#Severe MP-only FPS drops, settings have no effect

32 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

vagrant ferry
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Game build: Latest (March 2026)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
GPU: PowerColor RX 9060 XT Hellfire Reaper 16GB (RDNA 4)
RAM: 32GB DDR4 3600MHz
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX
Storage: 1TB ADATA LEGEND 860 NVMe
OS: Windows (latest)
DirectX: Tested on both DX11 and DX12, identical results on both
Display: Primary 1080p 180Hz, secondary 1440p 75Hz

Issue: Severe and inconsistent FPS drops exclusively in multiplayer

In singleplayer the game runs solidly even on high settings. The moment I join or host a multiplayer session, FPS drops to 15-25 and stays there, even with nothing taxing happening. Just two players driving around with no towing, no large loot piles, nothing unusual. In singleplayer on the same settings I hold 60-80fps without issue.

I also noticed a post by brckyy with a similar complaint, and _walterbrown replied with a related experience. rockso248 shared a screenshot of the recommended settings which I also tried.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Launch the game in any graphics preset
  2. Start or join a multiplayer session with one other player
  3. Another player joins, FPS immediately tanks to 15-25 regardless of settings

Also attached my custom INI's and what i already tried.

What I already tried:

  • Every graphics preset: potato, low, medium, high, max, Steam Deck mixed settings
  • Custom Engine.ini and GameUserSettings.ini tweaks (GC spreading, async streaming, shader cache, TSR fixes)
  • Both DX11 and DX12 launch options, no difference
  • 720p windowed at 50% resolution scale, still lags in MP, still fine in SP
  • -USEALLAVAILABLECORES Steam launch option
  • AMD Anti-Lag+ enabled
  • Closed all background applications

Why I don't think this is a graphics settings issue:

My GPU (RX 9060 XT 16GB) runs every other game at 1080p max settings above 60fps without any trouble. Even at 720p windowed with 50% resolution scale the MP FPS drop is identical, while singleplayer on high settings runs fine on the same machine. The performance gap between SP and MP is too large and too consistent to be a GPU or graphics settings problem. There has to be a networking or CPU-side bottleneck specific to the multiplayer code path that graphics settings cannot address. Any insight into what is actually happening on the MP side and whether there is a workaround beyond changing graphics settings would be appreciated.

📎 Engine_1.ini 📎 Scalability_1.ini 📎 GameUserSettings.ini
cedar ether
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Low FPS is a common issue with multiplayer at the moment. Sadly, not much you can do. But you can have hope! The next update should help a lot with that 😄

vagrant ferry
mystic sluice
vagrant ferry
mystic sluice
vagrant ferry
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Anything config side i can do to reduce the CPU overhead? Except the things i've already tried of course..

mystic sluice
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Host/Server calculates all the physics, item and vehicle locations, and math, so it'll be very CPU heavy.
The only thing you can really do is balance the graphics settings to where you use 100% of your GPU, so you have enough stuff for the CPU to do, and the GPU doesn't keep asking the CPU for things to do while doing all other processes.

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There will be performance optimizations in future updates specifically for multiplayer, but it's still being tested. Easy to get it broken.

vagrant ferry
vagrant ferry
mystic sluice
vagrant ferry
mystic sluice
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Normally it's a hardware issue, or corrupt windows system files, or bad drivers.

vagrant ferry
vagrant ferry
mystic sluice
# vagrant ferry It went on too quickly, showed for no more than a second

Try this, might have some corrupt windows files. And windows had just issues with installing a fresh system too. Not to mention the whole 2026 AI update disaster happening.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted sys...

Describes how to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files in Windows.

vagrant ferry
mystic sluice
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Windows11 gotten so bad that I'm no longer using windows myself.
And one of the Devs working on the game had his win11 break, couldn't even get into windows. And then reinstalling had issues as well.

vagrant ferry
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and also how's the game on linux?

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I guess you running it through proton

mystic sluice
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There are AAA games that will not run due to using Kernel level anticheat, but I rather not support such intrusive game

vagrant ferry
mystic sluice
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There's different versions of OS, personally I use Kubuntu, but there's more optimized versions for gaming such as CachyOS and Bazzite.

vagrant ferry
mystic sluice
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Closest thing to SteamDeck interface'

vagrant ferry