...Unless the mode is Capture the Flag (CTF), in which case, the objective is to capture the enemies flag and take it back to your flag.
Learning how to play AssaultCube is easy. After knowing the controls, most things are relatively straight forward.
To play, press W to move forwards and then move your mouse around to change directions. Left-click when aimed at an enemy to attack them. Most other moves you can use to further your abilities and fun are covered below...
| Control | Function |
| Escape | Main menu |
| W | Move forward |
| S | Move backwards |
| A | Sidestep left |
| D | Sidestep right |
| Space | Jump |
| Left-shift | Crouch |
| R | Reload |
| T | Chat and console |
| Y | Team-chat |
| V | Voice-com menu |
| G | Quick nade throw |
| B | Change weapon menu |
| Left mouse-click | Attack |
| Right mouse-click | Quick nade throw (Or scope when using the sniper rifle) |
| Center mouse-click | Knife |
| Mousewheel | Cycle weapons |
| 1 | Primary weapon |
| 2 | Pistol |
| 3 | Grenade (if available) |
| 4 | Knife |
| Tab | Show scores |
| Left alt | Show mini-map |
| Backspace | Drop-flag |
| F1 | Vote yes |
| F2 | Vote no |
| F7 | Spectate |
| F8 | Follow player (spectate) |
| F11 | Show extended console |
| F12 | Create screenshot |
You can find a list of controls used in map editing here.
You can also assign custom keys to specific weapons by using the keybinding menu in-game. This can be found by pressing ESCAPE and then navigating to: settings ⇒ keyboard/mouse controls.
This is simple. Just press ESC and then navigate to Singleplayer, then choose the mode, bot skill, amount of enemies and the map. Then, a game with computer-bot enemies will start immediately.
In game, press ESC and choose Multiplayer ⇒ Refresh Server List. The masterserver will be queried and provide you with a list of servers. Do so every few days, to add newly created servers to your list. The list of servers are saved in config/servers.cfg.
If the console says "master server not replying", then that means your client failed to download the list of servers to play upon, and you may have to try downloading them again.
Once you updated your server list, you can use Multiplayer ⇒ Join a game. Simply select a server (use up/down arrows or scrolling) and then press ENTER.
Alternatively, you can connect to a server directly by typing /connect and then a valid IP or DNS name of a server and optionally, a password, if the server uses one.
Most important setting changes can actually be changed from within the menus. So, press ESC and then settings. There are many settings in this menu that can be changed, look in there for what you need.
There are of course other settings which can't be found inside the menu. These settings can be changed via the console. Check out the reference to find out about those settings and how they can be changed.
There is a file called defaults.cfg in the config directory. When you run AssaultCube for the first time it will execute this file. Once you quit AssaultCube, the default settings and your changes created upon them during the course of the game (and from your autoexec.cfg) will be stored in config/saved.cfg. If you want to reset your settings to default values just delete config/saved.cfg. Alternatively, you can delete it using the menus, by pressing ESCAPE and going into: Settings ⇒ Reset all settings? ⇒ Reset ALL settings and restart AC.
If there are commands that you would like executed every time AssaultCube starts, you can insert these scripting commands into config/autoexec.cfg.
When AssaultCube is started, it will check for the file config/init.cfg. If it does not exist then AssaultCube assumes this is the first time you have ran AssaultCube and will prompt you with the "quick setup" menu. This contains settings for you to change that are important for running AssaultCube. Such as screen resolution, mouse sensitivity, nickname, etc. When you press "OK", then AssaultCube will restart to allow those settings to take effect. The config/init.cfg file saves settings that can only be changed before AssaultCube runs, so when AssaultCube first starts, it will execute those settings.
Note for linux users: Config files get saved in the hidden directory .assaultcube/config in your users home directory.