New Commands and System Variables Reference

Provides a quick guide to which commands are new in this release.

2025.1 New Commands and System Variables

New system variables Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
MLEADERLAYER Specifies a default layer for new multileaders. ✓ ✓

2025 New Commands and System Variables

New commands Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
ACTIVITYINSIGHTSCLOSE Closes the Activity Insights palette which displays activities for the current drawing. ✓ ✓
ACTIVITYINSIGHTSOPEN Opens the Activity Insights palette to view activities for the current drawing. ✓ ✓
New system variables Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
ACTIVITYINSIGHTSPATH Specifies the location Activity Insights activities are recorded. ✓ ✓
ACTIVITYINSIGHTSSUPPORT Enables or disables the Activity Insights feature. ✓ ✓
ACTIVITYINSIGHTSVIEWEDLOGGING Turns on or off logging Viewed activities, such as opening a drawing. ✓ ✓
HPDRAWMODE Controls the drawing mode used when defining new boundaries to hatch or fill. ✓ ✓
HPPATHALIGNMENT Specifies the alignment of new drawn paths to be hatched or filled. ✓ ✓
HPPATHWIDTH Specifies the width of new drawn paths to be hatched or filled. ✓ ✓

2024 New Commands and System Variables

New commands Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
COPYFROMTRACE Copies objects from a trace into the drawing. ✓ ✓
FADEMARKUP

-FADEMARKUP

Fades individual markups so they are less visible on a trace. ✓
MARKUPASSIST

-MARKUPASSIST

Analyzes an imported markup and can help place text callouts and revision clouds faster and with less manual effort. ✓
MARKUPIMPORT

-MARKUPIMPORT

Imports a marked up drawing (image/pdf) in-place into your DWG as a new trace. ✓
New system variables Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
AUTOPLACEMENT Controls whether placement suggestions are displayed as you insert a block. ✓ ✓
COMMENTHIGHLIGHT Controls the display of the indicator badge on PDF text comments. ✓
MARKUPASSISTMODE Controls whether identified markups are highlighted. ✓
MARKUPPAPERDISPLAY Indicates whether or not a digital markup is currently active. ✓
MARKUPPAPERTRANSPARENCY Controls the level of transparency when a digital markup is active. ✓
MARKUPSELECTIONMODE Enables selection using boundary markup assist boxes as criteria. ✓
TRACEMARKUPFADECTL Controls the transparency of faded markups. The lower the number, the more visible the markup is. ✓
TRACEVPSUPPORT Controls whether markup boxes are actionable within a currently active model space viewport. ✓

2023 New Commands and System Variables

New commands Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
COUNT Counts and highlights the instances of the selected object in the drawing. ✓ ✓
COUNTAREA Defines the area to count the instances of an object or block.
Note: Only available while a count is active.
✓ ✓
COUNTAREACLOSE Cancels the count selection area.
Note: Only available while a count is active.
✓ ✓
COUNTCLOSE Closes the Count toolbar and ends the count. ✓ ✓
COUNTFIELD Creates a field that's set to the value of the current count. ✓ ✓
COUNTLIST Opens the Count palette to view and manage the counted blocks. ✓ ✓
COUNTLISTCLOSE Closes the Count palette. ✓ ✓
COUNTNAVNEXT Zooms to the next object in the count result. ✓ ✓
COUNTNAVPREV Zooms to the previous object in the count result. ✓ ✓
COUNTTABLE Inserts a table containing the block names and the corresponding count of each block in the drawing. ✓ ✓
CUTBASE Copies selected objects to the Clipboard, along with a specified base point, and removes them from the drawing. ✓ ✓
EXPORTUSERSETTINGS Exports custom user settings for import on another machine. ✓ ✓
IMPORTUSERSETTINGS Imports custom user settings from an export file created previously with EXPORTUSERSETTINGS. ✓ ✓
SELECTCOUNT Finds all objects within the current count that match the properties of the selected objects, and then adds them to the selection set.
Note: Only available while a count is active.
✓ ✓
SHARE Shares a link to a copy of the current drawing to view or edit in the AutoCAD web app. The drawing copy includes all external references and images. ✓ ✓
TABLESTYLE Creates, modifies, or specifies table styles. ✓ ✓
TRACE Opens and manages traces from the command prompt. ✓ ✓
TRACEBACK Displays the host drawing with full saturation, while dimming the trace geometry. ✓ ✓
TRACEFRONT Displays the active trace with full saturation, while dimming the host drawing geometry. ✓ ✓
TRACEPALETTECLOSE Closes the Trace palette. ✓ ✓
TRACEPALETTEOPEN Opens the Trace palette where you can view and manage traces in the current drawing. ✓ ✓
TRACEEDIT Changes the active trace to edit mode. ✓ ✓
TRACEVIEW Changes the active trace to view mode. ✓ ✓
New system variables Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
ANNOSCALEZOOM Controls whether the mouse wheel zoom in paperspace viewports is controlled by specific zoom scales or is independent (legacy behavior). ✓ ✓
COLORTHEME Sets the color theme of the toolsets, palettes, and several other interface elements to dark or light. ✓ ✓
COUNTCHECK Controls the checking for errors in the count. ✓ ✓
COUNTCOLOR Sets the highlighting color on objects in a count. ✓ ✓
COUNTERRORCOLOR Sets the highlighting color on objects that can cause potential errors in a count. ✓ ✓
COUNTERRORNUM Displays the number errors in the current count. ✓ ✓
COUNTNUMBER Displays the number of the current count. ✓ ✓
COUNTPALETTESTATE Reports whether the Count palette is open or closed. ✓ ✓
COUNTSERVICE Controls the background indexing of the count. ✓ ✓
FASTSHADEDMODE Specifies whether the new cross platform 3D graphics system is turned on or off. ✓
JIGZOOMMAX Controls the maximum percentage of the view dimensions that the block extents must fit when being inserted. ✓ ✓
JIGZOOMMIN Controls the minimum percentage of the view dimensions that the block extents must fit when being inserted. ✓ ✓
TRACECURRENT Displays the name of the active trace when TRACEMODE=1 or 2. ✓ ✓
TRACEDISPLAYMODE Indicates whether the tracing paper effect is displayed (front) or not (back) while a trace is active. ✓ ✓
TRACEFADECTL Controls the amount of fading when TRACEMODE is active. The setting effects only the objects not being edited - the host drawing geometry or Trace geometry. ✓ ✓
TRACEMODE Indicates whether Trace is active and which mode is current - editing or viewing. ✓ ✓
TRACEOSNAP Controls whether object snaps apply to trace geometry while viewing a trace. ✓ ✓
TRACEPALETTESTATE Reports whether the Trace palette is open or closed. ✓ ✓
TRACEPAPERCTL Controls the opaqueness of the tracing paper effect. The lower the number, the more transparent the tracing paper is. ✓ ✓

2022 New Commands and System Variables

New commands Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
EXPORTLAYOUT Creates a visual representation of the current layout in the model space of a new drawing. ✓ ✓
PURGEAECDATA Removes the invisible AutoCAD Architecture custom data in the drawing allowing you to save the drawing to a previous version without any warnings. ✓ ✓

2021 New Commands and System Variables

New commands Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
BREAKATPOINT Breaks the selected object into two objects at a specified point. ✓ ✓
-INSERTCONTENT Inserts a drawing or block into the current drawing. ✓ ✓
-PAGESETUP Command line version of the PAGESETUP command intended for overriding the settings of page setups in scripts and other customization. ✓ ✓
REVCLOUDPROPERTIES Controls the approximate chord-length for the arcs in a selected revision cloud. ✓ ✓
XCOMPARE Compares an attached xref with the latest state of the referenced drawing file, highlighting the differences with color within revision clouds. ✓ ✓
XCOMPARECLOSE Closes the Xref Compare visor and ends the comparison. ✓ ✓
XCOMPARERCNEXT Zooms to the next change set of the xref comparison result. ✓ ✓
XCOMPARERCPREV Zooms to the previous change set of the xref comparison result. ✓ ✓
New system variables Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
COMMANDWINDOWDOCKSTATE Indicates whether the command window is docked or floating. ✓ ✓
COMPARESHOWCONTEXT Controls the visibility of objects that are not used in the xref comparison. ✓ ✓
REVCLOUDARCVARIANCE Controls whether revcloud arcs are created with varying or uniform chord lengths. ✓ ✓
SECUREREMOTEACCESS Controls whether ObjectARX programs are restricted from accessing internet locations or remote servers. ✓ ✓
TEXTGAPSELECTION Controls whether you can select text or mtext objects within the gaps or spaces between the letters. ✓ ✓
TEXTLAYER Specifies a default layer for new text and multiline text objects in the current drawing. ✓ ✓
TRIMEDGES Controls whether trimming and extending to hatches with Quick mode is limited to the edges of the hatches or includes the objects within hatch patterns. ✓ ✓
TRIMEXTENDMODE Controls whether the TRIM and EXTEND commands use streamlined inputs by default. ✓ ✓
XCOMPAREBAKPATH Specifies the path where the backup xref file is stored. ✓ ✓
XCOMPAREBAKSIZE Sets the size of the folder where the backup xref file is stored. ✓ ✓
XCOMPARECOLORMODE Switches the visual effect of objects in the host drawing during an xref comparison. ✓ ✓
XCOMPAREENABLE Enables the comparison between an xref and the referenced drawing file. ✓ ✓

2020 New Commands and System Variables

New commands Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
CLASSICINSERT Inserts a block or drawing into the current drawing using the classic version of the INSERT command. ✓ ✓
COMPARECLOSE Closes the DWG Compare visor and exits the comparison. ✓ ✓
COMPAREEXPORT Exports the comparison results into a new drawing, called a snapshot drawing, and opens the drawing. ✓ ✓
COMPAREIMPORT Imports objects from the compared file into the current drawing. Only the selected objects that exist in the compared file and not in the current file are imported. ✓ ✓
COMPAREINFO Displays the information about the two compared drawing files. ✓ ✓
New system variables Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
BLOCKMRULIST Controls the number of most recently used blocks displayed in the Recent pane of the Blocks palette. ✓ ✓
BLOCKREDEFINEMODE Controls whether a dialog box displays when inserting a block from the Blocks palette with the same name as an existing block definition. ✓ ✓
LTGAPSELECTION Controls whether you can select or snap to the gaps on objects defined with non-continuous linetype. ✓ ✓
MEASUREMODE Controls whether the MEASUREGEOM command always defaults to the Quick option. ✓ ✓
ROLLOVERTIPS Controls the display of rollover tooltips when the cursor hovers over an object. ✓ ✓

2019 New Commands and System Variables

New commands Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
COMPARE Provides a visual comparison between two drawings, highlighting the differences. ✓ ✓
-COMPARE Provides a visual comparison between two drawings, highlighting the differences, using the command line. ✓ ✓
NEWVIEW Saves a new, named view from the display in the current viewport, or by defining a rectangular window. ✓ ✓
New system variables Description AutoCAD AutoCAD LT
COMPARECOLOR1 Sets the color in the comparison drawing for the objects that exist only in the first drawing selected for comparison. ✓ ✓
COMPARECOLOR2 Sets the color in the comparison drawing for the objects that exist only in the second drawing selected for comparison. ✓ ✓
COMPARECOLORCOMMON Sets the color in the comparison drawing for the objects that are identical in the two drawings selected for comparison. ✓ ✓
COMPAREFRONT Controls the default display order of overlapping objects in the comparison drawing. ✓ ✓
COMPAREHATCH Controls whether hatch objects are included in the drawing comparison. ✓ ✓
COMPAREPROPS Controls whether a change in an object's property is identified as a change in the drawing comparison. ✓ ✓
COMPARERCMARGIN Specifies the offset distance between the boundary of a change set and the revision cloud in the comparison drawing. ✓ ✓
COMPARERCSHAPE Controls whether individual changes are merged as a single large rectangle or a series of smaller rectangle in the compare result drawing. ✓ ✓
COMPARESHOW1 Displays the objects that exists only in the first drawing. ✓ ✓
COMPARESHOW2 Displays the objects that exists only in the second drawing. ✓ ✓
COMPARESHOWCOMMON Displays the objects that are identical in both the drawings that are being compared. ✓ ✓
COMPARESHOWRC Shows a revision cloud around the difference in the compare result drawing. ✓ ✓
COMPARETEXT Controls whether text objects are included in the drawing comparison. ✓ ✓
COMPARETOLERANCE Specifies the tolerance used when comparing two drawing files-entities are considered identical if they are below or equal to a specified decimal point value. ✓ ✓
VISRETAINMODE Controls which xref layer properties to automatically sync on reload when the VISRETAIN system variable is set to 1. ✓ ✓
XREFLAYER Specifies a default layer for a new xref. ✓ ✓