Oolite Keyboard Controls

From Elite Wiki

Default Key Assignments

Linux users will find the following key assignments in /usr/lib/Oolite/oolite.app/Contents/Resources/Config/keyconfig.plist (assuming you did a default installation!). ++Please Note: All characters in capitals are shift + character, i.e. R = shift + r.++


Action Key Keycode (Dec) Keycode (Hex) Notes
Roll Left Left arrow 253 FD
Roll Right Right arrow 252 FC
Pitch Forward Up arrow 255 FF
Pitch Back Down arrow 254 FE
Increase Speed w 119 77
Inject Fuel i 105 69
Decrease Speed s 115 73
Fire Lasers a 97 61
Target Missile t 116 74
Untarget Missile u 117 75
Launch Missile m 109 6D
Next Missile y 121 79
Activate Ident System r 114 72
Cycle forward between targets + 43 2B Target System Memory Upgrade needed
Cycle backward between targets - 45 2D Target System Memory Upgrade needed
Activate ECM e 101 65
Launch Escape Pod Esc 27 1B
Energy Bomb Tab 9 09
Galactic Hyperspace g 103 67
Emergency Hyperdrive H 72 48 won't work, probably
Hyperspace h 104 68
Jumpdrive j 106 6A
Dump Cargo d 100 64
Cycle cargo to dump R
Autopilot c 99 63
Autodock D 68 44
Take a Snapshot * (shift+8) 42 2A Written to $HOME/oolite-saves
Docking Music Toggle s 115 73 Only if Docking Computer fitted!
Scanner Zoom z 122 7A
Map Dump ! (shift+1) 33 21
Map Home 302 ??
Comms Log ` 96 60
Next Compass Mode \ 92 5C
Display Frame Rate F



Changing Key Assignments

If you want to change key assignments don't alter the default file. Instead copy keyconfig.plist from /usr/lib/Oolite/oolite.app/Contents/Resources/Config/ to /usr/lib/Oolite/AddOns/Config/. (Note that you may need to create the Config directory first.)


You can edit keyconfig.plist with any standard text editor. You'll find a list of Linux keycodes here. Note that Oolite uses decimal values whereas most keycodes are expressed in hexadecimal. This can cause confusion. For example the comma key produces a keycode of 2C (hex) which translates to 44 (decimal), whereas keycode 44 (hex) refers to the uppercase "D" key, which is actually 68 (decimal)! (If you don't have a hex/decimal calculator handy try this table or this online converter.)

Undocumented Keys

The following keys aren't yet official so your mileage may vary!


Action Key Keycode (Dec) Keycode (Hex) Notes
Toggle Mouse Control Shift + M 77 4D When activated, the mouse becomes a virtual joystick. (Under Linux: only in fullscreen mode) The left mouse button fires and the right should re-centre your ship.
Get pwm coordinates Shift + F Shows the pwm coordinates at any time while flying in space.
Open the console.log Pause, 0 It opens the console.log. Highly useful for debugging OXPs or helping Gile to debug Oolite.



Silly Keyboard Tricks

  • Change key_launch_missile to 112. Now you'll need to hit "p" to launch a missile - which also pauses the game. You'll sometimes get a nice snapshot of the departing missile!