Best Fortnite Settings for FPS: PC and Console (2026)

The best Fortnite settings for PC: the full table

The table covers every performance setting in the Video tab. Read the first row before the rest. Rendering Mode decides which of the other rows you even see. Pick Performance and the game handles most quality rows for you. Pick DirectX 12 and you set each row by hand, so the values below are the DirectX 12 values, with the Performance Mode notes right after the table.

Setting	Best for FPS	Why
Rendering Mode	Performance (Lower Graphical Fidelity)	The single biggest FPS lever in the game. It uses a lighter renderer and drops the heavy effects for you. Restart Fortnite after changing it.
Window Mode	Fullscreen	The game gets the display to itself, with no desktop windows drawn behind it.
Resolution	Your monitor’s native resolution	A lower screen resolution blurs everything. Drop 3D Resolution first if you need more frames.
VSync	Off	VSync holds your frame rate at the refresh rate and adds input delay.
Frame Rate Limit	The highest value your PC can hold in a fight	A steady 165 feels better than a frame rate that swings between 140 and 300.
3D Resolution	100%	The game renders at full size. Drop to 90%, then 80%, only if you still miss your target.
View Distance	Near or Medium	It sets how far buildings and objects draw in. Players stay visible at long range either way, and it is one of the lighter settings.
Shadows	Off	The most expensive quality setting in the menu. This is the biggest win after Performance Mode itself.
Global Illumination	Off	Fancy real-time lighting costs a lot of frames. Ambient Occlusion and Lumen belong in screenshots, not ranked matches.
Reflections	Off	Shiny surfaces look nice and help you spot nobody.
Textures	Low	Mostly a memory cost. Raise it later if your graphics card has memory to spare and the picture looks rough.
Effects	Low	Explosions, abilities and storm effects get cheaper to draw, which helps most in a busy endgame.
Post Processing	Low	Extra image polish that adds cost and a little softness.
Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution	Off	Off gives the most frames. If edges shimmer too much, use TSR Low or FXAA. On an RTX card that is short on power, try DLSS on Quality or Balanced.
Dynamic 3D Resolution	Off	It moves your render resolution up and down mid-match to protect FPS, so your picture keeps getting softer and sharper during fights.
Nanite Virtualized Geometry	Off	A DirectX 12 detail feature. Leave it on for casual sightseeing, off for ranked.
Hardware Ray Tracing	Off	The heaviest single switch in the DirectX 12 menu.
Motion Blur	Off	It smears the picture when you turn fast and makes moving targets harder to track.
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency	On + Boost	On NVIDIA GeForce cards this shortens the queue between your input and the frame on screen. It cuts delay rather than raising FPS.
Show FPS	On	Puts your frame rate on screen, so you can see what each change actually did.

One row confuses a lot of players, so let us be clear: there is no FSR option in Fortnite. Epic’s own support page says AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution is not currently available as an in-game option. On an AMD Radeon card, choose TSR or Intel XeSS in the Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution row instead. Both run on any modern graphics card in DirectX 12 mode.

On a high-end PC you do not have to give up the good picture. Run DirectX 12 with Shadows, Global Illumination, Reflections and Hardware Ray Tracing off, Textures as high as your memory allows, and DLSS on Quality if you have an RTX card. That mix typically holds high frame rates at 1440p and looks far better than Performance Mode.

Performance Mode: the biggest FPS lever in Fortnite

Epic built Performance Mode to trade visual quality for speed. In Epic’s words, it lowers memory usage and lightens the load on your CPU and GPU. It works on any PC that meets Fortnite’s minimum specs. Since update v37.00 it runs on DirectX 12 under the hood, and DirectX 11 is no longer a menu option at all. Epic removed it in update v40.10, so the Rendering Mode choice today is just Performance or DirectX 12.

1. Open Settings with the gear icon and go to the Video tab.
2. Find Rendering Mode and choose Performance (Lower Graphical Fidelity).
3. Select Apply.
4. Restart Fortnite. The new mode only takes over after a restart, so do not judge it before you relaunch.

After the restart, the long quality list is gone. Your main levers in Performance Mode are Textures and Meshes. Set both to Low. That is also what Epic’s own help center suggests first for low frame rates. Keep 3D Resolution at 100% to start, and keep View Distance on Near or Medium.

One more free win lives outside the game. In the Epic Games Launcher, open the Options page for Fortnite and uncheck High Resolution Textures. Epic says that removes around 14 GB of texture files. A PC running low settings never uses them, and smaller texture files mean less memory pressure on weak hardware.

How big is the gain? In Epic’s own launch tests on two older laptops at 720p, a Squads match went from 24 to 61 FPS on one machine and from 18 to 45 FPS on the other. Your numbers will differ, but on a weak PC this mode is typically the largest single jump available. Epic trusts it enough that, since v43.00, a fresh install on a PC with integrated graphics starts in Performance Mode by default.

DirectX 12 still wins in a few cases. If Performance Mode stutters on your PC, if the flat picture bothers you, or if your graphics card sits half idle while your frame rate stays low, switch to DirectX 12 and use the full table above. The first matches after a switch or an update can hitch while the game builds its shader cache. That settles on its own.

Best Fortnite settings for a low-end PC

If your PC is old, a basic laptop, or running on integrated graphics, copy this setup. It is the Performance Mode path with every extra cost removed.

Setting	Low-End Value
Rendering Mode	Performance (Lower Graphical Fidelity), then restart
Window Mode	Fullscreen
Resolution	Native, usually 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720
3D Resolution	100% first, then 90%, then 80% if you still need frames
Textures	Low
Meshes	Low
View Distance	Near
Frame Rate Limit	A number you can hold, 60 is a fair first target
VSync	Off
Motion Blur	Off
Show FPS	On, so you can watch the effect of each step

• Uncheck High Resolution Textures in the Epic Games Launcher options for Fortnite.
• Close browsers, recording apps and overlays before you play. Weak PCs feel every background app.
• Update your graphics driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. Old drivers are a common cause of stutter.
• Run the game from an SSD if you can, and keep at least 6 GB of RAM free. Epic gives the same advice for cutting hitches on older machines.

Best Fortnite settings on PS5 and Xbox: 120 FPS Mode

Consoles do not get the PC rendering modes. Your one big switch is 120 FPS Mode, in the Video tab of Fortnite’s settings. It raises the frame rate target from 60 to 120. The switch only appears when your screen and console are both set up for 120 Hz, so do the console side first.

On PlayStation 5:

1. Use a TV or monitor that supports 120 Hz.
2. Open the PS5 Settings, then Screen and Video, then Video Output, and set 120 Hz Output to Automatic.
3. Open Settings, then Saved Data and Game/App Settings, then Game Presets, and choose Performance Mode.
4. Restart Fortnite, open Settings, then the Video tab, and turn 120 FPS Mode on.

On Xbox Series X|S:

1. Use a TV or monitor that supports 120 Hz.
2. Open Settings, then General, then TV and Display Options, and set Refresh rate to 120 Hz.
3. In Fortnite, open Settings, then the Video tab, and turn 120 FPS Mode on.

There is a trade. To hold 120 frames, the game lowers its top resolution to 1440p on PS5 and Series X, runs at 1080p on Series S, and lightens shadows and effects. For competitive play, that trade is worth it every time. If you play casually on a big 4K TV and care more about the picture, leave 120 FPS Mode off and keep the sharper 60. Turn Motion Blur off on console too. It costs you clarity in every fast turn.

Settings that barely change FPS

Brightness, Color Blind Mode, Color Blind Strength and User Interface Contrast change how the game looks to you. They do not change how hard your PC or console works. There is no best value for any of them, and any guide that names one is guessing. Set them so text is easy to read and enemies are easy to see with your eyes, then leave them alone and spend your time on the settings above.

Common Fortnite settings mistakes

• Leaving VSync on. It caps your frame rate at the refresh rate and adds input delay on top. Turn it off and control the cap yourself.
• Setting the limit to Unlimited on a PC that cannot hold it. Big swings feel worse than a steady number, and the card runs hot and loud. Cap at a frame rate you can hold in the endgame.
• Forgetting the restart. A new Rendering Mode does nothing until Fortnite restarts. If the menu still shows the old options, you have not restarted yet.
• Hunting for FSR. The option is not in the game. AMD players use TSR or XeSS in DirectX 12 mode.
• Dropping 3D Resolution too far. Below around 80%, distant players turn into blobs that are hard to track. Lower it in small steps and look at the game at range after each one.
• Judging settings in an empty Creative map. Empty maps flatter every PC. Test in a real match or a replay, where fights load the system the way ranked does.

More Fortnite help on GameOLL: our Fortnitemares 2026 guide covers the free skin and every quest reward from the Halloween event, and if a match goes wrong, we also explain whether you can rejoin a Fortnite game.

Fortnite settings questions

Should I use Performance Mode or DirectX 12 for FPS?

For most PCs, Performance Mode gives the higher and steadier frame rate, because it renders far less in the first place. Pick DirectX 12 instead if Performance Mode stutters on your machine, if the picture looks too rough for you, or if your graphics card sits underused. DirectX 12 also unlocks the upscalers, DLSS, TSR and XeSS, which Performance Mode does not offer.

What is the best frame rate limit in Fortnite?

The best limit is the highest number your PC can hold during a real fight, not in an empty lobby. If your frames sit near 160 in the endgame, a cap of 144 or 160 feels better than Unlimited swinging between 140 and 300. The in-game caps run up to 360 FPS, and matching your monitor’s refresh rate is a good first guess.

Why does my FPS drop in build fights and the endgame?

Late game is the heaviest part of a match. Many players, builds and effects land on screen at once, and both your processor and graphics card work harder. Shadows and effects cost the most at exactly that moment. A frame rate cap you can hold, plus Shadows and Effects on Low or Off, keeps the drops smaller. Stutter in your first matches after an update is often shader building, and it usually settles.

Does View Distance matter in competitive Fortnite?

Less than most players think. View Distance sets how far buildings and objects draw in, and players stay visible at long range even on Near. It is also one of the lighter settings, so dropping it does not buy many frames. Near or Medium is the common competitive pick, mostly for a cleaner picture, not for a big FPS gain.

Is there an FSR option in Fortnite?

No. Epic’s support page says AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution is not currently available as an in-game option in Fortnite. If you play on an AMD Radeon card, choose TSR or Intel XeSS under Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution in DirectX 12 mode. Both can raise your frame rate without an NVIDIA card.

Why do I not see 120 FPS Mode on my PS5 or Xbox?

The toggle only appears when the whole chain supports 120 Hz. Your TV or monitor must handle 120 Hz, the console must be set to output it, and on PS5 the Game Presets option must be on Performance Mode. Set the console side first, restart Fortnite, and the 120 FPS Mode switch should be in the Video tab.