GMX-GROMPP(1) GROMACS GMX-GROMPP(1) NAME gmx-grompp - Make a run input file SYNOPSIS gmx grompp [-f [<.mdp>]] [-c [<.gro/.g96/...>]] [-r [<.gro/.g96/...>]] [-rb [<.gro/.g96/...>]] [-n [<.ndx>]] [-p [<.top>]] [-t [<.trr/.cpt/...>]] [-e [<.edr>]] [-qmi [<.inp>]] [-ref [<.trr/.cpt/...>]] [-po [<.mdp>]] [-pp [<.top>]] [-o [<.tpr>]] [-imd [<.gro>]] [-[no]v] [-time <real>] [-[no]rmvsbds] [-maxwarn <int>] [-[no]zero] [-[no]renum] DESCRIPTION gmx grompp (the gromacs preprocessor) reads a molecular topology file, checks the validity of the file, expands the topology from a molecular de- scription to an atomic description. The topology file contains information about molecule types and the number of molecules, the preprocessor copies each molecule as needed. There is no limitation on the number of molecule types. Bonds and bond-angles can be converted into constraints, separately for hydrogens and heavy atoms. Then a coordinate file is read and veloci- ties can be generated from a Maxwellian distribution if requested. gmx grompp also reads parameters for gmx mdrun (eg. number of MD steps, time step, cut-off). Eventually a binary file is produced that can serve as the sole input file for the MD program. gmx grompp uses the atom names from the topology file. The atom names in the coordinate file (option -c) are only read to generate warnings when they do not match the atom names in the topology. Note that the atom names are irrelevant for the simulation as only the atom types are used for gen- erating interaction parameters. gmx grompp uses a built-in preprocessor to resolve includes, macros, etc. The preprocessor supports the following keywords: #ifdef VARIABLE #ifndef VARIABLE #else #endif #define VARIABLE #undef VARIABLE #include "filename" #include <filename> The functioning of these statements in your topology may be modulated by using the following two flags in your .mdp file: define = -DVARIABLE1 -DVARIABLE2 include = -I/home/john/doe For further information a C-programming textbook may help you out. Speci- fying the -pp flag will get the pre-processed topology file written out so that you can verify its contents. When using position restraints, a file with restraint coordinates must be supplied with -r (can be the same file as supplied for -c). For free energy calculations, separate reference coordinates for the B topology can be sup- plied with -rb, otherwise they will be equal to those of the A topology. Starting coordinates can be read from trajectory with -t. The last frame with coordinates and velocities will be read, unless the -time option is used. Only if this information is absent will the coordinates in the -c file be used. Note that these velocities will not be used when gen_vel = yes in your .mdp file. An energy file can be supplied with -e to read Nose-Hoover and/or Parrinello-Rahman coupling variables. gmx grompp can be used to restart simulations (preserving continuity) by supplying just a checkpoint file with -t. However, for simply changing the number of run steps to extend a run, using gmx convert-tpr is more conve- nient than gmx grompp. You then supply the old checkpoint file directly to gmx mdrun with -cpi. If you wish to change the ensemble or things like out- put frequency, then supplying the checkpoint file to gmx grompp with -t along with a new .mdp file with -f is the recommended procedure. Actually preserving the ensemble (if possible) still requires passing the checkpoint file to gmx mdrun -cpi. By default, all bonded interactions which have constant energy due to vir- tual site constructions will be removed. If this constant energy is not zero, this will result in a shift in the total energy. All bonded interac- tions can be kept by turning off -rmvsbds. Additionally, all constraints for distances which will be constant anyway because of virtual site con- structions will be removed. If any constraints remain which involve virtual sites, a fatal error will result. To verify your run input file, please take note of all warnings on the screen, and correct where necessary. Do also look at the contents of the mdout.mdp file; this contains comment lines, as well as the input that gmx grompp has read. If in doubt, you can start gmx grompp with the -debug op- tion which will give you more information in a file called grompp.log (along with real debug info). You can see the contents of the run input file with the gmx dump program. gmx check can be used to compare the con- tents of two run input files. The -maxwarn option can be used to override warnings printed by gmx grompp that otherwise halt output. In some cases, warnings are harmless, but usu- ally they are not. The user is advised to carefully interpret the output messages before attempting to bypass them with this option. OPTIONS Options to specify input files: -f [<.mdp>] (grompp.mdp) grompp input file with MD parameters -c [<.gro/.g96/...>] (conf.gro) Structure file: gro g96 pdb brk ent esp tpr -r [<.gro/.g96/...>] (restraint.gro) (Optional) Structure file: gro g96 pdb brk ent esp tpr -rb [<.gro/.g96/...>] (restraint.gro) (Optional) Structure file: gro g96 pdb brk ent esp tpr -n [<.ndx>] (index.ndx) (Optional) Index file -p [<.top>] (topol.top) Topology file -t [<.trr/.cpt/...>] (traj.trr) (Optional) Full precision trajectory: trr cpt tng h5md -e [<.edr>] (ener.edr) (Optional) Energy file -qmi [<.inp>] (topol-qmmm.inp) (Optional) Input file for QM program Options to specify input/output files: -ref [<.trr/.cpt/...>] (rotref.trr) (Optional) Full precision trajectory: trr cpt tng h5md Options to specify output files: -po [<.mdp>] (mdout.mdp) grompp input file with MD parameters -pp [<.top>] (processed.top) (Optional) Topology file -o [<.tpr>] (topol.tpr) Portable xdr run input file -imd [<.gro>] (imdgroup.gro) (Optional) Coordinate file in Gromos-87 format Other options: -[no]v (no) Be loud and noisy -time <real> (-1) Take frame at or first after this time. -[no]rmvsbds (yes) Remove constant bonded interactions with virtual sites -maxwarn <int> (0) Number of allowed warnings during input processing. Not for normal use and may generate unstable systems -[no]zero (no) Set parameters for bonded interactions without defaults to zero in- stead of generating an error -[no]renum (yes) Renumber atomtypes and minimize number of atomtypes SEE ALSO gmx(1) More information about GROMACS is available at <http://www.gromacs.org/>. COPYRIGHT 2026, GROMACS development team 2026.3 Jun 25, 2026 GMX-GROMPP(1)
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