The configuration file

There is a configuration file which stores most of the configration settings of Gaia Sky. This section is devoted to these seetings that are not represented in the GUI but are still configurable. The configuration file is located in $GS_CONFIG/global.properties (see folders). The file is annotated with comments specifying the function of most properties. However, here is an explanation of some of the properties found in this file that are not represented in the GUI.

• scene.octree.maxstars – the maximum number of stars loaded at a time from LOD (octree-backed) catalogs. Increase this to allow for more stars to be loaded. When this number is hit, the application unloads old, unobserved octants.

• controls.blacklist – list of game controllers to ignore.

• data.limit.mag – this contains the limiting magnitude above which stars shall not be loaded. Not all data loaders implement this. It is now deprecated.

Below is the default global.properties file for Gaia Sky 3.0.0.

# GAIA SKY CONFIGURATION FILE

# Configuration version
properties.version=30000

# Multithreading enabled?
global.conf.multithreading=true

# In case multithreading is on, this sets the number of threads to create.
# If zero or negative, it uses the default value, which is the number of cores.
# You should not set this much higher than the actual number of physical cores in your computer.
global.conf.numthreads=0

# SCREEN CONFIGURATION

# This activates output to the default monitor. Deactivate only to enable headless mode.
graphics.screen.screenoutput=true

# Fullscreen mode width
graphics.screen.fullscreen.width=1920

# Fullscreen mode height
graphics.screen.fullscreen.height=1080

# Windowed mode width
graphics.screen.width=

# Windowed mode height
graphics.screen.height=

# Is fullscreen activated?
graphics.screen.fullscreen=false

# Resizable enabled in windowed mode
graphics.screen.resizable=true

# Enable or disable vsync to prevent screen tearing. FPS will be limited to monitor refresh frequency.
graphics.screen.vsync=true

# Limiting FPS - caps the frame rate to the given value. Set to zero to uncap
graphics.limit.fps=0


# IMAGE RENDERING SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
# The frame output mode: [simple|redraw]
# simple - the current openGL buffer is written to a file. Screenshot will look exactly like the screen
# redraw - the image is redrawn with optionally different effects and resolution, and then it is written to a file.
graphics.render.mode=simple

graphics.render.width=1280

graphics.render.height=720

# Target FPS for the rendered images
graphics.render.targetfps=60

# Target FPS for the camera recording
graphics.camera.recording.targetfps=60

# Path type of camera position in keyframe mode: SPLINE | LINEAR
graphics.camera.keyframe.path.position=SPLINE
# Path type of camera orientation in keyframe mode: SPLINE | LINEAR
graphics.camera.keyframe.path.orientation=SPLINE

# Automcatically activate frame output system when camera file is playing
graphics.camera.recording.frameoutputauto=false

# Path and image name
graphics.render.folder=

graphics.render.filename=gaiasky

# Write time in frame output mode and in screenshots
graphics.render.time=false

# Format, wither png or jpg
graphics.render.format=jpg

# Quality, only relevant if format is jpg, in [0..1]
graphics.render.quality=0.93

# Lazy initialization of textures
scene.lazy.texture=true
# Lazy initalization of meshes
scene.lazy.mesh=true

# SCREENSHOT
# The screenshot mode: [simple|redraw]
# simple - the current openGL buffer is written to a file. Screenshot will look exactly like the screen
# redraw - the image is redrawn with optionally different effects and resolution, and then it is written to a file.
screenshot.mode=simple

screenshot.folder=

screenshot.width=1920

screenshot.height=1080

# Format, wither png or jpg
screenshot.format=jpg

# Quality, only relevant if format is jpg, in [0..1]
screenshot.quality=0.93


# DATA

# Location of the data folder.
# Windows and macOS: in your user directory: $HOME/.gaiasky/data
# Linux: ~/.local/share/gaiasky/data
data.location=

# Selected catalogs to load at startup, separated by ':' (linux, macOS), or ';' (windows)
data.json.catalog=

# Comma-separated list of files within the data folder with the non-particle objects to load (planets, constellations, etc)
# Additionally to the files defined here, any file in the data folder with the format "autoload-*.json" will also be
# load using the JsonLoader
data.json.objects=data/data-main.json

# Use all terms in position algorithms (VSOP87 and moon coordinates). Taxes the CPU
data.highaccuracy.positions=false

data.limit.mag=20.0

# Location of the skybox within the data folder (data/tex/skybox/[...]/)
data.skybox.location=data/tex/skybox/gaiasky/


# SCENE PROPERTIES

# Name of the startup object
scene.object.startup=Earth

# Graphics quality setting: low, normal, high, ultra
scene.graphics.quality=normal

# Camera speed limit
# 0 - 100 km/h
# 1 - 0.5c
# 2 - 0.8c
# 3 - 0.9c
# 4 - 0.99c
# 5 - 0.99999c
# 6 - c (3e8 m/s)
# 7 - 2*c
# 8 - 10*c
# 9 - 1000*c
# 10 - 1 AU/s
# 11 - 10 AU/s
# 12 - 1000 AU/s
# 13 - 10000 AU/s
# 14 - 1 pc/s
# 15 - 2 pc/s
# 16 - 10 pc/s
# 17 - 1000 pc/s
# 18 - No limit
scene.camera.speedlimit=18

# Camera velocity multiplier when in focus mode
scene.camera.focus.vel=2.5

# Camera turn velocity
scene.camera.turn.vel=2062.0

# Camera rotation
scene.camera.rotate.vel=3776.0

# Initial field of view of the camera, in degrees
scene.camera.fov=45.0

# Whether cinematic camera is active
scene.camera.cinematic=false

# Target on in free mode. This scales the velocity of the camera according to the distance to the closest object
scene.camera.free.targetmode=true

# Object fade time in ms
scene.object.fadems=2500

# Star brightness factor
scene.star.brightness=2.3

# Modulate the brightness of stars with this power
scene.star.brightness.pow=0.75

# Size scaling of stars
scene.star.point.size=9.5

# Texture index, see $GS_DATA/tex/base/star-tex-xx-low.png
# 1 - horizontal spike
# 2 - god rays
# 3 - horizontal and vertical spikes
# 4 - simple radial profile
scene.star.tex.index=4

# Number of nearest stars to process in star groups
# This determines the maximum number of billboards, labels, velocity arrows, etc.
scene.star.group.nearest=500

# Flag to enable or disable the star billboards when stars are close
scene.star.group.billboard.flag=true

# Ambient light level, between 0 and 1.
scene.ambient=0.0

# Lock focus to object
scene.focuslock=true

# Lock also the orientation of the focus to the camera
scene.focuslock.orientation=false

# Label size factor. Controls label size
scene.label.size=1.2

# Label number factor. Controls how many stars have labels
scene.label.number=1.3

# Line width factor to multiply line width with
scene.line.width=1.0

# Threshold radius/distance for stars. This controls the threshold to render stars as points or as quads
# radius/distance limit for rendering as quad. If angle is any bigger, we render as a model.
scene.star.threshold.quad=0.0
# radius/distance limit for rendering as point. If angle is any bigger, we render as quad.
scene.star.threshold.point=1.7E-8
# radius/distance limit for rendering at all. If angle is smaller than this quantity, no rendering happens.
scene.star.threshold.none=0.0

# radius/distance above which we start painting stars in octant with fade in. Angle in radians.
scene.octant.threshold.0=1.477
# radius/distance below which we paint stars in octant with fade out. Above this angle, inner stars are painted with full brightness. Angle in radians.
scene.octant.threshold.1=1.877

# In the case of multifile LOD datasets (such as DR2+), this setting contains
# the maximum number of stars loaded at a time. If the number of loaded stars
# exceeds this setting, the system will start looking for the best candidates
# to be unloaded and start unloading data. Should not be set too low, and this should
# be balanced with the dataset and the draw distance.
# 6.0 M is calibrated to use 4Gb heap space with the default dataset
scene.octree.maxstars=6000000

# The minimum alpha (opacity) of stars
scene.point.alpha.min=0.1
# The maximum alpha (opacity) of stars
scene.point.alpha.max=1.0

# Line renderer type: 0 - performance (GL LINES), 1 - polyline quadstrips (quality)
scene.renderer.line=1

# Orbit renderer
# 0 - use the line renderer setting (see below) - slower, looks better
# 1 - use GPU VBOs - faster, looks worse
scene.renderer.orbit=0


# If on, particles fade in and out between levels of detail
scene.octree.particle.fade=true

# Length factor of proper motion vectors [1 - 50]
scene.propermotion.lenfactor=8.35
# Scale factor of proper motion vectors [1 - 30]
scene.propermotion.numfactor=5.35
# Color mode for velocity vectors
# 0 - direction
# 1 - length (speed)
# 2 - has radial velocity
# 3 - redshift
# 4 - single color
scene.propermotion.colormode=0
# Whether to show arrowheads or not
scene.propermotion.arrowheads=true
# Maximum number of proper motion vectors per star group. Overrides default quality-dependent
# setting. Negative to use default
scene.propermotion.maxnumber=-1

# Shadows enabled or disabled
scene.shadowmapping=true
# Resolution of the shadow map
scene.shadowmapping.resolution=1024
# Number of shadows
scene.shadowmapping.nshadows=3

# Elevation type [tessellation|parallax_mapping|none]
scene.elevation.type=tessellation
# Elevation multiplier, in [0.0, 10.0]
scene.elevation.multiplier=2.5

# Tessellation quality, in [1.0, 7.0]
scene.tessellation.quality=4.0

# Show crosshair on focus object
scene.crosshair.focus=true
# Show crosshair on closest object
scene.crosshair.closest=true
# Show crosshair on home object
scene.crosshair.home=false

# Visibility of components
scene.visibility.Atmospheres=true
scene.visibility.Planets=true
scene.visibility.Labels=true
scene.visibility.Boundaries=false
scene.visibility.Moons=true
scene.visibility.Equatorial=false
scene.visibility.Orbits=true
scene.visibility.Constellations=false
scene.visibility.Galactic=false
scene.visibility.Ecliptic=false
scene.visibility.RecursiveGrid=false
scene.visibility.Satellites=true
scene.visibility.Stars=true
scene.visibility.MilkyWay=true
scene.visibility.Asteroids=false
scene.visibility.Clusters=false
scene.visibility.Locations=false
scene.visibility.Countries=false
scene.visibility.Galaxies=true
scene.visibility.Nebulae=true
scene.visibility.Meshes=false
scene.visibility.Titles=false
scene.visibility.Effects=false
scene.visibility.Clouds=true
scene.visibility.Ruler=true
scene.visibility.VelocityVectors=false
scene.visibility.Axes=true
scene.visibility.Others=true


# POSTPROCESSING

# Antialiasing mode. None, NFAA or FXAA.
# 0  - No antialiasing
# -1 - FXAA
# -2 - NFAA
postprocess.antialiasing=-1

# Intensity of the bloom effect, between 0 and 10
postprocess.bloom.intensity=0.1

# Activate/deactivate motion blur, 0 or 1
postprocess.motionblur=0.0

# Activate/deactivate lens flare, true|false
postprocess.lensflare=true

# Activate/deactivate light glow, true|false
postprocess.lightscattering=true

# Activate/deactivate fisheye transformation, true|false
postprocess.fisheye=false

# Brightness level in [-1..1], defaults to 0
postprocess.brightness=0.0
# Contrast level in [0..2], defaults to 1
postprocess.contrast=1.0
# Hue level in [0..2], defaults to 1
postprocess.hue=1.0
# Saturation level in [0..2], defaults to 1
postprocess.saturation=1.0
# Gamma correction value in [0..3], defaults to 1
postprocess.gamma=1.0
# Tone mapping type, string in [auto|exposure|aces|uncharted|filmic|none]
postprocess.tonemapping.type=none
# Exposure tone mapping in [0..n]. Set 0 to disable
postprocess.exposure=0.0

# PROGRAM OPTIONS

# Show debug info, true|false
program.debuginfo=false

# Whether to display the hud or not, true|false
program.display.hud=false

# Display coordiantes of pointer (RA/DEC or Lat/Lon), true|false
program.pointer.coords.display=true

# Pointer guides
program.pointer.guides.display=false
# Pointer guides color (RGBA array)
program.pointer.guides.color=[1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.3]
# Pointer guides width in pixels
program.pointer.guides.width=1.5

# Recursive grid origin: focus | refsys
program.recursivegrid.origin=refsys
# Projection lines to recursive grid origin
program.recursivegrid.origin.lines=true

# Display minimap
program.display.minimap=false
# Minimap size in [150, 350]
program.minimap.size=200

# Whether to start in stereoscopic mode or not, true|false
program.stereoscopic=false

# Whehter to enable cubemap mode [true|false]
# Used for panaroama and planetarium mode. See key 'program.cubemap.projection'
program.cubemap=false

# Projection to use for the cubemap mode [equirectangular|cylindrical|hammer|fisheye]
# Set to 'fisheye' for planetarium mode
program.cubemap.projection=equirectangular

# Resolution of each face of the cubemap (square frame buffer with a fov=90 in each direction X+ X- Y+ Y- Z+ Z-)
program.cubemap.face.resolution=1500

# The aperture angle [deg] of planetarium mode
program.planetarium.aperture=180.0

# The focus angle [deg] of planetarium mode from the zenith
program.planetarium.angle=50.0

# In a client-server configuration, this makes this instance act as a master
# which sends input events over the network
# Incompatible with program.net.slave
program.net.master=false

# The following properties define the slaves
# Each slave listens to a port defined in its program.restport property
#program.net.master.slaves.0=http://localhost\:13900/api/
#program.net.master.slaves.1=http://localhost\:13901/api/

# In a client-server configuration, this makes this instance act as a slave
# which receives input events over the network
# Incompatible with program.net.master
program.net.slave=false

# Location of the .mpcdi configuration file for this instance
# Only needed if program.net.slave is true
program.net.slave.config=

# If you don't have an mpcdi file, use these next properties to
# configure the orientation. In order for this to work, you also
# need to set fullscreen=true, the right fullscreen resolution
# and the right field of view angle.

# Yaw angle (turn head right)
program.net.slave.yaw=
# Pitch angle (turn head up)
program.net.slave.pitch=
# Roll angle (rotate head cw)
program.net.slave.roll=
# Warp pfm file
program.net.slave.warp=
# Blend png file
program.net.slave.blend=

# The stereoscopic profile.
# 0 - VR headsets
# 1 - 3DTV (left-right)
# 2 - 3DTV (top-bottom)
# 3 - Cross-eye
# 4 - Parallel view
# 5 - Anaglyph red-cyan
program.stereoscopic.profile=2

# The default location of scripts
program.scriptlocation=

# The GUI theme - dark-green | dark-green-x2 | dark-blue | dark-blue-x2 | dark-orange | dark-orange-x2 | night-red | night-red-x2
program.ui.theme=dark-green

# Ask for exit confirmation
program.exit.confirmation=true

# Enable REST API on this TCP port (negative: disabled)
program.restport=-1

# Set to 'default' to use the system default locale, set to language tag (see java.util.Locale#forLanguageTag(), java 7+) to change the locale (en_GB, en_US, es_ES, de_DE, fr, etc.)
# Leave empty to use default locale
program.locale=

# Last time checked for new version
program.lastchecked=

# Last version checked
program.lastversion=

# URL to check the version - GitHub API call that returns a JSON list
program.url.versioncheck=https\://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/langurmonkey%2Fgaiasky/repository/tags

# Data mirror
program.url.data.mirror=https\://gaia.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/gaiasky/files/autodownload/
# URL of data descriptor file
program.url.data.descriptor=https\://gaia.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/gaiasky/files/autodownload/gaiasky-data-030000.json

# CONTROLS OPTIONS

# Controller mappings file
controls.gamepad.mappings.file=mappings/SDL_Controller.controller

# Invert look x axis
controls.invert.x=false
# Invert look y axis
controls.invert.y=true

# Controller debug mode; prints key codes and values
# DEPRECATED, use --debug flag instead!
#controls.debugmode=false

# Blacklist of controller names. All controllers here will not be
# processed by Gaia Sky. Find the connected controller names in the Preferences
# window, Controls tab.
# Double quote controller names and separate them with whitespace characters.
# Example: controls.blacklist="Microsoft Xbox 360 pad" "Playstation 4 dualshock"
controls.blacklist=

# SPACECRAFT OPTIONS

# Responsiveness, from 0 to 1
spacecraft.responsiveness=0.4

# Velocity vector always aligned with spacecraft direction vector
spacecraft.velocity.direction=false

# Handling friction in 0..1
spacecraft.handling.friction=0.37

# Whether to show the direction and up axes of the spacecraft
spacecraft.show.axes=false


# DATA SOURCE OPTIONS

# Real attitude or NSL attitude?
data.attitude.real=false