The Best ARC Raiders Settings: The "Frames Win Games" Guide
Your rig is putting out frames, but are they winning frames?
Let's get one thing clear: ARC Raiders is a shockingly well-optimized game, especially for a new Unreal Engine 5 title. It runs well on most systems.
But "running well" and "running for a competitive advantage" are two very different things.
You're here because you want to squeeze out every possible frame, see enemies before they see you, and hear a player looting a container from 50 meters away. I've spent my time in the settings menu, and this is the ideal setup you need.
The Audio Settings (So You Can Hear Them Coming)
This is the most important part. Your ears are your best weapon in an extraction shooter.
Turn on Night Mode. Immediately.
This is the big one. In your audio settings, you'll see a Night Mode toggle. Turn it On. This isn't a visual setting, it's an audio compressor. It makes loud sounds (like your own gunshots and explosions) quieter, and quiet sounds (like enemy footsteps and looting) louder. It is a game-changer.
Fix Your Mic (You're Broadcasting)
The game defaults to Open Mic for proximity chat. That means every cough, every key press, and every word you say to your Discord buddies is being broadcast to any enemy Raider within earshot. This is how you get ambushed. Change your Voice Chat Mode to Push-to-Talk right now.
The Graphics Settings (The "Frames Win Games" Build)
My philosophy is simple: kill the fluff, keep the frames. This setup gives you a buttery-smooth framerate without making the game look like a potato.
Your "Must Haves" (The Non-Negotiables)
These are the settings you change before you even look at the others.
VSync: Disabled. Always. This introduces input lag.
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: On (or On + Boost). This is your anti-lag.
Frame Rate Limit: Unlimited. Let your card run.
Motion Blur: Disabled. It's useless, smears your image, and eats resources. Kill it.
The Upscaling Sweet Spot (DLSS/FSR)
You should absolutely be using upscaling.
Resolution Scaling Method: DLSS (for Nvidia) or FSR (for AMD).
NVIDIA DLSS / AMD FSR3 Quality: Balanced. This is the perfect sweet spot between a clear image and a massive FPS boost. "Quality" is fine if you have a beastly rig, but "Balanced" is the play.
NVIDIA DLSS Model: Transformer. This is the newer, cleaner model. Use it if you have it.
The "Prettiness" You Can Safely Kill
NVIDIA RTX Global Illumination: Static. "Dynamic" (full ray tracing) is gorgeous, but it's a frame-rate-killer. "Static" gives you a clean look without the performance hit.
Shadows: Medium or Low. Low gives you the best performance, but Medium is a good compromise if you don't want the world to look too flat.
The "Foliage" Myth
Alright, let's talk about Foliage. My "it looks nice" brain says to leave it on High. But I do understand the "I want to win".
Turning this to Low does give you a competitive advantage.
While it won't remove the big, dense bushes that players can hide in up close, it will drastically reduce the amount of grass and ground cover that renders at a distance. This makes it much easier to spot a prone or crouching Raider who thinks they're concealed.
Yes, it makes the game look flat and ugly. But this is a guide about winning. If you want the absolute maximum tactical advantage, you have to kill the foliage. It's a step too far for some (including me, I, believe it or not, have morals), but if you want the edge, this is it.
| Setting | My Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Upscaled Resolution | 100% |
| Resolution Scaling Method | DLSS or FSR |
| DLSS/FSR Quality | Balanced |
| View Distance | Epic |
| Anti-Aliasing | High |
| Shadows | Low |
| Texture | Medium (4GB VRAM) or High/Epic (8GB+) |
| Effects | Low or Medium |
| Reflections | Low |
| Foliage | Low (For the tactical advantage) |
The Gameplay & Control Settings (The Real Life-Savers)
This is the stuff that will actually save you in a firefight.
The Most Important Setting in the Game
Go to your Gameplay settings. Find Interact / Reload Behavior. Change this to Tap to Interact, Hold to Reload.
I'm not exaggerating. This is the most critical setting in the game. It stops you from getting stuck in a 4-second reload animation when you're desperately trying to yoink loot off a body or open a door while under fire.
Your Field of View
This is personal preference, but the consensus is that 90 is the sweet spot. Some guides say 80, but I find that a little too narrow. 90 gives you great peripheral vision without creating that "fish-eye" look.
Mouse & Aiming (A Good Starting Point)
If your aim feels "off," this is a great baseline.
Mouse DPI: 800
Horizontal Sensitivity: ~75%
Vertical Sensitivity: ~50%
Mouse Acceleration: Off
Mouse Smoothing: Off
This setup gives you a 1:1, predictable aim with solid recoil control. Tweak from there.
You might also like
ARC Raiders Just Added Three New Ways to Die, and One Is a Bloodbath-in-a-Box
ARC Raiders “Safe to Sell” List: Stop Hoarding and Make Some Cash
The ARC Raiders Workshop Grind: Your Guide to Not Being a Hobo
The ARC Raiders Guide for People Who Are Tired of Being Loot (Advanced Skills & Weapons)
Arc Raiders Has a Prestige System, and It’s a Whole Timed-Event Thing