OOFEM Input Manual

Authors: Bořek Patzák, Martin Horák, Vít Šmilauer, Milan Jirásek, et al.

Version: 3.0, Date: Oct 26, 2026

This manual is the reference for the OOFEM text input file: the order of the records, the syntax of each record, and the meaning of every attribute.

If you have never written an OOFEM input file, start with Anatomy of an input file, which walks through a complete working file record by record. The rest of the manual is a reference: use the table of contents or the search box to find the record you need.

Getting started

• Introduction
  • The parallel model
  • Running the code
  • Syntax and general rules
• Anatomy of an input file
  • Reading it line by line
  • Things worth knowing early
  • Where to go next

Record reference

• Output and job description records
  • Output file record
  • Job description record
• Analysis record
  • Standard syntax
  • Meta-step syntax
  • Parameters
  • Time stepping and adaptive time step
  • Parameters common to all engineering models
  • Supported analysis types
• Domain record
  • Domain types
  • Output manager record
  • Components size record
  • Domain component records
• Appendices
  • Sparse linear solver parameters
  • Eigenvalue solver parameters
  • Dynamic load balancing parameters
  • Error estimators and indicators
  • Material interfaces
  • Mesh generator interfaces
  • Initialization modules
  • Export modules
  • Symbolic MPM records

Appendices

• XML input format
  • Field formats
  • Input example
• Examples
  • Beam structure
  • Plane stress example
  • Examples - parallel mode
• About