Valheim has become an instant hit, drawing in over 2 million players in about two weeks. Its success has placed it on many PCs, but not all are having the same experience in terms of performance.
Although the lo-fi graphics style might lead you to believe that Valheim’s 1GB world is a breeze to run, that’s not necessarily the case. Admittedly, it does run relatively well for an Early Access title, but obtaining a consistent 60 frames per second can be hard-earned.
Fortunately, the Valheim subreddit is doing Odin’s work by outlining an easy method for improving performance woes. User RustyB3ans has laid out a simple 3-step process for getting that framerate back into the desired territory. Given the positive reception in his thread, it seems notable FPS gains are generally the end result.
Follow the performance guide below if Valheim’s lush forests are wreaking havoc on your rig.
How to Increase Performance in Valheim
Step 1 – Edit Config File
- Navigate to This PC > (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > Valheim > valheim_Data
- For those with multiple drives, replace (C:) with whichever drive houses your game installations
- Right-click the boot config file and open with Notepad
- Add the following lines to the top of the document:
- gfx-enable-gfx-jobs=1
- gfx-enable-native-gfx-jobs=1
- Save changes and close the file
Step 2 – Set Launch Options
- Right-click Valheim in the Steam app and select Properties
- Under the General tab, type in the following in the Launch Options box
- -window-mode-exclusive
Step 3 – Set Priority
- Open Task Manager and locate valheimin the Processes tab
- It appears as valheim (2) in the list so click the dropdown menu arrow to reveal the base valheim entry
- Right-click valheim and select Go to details
- In the Details tab, right-click valheim.exe and set priority to High
- This step must be done every time the game is launched
There are a few remaining items to note before you jump back into exploring Valheim. If you experience any artifacting or lighting issues, remove “gfx-enable-native-gfx-jobs=1” from Step 1. If you are a computer savvy individual, the above-linked Reddit thread includes advice on how to make Step 3 permanent.
Follow this guide and you may join the countless others now enjoying framerate boosts in the realm of 20-40 FPS. For everything else Valheim, check out our expansive set of gameplay guides.
