Skip to content
CachyOS

Gaming with CachyOS Guide

Welcome to the guide for Gaming on CachyOS. This will guide you through the essential aspects on how to set everything up for gaming.

First of all.

Remember. getting a double-digit improvement in FPS is not always possible or possible at all. Sometimes, optimizations can lead to minor improvements or even none at all, depending on the game and hardware configuration.

You can’t expect software optimizations acting like a free hardware upgrade.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”

Essential Packages

Section titled “Essential Packages”

To make it easier to set CachyOS up for gaming, all the necessary gaming packages are grouped into one meta-package that includes all the necessary dependencies and libraries for gaming in Linux, with and a separate meta-package for tools and launchers/stores.

If you find that any packages are missing, feel free to let the CachyOS team know.

Follow the steps below to start with the gaming setup.

  • Open CachyOS Hello. Go to Apps/Tweaks and click on Install Gaming packages.

CachyOS Hello installs both cachyos-gaming-meta and cachyos-gaming-applications.

Proton-CachyOS

Section titled “Proton-CachyOS”

Proton-CachyOS is based on Proton’s bleeding-edge branch and applies a number of modifications on top of it.

  • Wine-staging patches
  • Wine Fullscreen FSR
  • Includes video and audio codecs for game cutscenes
  • Support for umu-launcher including UMU-Protonfixes
  • Adds early hotfixes/workarounds for games

How to Properly Set Multiple Launch Options

Section titled “How to Properly Set Multiple Launch Options”

The launch options in Steam are constructed using the following pattern.

Terminal window
[env variables] [wrappers] %command% [application arguments]

  • [env variables]: These are options in the form VARIABLE=value

    Examples
    PROTON_DXVK_D3D8=1
    # Or
    DXVK_HUD="fps,memory,version,api"

  • [wrappers]: These are applications and scripts that modify how the real application is run. Arguments to the wrapper usually go after the wrapper’s executable.

    Examples
    mangohud --dlsym
    # Or
    gamescope -W 1680 -H 1050 -w 1280 -h 720 -S fit -F fsr --mangoapp --

  • %command%: This is the real application. This should be specified exactly as is and Steam will replace it with the proper command when the application is run.

  • [application arguments]: These are various arguments to the real application, and they depend on the application.

    Example
    %command% -dx11

Example of a complete launch option combining all the elements:

Terminal window
__GL_SHADER_DISK_CACHE_SKIP_CLEANUP=1 prime-run game-performance %command% -dx11

Environment Variables

Section titled “Environment Variables”
  • DLSS and Nvidia Features
    • PROTON_DLSS_UPGRADE=1: Automatically upgrade DLSS to the latest version.
    • PROTON_DLSS_INDICATOR=1: Show DLSS status indicator in-game.
    • PROTON_NVIDIA_LIBS=1: Enable Nvidia libraries (PhysX, CUDA) - not needed for DLSS/ray tracing.
Advanced Nvidia Controls
  • PROTON_NVIDIA_NVCUDA=1: Enable only CUDA support.
  • PROTON_NVIDIA_NVENC=1: Enable only NVENC encoding.
  • PROTON_NVIDIA_NVML=1: Enable NVML monitoring.
  • PROTON_NVIDIA_NVOPTIX=1: Enable OptiX ray tracing.
  • PROTON_NVIDIA_LIBS_NO_32BIT=1: Restrict libraries to only 64-bit (fixes RTX 4000+ performance issues).
  • AMD & Intel Upscaling
    • PROTON_FSR4_UPGRADE=1: Automatically upgrade FSR to the latest version.
    • PROTON_FSR4_RDNA3_UPGRADE=1: Use a RDNA3-optimized FSR4 DLL.
    • PROTON_XESS_UPGRADE=1: Automatically upgrade XeSS to the latest version.

Setting Up Proton-CachyOS with Lutris and Heroic

Section titled “Setting Up Proton-CachyOS with Lutris and Heroic”

Make sure you have umu-launcher from CachyOS installed in your system. Install it with the following command.

Terminal window
sudo pacman -S cachyos/umu-launcher
  1. In the main Lutris screen, click the cogwheel icon next to Wine.
  2. Go to the Runner Options tab and confirm that your settings match the following:
    • Wine version = proton-cachyos-slr
    • Use System winetricks = Disabled
    • Graphics
    • Enable DXVK = Enabled
      • Note: User-defined versions of DXVK, VKD3D, and DXVK-NVAPI are not applied when using umu-launcher.
  3. Navigate to the System Options tab.
    • Lutris
    • Disable Lutris Runtime = Enabled
    • Prefer system libraries = Disabled
  4. Continue scrolling down to the Game execution section and locate the Environment variables table.
  5. Add the following environment variables:
    • Key: PROTON_VERB optional
    • Value: waitforexitandrun
      • This allows protonfixes to work with a corresponding GAMEID.
  6. Click Save to apply the changes.

Anti-Cheat Support

Section titled “Anti-Cheat Support”

How To Install proton-cachyos-slr

Section titled “How To Install proton-cachyos-slr”
Run the following command
sudo pacman -S proton-cachyos-slr
Manual Installation (Advanced)
  1. Download the latest version here (scroll down to Assets).
  2. Decompress the file and move the folder to ~/.steam/steam/compatibilitytools.d/
  3. Restart Steam if you had it open.

Wine-CachyOS

Section titled “Wine-CachyOS”

This is the same Wine that is at the core of Proton-CachyOS, but as a standalone package. It can be used in Lutris, Heroic, Bottles, and others. Keep in mind that it is not intended to be used for Steam.

  • All the Wine modifications included with Proton-CachyOS
  • Adds early hotfixes/workarounds for games

Additional configuration options

  • WINE_WMCLASS="[name]": Set the WM_CLASS of all Wine windows, allowing the window manager to control the Wine windows through rules.
  • WINEUSERSANDBOX=1: Disable the creation of symlinks from Wine user folders (such as Documents and Pictures) to the equivalent folders in the user’s HOME directory.
  • WINE_NO_WM_DECORATION=1: Disable window decorations. It can fix issues with borderless fullscreen and the mouse clicking through the window.
  • WINE_PREFER_SDL_INPUT=1: Workaround for controller detection issues

How To Use wine-cachyos-opt

Section titled “How To Use wine-cachyos-opt”

Normally, running /opt/wine-cachyos/bin/wine instead of just wine should be enough for an application to run using wine-cachyos-opt.

If a more strict configuration is required, it could look like this:

Terminal window
export PATH="/opt/wine-cachyos/bin/:$PATH"
export WINEDLLPATH="/opt/wine-cachyos/lib/wine:/opt/wine-cachyos/lib32/wine:$WINEDLLPATH"
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/wine-cachyos/lib/:/opt/wine-cachyos/lib32/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"

If you want to use winetricks with wine-cachyos-opt, you can invoke it like this:

Terminal window
WINE=/opt/wine-cachyos/bin/wine WINEPREFIX=[your prefix] winetricks [verb]

Steam FAQ & Tips

Section titled “Steam FAQ & Tips”

How to set custom Proton versions in Steam

Section titled “How to set custom Proton versions in Steam”

  • To set a custom Proton for a specific game, navigate to Library, right-click the game go into Properties > Compatibility, check Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool checkbox and select your desired proton version.

  • To set Valve’s Proton as the global default, navigate to Settings > Compatibility > Default Compatibility tool and set the latest stable release of Valve’s proton or Proton Experimental.

Which Proton Version Should I Use in Steam?

Section titled “Which Proton Version Should I Use in Steam?”

  • Proton 11.0 is the stable release from Valve. Use this if the game you want to play is known to work well with it.

  • Proton Experimental is the bleeding edge release from Valve. Use this if the game you want to play is relatively new, doesn’t work well with the current Proton stable release, or if people recommend it on ProtonDB.

    For new users we suggest using Valve’s Proton, or Proton Experimental. If you want to experiment with the extra features, you want to use Proton outside of Steam or need fixes not present in the official Proton, there are a few custom Proton flavors you can try.

  • Proton-CachyOS is the one built and maintained by CachyOS. Using it over Proton Experimental is recommended only if you want the extra quality-of-life features and fixes. In the CachyOS repositories you can find two different flavors if it, proton-cachyos and proton-cachyos-slr. We suggest using the proton-cachyos-slr package over the proton-cachyos one.

  • Proton-EM is a development oriented custom build made by Etaash-mathamsetty. It is a very good option if you want to use winewayland and FSR4 without any of the extras Proton-CachyOS offers. It is also the source of various improvements that Proton-CachyOS also includes, including but not limited to the ones mentioned before. If you are interested in the latest and greatest in winewayland development, this is for you.

  • dwproton is a custom build made by Dawn Winery is a fork of Proton-CachyOS with extra fixes and patches for certain anime games. If you encounter issues with such games with other Proton flavors, dwproton is your best option.

  • Proton-GE is a custom build made by GloriousEggroll. It includes various fixes, and can be useful to have in certain situations.

  • Proton 9.0.4 or lower are the stable releases from Valve. Use this if the game you want to play only works with a previous Proton release.

Fix H264 videos not playing or displaying color bars in games with Valve’s Proton

Section titled “Fix H264 videos not playing or displaying color bars in games with Valve’s Proton”

Start Steam with the following command. Wait for it to load, then exit Steam and start it normally.

Terminal window
 steam steam://unlockh264/

Fix Stuttering Caused by the Steam Game Recorder Feature

Section titled “Fix Stuttering Caused by the Steam Game Recorder Feature”

Add the following launch option to your game.

Terminal window
LD_PRELOAD="" %command%

Capturing and Sharing Proton Logs

Section titled “Capturing and Sharing Proton Logs”

To enable Proton logging for a game:

  1. Right-click your game in Steam and select Properties.
  2. Under Launch Options, set the PROTON_LOG environment variable:
    Terminal window
    PROTON_LOG=1 %command%
    This will create a log file in your home directory named steam-[AppID].log (for example, Counter Strike 2 uses AppID 730, so the file would be steam-730.log).
Custom Log Directory

To set a custom log directory, use PROTON_LOG_DIR:

Example
PROTON_LOG=1 PROTON_LOG_DIR=/home/cachyos/steam-logs %command%

Pre-caching Shaders with Proton-CachyOS, -GE, and -EM

Section titled “Pre-caching Shaders with Proton-CachyOS, -GE, and -EM”

To disable this feature in Steam

Section titled “To disable this feature in Steam”

In Steam, click on Steam->Settings, go to Downloads, and uncheck these settings:

  • Allow background processing of Vulkan shaders
  • Enable Shader Pre-caching

Repurposing a Windows NTFS Game Partition

Section titled “Repurposing a Windows NTFS Game Partition”

Lutris

Section titled “Lutris”

Lutris is a game launcher on CachyOS. With Lutris, you can easily manage your game runners, including Wine, Proton, and emulators.

  • Launch games through Lutris simply by clicking the Play button.
  • Add any game you want by clicking the + in the top-left corner.
  • Set up a store in the Sources at the left panel and connecting your account. It will then proceed to install said store, and then you’ll be able to run games from within the store, just like you do on Windows.
  • And more!

Game stores supported in Lutris:

How to Properly Set Multiple Launch Options and Environment Variables in Lutris

Section titled “How to Properly Set Multiple Launch Options and Environment Variables in Lutris”
  • Launch options such as -dx11 or -fullscreen should be added in the Arguments field under the Game options tab using a space as a separator.
  • Command wrappers, for example mangohud --dlsym or game-performance, should be added in the Command prefix field under the System options tab using a space as a separator.
  • Environment variables such as DXVK_HDR=1 should be added in the Environment variables table under the System options tab using the + button to add a new entry.

How to Properly Generate Logs In Lutris

Section titled “How to Properly Generate Logs In Lutris”
  • Set Output debugging info to Inherit from environment.
  • In Environment variables Add PROTON_LOG with the value 1.

Performance & Misc Tips

Section titled “Performance & Misc Tips”

Do Not Combine gamemode and ananicy-cpp

Section titled “Do Not Combine gamemode and ananicy-cpp”

Due to gamemode and ananicy-cpp both trying to modify a process niceness at the same time, it can lead to conflicts and unexpected behavior. If you want to use gamemode, it’s recommended to disable or stop ananicy-cpp first.

To stop ananicy-cpp, execute the following command:

Terminal window
systemctl stop ananicy-cpp

Power Profile Switching On-Demand

Section titled “Power Profile Switching On-Demand”

CachyOS includes a wrapper script game-performance which uses power-profiles-daemon to temporarily switch the power profile to performance. The profile raises system power levels and sets the CPU governor to performance, and also switches any active scx scheduler to its gaming profile (if available).

When used to launch a game, the system remains in performance mode until the game exits, at which point the previous profile is restored.

Feral’s GameMode offers similar functionality.

How To Add game-performance to Steam, Lutris, and Heroic Games Launcher

Section titled “How To Add game-performance to Steam, Lutris, and Heroic Games Launcher”
  1. Open your Steam Library.
  2. Right-click the game’s title and select Properties.
  3. On the General tab you’ll the find Launch Options section.
  4. Add the following launch option:
    Terminal window
    game-performance %command%

Increase maximum shader cache size

Section titled “Increase maximum shader cache size”

Game shaders are compiled automatically while playing, which may cause long loading times and stuttering the first time you encounter them. These shaders are stored on your system to be reused when needed.

However, there is a maximum limit to the shader cache’s file size, causing old shaders to be forgotten when exceeding the default size. This can be an issue since large games can have shaders over 1GB in size, causing them to re-compile shaders every launch.

To avoid long loading times and stuttering, we can increase the global shader cache size:

  1. Open a terminal.
  2. Create a environment.d directory in your config folder if it doesn’t exist:
    Terminal window
    mkdir -p ~/.config/environment.d
  3. Create a new configuration file:
    Terminal window
    touch ~/.config/environment.d/gaming.conf
  4. Open the file with Micro (a text editor).
    Terminal window
    micro ~/.config/environment.d/gaming.conf
    And paste the following depending on your GPU vendor:
    AMD
    Terminal window
    # Increase AMD's shader cache size to 12GB
    MESA_SHADER_CACHE_MAX_SIZE=12G
    NVIDIA
    Terminal window
    # Increase Nvidia's shader cache size to 12GB
    __GL_SHADER_DISK_CACHE_SIZE=12000000000
  5. Save the file by pressing CTRL+S and CTRL+Q to exit Micro. Restart your system.

After restarting, the maximum shader cache size should be permanently increased. Thanks to psygreg’s shader booster for helping this guide.

Forcing the Latest DLSS Preset

Section titled “Forcing the Latest DLSS Preset”

How to add dlss-swapper to Steam, Lutris, and Heroic Games Launcher

Section titled “How to add dlss-swapper to Steam, Lutris, and Heroic Games Launcher”
  1. Open your Steam Library.
  2. Right click the game’s title and select Properties.
  3. On the General tab you’ll find Launch Options section.
  4. Add the following Launch Option:
    Terminal window
    dlss-swapper %command%
Manual DLL Replacement Method

If dlss-swapper is not working or causing issues, try updating game’s DLSS implementation manually by replacing nvngx_dlss.dll with an up-to-date version and using the dlss-swapper-dll wrapper script instead.

Ray Tracing Support

Section titled “Ray Tracing Support”

The Arch Wiki has already provides comprehensive instructions on how to enable ray tracing for various hardware platforms.

Performance Drop on Nvidia in DirectX12 Games

Section titled “Performance Drop on Nvidia in DirectX12 Games”

Some users report that the issue is related to how Nvidia’s Linux drivers handle GPU scheduling—unlike on Windows, where proper scheduling is enforced. There’s been no official Nvidia statement on this matter yet. There is Currently no known workaround for this issue. Nvidia is supposedly working on a fix, but it’s not clear when it will be released.

It has nothing to do with CachyOS.

In some titles, the performance drop is less noticeable than in others. Check out this benchmark comparison video for reference.

Follow the Nvidia thread to learn more about this issue.