Binding System

This page lists the default controls for Chernobyl Simulator and teaches you how to bend them to your will — from a single rebind to a one-key emergency SCRAM.

Want the full list of console settings and commands you can bind to? See Console Commands & Settings.

What are keybinds all about?

A keybind ties a key (or mouse button) to a console command. The whole game's controls are just keybinds, and you can change any of them. With keybinds you can:

• Move a control to a key that suits you better.
• Put an action that normally lives on the VIUR panel onto your keyboard.
• Fire several actions from a single key.
• Build an "emergency" key for the moment everything goes wrong.

Everything below happens in the console — press F1 to open it.

Default controls

If you just want to play, here's the out-of-the-box layout.

Movement

Interaction & camera

Reactor — control rods & alarms

The arrow keys do double duty: they move control rods and the reactor-hall crane at the same time, since you're never using both at once.

System

Creating your first keybind

Say you keep reaching for the wrong key when an alarm blares, and you'd rather silence everything from one button. Open the console with F1 and type:

bind backspace reactor.alarm_remove_sound

Press Backspace and the alarm goes quiet. That's a keybind. You just told the game: "when this key is pressed, run this command."

The keybind formula

Every keybind follows the same shape:

bind <key> <command>

• <key> is the key's name (see the Key dictionary).
• <command> is what to run (see the Action dictionary, or anything from Console Commands & Settings).

A few helpers for managing binds:

Multi-key keybinds (combos)

Want a key to do one thing on its own and something else with a modifier held? Wrap the combo in brackets, modifier first:

bind [leftctrl+1] camera.preset 1
bind [leftshift+r] reactor.rods_reset

This is how the default Ctrl+1/2/3 camera views work — and it leaves the plain 1/2/3 keys free for something else. The most specific combo wins, so 1, Ctrl+1, and Ctrl+Alt+1 can each do their own thing.

Keybind special symbols

Three symbols change how a bind behaves.

; — do several things at once

Separate commands with a semicolon, and wrap the whole bind in quotes:

bind r "+reactor.rods_withdraw ; +crane.forward"

This is exactly how the default arrow keys drive both the rods and the crane from one press.

+ — hold to act

A command starting with + is active while you hold the key and stops the moment you let go. It's how movement and zoom work:

bind mouse4 +zoom        // zoom only while the side button is held

~ — press to toggle

A command starting with ~ flips on and off with each press — perfect for things you want to leave running:

bind p ~reactor.running  // press to pause, press again to resume

Rule of thumb: hold-style controls (move, zoom, drive the crane) use +. On/off switches use ~. Everything else is a plain one-shot command. When in doubt, copy the form used in the default layout.

Unassigning keys

To free a key, unbind it:

unbind backspace

To wipe everything and start fresh:

unbindall

And to undo all your tinkering and go back to the shipped controls:

config.reset_binds

Making sure your keybinds are saved

Good news: bindings save automatically the moment you change them, and load again next time you play. You don't need to run a save command.

(If you've also changed settings like FOV or volume from the console and want those written out, run config.writecfg.)

Some useful keybinds

For everyone

For admins (requires cheats)

These use cheat-flagged commands, so run cheats 1 first. Cheats disable achievements.

The default layout

The complete shipped binding set, in case you want to copy or restore individual lines. Run config.reset_binds to return to all of it at once.

// movement
bind mouse0    +buttons.decrease
bind mouse1    +buttons.increase
bind w         +move.forward
bind s         +move.backward
bind a         +move.left
bind d         +move.right
bind space     +move.jump
bind leftshift +move.sprint
bind leftctrl  +move.duck

// utilities
bind e   +buttons.interact
bind q   +zoom
bind f   ~camera.locked
bind p   ~reactor.running
bind tab general.open_manual

// camera presets
bind [leftctrl+1] camera.preset 1
bind [leftctrl+2] camera.preset 2
bind [leftctrl+3] camera.preset 3

// console
bind f1 console.toggle
bind f3 debug.admin_panel

// control rods + crane (shared)
bind arrowup    "+reactor.rods_withdraw ; +crane.forward"
bind arrowdown  "+reactor.rods_insert ; +crane.backward"
bind arrowleft  "+reactor.rods_reset ; +crane.left"
bind arrowright "+crane.right"
bind mousewheelup   +crane.winch_up
bind mousewheeldown +crane.winch_down

// alarms (VIUR)
bind z +reactor.alarm_remove_signal
bind x +reactor.alarm_remove_flashing
bind c +reactor.alarm_remove_sound

Key dictionary

Use these names when binding. They're all lowercase.

Mouse

The mouse wheel only fires a quick tap each notch — it can't be "held," so bind it to one-shot or + actions that don't need a long hold.

Action dictionary

The most common actions to bind. Hold-style actions are shown with their +; for the full list see Console Commands & Settings.

Movement & player

Reactor

Crane

System

Troubleshooting