Controls

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", ie. the letter is the beginning of the command. Unfortunatly some letters are overused, so the second letter or a "similar" letter is used. It is the letter that is entered, not the keyboard key position, ie. for non-US keyboards you may find some keys awkward (f.ex. must use AltGR-8 for "[" )

Ingame you can get most of these by pressing F12

Basic unit commands

The same command works slightly different depending on unit given to, particularily stationary or mobile units. Most commands require a left-click where/on what the action is to be performed. Remember commands can be queued up by using Shift-left-click when setting 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: Selfdestruct! (Other units standing too close may damage, 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

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)

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)
*	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)

(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

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	Cick on Ground or Unit (appropiate for command)	Units immediatly 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.

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.