The Settings page (/settings) configures paths, defaults, and preferences used across EngineBattle. Setting these up once saves time on every subsequent session — engines auto-load, file browsers start in the right folders, and analysis pages use your preferred search parameters.
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Startup Page | Which page opens when you launch the app. Set this to your most-used page (e.g., Single Analysis, Tournament). |
| Default Engine | Auto-loaded in Single Analysis, Game Review, and Play vs Computer. Avoids re-browsing for an engine every session. |
| Secondary Engine | Auto-loaded as the second engine in Dual Analysis. |
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Analysis Games | PGN file where analysis games are appended when you click "Save PGN" on analysis pages. |
| Ordo Executable | Full path to the Ordo rating tool, used by the Ordo Results page to compute ratings from PGN files. |
Directory paths that serve two purposes:
- FileBrowserDialog bookmarks — configured folders appear as quick-access bookmarks when browsing for files.
- Initial browse directory — when a page opens a file browser, it starts in the relevant folder instead of a generic location.
| Folder | Used by |
|---|---|
| Engine Definitions | Engine panels, analysis pages, Play vs Computer |
| Openings | Tournament creator, opening book tools |
| PGN Output | Tournament results, analysis game saving, Ordo page |
| Tournament Configs | Tournament page, tournament creator |
| Tablebase | Tournament creator (Syzygy adjudication) |
| Neural Networks | Engine panel weights browser |
| Puzzle Configs | Lichess Puzzles and ERET puzzle pages |
Defaults applied when opening analysis pages. You can still override them per-session.
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Search Time (ms) | Default time limit for engine analysis. |
| Search Nodes | Default node limit for engine analysis. |
| Chart Lines | Number of lines shown in the CP evaluation chart. |
| MultiPV Lines | Default number of principal variation lines the engine reports. Higher values show more candidate moves. |
| Policy Distribution Filter | Min/max probability range for policy distribution charts (e.g., 0.4,0.6). |
| Min Policy Threshold | Minimum probability (0-1) for a move to appear in the policy overlay on the chessboard. |
| Combine White & Black Moves | Merge white and black move data in policy distribution charts. |
Defaults for the Game Review page's analysis engine. These control how deeply each move is analyzed.
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Mode | Search mode: Time, Nodes, or Depth. |
| Time (ms) | Milliseconds per move when using Time mode. |
| Nodes | Node count per move when using Nodes mode. |
| Depth | Search depth per move when using Depth mode. |
Defaults applied when creating tournament configurations.
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Delay Between Games (sec) | Pause between games to let engines cool down (GPU thermal management). |
| Move Overhead (ms) | Time buffer subtracted from the engine's clock to account for communication delay. |
Settings are saved to Data/globalSettings.json in the app directory. Click Save to persist changes. Reset to Defaults restores all values to their defaults (click Save again to persist the reset).
Settings are loaded on app startup and shared across all pages in the session.