Warzone is one of the more taxing games when it comes to gaming PC performance. The fast pace of play, combined with detail in every nook and corner of the map, will bring an underpowered gaming PC to its knees. So, it’s not surprising that gamers are always trying to find the best Warzone settings.
Our in-depth guide runs through all of the best settings for Warzone. We compiled these settings from a combination of in-house testing and pulling data from the player’s settings we track on-site for the best and most popular Warzone streamers.
Below, you’ll find suggested Warzone settings for low-end and high-end gaming PCs that are sure to run the game at high FPS to give you a competitive advantage. You’ll also find definitions for each setting, PC optimizations to consider, and analytics on settings the best Warzone players are using.
Table of Contents
Update your graphics drivers
One early step you should take is to update your NIVIDIA or AMD graphics drivers. Without doing so, no combination of suggested settings will get you the best performance. The best part is updating your graphics drivers only takes a few minutes.
Best Warzone settings for low-end setups
Adjusting your gaming PC to the following settings is a good starting point if you have a gaming rig from a few years ago and you’re experiencing below 60 FPS in Warzone.
Display
- Display mode: Fullscreen
- Display monitor: Select your gaming monitor
- Display adapter: Select your GPU
- Screen refresh rate: Set to your monitor’s refresh rate
- Display resolution: 1920 x 1080 (1080p)
- Dynamic resolution: Disabled
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- V-sync: Disabled
- Custom framerate limit: Unlimited
- Brightness: 60 to 70
- Display gamma: 2.2 (sRGB) for monitors, 2.4 (BT1886) for tv’s
- NVIDIA highlights: Disabled
- NVIDIA reflex low latency: Enabled + boost
Details and textures
- Render resolution: 100
- Streaming quality: Low
- Texture resolution: Low
- Texture filter anisotropic: Low
- Particle quality: Low
- Bullet impacts and sprays: Enabled
- Tesselation: All
- Dismemberment and gore effects: Enabled
- On-demand texture streaming: Disabled
Post-processing effects
- Filmic strength: 1.00
- Film grain: 0
- NVIDIA DLSS: Performance
- Anti-aliasing: SMAA T2X
- Depth of field: Disabled
- World motion blur: Disabled
- Weapon motion blur: Disabled
Shadow and lighting
- Shadow map resolution: Low
- Cache spot shadows: Disabled
- Cache sun shadows: Disabled
- Particle lighting: Low
- DirectX raytracing: Disabled
- Ambient occlusion: Disabled
- Screen space reflection (SSR): Disabled
Pro tip
The best Warzone players are a good reference point if you have a lower-end gaming PC. While these players typically have high-end gaming PCs, the best Warzone graphics settings for low-end rigs prioritize low graphics settings over visuals, just like pros do, to get higher FPS and a competitive edge.
Best Warzone settings for high-end setups
The below suggested Warzone settings are best if you have a good enough CPUs, GPUs, and RAM to achieve competitively high FPS at 2K or 4K resolution. If you’re unable to achieve high enough FPS with the below best settings for Warzone, we’d suggest starting with the low-end settings included above, and adjusting upward the several settings that can have the biggest impact on performance, which we’ve included in a section below as well.
Display
- Display mode: Fullscreen
- Display monitor: Select your gaming monitor
- Display adapter: Select your GPU
- Screen refresh rate: Set to your monitor’s refresh rate
- Display resolution: 2560 x 1440 (2k) or 1920 x 1080 (1080p)
- Dynamic resolution: Disabled
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- V-sync: Disabled
- Custom framerate limit: Unlimited
- Brightness: 60 to 70
- Display gamma: 2.2 (sRGB) for monitors, 2.4 (BT1886) for tv’s
- NVIDIA highlights: Disabled
- NVIDIA reflex low latency: Enabled + boost
Details and textures
- Render resolution: 100
- Streaming quality: Normal
- Texture resolution: Normal
- Texture filter anisotropic: Normal
- Particle quality: Normal
- Bullet impacts and sprays: Enabled
- Tesselation: All
- Dismemberment and gore effects: Enabled
- On-demand texture streaming: Disabled
Post-processing effects
- Filmic strength: 1.00
- Film grain: 0
- NVIDIA DLSS: Performance
- Anti-aliasing: SMAA T2X
- Depth of field: Disabled
- World motion blur: Disabled
- Weapon motion blur: Disabled
Shadow and lighting
- Shadow map resolution: Normal
- Cache spot shadows: Enabled
- Cache sun shadows: Enabled
- Particle lighting: Low
- DirectX raytracing: Disabled
- Ambient occlusion: Disabled
- Screen space reflection (SSR): Disabled
Warzone system requirements
Warzone is more demanding on your gaming PC than many other battle royale and first-person shooting games. Getting high enough FPS to be competitive and run the game smoothly is possible with a middle-of-the-road gaming rig, but not likely at resolutions beyond 2K. Here are Warzone’s system requirements to get the most out of the game based on several use cases.
Specs | OS | CPU | RAM | HDD | GPU |
Minimum | Windows 10 64-bit | Intel Core i3-4340, AMD FX-6300 | 8GB | 175GB | NVIDIA GTX 670, GTX 1650, Radeon HD 7950 |
Recommended | Windows 10 64-bit | Intel Core i5-2500K, AMD Ryzen R5 1600X | 12GB | 175GB | NVIDIA GTX 970, GTX 1660, Radeon R9 390 |
Tested model | Windows 10 64-bit | Intel Core i7-12700KF | 32GB | 1TB | NVIDIA RTX 3070ti |
In-house test results
We tested in-house the suggested low-end and high-end settings to understand the practical results you could expect when comparing your gaming PC to our in-house build, which runs a 3070ti GPU, Intel Core i7-12700KF CPU, and 32GB of RAM.
Our system was consistently able to sustain 247 to 260 FPS on the suggested low-end settings, with instances of reaching near 300 FPS.
The results were understandably lower when adjusting to our suggested high-end settings. We sustained 225 to 240 FPS in this scenario.
Warzone settings with the biggest performance impact
There is a never-ending combination of Warzone settings you could use to juice FPS. But not all will improve the visual experience, and even fewer will have a big impact on performance.
If you’re getting low FPS it’s best to focus first on adjusting the six Warzone settings listed in the table below. While other Warzone graphics settings can impact performance, they don’t pack in as much of a performance punch.
We’ve also included the percentage of pros using each specific setting. This data is taken straight from our Warzone pro settings where we track settings for popular Call of Duty players.
Setting | Pro Player Pick Rates |
Display mode | Fullscreen (79%), Fullscreen Borderless (21%) |
Resolution | 1920×1080 (53%), 2560×1440 (47%) |
Render resolution | 100 (95%), 110 (1%), 125 (1%), 133 (1%) |
Streaming quality | Low (46%), Normal (40%), High (14%) |
Texture resolution | Very low (14%), Low (32%), Normal (34%), High (20%) |
Raytracing | Disabled (100%) |
PC optimizations to also consider
Warzone NVIDIA DLSS settings
Performance or Balanced are good Warzone DLSS settings to choose for high-end and low-end setups with a capable NVIDIA graphics card.
NVIDIA DLSS makes lower-resolution graphics look like higher-resolution graphics. This is called upscaling in layman’s terms. The in-game benefits for Warzone are higher FPS for competitive gaming, or better visuals for casual gamers, all by simpling turning NVIDIA DLSS on.
Selecting the correct NVIDIA DLSS setting can improve performance significantly if you have a series 20 or series 30 NVIDIA GPU.
Within Warzone, you can adjust the NVIDIA DLSS setting by updating it within the post-processing and effects menu under graphics quality.
NVIDIA filters
NVIDIA GPU users can utilize NVIDIA filters to elevate the visual experience in Warzone. Many streamers use NVIDIA filters to enhance the colors of the game to improve the visual experience for their audience. Filters won’t improve FPS for Warzone, but they are worth tinkering with to achieve the desired visual experience. Check out our guide to the best NVIDIA filters for Warzone to learn more.
Clean your PC and review the parts
Even the best Warzone settings on a great gaming PC that is filled with debris won’t yield the best possible results. If your fans are covered in dust and debris, your CPU is likely overheating and throttling performance.
The same theme of underperforming holds true if your PC parts have been running hard for years on end. PC parts degrade over time. This is commonly the case with gaming laptops since they tend to age faster than desktops. The fix to get better performance may simply be replacing select PC parts. In this case, check out our guide to the best Warzone CPU and our best Warzone graphics card guide.
Warzone graphics settings defined
Some Warzone gamers may want to tinker with their settings and nerd out beyond the suggested config for low-end and high-end gaming PCs. Don’t worry. We’ve got you.
Below we define more what each setting achieves, along with some suggested options and potential impacts on performance.
Display
Display mode: You can choose to display fullscreen, windowed, fullscreen borderless, or fullscreen extended window. Selecting fullscreen gives Windows full control of the screen, which can help to increase performance. Windowed mode can reduce performance, and is only good to use when needing multiple windows open.
Display monitor: For dual and triple-monitor setups, you want your main gaming monitor to be selected. Otherwise, you just want to confirm that your current monitor is selected as the default when using a single monitor setup.
Display adapter: Select the graphics card that will be used.
Screen refresh rate: This setting determines how many frames per second will be displayed. Select your monitor’s native refresh rate.
Display resolution: Selecting the proper resolution, or pixels displayed, for your setup can have a big impact on performance. Select 1920 x 1080 for 1080p, 2560 x 1440 for 2K, and 3840 x 2160 for 4K. Keep in mind that some mid-range systems and lower will have trouble pumping out high enough FPS in 4K for Warzone. 1080p is commonly used for budget and mid-range gaming PCs.
Dynamic resolution: This setting will adjust up or down your resolution to match a targeted frame rate. It’s best to use this setting only when your gaming PC is having a tough time pushing out enough frames. Even then, the improvement in performance is small when enabling dynamic resolution.
Dynamic resolution frame rate target: If the dynamic resolution is enabled, you’ll need to set a frame rate target. If enabled, it’s best to choose common monitor refresh rates, such as 60, 120, 144, or 240. You’ll get better FPS if your system is struggling, but the in-game quality may degrade below 1080p, depending on your system.
Aspect ratio: 16:9 is the most common aspect ratio used for gaming. 21:9 is occasionally used though. It’s best to set your aspect ratio to automatic, regardless.
V-sync: This setting is intended to prevent screen tearing issues by matching your frame rate to your monitor’s refresh rate. The downside is that enabling it can add input lag. Warzone is too fast-paced to take the hit on input lag, which is why we suggest disabling V-sync.
Custom framerate limit: Choosing unlimited will generate FPS to match your gaming PC’s performance. Selecting custom and choosing a framerate limit can make the game more stable. There are three sub-options, including the gameplay frame rate limit, the menu frame rate limit, and the out-of-focus frame rate limit. If customizing, choose a gameplay frame rate limit that is below your monitor’s refresh rate. It’s best otherwise to set menu and out-of-focus frame rates to 60 and 30, respectively.
Brightness: This setting adjusts the brightness of your game. We suggest setting your Warzone brightness in the range of 60 to 70 to make enemies and objects more visible in darker map locations, including in buildings.
Display gamma: 2.2 (sRGB) is typically reserved for monitors and 2.4 (BT1886) is typically used for TVs.
NVIDIA highlights: Enabling allows NVIDIA GPU users to capture and record in-game highlights. We recommend turning off NVIDIA highlights as enabling it can lead to potentially lower performance.
NVIDIA reflex low latency: This feature reduces latency without impacting FPS. Reducing your latency can give you an advantage in firing off quick shots. We suggest using enabled + boost to give yourself a slight time advantage.
Camera movement: This setting reduces the intensity of camera shakes within Warzone, which can help to reduce motion sickness. Your camera movement options to select are 50%, 75%, and 100%. Adjusting your camera movement setting won’t have any impact on latency or FPS. So, try out 50% or 75% if you are experiencing motion sickness to see which setting works best for you.
Details and textures
Render resolution: Reducing your render resolution can improve your FPS in-game, but it comes at the expense of image quality when adjusting downward from 100. Lowering your render resolution slightly is suggested as a last-chance settings adjustment since the scene quickly degrades and affects your ability to target enemies with lower render resolutions.
Streaming quality: Streaming quality mainly improves textures at a distance, which isn’t as critical to gaining an edge as higher FPS. It’s best to set your streaming quality to low, especially if you have less than 4GB of VRAM. Streaming quality can have a big impact on your FPS.
Texture resolution: This setting adds color details to surfaces within Warzone. While choosing high can make the entire map look better, doing so comes at the expense of lowered FPS. Choosing low or normal still results in a good visual experience, so we don’t see any reason to select the high settings, especially with the accompanying performance hit.
Texture filter anisotropic: This setting improves the texture quality of surfaces when viewed at angles. For example, the ground ahead of you displays more detail when high is selected. Low or normal are the best options since there is a very slight frame rate gain and the difference between normal and high isn’t super noticeable.
Particle quality: Visual details of particles within Warzone will be improved when selecting high. There is a minimal impact on FPS to selecting low or high. We recommend starting with low on budget gaming PC builds and choosing high only for higher-end machines.
Bullet impacts and sprays: Enabling bullet impacts and sprays shows where your bullets are hitting on surfaces within Warzone. The added visual cue helps locate where your bullets are landing so you can adjust your aim as needed. We did not experience an impact on FPS with different settings.
Tesselation: Tesselation adds more detail to objects within Warzone that have geometric surfaces, like rocks. In the instance you have few other options to squeeze out more frames, adjust tesselation to near. There is a very minor impact on FPS with the lowered setting. We suggest setting Warzone tesselation to all.
Dismemberment and gore effects: Enabling will add effects when an enemy is killed, such as dismembering when shot with a heavy round. Enabling is generally best as the effects can enhance the Warzone experience without impacting performance.
On-demand texture streaming: Enabling on-demand texture streaming provides more color detail on surfaces. Improved textures are achieved by downloading them continuously as needed during gameplay. The outcome is reducing the overall file size for Warzone on your local machine. This setting is almost exclusively disabled for competitive gamers and we see no reason to stray from that trend.
Post-processing effects
Filmic strength: This setting works in conjunction with anti-aliasing to adjust the amount of blurring in the scene. We suggest setting your Filmic strength to 1.00 and adjusting your anti-aliasing instead.
Film grain: Set film grain to 0. This setting mainly adds visual noise in-game to make the map appear more cinematic, or akin to watching a film. Film grain in Warzone has no other effect, so it’s best to remove visual noise to experience the game as the developers intended.
NVIDIA DLSS: NVIDIA DLSS is a game-changer in Warzone for RTX-series GPU users. You can select from four settings modes, with ultra performance generating the highest possible FPS of the bunch. If you’ve got an NVIDIA with DLSS, there’s no reason we see to disable it.
Anti-aliasing: Disabling anti-aliasing can make corners and edges look pixelated and works in conjunction with filmic strength to adjust the level of blurring on those edges. Either disable anti-aliasing or set it to SMAA T2X if you’re wanting to squeeze out some higher FPS.
Depth of field: Enabling depth of field will blur out objects and enemies at a distance, which makes it harder to target enemies. Disable depth of field to improve your aim at distances.
World motion blur: Disabling world motion blur removes the blurring of the world around you while moving. There are no advantages to adding motion blur in games like Warzone. It’s best to disable any motion blur settings that only serve to make the scene look more like a traditional film.
Weapon motion blur: Similar to world motion blur, disable weapon motion blur to reduce visual noise. There are no performance improvements by enabling weapon motion blur.
Shadow and lighting
Shadow map resolution: The higher your shadow map resolution the higher the quality of shadows within Warzone. This setting can have a big impact on FPS. Accordingly, it’s best to prioritize performance over visual beauty, especially when the added visuals don’t put you at an advantage to target enemies.
Cache spot shadows: Enabling cache spot shadows results in storing spot shadows on your cache, which eats up some RAM. It’s best to enable this setting only when you have 16GB of ram or more. Disabling does increase FPS minimally.
Cache sun shadows: Enabling cache sun shadows results in storing spot shadows on your cache, which eats up some RAM. It’s best to enable this setting only when you have 16GB of ram or more. Disabling does increase FPS minimally.
Particle lighting: This setting adds quality and detail to particles flying around in Warzone. Setting particle lighting to high or ultra doesn’t significantly improve the visuals or take much of a toll on FPS. It’s still best to go with low or normal particle lighting unless you’re trying to squeeze out the last-mile improvements to FPS.
DirectX raytracing: While raytracing is absolutely beautiful on screen, FPS will take a big hit when enabled. We suggest disabling raytracing in Warzone, even on high-end gaming machines.
Ambient occlusion: This setting increases the depths of shadows on objects by adding additional detail. There is both little noticeable visual difference and impact on performance with ambient occlusion turned on, which is why we suggest disabling it.
Screen space reflection (SSR): This setting enhances the quality of reflections on surfaces when looking at different angles. For example, puddles and wet floors will be more visually appealing with screen space reflection set to high. There is a slight impact on performance when increasing settings, but without the advantage of improving your abilities to accurately target enemies. This is why we suggest disabling screen space reflection.