Graphics settings
Start with the game's own graphics menu: it gives the biggest gain and never breaks after a patch. Change one setting at a time and check your frames in a teamfight, not in an empty Hideout — FPS is always higher there.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shadows | Low | The heaviest setting, with little effect on reading fights |
| Fog | Low | Volumetric fog is expensive and only hurts visibility |
| Ambient occlusion | Off | Costs noticeable frames for a small visual difference |
| Textures | Medium | Higher if you have the VRAM; little effect on FPS |
| Resolution | Native | Below native looks blurry; recover frames with upscaling instead |
| Upscaling | DLSS Quality (NVIDIA RTX) or FSR (AMD, Intel) | Renders at a lower resolution and reconstructs to native |
| FPS limit | Unlimited or your refresh rate | ProSettings' recommendation for competitive play |
FOV
FOV in Deadlock is a slider in the camera settings. According to players on the Deadlock forum and ProSettings, the maximum is 90 and most people play on it: you see more, and FOV barely affects FPS. Going above 90 is only possible with mods, which means editing game files at your own risk.
Stretched 4:3
Stretched 4:3 (for example 1440 × 1080 on a 1920 × 1080 monitor) makes models wider and, on weaker PCs, adds frames thanks to the lower resolution. It takes three steps:
- Create a custom resolution in your GPU driver: NVIDIA — Control Panel → Change resolution → Customize → Create Custom Resolution; AMD — Adrenalin → Settings → Display → Custom Resolutions. Keep your monitor's refresh rate.
- Enable full-screen scaling: NVIDIA — Adjust desktop size and position → Full-screen, perform scaling on GPU, override the scaling mode set by games; AMD — GPU Scaling on, Scaling Mode Full Panel.
- In Deadlock, pick fullscreen mode (not borderless windowed) and your resolution — turn on custom resolution in the video menu for that. Or add Steam launch options: -w 1440 -h 1080 -fullscreen.
Still seeing black bars? Check that the game is in true fullscreen, the driver scaling is set to full-screen, and your monitor's own menu is not set to 1:1 pixel mapping.
Launch options
Launch options go into Steam: right-click Deadlock → Properties → General → Launch Options. They are not magic — graphics settings matter more. These actually work:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| -novid | Skips the intro video |
| -fullscreen | Starts the game in fullscreen |
| -w 1440 -h 1080 | Sets the resolution — needed for stretched 4:3 |
| -dx11 / -vulkan | Graphics API: try both and keep the one with smoother frames in fights |
| -console or -dev | Enables the developer console |
| +citadel_region_override 1 | Matchmaking region: -1 auto, 0 North America, 1 Europe, 2 Asia, 3 South America, 5 Oceania |
Options like -high, -preload, -noassert and -m_rawinput 1 travel into Deadlock from old CS guides. We found no verified benchmarks showing a gain from them, so they are not on the list.
Console
Enable the console with the “Dev command console” setting (or the -console launch option) and open it with F7. Most commands only work in the Hideout, Sandbox, Explore NYC and private games with cheats on — you cannot tune graphics past the menu from the console in a normal match. The Valve Developer Wiki keeps the full command list.
FPS configs and mods
If you still lack frames, players install ready-made configs from GameBanana: Optimizationlock by Sqooky!, Optimisationlock, OptiLock and Potato Lock. They cut effects further than the menu allows. Each installs differently — follow the author's instructions, and check the update date after big patches.
Best mods for FPS and quality of life
Performance configs and useful interface tweaks, with authors and links.
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