parameters — --v, --niji and --hd
Which model made the picture: --v, --niji and --hd
A prompt without --v runs on whatever the current default is — which changes. Pinning the version is what makes a saved prompt still mean something a year later.
Midjourney is not one model. Each version is a different system with its own aesthetic instincts, its own prompt handling, and its own list of supported parameters. --v is how a prompt says which one it was written for.
--v 8.1 --version 8.1 (same parameter, long form) --niji 7 (the anime-focused series)
- V8.2the current default
- accountwhat an unpinned prompt actually uses
- V6+versions supporting style and personalization refs
The cost of leaving it out
A prompt with no --v does not run on a fixed model — it runs on whatever your account default happens to be, which Midjourney changes when it ships a new version. That has two consequences worth being deliberate about:
- A saved prompt is not a saved result. The same text re-run after a default change is a different instruction to a different model.
- A shared prompt is incomplete. If someone posts a prompt with no version, you cannot tell what made the image, and your own default fills the gap silently.
This is why an archive of prompts is worth more when the version is on it, and why an unpinned prompt is best read as "this worked, once, on whatever was current".
The current versions
| Version | Released | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| V8.2 | 24 July 2026 | the default. An aesthetics, image-quality and personalization update — bolder and more sophisticated results |
| V8.1 | 14 April 2026 | the fast one — standard jobs render roughly 4–5× faster than earlier versions, with better prompt adherence and detail retention |
| V7 | 3 April 2025 | precise text and image prompting, richer textures. Introduced Draft Mode and Omni Reference |
| V6 | 20 December 2023 | the baseline for style references and personalization; still the fallback for old style codes |
| Niji 7 | 9 January 2026 | anime and Eastern aesthetics. More literal and much more coherent, with a cleaner, flatter look |
| Niji 6 | — | the previous anime model; looser and more "vibey" than Niji 7 |
V8.0 is gone: it was an early-access alpha, and Midjourney withdrew it on 24 July 2026 when V8.2 became the default. Images made with it remain in galleries, but the version can no longer be requested — a reminder that a pinned version is a promise Midjourney does not make forever.
--hd and --sd on V8.1 and later
V8.1 introduced HD generation: 2048px images produced directly, with no separate upscale step. It is a flag, not a value.
| Flag | Resolution | GPU cost |
|---|---|---|
| --sd (default) | 1024px | 0.8 minutes |
| --hd | 2048px | 1.3 minutes |
Two constraints come attached. HD caps the aspect ratio at 4:1 rather than 14:1. And the inpainting and outpainting tools — Pan, Zoom Out, Edit and Vary Region — downscale an HD image back to SD, so an HD original that gets edited needs an upscale afterwards to return to HD.
What each version supports
Most parameters work everywhere, but the differences are exactly the ones that break a copied prompt. The important ones:
| Feature | V6 | V7 | V8.1 / V8.2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Style reference & codes | yes | yes | yes |
| Personalization & moodboards | yes | yes | yes |
| Omni reference | no | yes | runs on V7 |
| Character reference | yes | no | no |
| Quality parameter | 0.5, 1, 2 | 1, 2, 4 | not supported |
| Seed | yes | yes | yes — 99% identical |
| HD images | no | no | yes |
| Draft mode | no | yes | yes |
| Niji | --niji 6 | --niji 7 | — |
Note the two that are not simply forward progress. --quality is not supported on V8.1 or V8.2 at all, so a --q 2 workflow means staying on V7. And character reference was replaced by omni reference in V7 — a V6 prompt using --cref has no direct V8 equivalent.
Setting it
Per prompt, --v 8.1 at the end. Globally, the settings panel on the web or /settings in Discord. The global default is the thing to check first when prompts start behaving differently for no apparent reason — and the thing to remember to mention when you share one.
For versions older than V6, Midjourney keeps a legacy features article covering the parameters that went with them.
Prompts in the collection are stored with their version parameter as written — including the ones that do not carry one, which is most of the honest state of the practice.