This topic lists all the system environment variables used by 3ds Max to configure paths and settings. All paths are fully-qualified. .
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
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ADSK_3DSMAX_x64_ <year> |
The path to the 3ds Max install. Created by the installation process. On systems where 3ds Max was copied instead of installed, this variable needs to be defined manually. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_ APPDATA_DIR |
The path used by 3ds Max to read and write local user data. By default this location is C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\<year> - 64bit\<lang> |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_AUTOBACKUP_DIR |
Defines the path used by Autobackup to save files. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_SCRIPTS_ADDON_DIR |
A list of semicolon-delimited paths, used in addition to the Additional Scripts folder defined in the Configure User and System Paths dialog. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_STARTUPSCRIPTS_ADDON_DIR |
A list of semicolon-delimited paths, used in addition to the Additional Startup Scripts folder defined in the Configure User and System Paths dialog. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_MACROS_ADDON_DIR |
A list of semicolon-delimited paths, used in addition to the Additional Macros folder defined in the Configure User and System Paths dialog. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_ICONS_ADDON_DIR |
A list of semicolon-delimited paths, used in addition to the Additional Icons folder defined in the Configure User and System Paths dialog. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_PLUGINS_ADDON_DIR |
A list of semicolon-delimited paths, used in addition to the Additional MAX plug-ins folder defined in the Configure User and System Paths dialog. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_ASSETS_XREFS_DIR |
A list of semicolon-delimited paths, used in addition to the Xrefs paths defined in the Configure Project Paths dialog. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_ASSETS_MAPS_DIR |
A list of semicolon-delimited paths, used in addition to the External Files paths defined in the Configure Project Paths dialog. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_PROJECT_FOLDER_DIR |
The path for the location for project data (such as material libraries, render presets, render output, etc). If this variable is defined but the specified folder does not exist, 3ds Max creates it. This envar takes precedence over the ProjectFolder value in 3dsmax.ini. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_USERSETTINGS_DIR |
The path for reading and writing user settings. If this variable is defined but the specified folder does not exist, 3ds Max creates it. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_USERTOOLS_DIR |
The path for reading and writing user-defined tools, as well as MCG and Scene Converter scripts. If this variable is defined but the specified folder does not exist, 3ds Max creates it. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_SDK_<YEAR> |
The fully-qualified path for the 3ds Max SDK, if installed. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_SESSION_LOG |
The path to the 3ds Max session log. |
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ADSK_APPLICATION_PLUGINS |
A list of semicolon-delimited paths, specifying root folders from which to load additional 3rd party application plug-ins. Each folder can either contain a plug-in, or a collection of folders containing plug-ins. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_SMART_EXTRUDE |
Globally enables or disables Smart Extrude for Edit Poly. A value of 1 means enabled, 0 is disabled. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_ENVVAR_TOKEN_SUPPORT |
Enables auto-tokenization of 3ds Max installation files, similar to the -envartoken command line switch. See Auto-tokenization of the 3ds Max Installation paths in configuration files. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_MAJOR_VERSION |
An environment variable defined by the 3ds Max process that contains the major version, for example "2023". Other environment variables can be defined using this (as well as the minor version variable below) to customize things like startup scripts based on the running version of 3ds Max. For example:
ADSK_3DSMAX_STARTUPSCRIPT_ADDON_DIR=\\server\3dsMax\%ADSK_3DSMAX_MAJOR_VERSION%.%ADSK_3DSMAX_MINOR_VERSION%\scripts\startup Sets the startup script location based on the running 3ds Max major and minor version. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_MINOR_VERSION |
An environment variable defined by the 3ds Max process that contains the minor version, for example "0". |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_ROOT |
An environment variable defined by the 3ds Max process that contains the directory from which the current 3dsmax.exe program is running, regardless of where 3ds Max is installed. Only defined when auto-tokenization is enabled. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_SAFE_SCENE |
Enables or disables Safe Scene Script Execution. If defined, this variable overrides the setting on the Security Preferences tab. |
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ADSK_3DSMAX_BUFFEREDFILE_BUFFERSIZE |
Specifies the file buffer size to use for loading most buffered file types (such as images and point cache files), in bytes. The default is 4KB. When loading buffered files on a network, specifying a larger buffer size (256KB is recommended) can improve performance significantly.
Note that this setting can also be specified in the 3dsmax.ini file, in the "Performance" section using the key "ImageFileIOBufferSize". |