Midjourney Parameter Prompt Tutorial: Aspect Ratios, Stylization Strength, and Version Switching

If you want Midjourney image generation to go from “pure luck” to “controllable,” the key is parameters. Midjourney’s parameter syntax isn’t complicated, but it’s easiest to mess up on symbols, placement, and versions. Below, organized by common scenarios, we’ll explain Midjourney parameters clearly in one go—just follow the templates and you can use them directly.

Where to put Midjourney parameters: they only work in the right place

When using Midjourney in Discord, first type /imagine, then enter your prompt. Midjourney parameters are usually placed at the end of the prompt, separated by spaces, for example: “description … --ar 16:9”. Note that Midjourney only recognizes the ASCII double hyphen “--”. Using Chinese dashes or full-width symbols will cause the parameters to fail.

The 4 most commonly used parameters: --ar, --stylize, --chaos, --seed

--ar in Midjourney is the aspect ratio, common ones include --ar 1:1, --ar 16:9, and --ar 9:16, suitable for avatars, landscape covers, and vertical posters respectively. --stylize controls “stylization strength”: the higher the value, the more it leans toward artistic expression; the lower, the closer it stays to the literal prompt. The usable range varies slightly across Midjourney versions—follow the system prompt if you hit a limit.

--chaos determines the degree of randomness: higher values produce greater variation, which is great for exploring multiple options; if you want stable, reproducible results, keep chaos low. --seed is the “seed,” used to make it easier to get similar compositions from the same prompt; when creating a series, using a fixed seed in Midjourney saves time otherwise spent on repeated trial and error.

How to switch versions and style lines: how to use --v and --niji

--v in Midjourney specifies the model version, such as --v 6 or --v 5.2 (available versions depend on what your current Midjourney plan supports). If you prefer an anime-focused style, you can use --niji to enter the Niji model system; with the same prompt, different Midjourney versions will produce noticeably different texture and interpretation.

If you don’t want to manually type the version parameter every time, you can also enter /settings in Discord and set your commonly used Midjourney model as the default. When you need a temporary switch, just add the corresponding parameter at the end of a single prompt to override it.

Combination examples and common checks for “parameters not working”

A practical Midjourney combination example: city nightscape, reflections after rain, cinematic lighting --ar 21:9 --stylize 200 --chaos 10 --seed 1234 --v 6. If Midjourney says it doesn’t recognize a parameter, first check three things: whether you used “--”, whether there is a space between the parameter and its value, and whether you put parameters in the middle of the prompt and they were misread.

Also, the most common issue when copy-pasting is that colons or hyphens get converted into full-width characters; Midjourney is very sensitive to these details. Retyping the parameters usually solves it faster than retrying over and over.