Apparently I lost the thread of the discussion. Because the OP asked about rules, and several posts mentioned variables, I thought we were talking about rules. My bad, I guess.
Agreed if you turn it on via a physical button, the lights will come on at the last dim level.
That was my point a few posts ago....that using variables will not help you with physical on events. 
Well... that's why I rarely turn my dimmable lights on/off with physical switches.
EXACTLY!! It's all about motion people!! 
Motion is cool, but if I want to go down the hallway without lights going on, I want to do that. Last thing I want is the 2 year old waking up when someone goes down the hall.
Thanks for all the input though.
Not one to tell people how to engineer out their problems but presumably most of the time you want the lights to turn on when you walk by, so generally you are better off pressing a button that stops the lights from coming on, or better yet identifying the set of conditions in the house that mean the kid is down and letting the house determine on its own whether or not to turn on the lights. This can also be done by using a long press on the light switch in the room to both tell the system the kid is sleeping and turn off the lights, this has the added bonus of being able to turn of power or turn down volume of noisy electronics
If I'm pressing a button to cancel, doesn't it make just as much sense to just push the button to turn it on when needed?
I think that would depend on which you expect to do most often. You'd want the button to be the exception. So if you only want to turn the light on occasionally, use the button to turn it on. If you usually want it to turn on, but every now and then not, then use the button to keep it off.
Beating an old dead horse.
@Ryan780 Thank you for setting me straight on the physical attributes of the dimmer. They have been frustrating me.
Borrowing, or building on this thread --
Can you create a rule that captures the level of a dimmer into a variable then add another rule that upon turning off the dimmer switch using the physical switch, run a rule that sets the dimmer to the variable level just before it powers off?
Then you can always have a starting point for the next physical on event?
I know we can set and adjust the bathroom dimmers with motion. The problem is that won't pass the WAF test here. She wants to use a switch! And, she doesn't want to be blinded in the middle of the night or when she gets up before the chickens.
Wow, old thread. I struggled with this problem for a long time. The problem with what you describe doing is that setting the level of the dimmer turns it on. So, you'd go to turn off the light at the switch only to have it come on. Of course, you could turn it right off again.
I messed around with something like this where it set the level at every mode change, and then quickly turned the light off if it had not been on. But, there was a brief flash of the light at the mode change as its level was set. That was not acceptable.
What kind of dimmers are these? Some dimmers do automatically come on to prior level when turned on, some automatically go to 100%.
Same here.
I am using a GE/JASCO Zigbee dimmer:
IF, I were to use a motion automation, I think there would be false triggers due to the dogs heading for their water bowl at night.
I did consider putting contacts on the double doors going into the master bath. But, sometimes we don't close them completely due to the loud snap they make -- trying not to wake a spouse.
End Desire is to have a low level ON then a slow ramp up to a higher level - depending on house MODE.
Got to conquer that initial ON setting first.
Use per mode settings so they don't come on at night at all.
Unless, I misunderstood you... That is when I want the tricky stuff to work.
Like:
Mode = Evening
Physical switch ON, lights come on at 65%. Occupant can adjust as desired.
Mode = Night
Physical switch ON, lights come on at 18% (No blinding flashes. No false alarms.)
Mode = Wake
Physical switch ON, lights come on at 18%, ramp up to 50% over a period of say 3 minutes.
Mode = Day
Physical switch ON, lights come on at 90%
I was thinking of using several Simple Rules rather than some complex RM rule.
Check out Mode Lighting, part of Motion and Mode Lighting apps. This is what it does, for turning on lights with a switch.
Like this?
So far, this rule turns the lights on using a physical switch , but to the last level they were used. Then, it fades down. Or up as needed.
I am trying to get away from that pop.
In general, this is not possible. The only way to accomplish it reliably is to not use the switch to turn on the lights. Use motion or a contact sensor, or a button, or Alexa. These means can cause the lights to come on to a specific level. The switch is a physical device that is going to act on the lights before any automation can kick in.
Thanks.
Back to the drawing board. 
Can certain switches/dimmers have the physical part disabled via command?
I just swapped out this dimmer from a GE Zwave to a GE Zigbee so I could have a repeater in the back of the house. I could swap again if there is such a creature. Zooz, Innovelli?
Just a thought --
I could use Mode lighting or a rule to activate the lights when mode changes from Day to Evening setting them to a low level, like 15%. It won't be noticeable unless you are in the bathroom.
Then when the physical switch is used, the "pop" won't be noticeable as a rule will be progressing upward to some level depending on the mode when the physical switch is pushed.
If I don't get caught WAR is good. If she happens to be in there, ooops. WAR factor decreases.
WAR -- Wife Approval Rating. Lower values are bad.
No, these are physical devices, and every single smart switch out there is going to control the load. Suppose the hub is down, and you want to turn on or off the lights. The switch has to be a switch first.
As I alluded to above, I had at one time a variant of mode lighting that set dimmers on each mode change to the level that would be nice for that mode, and immediately turned the switches off. This works, but there is the flash of the lights at the mode change. You could do this with some simple Basic Rules, triggered by each mode change.
I should point out that this is actually more complex than that. You clearly don't want to turn off the light if it is already on. So you would need Rule Machine, not Basic Rule, so it could check the light status before turning it off after setting the dimmer level.
@bravenel You have imparted a good bit of knowledge to me this evening. Thank you.
After posting, I realized I had proposed a poor idea. While the change late in the afternoon would go un-noticed, a change from evening to night, and Night to Wake, would have an annoying flash -- just where I don't want one. I think I may just attack a digital plan, like contacts on the door, and/or combined with a motion detector.
I already use a couple of Simple Rules that trigger outdoor lighting at mode changes.
Good news! I think it's worth resurrecting this thread for posterity so people know that it is now possible to do this with Zooz switches when using @jtp10181 's Zooz Zen Switches Advanced driver.
I have been using it on some Zen74 toggle dimmers and it works great. Anytime I flip the physical switch, the light comes on into a predetermined brightness level and the lights did not have to flash on to accept the new setting.
Setting up the custom rule isn't the easiest thing, but I'll try to explain it here:
Firstly download and install the driver that can be found in Hubitat Package Manager.
Ensure that the new driver is installed on each device and that it has been configured properly.
Next, you'll need to set up a custom rule in Rule Manager. To do this, you'll select "Set Variable, Mode or File, Run Custom Action" under the "Create New Action" dropdown.
Then select "Run Custom Action" followed by the "Dimmer" capability.
Once you have selected all of the switches that you want the new rule to apply to, under "Select Custom Command" you will select "setParameter" Followed by "number."
The relevant parameter that we will be modifying is #18 (Custom Brightness when Turned On), with a scale of 1-99, and a size of 1. Each of these three numbers is entered into the action in order and individually. So the fist number that you will enter is "18," then click out of the text box to allow the number to set.
Press the "Add another parameter" button to enter your desired brightness level and then click out of the box again.
Finally, press the "Add another parameter" button for the last time and enter 1. When you are finished, the action should look like this:
Note: This parameter change is designed to be "temporary" and will likely not be reflected on the device detail page, though you should be able to see the change take effect in the logs.
Download the Hubitat app
