How do you change your Steam status, settings etc. from a shortcut?

Question

I would like to use RocketDock to change things like my status and open things like the Friends window.

I'm trying to create a Steambox of sorts with a heavily modified Windows 7 install, so I don't need Windows Explorer. I know it's possible because this guy

did it (Skip ahead to 2:49 to see what I mean if it's not there already). I can't find anything on how to do this. Is it possible?

Answer 1

This done via the Steam Protocol. It is installed on each system that has steam installed and can be used to transmit commands to steam by creating a link that begins with steam://. For example, shortcuts create by Steam always contain the link steam://run/appid.

Further information about all possible commands can be found here: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_browser_protocol

For changing your status you might want to utilize these commands:

steam://friends/status/away
Sets status as away

steam://friends/status/busy
Sets status as busy

steam://friends/status/trade
Sets status as looking to trade

steam://friends/status/play
Sets status as looking to play

steam://friends/status/offline
Sets status as offline

steam://friends/status/online
Sets status as online

In case nothing happens when you activate such a link, you have to reinstall the Steam Protocol. This can be done this way:

• Click Start ▶ All Programs ▶ Accessories
• Right-click on Command Prompt and then click "Run as administrator..."
• In the command prompt, enter the following command, including quotation marks: "C:\Program Files\Steam\bin\SteamService.exe" /repair
• Note: C:\Program Files\Steam\ is the default installation directory for Steam - change this to the correct directory if you installed Steam to a different location. 64-bit systems will use Program Files (x86) instead of Program Files.
• This process will take a few minutes to complete. Once finished, the message "Steam Client Service repair completed." will appear.
• The issue may be fixed at this point, however it is recommended you reboot your computer before testing if the repair resolved the problem.

Source