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The Supreme Commander user interface is quite extensive. This list contain only commands from an unmodified latest offical patch release.

The game does not support reassigning keys or commands.

This reference lists Keyboard and Mouse commands separately, divided and ordered by function.

Keyboard Commands[]

The designers have tried to assign keys "mnemonically", where the letter is the beginning of the command. Unfortunately some letters would be overused, so the second letter, or a "similar" letter, is used instead. It is the letter that is entered, not the position of the key, so for non-US keyboards there may be some missing characters and a shortcut may be needed, (i.e. must use AltGR-8 for "[" ).

In-game you can find most of these by pressing F12.

Basic Unit Commands[]

The same command can work slightly differently depending on the unit, especially stationary or mobile units. Most commands require a left-click where/on what the action is to be performed.

Remember commands can be queued using Shift-left-click when selecting target/destination.

Key Command Additional notes
Most units
S Stop All: Stop motion. Clears all way points. Clears build queues
M Move Mobile units: Move. Factories: Set rally point (Built units move to)
A Attack Fire and follow until enemy dead
P Patrol Mobile units: Patrol. Factories: Built units made go on patrol.
I Guard/Assist Engineers: Keep unit at full health. Mobile units: Follow and fire on attackers of unit. Factories (assisting other factories): Build same units
Z Unit Pause Engineer/Factories: Pause building or upgrading.
Ctrl-K Suicide All: Self-destruct! (Other units standing too close may be damaged, friend or foe)
Only applicable to few units
R Repair Engineer/ACU/SCU
E Reclaim Engineer/ACU/SCU: Get the mass/energy from tree, stone etc. Can recycle material from own units, too.
C Capture Engineer/ACU/SCU: Make enemy unit your own
B Build Engineers/ACU/SCU and factories: Enters special keyboard entry mode. See table below. Leave with ESC key.
D Dive Submarines: Toggles their state - surfaced or submerged. (If multiple selected they will all change to opposite state, not become same state)
F Ferry Transport: Sets the putdown point (See Ferry)
U Transport Transport: Load a unit or Unload unit at point, stop there. Air Stage Station: Move parked units.
L Launch Tac.Miss. Tactical Missile Launchers (stationary unit, some ships, and some ACUs): Fire one missile (must be built)
N Nuke Strategic Launcher and nuclear sub: Fire one nuclear missile (must be built)
[ Toggle Fire state Attack&Chase or just return fire. The "nonagressive" state means the Attack command does not work.

Build mode[]

The B key enters a special keyboard entry mode - Build mode. End build mode with ESC.

The specific list varies with the building unit (Engineer/ACU, Factory) and the faction. The command keys are shown in the UI menu on the menu items. Some examples

Supcom 1 Hotkeys from manual

Hotkeys from the manual

Letter Mnemonic? Typical units
Engineer/ACU
E Extractor Mass extractor (all levels)
P Power Power generator (all levels)
D Defense Point defense towers
N Anti Air Air defense towers
R Artillery
L Land Factory
A Air Factory
S Sea Factory
W Wall
* list incomplete
Factory
E Engineer (all levels)
S Spy or Scout The fast recon unit
F Fighter/Frigate
T Transport Air transport unit
U Upgrade Also valid for stationary units that can upgrade
For all
1 .. 4 Switch to tech level
ESC Exit build mode (or click the label on the screen)
Forged alliance hotkeys

Forged alliance hotkeys

Display commands[]

(arrow keys) Move view point
W Zoom out (Wider)
Shift-W Zoom out (Wider) large amount
Q Zoom in (no mnemonic, but it is adjacent)
Shift-Q Zoom in large amount
Shift-TAB Remember this viewpoint (add to list)
TAB View remembered viewpoint (cycle through list)
Ctrl-TAB Remove this viewpoint (from list, use immediatly after TAB)
V View everything (max zoom out)
[Multiply] (NumPad) Sets in-game-speed to 0
[Divide] (NumPad) Toggle FPS-Overlay
* list incomplete

Display overlays (and minor windows) commands[]

Ctrl-W Toggle Military Overlay
Ctrl-E Toggle Defense (area reachable by firepower) Overlay
Ctrl-R Toggle Economy (Resource usage) Overlay
Ctrl-T Toggle Intelligence (Radar coverage) Overlay
F1 Toggle Objectives
F2 Toggle Score
F3 Toggle Transmission log
F4 Toggle Diplomacy Menu
F11 Toggle Conectivity (Ping times)
Alt-L Toggles Life Bars
Ctrl-Alt-F1 Hide/Show the UI (for taking clean screen shot with Ctrl-F)

Rearranging display[]

ALT-up/down-arrow Cycle between different layouts
INSERT Rotate camera left
DELETE Rotate camera right
HOME Split screen on
END Split screen off
Spacebar Change angle and view of camera

Miscellaneous[]

Ctrl-F Take screen shot (Saved as file SCFrame_<datetime-string><sequenceno>.bmp)
F12 Show most of the keyboard commands. (Pauses the game)
* list incomplete

Mouse commands[]

"Left to select, Right to Command" is the idea from the manual and tutorials in the game. There are exceptions. Mouse commands are very context sensitive - what you currently have selected, what command you issued via the menu or keyboard, and what you are pointing at. Left-click on a menu item will not change the select

A right-click on its own, will do the default command for that unit on that target, typically Attack for an enemy and something (relatively) usefull for a friendly unit. (Some commands are only available through right-click?) If you have used a keyboard command or a menu command then you have to left- click on the location or target you wish to apply this to.

Mouse movement (mouse over)[]

Action: Result:
(Nothing pressed) Just move the mouse. You get brief info on units you mouse over. For stationary units shows action radius.
. If you reach the screen edges, map scrolls (adjustable in Options)
SPACE-bar held down, zoom level is "close enough" Shift the camera viewpoint. (The camera "jumps backwards" if you are positioning it "in front" of a mountain.) (You can set and release a viewpoint with Ctrl-V)

Left-click[]

Action: Result: Action: Result:
No command Nothing selected Click on ground Does nothing
Select Patrol (or related option), then Shift click to mark waypoints. Waypoints Marked Click on Unit Unit is selected
Click on ground and hold, then drag across desired units. Units selected Click on ground Units are deselected
Click on option Navigate through the menu Click on a unit (after you already select one). Units deselected, new unit selected.
Active command (Move, Patrol, Build ...) Units Commanded Click on Ground or Unit (appropiate for command) Units immediately do the command

Right-click[]

placeholder

Shift-left-click[]

Just holding the shift key down, will show all patrol and active destinations on the main display.

Action: Result:
Without an active command. Click on unselected unit This unit is added to existing list of select units. (See Select Group Adjustment)
Active command (Move, Patrol, Build ...), Click anywhere (ground, other unit) The command is queued for the selected units.

Ctrl-right-click[]

Selected units move/attack in formation to the target (formation

set with Right-held-left-click (described below))

Alt-right-click[]

Selected units move/attack towards the point you order them to,

and they will open fire to any enemy forces in their weapon range

Left-click, while right-held-down[]

With seleced units only: Cycle through the available formations. When you reach

the desired formation, release the right mouse button.

Drag-left[]

Will select most units in the box you outline.
  • If one unit is a mobile (non-engineer) unit, then only mobile (non-engineer) units will be selected
  • Otherwise if one unit is an engineer unit, only engineer units will be selected
  • Otherwise stationary units will be selected.
There is no distinction for land/air/sea, or if units are idle. (Previous selected units are deselected)

Shift-drag-left[]

Will select ALL units in the box. If you have other selected units these will remain, ie. the box units are added the the selected units.

Select group adjustment[]

When multiple units are selected (and at least one is mobile?), they are listed in the menu area (where the build list normally is for a factory).
  • Left-click on a unit in this menu area, deselects the other units, leaving this unit type selected.
  • Right-click on a unit in this menu area, removes this unit type from the selection, leaving all others selected.

Xbox 360 controls[]

Since the Xbox 360 functions without a mouse and keyboard, but instead with a controller, the controls needed to be streamlined and adapted to this tool. Below is a table outlining the various controls.

Button/Combination Command Additional notes
Most units
A Context Sensitive Select units, issue move orders or moving rally points, but can change for different units (i.e. loading units on a transport or ordering an engineer to reclaim reso
B Cancel/Deselect Cancel choices in menus, close build wheels and deselect a selected unit
X Stop Stop whatever action a selected unit is doing. (Building, moving, etc.)
Y Assist Orders the selected unit or structure to assist the highlighted unit or structure. For more information see Assist.
Right control stick Camera controls Moving the control stick forward or backward zooms in or out, moving it left or right spins the camera.
Left control stick Camera controls Pans the camera and moves the target/control reticule. Also used to make menu selections and option selections on the control wheels.
D-Pad Up Order Wheel Opens the selected unit or structure's order wheel.
D-Pad Right Build Wheel Opens the build wheel on structures or units that can construct.
D-Pad Down Groups Wheel Opens the groups wheel, regardless of selected units
D-Pad Left Build Queue Opens the build queue for a selected structure or unit, only if construction is in progress or paused.
Press and hold A Box Select /Formation mover Allows selection of multiple units and/or structures by dragging a box around them. Also allows the alignment and selection of a formation when issuing move commands
Push Down Right Control Stick Quick Select Jumps the camera to ACU, switches selected unit to ACU
Push Down Left Control Stick Quick Track Locks camera momentarily to a unit in order to follow it.
Right Bumper Tactical Modifier Allows placement of multiple rally points for move or partol orders, allows queuing of combat commands and shows all queued movement and build orders.
Left Bumper Formation selection When formation movements are being ordered(see above), changes the formation the units will use.
Left Trigger Enables Free Look Camera Allows the user to change camera angle and rotation/position without perspective being reset
Tap Right Trigger Select combat units Selects all visible combat units on screen
Hold Right Trigger and tap A Select Engineer Selects the nearest idle engineer, press multiple times to select farther engineers
Hold Right Trigger and tap B Select Factory Selecet the nearest idle factory, press multiple times to select farther factories.
Hold Right Trigger and tap X Cycle Groups Cycles through the player assigned groups as created in the Groups Wheel
Hold Right Trigger and tap Y Cycle Groups Cycles through the default groups: Air, Land, Sea or All
Start Button Open Menu Opens in-game pause menu
Back Button View Scores/Objectives Brings up the current and completed objectives in campaign, brings up a scoreboard in skirmish or multiplayer

Reference material[]

The official sources used for this article include:

  • DVD booklet or manual
  • readme.txt file
  • tutorials in the game
  • F12 help button
  • Xbox 360 manual
  • various user forums.
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