A measurement/gate run taken with this set is measuring a different streaming window than production and than any run that later touches Settings.	null → quality-preset radii unmodified (production default: High preset, Near 4 / Far 12)	RuntimeOptions.LegacyStreamRadius → SessionPlayerComposition.cs:254-268

---

Retired

Flags that no longer exist, kept only so a stale script or an old research document does not send someone hunting. Rows below this marker are exempt from the "must still exist" check.

Flag	Retired	Replacement
ACDREAM_RUN_SKILL	Client-side run-skill override for local motion prediction. Skills now arrive from the server (LiveMovementStatsApplier); the hardcoded fallback is 200.	none — server-authoritative
ACDREAM_JUMP_SKILL	As above. The fallback is 300, not the 200 that CLAUDE.md advertised.	none — server-authoritative
ACDREAM_RENDER_BACKEND	Selected the GL-vs-Vulkan backend. Campaign V deleted the OpenGL backend; Vulkan is the only one. Two comments still named it as a live co-requisite until 2026-08-24.	none
ACDREAM_ANIM_SPEED_SCALE	Animation-speed multiplier from the pre-retail-sequencer era; died with the 1.248x factor.	none
ACDREAM_A8_AUDIT	Phase A8 EnvCell batch/cull audit dump. Its only caller never existed; EnvCellRenderer.CollectCellAuditLines was unreachable and was deleted 2026-08-24.	ACDREAM_PROBE_ENVCELL