GFX Troubleshooting

There are numerous graphics (gfx) related bugs users encountered. Not all are fixable, but might have workarounds. This site is there to collect these to help those encountering the same issues.

Game not starting

Generally there are two different types of users encountering these problems. Users with old computers (2015 and older) and users with new computers.

For users with older computers

Usually it’s enough to force OpenGL 1.x and the game should start. Do this by editing settings_ddnet.cfg that is located inside the config directory (FAQ#Where is the DDNet config, config directory or save directory?) Make sure no DDNet Client is running (best is you even check in the taskmanager) To the bottom of this file add:

gfx_gl_major 1
gfx_backend opengl

If you are a steam user, you can also pass it as steam start parameter by writing “gfx_gl_major 1; gfx_backend opengl” (INCLUDING the “) (rightclick ddnet in steam, properties -> start arguments.

If all this still does not help, you can still fallback to software rendering. Software rendering means it runs all graphics calls on your CPU instead of your GPU. This results in far less FPS, but might still be playable with some tweaks. Grab the latest 64-bit version of ddnet from https://ddnet.org/downloads. Now download and install 7-Zip. Download the latest mesa for windows from https://github.com/pal1000/mesa-dist-win/releases which should be named like this: mesa3d-xx.y.z-release-mingw.7z. Unpack the DDNet client somewhere, unpack mesa. From mesa move all .dll files from the x64 directory inside the DDNet client’s directory. So all .dll files are next to DDNet.exe. If you did everything right it should start the client again, if not try to add

gfx_backend Vulkan

to the settings_ddnet.cfg as described above

For users with new computers

Usually this is caused by bad drivers. You should check the manufacturers website for the newest drivers (AMD, NVIDIA, Intel). For Intel also note this article: Warning: Installing This Graphics Driver From Intel May Overwrite Customizations From Your Computer Manufacturer (OEM). If it’s still crashing you should try to use vulkan Do this by editing settings_ddnet.cfg that is located inside the config directory (FAQ#Where is the DDNet config, config directory or save directory?) Make sure no DDNet Client is running (best is you even check in the taskmanager) To the bottom of this file add:

gfx_backend Vulkan

If you are a steam user, you can also pass it as steam start parameter by writing “gfx_backend Vulkan” (INCLUDING the “) (rightclick ddnet in steam, properties -> start arguments

Third-party software

Isolate the problem by closing all unnecessary programs, especially those that integrate with games and graphics, like Steam, Discord, recording software (e.g. OBS), monitoring software (e.g. FPS Monitor) etc.

On Windows, crashes have been reported when using FPS Monitor (fpsmonvk64.dll appears in the crash log) with NVIDIA graphics cards and the Vulkan graphics backend. Uninstall FPS Monitor if you experience the client crashing on launch.
On Windows, users reported that Discord's game overlay was causing games to stutter or exhibit low frame rate performance. The issue was resolved by disabling the overlay setting in Discord.

Some text is invisible with the Vulkan backend

Users with an AMD card reported this and it’s caused by AMD driver from 2021. Just visit and download a driver from march 2022 or newer from https://www.amd.com/en/support. If there is no driver from 2022 you should switch back to OpenGL, you sadly cannot use Vulkan then, inside the client just paste gfx_gl_major 3;gfx_gl_minor 3; gfx_backend opengl in the F1 console and restart the client.

Some text looks broken

Razer Cortex-Overlay makes text unreadable

Some users reported broken text, e.g. text that is unreadable as if the text was stretched. This is caused by external overlays. Most people with this problem reported they used the "Razer Cortex" overlay. Disabling/uninstalling fixed the problem.

The client randomly crashes with an Intel GPU

Usually DDNet has a strong fallback system for Intel GPUs on Windows as they often caused bugs with OpenGL 2.1+ If you have a recent Intel GPU you can simply switch to Vulkan in the graphic settings inside the client. Else type gfx_gl_major 2;gfx_gl_minor 0; gfx_backend opengl in the F1 console of the client and restart.

Low FPS, stuttering or similar problems

These problems can be caused by many things, most commonly stuttering is caused by a bad driver or overheating of some component. Here is a guide that can help eliminate these kind of problems:

Update all drivers, and the operating system to latest version. On Windows go in the Windows safe mode and uninstall the graphics driver using DDU (not open source, please replace it with a similar tool) or similar tools and then install the latest driver from the manufacturer's website. This can fix more problems than you could guess
For Windows: restart Windows using the "Restart" button (not shutdown). This will clear some caches
Clean your computers coolers. Remove any kind of dust with some air pressure (better don't use a vacuum cleaner because of electric charges). Watch if temperatures of the hardware components are below their proclaimed threshold.
Make sure the hardware (e.g. the graphics card) is properly plugged in.
Try to lower the refresh rate in the client (cl_refresh_rate, gfx_refresh_rate).
For Windows: set Windows to high performance mode
Close all other software (e.g. Discord, Mouse/Keyboard tools)
Unplug all USB devices you don't need (USB sticks, controllers etc.)
Try a different renderer in the DDNet client. settings -> graphics -> renderer
Disable third-party software that may overlay the game window.

Absolutely nothing helps

If you are sure you did everything correct and nothing helped report this bug on ddnet’s discord #bugs channel. You are the first encountering this situation. The only known modern GPU that caused problems is an AMD ryzen 3 2200g, if you don’t use the AMD beta drivers (confirmed with Adrenalin 22.5.1 Recommended (WHQL)) You can simply switch to OpenGL backend, see #Some text is invisible with the Vulkan backend. Else you have to accept to use an OpenGL 1.x backend as described in #For users with older computers. It’s also quite possible that the problem is not GFX related. Try to disable your Anti-Virus for DDNet, make sure you use a recent Windows/Linux/macOS version. Always try 64-bit versions first as they are more tested.

Some ingame tiles are invisible or look broken

You are probably an user with an old GPU, just see #For users with older computers for the solution.