Advanced options

Configure hero count, ability slots, balance mode, bots, mutators, and more during the option selection phase.

Before heroes are picked, the host configures the game through the option selection phase. The phase lasts up to 5 minutes (maxOptionSelectionTime = 300). On maps that use option voting (useOptionVoting = true), all players vote on settings instead.

Options are organised into several tabs. The sections below cover each category.

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Hero and ability slots

These options define how many abilities each hero can carry.

Option	Default	Range	Description
Total slots	6	4–12	The total number of ability slots available per hero.
Normal skill slots	6	0–12	The maximum number of non-ultimate abilities.
Ultimate slots	2	0–12	The maximum number of ultimate abilities.

Slot counts are set via lodOptionCommonMaxSlots, lodOptionCommonMaxSkills, and lodOptionCommonMaxUlts in optionmanager.lua. Changing total slots does not automatically change the skill/ult split — set all three together for predictable results.

The all_allowed map hard-codes maxUlts = 2 and maxSlots = 6. These cannot be changed by voting on that map.

Balance mode

Balance mode assigns a point budget to each player. More powerful abilities cost more points, which limits “greedy” builds that stack only high-tier skills.

Setting	Key	Default
Balance mode enabled	lodOptionBalanceMode	0 (off)
Point budget (normal)	lodOptionBalanceModePoints	120
Point budget (doubled)	lodOptionBalanceModePoints	180
Balance ban list	lodOptionBanningBalanceMode	0 (off)

Enabling Doubled Ability Points raises the budget to 180 and turns on the balance ban list automatically (unless playing co-op). The 3_vs_3 map enables balance mode by default.

Banning system

The banning phase lets players remove abilities and heroes before picks begin.

Option	Default	Notes
Banning mode	lodOptionBanning = 3	Controls which banning ruleset is used.
Max ability bans	0	Can be raised up to 100. Classic map defaults to 3.
Max hero bans	0	Can be raised up to 2. Classic map defaults to 2.
Block troll combos	On	Always enabled (lodOptionBanningBlockTrollCombos = 1).
Use ban list	On	Excludes single-player abilities from standard games.
Ban all invisibility	Off	Bans all abilities tagged as invisibility (lodOptionBanningBanInvis).

The classic map pre-configures 3 ability bans and 2 hero bans per team with a 50-second banning timer. Custom maps let the host set these freely.

Ability pool

Control which categories of abilities are available to pick.

Option	Key	Default
Hero abilities	lodOptionAdvancedHeroAbilities	On
Neutral abilities	lodOptionAdvancedNeutralAbilities	On
Custom abilities	lodOptionAdvancedCustomSkills	Off
OP abilities	lodOptionAdvancedOPAbilities	Off (ban list on)
IMBA abilities	lodOptionAdvancedImbaAbilities	Off
Item modifiers (passives)	lodOptionAdvancedItemModifiers	On
Bear / Lone Druid abilities	allowBearSkills	Off
Tower abilities	allowTowerSkills	Off
Creep abilities	allowCreepSkills	Off
Building abilities	allowBuildingSkills	Off

The all_allowed map enables OP abilities by default. Single-player mode lifts the ban list entirely, enabling single-player-only abilities.

Game speed and economy

Option	Key	Default	Notes
Starting level	lodOptionGameSpeedStartingLevel	1	Range: 1–100. all_allowed starts at 4.
Max hero level	lodOptionGameSpeedMaxLevel	30	all_allowed and classic use 100.
Bonus starting gold	lodOptionGameSpeedStartingGold	0	Up to 100,000 extra gold.
Gold modifier	lodOptionGameSpeedGoldModifier	100%	Scales passive gold income.
EXP modifier	lodOptionGameSpeedEXPModifier	100%	Scales all XP gained.
Shared XP	lodOptionGameSpeedSharedEXP	Off	all_allowed enables this.
Respawn time	lodOptionGameSpeedRespawnTimePercentage	70%	all_allowed and classic use 35%.
Buyback cooldown	lodOptionBuybackCooldownTimeConstant	420 s
Towers per lane	lodOptionGameSpeedTowersPerLane	3	Up to 10 towers per lane.
Strong towers	lodOptionGameSpeedStrongTowers	Off	all_allowed enables this.
Upgraded ultimates	lodOptionGameSpeedUpgradedUlts	Off	Starts heroes with Scepter-upgraded ults.

Mutators

Mutators are optional rule modifiers that can be toggled per game. Most are off by default.

Mutator	Key	Effect
Fast Runes	lodOptionFastRunes	Runes spawn more frequently.
Periodic Spell Cast	lodOptionPeriodicSpellCast	Abilities fire automatically at intervals.
Vampirism	lodOptionVampirism	All attacks and abilities have lifesteal.
Killstreak Power	lodOptionKillStreakPower	Bonus damage per kill in a streak.
Cooldown Reduction	lodOptionCooldownReduction	Global cooldown reduction applied.
Explode on Death	lodOptionExplodeOnDeath	Heroes explode on death, dealing AoE damage.
Gold Drop on Death	lodOptionGoldDropOnDeath	Heroes drop a gold bag when killed.
Resurrect Allies	lodOptionResurrectAllies	Allies revive nearby fallen teammates.
Random Lane Creeps	lodOptionRandomLaneCreeps	Lane creep types are randomized each wave.
No Healthbars	lodOptionNoHealthbars	Hides all health bars.
Convertable Towers	lodOptionConvertableTowers	Towers can be captured and converted.
WTF Mode	lodOptionCrazyWTF	No cooldowns or mana costs.
Multicast Madness	lodOptionCrazyMulticast	All spells multicast randomly.
Free Scepter	lodOptionGameSpeedUpgradedUlts	All heroes start with Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade.
Fat-O-Meter	lodOptionCrazyFatOMeter	Heroes grow larger as the game progresses.
Gotta Go Fast	lodOptionGottaGoFast	Increased movement speed for all units.
Battle Thirst	lodOptionBattleThirst	Bonus stats for killing enemies.
Memes Redux	lodOptionMemesRedux	Enables meme sounds and effects.
Free Creep Ability	lodOptionExtraAbility	Each hero gets a free bonus creep ability.
Random on Death	lodOptionRandomOnDeath	Hero’s abilities are re-randomized on death.

Some mutators are restricted to Patreon supporters in the main UI but can still be set through advanced options.

Shop and items

Option	Key	Default	Notes
Universal shop	lodOptionTurboCourier (tied)	Off	Voting for Universal Shop also enables Turbo Courier (v11.2).
Turbo courier	lodOptionTurboCourier	Off	Courier moves at maximum speed.
Consumable items	lodOptionConsumeItems	On	Allows consumable item variants.
Full-price sellback	lodOptionGameSpeedFullPriceSellback	Off	Items sell for 100% of purchase price.
Item stacking	lodOptionStacking	Off	Allows items to stack in the same slot.
Neutral items	neutralItems	Off	Enables/disables neutral item drops.

Universal shop is always enabled at the game-mode level (GameRules:SetUseUniversalShopMode(true)), but the voting option controls whether players can actually access the secret shop items without visiting the shop building.

Bot settings

Configure how many bots appear on each team and how they behave.

Option	Key	Default	Notes
Radiant bots	lodOptionBotsRadiant	0	Number of bots to add to Radiant.
Dire bots	lodOptionBotsDire	0	Number of bots to add to Dire.
Radiant difficulty	lodOptionBotsRadiantDiff	2 (Medium)	1 = Passive, 2 = Easy, 3 = Medium, 4 = Hard, 5 = Unfair.
Dire difficulty	lodOptionBotsDireDiff	2 (Medium)	Same scale as above.
Unique hero skills	lodOptionBotsUniqueSkills	On	Bots avoid duplicate abilities.
Bonus points for bots	lodOptionBotsBonusPoints	On	Bots receive extra balance points.
Stupify bots	lodOptionBotsStupid	Off	Bots will not attack or use abilities.
Duplicate bots	lodOptionBotsUnique	Off	Allows multiple bots to share the same hero.
Same hero for all bots	lodOptionBotsSameHero	Off	All bots are assigned the same hero.

See Bot support for a full guide on setting up bot games.

Unique picks and hidden picks

Option	Key	Options
Unique skills	lodOptionAdvancedUniqueSkills	Off / Per team / Global
Unique heroes	lodOptionAdvancedUniqueHeroes	Off / On
Hide enemy picks	lodOptionAdvancedHidePicks	Off / On
Select primary attribute	lodOptionAdvancedSelectPrimaryAttr	On by default

Enabling global unique skills prevents any two players from picking the same ability across both teams.

Creep and tower settings

Option	Key	Default	Notes
Creep power	lodOptionCreepPower	0	Scales lane creep stats. all_allowed uses 120.
Neutral creep power	lodOptionNeutralCreepPower	0	Scales neutral camp stats.
Neutral multiply	lodOptionNeutralMultiply	1x	Multiplies neutral camp count.
Lane multiply	lodOptionLaneMultiply	Off	Increases lane creep wave size.
Lane creep bonus ability	lodOptionLaneCreepBonusAbility	Off	Gives lane creeps a random ability.
Anti-rat	lodOptionAntiRat	Off	Tier 3 towers are invulnerable until outer towers fall.
Anti-bash	lodOptionAntiBash	On	Limits stun duration stacking.
No fountain camping	lodOptionCrazyNoCamping	On	Prevents heroes from sitting in the enemy fountain.