Hidden features
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with en/Manual/Hotkeys.

There are many features within OpenTTD with no GUI buttons or easily accessible to operate. To most inexperienced users, these are Hidden Features.

Here is a list of the hidden features, which are helpful, but not necessarily obvious even to experienced players. Feel free to complete this list.

This page does not list Hotkeys, see there for information.

Ctrl features

The Ctrl key can be very useful. Holding it down while clicking can make tedious tasks much faster.

Action Command
Construction
Place Adjacent Station Hold Ctrl and place a station next to an existing one to create a new one instead of enlarging the existing. Needs Advanced Settings "adjacent_stations" set.
Join with existing station
(r14919 / 0.7.0)
Hold Ctrl while building a station to get a list of nearby stations to choose from which station the new one should be joined with. You can still choose to create a new (adjacent) station.
Remove Function Build road/rail tool -> Hold Ctrl to toggle removing (except for signals - use R for that).
Build last built bridge type if possible
(r14805 / 0.7.0)
Ctrl + build bridge
Signals
Place Signals Railway construction -> Build signal -> Ctrl + click plain railroad track
Place pre-signals Railway construction -> Build signal -> Ctrl + click already existing signal
Signals autocomplete
(r10437 / 0.6.0)
Railway construction -> Build signal -> Ctrl + drag over plain railroad track. Works for remove too.
Depot window
Clone a vehicle with Orders Depot window -> Clone Vehicle -> Ctrl + click a vehicle
Drag multiple train parts in depot Depot window -> Ctrl + move wagon
Show vehicle load and capacity Depot window -> Right Mouse Button on vehicle
Show vehicle load and capacity of multiple vehicles Depot window -> Ctrl + Right Mouse Button on vehicle
Reverse engine direction Ctrl + click on an engine in depot window [only if supported by NewGRF]
Purchase list
Hide/Show engine (r26805 / 1.5) Purchase list -> Ctrl + click on vehicle model
Vehicle window
Scroll to current vehicle destination (r19216 / 1.0) OpenTTD < 1.11: Vehicle window -> Ctrl + click the Start-Stop/Status bar
OpenTTD >= 1.11: Seperate button next to the Start-Stop/Status bar
Auto service Ctrl + click goto depot icon
Follow vehicle OpenTTD < 1.11: Ctrl + click "Center on vehicle" in vehicle window (normal zoom only)
OpenTTD >= 1.11: Double + click "Center on vehicle" in vehicle window (normal zoom only)
Show time table instead of orders Ctrl+click the orders button
Order list
Orders Orders window -> Go To -> click a vehicle
Assign Orders Orders window -> Go To -> Ctrl + click a vehicle
View location of order Orders window -> Ctrl + click an order
Order Modifiers
(r14827 / 0.7.0)
Orders window -> Go to -> Hold Ctrl while clicking on a...
  • station to automatically create a "Full load any" order
  • depot to create a "Service in Depot" order (instead of "Go to Depot")
  • waypoint to use the other non-stop option than specified as default in the Advanced Settings
Timetable window
Non-destructive timetable autofill
(r14592 / 0.7.0)
Hold Ctrl while clicking on an autofill button
Timetable spreading of vehicles
(r25377 / 1.4.0)
Ctrl+Click when setting a start date on timetable
Viewport
Start/stop vehicle (r19714 / 1.1) Ctrl + click vehicle on the map to start/stop it
Remove your own sign
(r13501 / 0.6.2)
Ctrl + click on the sign
View location in viewport Ctrl + click on a Location (various windows) button shows the location in a new viewport instead of scrolling the main view there
Transparency options
Lock transparency
(r12102 / 0.6.0)
Transparency settings -> Ctrl + click button to lock transparency option ('x' will not toggle it anymore)
Vehicle list
Show other type of vehicle group window than the default Hold Ctrl while opening a player's train/road vehicle/aircraft/ship list
Add all vehicles with a shared order list to a group
(r24138 / 1.3.0)
Group window -> Hold Ctrl while dragging a vehicle to a group
Finances window
Borrow/Repay maximum cash Finances window -> Ctrl + click Borrow/Repay button
Intro screen
Quick start new game
(r15690 / 0.7.0)
Hold Ctrl while clicking on "New Game" in the main menu to directly start a game without opening the "World Generation" window
Scenario editor
Remove desert in scenario editor Landscape -> Desert tool -> Ctrl + click tile

More features

Action Description
Chat Auto Complete Use Tab to toggle through player and town names
Chat Window Shift+Enter (Shift+T) sends a message to all players, Ctrl+Enter (Ctrl+T) sends a message to all team mates and Enter (T) is customizable
Cancel Build When you click and drag to build an object but it is in the wrong place, it will be built when you release the mouse button. Instead hold the mouse button and press Esc to cancel the build.
Cost Estimation Hold Shift key while performing a build action. Works almost everywhere. Also allows you to cancel construction if you have already clicked (eg. about to build track in wrong place, just hold down Shift and release mouse button).
View location in small map After using a location button to scroll the main window to that location click again to scroll the small map to the same location.
Roll up/down window Mouse wheel up/down while hovering the cursor on a window's titlebar.