A Guide to Fixing Constant Stuttering, Lags, and Freezing in War Thunder

War Thunder is a next-gen MMO vehicular combat video game that is free to play on multiple platforms, including Windows, Android, Xbox One, PS4, etc. Although Gaijin Entertainment has been doing well with War Thunder since 2012, several players face challenges when launching the game or during gameplay with issues such as stuttering, lagging, or freezing.

Adequate hardware is essential for running War Thunder optimally on PCs, as the game demands high resolution and FPS, which can be a hurdle for systems that don’t meet the requirements. This scenario is typical for many PC games requiring robust performance capabilities.

For players plagued by issues such as stuttering, lagging, crashes, and frame drops, these problems can be exacerbated by compatibility issues, making them more acute on certain PCs. Addressing these issues is crucial to ensure a playable experience with an acceptable FPS count. This guide outlines steps to troubleshoot and fix these disruptions, helping players enjoy War Thunder’s rich, immersive gameplay without performance hitches.

Fix: War Thunder Stuttering, Lags, or Freezing constantly

Check System Requirements

Check out the system requirements of War Thunder game below to ensure whether your PC configuration is meeting the game’s system requirements or not.

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 reduce 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 War Thunder.
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

Make sure to run the game exe file as an administrator to avoid user account control regarding privilege issues. It would be best if you also run the Steam client as an administrator on your PC. To do this:

Right-click on your PC’s War Thunder exe shortcut file.
Now, select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
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 War Thunder game task.
Select Set Priority to High.
Close Task Manager.
Finally, run the War Thunder game to check for the issue.

5. Verify Integrity of Game Files

If there is an issue with the game files that somehow gets corrupted or missing, then make sure to perform this method to easily check for the issue. To do so:

Launch Steam > Click on Library.
Right-click on War Thunder 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, 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 if the problem has been fixed or not.

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 ‘War Thunder’ 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. It would help if you tried disabling it by following the steps below:

Locate War Thunder game directory.
Find and right-click on the War Thunder.exe file.
Select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
Checkmark the ‘Disable Full-Screen Optimizations’ box.
Now, click on the ‘Change high DPI setting button.
Checkmark the ‘Override high DPI scaling behavior’ > Select ‘Application’ from the drop-down menu.
Click on Apply and then OK to save changes.

8. Update War Thunder

If you haven’t updated your War Thunder game for a while, then 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 War Thunder 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 relaunch the game.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide is useful to you. For further queries, you can comment below.