Are you familiar with 7 Days to Die? It’s an open-world game that blends elements of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games. The game was initially released on December 13, 2013, as an early access game and takes place in a harsh post-apocalyptic world infested with the undead. Your goal is to survive against the hordes of zombies.
In order to run the game smoothly, a sufficient hardware configuration is necessary, particularly for PC users as not everyone may possess the necessary setup to run the game in high resolution and with optimal FPS. This is a common requirement for most PC games as they tend to be performance-intensive. To address any stuttering or lagging problems with 7 Days to Die, we have compiled a list of steps to follow.
During gameplay, 7 Days to Die PC players may encounter various issues such as stuttering, lags, crashes, and frame drops. These problems can be severe on certain PCs depending on compatibility factors. To ensure a smoother gaming experience with a respectable FPS count, it’s recommended to resolve these issues. This guide provides steps to identify and fix the potential reasons behind such problems.
Check System Requirements
Check out the system requirements of the 7 Days to Die game below to ensure that your PC configuration meets the game’s system requirements.
Minimum Requirements:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 7 or higher (64-bit)
- Processor: 2.8 Ghz Quad Core CPU
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 2 GB Dedicated Memory
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 15 GB available space
- Sound Card: Sound Card: DirectX® Compatible
Recommended Requirements:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 7 or higher (64-bit)
- Processor: 3.2 GHz Quad Core CPU or faster
- Memory: 12 GB RAM
- Graphics: 4 GB Dedicated Memory
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 15 GB available space
- Sound Card: Sound Card: DirectX® Compatible
Fix: 7 Days to Die Stuttering and Lags Badly
Fixing in-game lags or frame drop issues isn’t easy because it depends on multiple factors, such as PC hardware, the display resolution of the game, maximum FPS limit count, conflicting third-party apps, and more. So, we recommend you try following all the methods individually until the problem gets fixed or reduced. Changing the in-game graphics-related settings or keeping them low can fix several problems in a jiffy.
It may include the Screen Resolution of the game, in-game Texture Resolution, Shadow Resolution, Maximum Frame rate, number of Characters Displayed, or other visual effects that require higher graphics or memory. So, you can follow the steps below to try reducing the lags or frame drops to some extent, depending on which resolution and quality you’re playing the game, apart from FPS count.
1. Use Launch Options
- Open your Steam client > Go to Library > Right-click on the 7 Days to Die.
- Select Properties > On the General tab, you’ll find Launch Options.
- Enter the launch options -fullscreen = Forces the engine to start in fullscreen mode.
2. Update Graphics Drivers
- Right-click on the Start Menu to open up the Quick Access Menu.
- Click on Device Manager from the list.
- Now, double-click on the Display adapters category to expand the list.
- Then right-click on the dedicated graphics card name.
- Select Update driver > Choose Search automatically for drivers.
- An update will automatically download and install the latest version if available.
- Once done, make sure to reboot your computer to change the effects.
3. Run the game as an administrator
Run the game exe file as an administrator to avoid user account control regarding privilege issues. You should also run the Steam client as an administrator on your PC. To do this:
- Right-click on the 7 Days to Die exe shortcut file on your PC.
- Now, select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
- Make sure to click on the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to checkmark it.
- Click on Apply and select OK to save changes.
4. Set High Priority in Task Manager
Make your game priority in the higher segment via the Task Manager to tell your Windows system to run the game properly. To do this:
- Right-click on the Start Menu > Select Task Manager.
- Click on the Processes tab > Right-click on the 7 Days to Die game task.
- Select Set Priority to High.
- Close Task Manager.
- Finally, run the 7 Days to Die game to check for the issue.
5. Verify the Integrity of Game Files
If there is an issue with the game files and somehow get corrupted or missing, then make sure to perform this method to check for the issue easily. To do so:
- Launch Steam > Click on Library.
- Right-click on 7 Days to Die from the list of installed games.
- Now, click on Properties > Go to Local Files.
- Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
- You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
- Once done, just restart your computer.
6. Change GPU Settings
Make sure to change the graphics card settings on the PC by following the steps below to check whether the problem has been fixed.
For Nvidia:
- Open up Nvidia’s Control Panel > Right-click on the desktop screen.
- Click on Nvidia Control Panel > Click on Manage 3D Settings.
- Select Program Settings > Find ‘7 Days to Die’ and manually add the game if it’s not in the list:
- Monitor Tech: G-Sync (If available)
- Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
- Threaded optimization: On
- Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
- Texture Filtering – Quality: Performance
For AMD:
- Monitor Tech: G-Sync (If available)
- Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
- Threaded optimization: On
- Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
- Texture Filtering – Quality: Performance
7. Disable Fullscreen Optimizations
Full-screen optimization and DPI settings are the default ones on Windows. You should try disabling it by following the steps below:
- Locate the 7 Days to Die game directory.
- Find and right-click on the 7 Days to Die.exe file.
- Select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
- Checkmark the ‘Disable Full-Screen Optimizations’ box.
- Now, click on the ‘Change high DPI setting’s button.
- Checkmark the ‘Override high DPI scaling behaviour’ > Select ‘Application’ from the drop-down menu.
- Click on Apply and then OK to save changes.
8. Update 7 Days to Die
If in case, you haven’t updated your 7 Days to Die game for a while, follow the steps below to check for updates and install the latest patch (if available). To do this:
- Open the Steam client > Go to Library > Click on 7 Days to Die from the left pane.
- It’ll automatically search for the available update. If there is an update available, make sure to click on Update.
- Installing the update > Close the Steam client may take some time.
- Finally, reboot your PC to apply changes, and then try relaunching the game.
That’s it, guys. We assume this guide is useful to you. For further queries, you can comment below.