Dead by Daylight has remained one of the most popular multiplayer horror games for years, and with constant updates and new content, it shows no signs of slowing down. With ongoing improvements, the game’s potential continues to grow. In our DBD Best Settings & Options Guide (2025), we’ll walk you through all the video settings and options you can adjust (or should consider tweaking) to maximize your competitive advantage, while also maximizing your FPS performance.
Best DBD Video Settings
Graphics
| Setting Name | Setting Value | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| QUALITY | Low | Set to low for better performance and FPS. |
| AUTO-ADJUST | Off | Disable auto-adjust for manual control over settings. |
| SCREEN RESOLUTION | 100% | Set to 100% for optimal clarity and performance. |
| SCREEN SIZE | 1920×1080 | Use your monitor’s native resolution (e.g., 1080p = 1920×1080). |
| FULL SCREEN MODE | Full Screen | Full screen mode provides better performance and reduces input lag. |
| 16:9 ASPECT RATIO | On (if ultra-wide) | Use for ultra-wide monitors to prevent stretching and ensure full FOV. |
| VSYNC | Off | Disable V-Sync to avoid input lag and maximize FPS. |
| FPS LIMIT | 120 | Set highest frame rate allowed. For a consistent and performing experience, use lower numbers. Use higher numbers for smoother gameplay on fast machines. |
Post Process
| Setting Name | Setting Value | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| FSR | Off | If you prefer sharp, clear visuals where each pixel appears as it should (without any blurriness or softness), enabling FSR might not be ideal for you. |
| FSR SHARPNESS | 0% | N/A |
| ANTI-ALIASING | Off | Highly recommend turning this off because when you have it on it uses temporal anti-aliasing (TAA), which causes nasty side effects like ghosting. TAA grabs previous frames and moves them around to fake anti-aliasing, but it looks terrible, especially noticeable in hard and field windows. |
| XESS MODE | Off | Turning off XESS Mode keeps visuals crisp without any upscaling blur, and it’s mainly useful if you have an Intel Arc GPU.. |
UI / HUD
| Setting Name | Setting Value | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| UI SCALE | 70% | Keeps the interface smaller to reduce screen clutter. |
| IN-GAME HUD SCALE | 70% | Prevents perk icons and survivor portraits from blocking your view. |
| SKILL CHECK SCALE | 100% | Preference based, but max size makes great skill checks seem easier. |
| PLAYER NAMES VISIBILITY | ON | Displays the player’s name on the HUD. |
| KILLER HOOK COUNT VISIBILITY | ON | When playing as the killer, it will display the hook count on the HUD. |
| SCORE EVENTS VISIBILITY | ON | Shows the score events on the HUD. |
| MINI ITEM POP-UP | ON | Displays the items icon when you’re about to pick them up. |
| BLOODY PRESTIGE PORTRAITS | ON | Enables the highlights of characters’ portraits in the character menu for characters that reached prestige 3. |
| DEEP WOUND BAR VISIBILITY | ON | Shows the Deep wound bar in the lower center of the HUD. |
| ARCHIVES QUESTS PROGRESSION | ON | Notifies you about the archives quests progression on the HUD. |
| PLAYER CARD ANIMATION BEHAVIOR | ANIMATE ALWAYS | Keeps player card animations always on for smoother UI transitions. |
Launch Options
Make sure that your drivers are up to date before launching Dead by Daylight. If you’re experiencing performance issues, you can adjust the game’s launch options to improve stability and FPS. Right-click Dead by Daylight in Steam or Epic Games, go to ‘Properties‘ > ‘General‘, and in the Launch Options field, add ‘-high‘ to prioritize the game’s processing power.
If you have FPS drops or crashes, you can also add ‘-dx12‘ to force DirectX 12 mode, which can improve performance on weaker systems. Some stuttering may occur when encountering new in-game assets (e.g., facing a new killer for the first time), but these will smooth out over time. It can also help reduce crashes when using ReShade. If you have a high-end system and don’t experience FPS issues, staying on DX11 is fine.
Best DBD Settings and Options – Conclusion
Dead by Daylight has come a long way, and with each update, having your settings tweaked is even more important to staying competitive. While the game is now much prettier than it was during its early days, tweaking your settings can still give you an edge by improving FPS, reducing input lag, and making everything clearer.
This guide breaks down the best settings to maximize performance and visibility in 2025. Of course, settings can change with future updates, so we’ll keep this guide updated to reflect the best possible configurations. Be sure to check back for any new tweaks or improvements.
Looking for more Dead by Daylight resources? Check out our other DBD guides:
