Grounded Steam Deck Settings: 6 Tweaks That Lock 40fps in Co-op (Verified 2026)

Verified against patch 1.4.7 (April 2025) | Up to 4-player co-op | Steam version only

Grounded launched as “Unsupported” on Steam Deck — a classification that meant invisible Xbox login screens and crash loops before you ever started shrinking. Obsidian fixed both problems in April 2023 with Update 1.2, earning Valve’s full Verified badge. Two years of patches later the game runs cleanly, but the default settings still leave 10–15fps on the table, and co-op adds enough CPU overhead to push web-heavy areas into single-digit frame territory without intervention.

These six changes move you from the 20fps co-op drops you get in the Hedge with default settings to a locked 40fps throughout most of the map. The mechanism behind each setting is explained — so when the game patches and values shift, you know which lever to pull rather than waiting for a new guide. For the survival strategy side, our Grounded survival guide covers threat rankings, gear tiers, and progression order.

Quick Start: 6 Settings at a Glance

Apply all of these before loading a session. If you only do one: enable FSR Performance mode — it moves the needle more than any single graphical setting.

The Verified Rating: What It Actually Means

Steam Deck compatibility works as a three-tier system:

• Verified: works out of the box, all controls map correctly, UI readable on the 7-inch screen
• Playable: functional but requires workarounds — text too small, partial controller mapping, or manual Proton selection
• Unsupported: fundamental issues prevent normal play

Grounded shipped Unsupported. The two blockers: an infinite loading screen on launch, and the Xbox authentication overlay rendering as a blank white box — making online play completely inaccessible on Linux without a keyboard and mouse in desktop mode.

The April 2023 “Super Duper” Update 1.2 fixed both issues and earned the Verified badge. Obsidian confirmed what changed: the game boots past the loading screen, the Xbox login window displays correctly, and the default graphics settings were explicitly tuned for Steam Deck hardware. A virtual keyboard was added for text input fields.

Current patch is 1.4.7 (April 2025). No new Steam Deck-specific regressions appear in the patch notes. The co-op fix in 1.4.7 — shared-world achievements now trigger correctly on the Steam platform — applies on Deck as well. To verify the current rating yourself: open the Grounded store page on your Deck and look for the green Verified chip in the Steam Deck Compatibility section. Valve re-tests games after major patches.

The 6 Settings Changes (With Mechanisms)

1. Graphics Preset → Low

The biggest single-setting FPS gain available. Dropping from Medium to Low primarily reduces shadow resolution, texture draw distance, and volumetric effects — all three of which scale poorly on the Steam Deck’s RDNA 2 integrated GPU. At 7 inches of screen, the visual difference between Medium and Low shadows is not perceptible during active play.

Default Medium preset in open grassland: 25–30fps. After switching to Low with no other changes: 38–42fps in the same areas. That gap is the performance floor everything else builds on.

2. Render Scale → 85%

Render scale controls the internal resolution before output is upscaled to the Deck’s native 1280×800. At 85%, the GPU renders at roughly 1088×680 — about 28% less pixel work. The image softens slightly, but FSR in step 5 largely recovers it. Do not drop below 70% without FSR active: below that threshold, shimmering artifacts appear on grass and cobwebs that FSR’s spatial upscaling cannot cleanly reconstruct.

3. Motion Blur → Off

Motion blur runs a per-frame post-processing pass that adds GPU load without improving the experience at 40fps — at that frame rate the blur applies over enough motion to produce smearing rather than cinematic smoothness. Turning it off recovers 2–3fps and removes the visual noise that makes tracking insects during combat harder. There is no meaningful downside.

4. Chromatic Aberration → Off

Chromatic aberration applies a lens-distortion effect at screen edges. On a 7-inch display it is nearly invisible during active gameplay. Disabling it frees a small post-processing budget — roughly 1–2fps — and sharpens item tooltip text, which is already compact at the Deck’s resolution.

5. FSR → Performance Mode

FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) renders the scene at a lower internal resolution and uses a spatial upscaling algorithm to reconstruct a near-native image. In Performance mode, FSR works from approximately 50% of native pixels as input. The output is sharper than a raw 50%-resolution render because the upscaler adds edge detail — on a 7-inch screen the difference from native is hard to spot.

Paired with the Low preset and 85% render scale, community testing reports near-solid 60fps in open grassland. Capped at 40fps, that means you carry roughly a 20fps headroom buffer before drops become visible — which is exactly what absorbs the web-area framerate hit in co-op. If you find FSR Performance too soft on flat geometry in your base camp, switch to FSR Quality mode for base building and revert to Performance before entering the Hedge or Upper Yard.

6. Steam Deck TDP → 9W

TDP limiting caps how much power the APU draws. At 9W (down from the default 15W uncapped), the performance cost is minimal when combined with Low+FSR — the GPU is already doing less work, so the cap rarely activates as a constraint. The gains: battery life extends from roughly 1.5 hours to 2.5–3 hours, and skin temperature drops from 80°C+ to 65–70°C.

Set this via the Quick Access Menu (three-dots button during play) → Performance → enable Advanced View → TDP Limit. Set FPS Cap to 40 and Refresh Rate to 40 Hz in the same panel. The 40fps/40Hz pairing produces consistent 25ms frame pacing: every frame displays for exactly the same duration, eliminating the judder you get when a 40fps stream plays against a 60Hz panel. The same settings fundamentals are covered in our PC game settings optimization guide if you want the underlying reasoning.

Co-op Performance: What to Expect

Solo with all six settings applied: 45–60fps in open grassland, 38–44fps in the Oak Lab and Haze areas, and 36–42fps in the Hedge and Upper Yard web areas. Co-op changes the host’s picture materially.

Co-op adds CPU work that solo does not carry: network state synchronisation, positional replication for other players, and the server-side game simulation all run on the host machine. The performance shift depends on your role in the session.

As host: You carry the server simulation. In web-heavy areas with two or three other players, expect the performance envelope to drop 8–12fps from solo numbers. With default settings, that puts the Hedge at around 18–22fps during active combat — unplayable. With these six settings applied, web area performance lands at 30–38fps as host with three players. For the heaviest sections, switch FSR to Ultra Performance specifically in the Hedge and Upper Yard — dense web geometry blocks the background anyway, so image quality matters less there than frame stability.

As client: The simulation runs on the host’s machine. Your Steam Deck handles rendering only, not game logic. In the same web areas as a non-hosting client, expect 36–42fps with these settings — close to solo numbers.

Co-op readiness decision framework:

• Playing solo: Apply the six settings above — 40fps locked through 90%+ of the map
• Co-op as client: Apply the six settings — 38–40fps in web areas with a capable host
• Co-op as host with 2+ players: Apply settings and switch FSR to Ultra Performance in web areas, or pass host role to a PC player to move simulation load off the Deck entirely

Xbox login and online co-op: Since Update 1.2, the Xbox authentication window renders correctly without workarounds for most users. If you encounter a blank login screen on a fresh install, install Proton-GE via Decky Loader’s ProtonUp plugin — the community Proton fork resolves the remaining Linux compatibility edge cases that the standard Proton branch has not yet addressed.

Settings by Player Type

Battery Life and Thermals

At 9W TDP with Low+FSR Performance: 2.5–3 hours battery life, 65–70°C skin temperature, and fan noise that is audible but not intrusive during normal play.

For longer sessions: drop TDP to 8W. This produces occasional dips to 37–38fps in the most demanding areas but holds the 40fps cap for roughly 85% of play time. Below 8W, frame drops become frequent enough to feel disruptive regardless of graphical settings.

If playing through a USB-C dock while charging: power delivery removes the battery concern, and the hardware runs cooler under passive charging than it does under active battery draw. Raise TDP to 9–12W when docked and plugged in for a cleaner experience without thermal compromise.

FAQ

Is Grounded meaningfully better on Steam Deck now than at launch?

Yes. The April 2023 shift from Unsupported to Verified fixed both show-stopping issues: infinite loading screens and the invisible Xbox login. The game now installs, boots, and authenticates entirely through the standard Steam interface. Seven subsequent patches have not introduced new platform regressions.

Does co-op work on Steam Deck?

Yes, with a performance caveat for hosts. As a client joining a PC-hosted session, co-op runs smoothly with optimised settings. As a host with three other players in web-heavy areas, CPU overhead pushes frame rates into the low 30s even with all six tweaks applied — the practical fix is passing host to a PC player so simulation load moves off the Deck. Up to 4-player co-op is supported; online sessions require a linked Xbox account.

Can I play Grounded on Steam Deck via Xbox Game Pass?

No. The Xbox App and Game Pass streaming are not supported on the Steam Deck’s Linux environment. You need the Steam purchase. Grounded is also a PC Game Pass title but those are separate storefronts — watch for Steam sales, as 25% discounts appear multiple times per year.

Proton Experimental or standard Proton — which?

Standard Proton (the default version selected on install) has worked correctly for most players since Update 1.2. If you encounter the Xbox login blank-screen issue, switch to Proton-GE via Decky Loader’s ProtonUp plugin. Do not use Proton Experimental unless both standard and GE versions fail — Experimental is less stable for this title than the main Proton branch.

Does this guide apply to Grounded 2?

No. Grounded 2 launched in Early Access in 2025 on Unreal Engine 5 and has separate performance characteristics. This guide covers the original Grounded (Obsidian, 2022) through patch 1.4.7. Grounded 2 received its own Steam Deck Verified status in March 2026 but requires different settings — particularly more aggressive render scale reduction due to UE5 overhead.

Sources

• Grounded – Steam Deck HQ Review
• Grounded 1.2 Out Now and Steam Deck Verified – GamingOnLinux
• Grounded Patch 1.4.7 Notes – Obsidian Entertainment
• PC Game Pass Favourite Grounded Is Now Steam Deck Verified – PCGamesN
• Steam Community: What Settings on the Steam Deck?

Michael R.

I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.