Where is skyrimprefs.ini
Current values for settings may be retrieved by using the getini command. Floating point values are not displayed beyond two decimal places. It is also possible to refresh the values of some settings from the INI files if changed after launching Skyrim by typing the refreshini command in the console. The saveini console command is not recommended to be used except for research purposes, as some of the values to the settings which that command prints out are only accurate to four decimal places and unequal to the proper default values.
It should be noted, however, that the saveini command prints out all settings recognized by the game to the default SkyrimPref. Both must be removed after use for the game to function properly. This guide assumes that the user has either followed the current STEP Guide or has jumped over to this guide whilst following the main guide. The following instructions expect the unedited default INIs created in section 1.
After deleting them, the default versions can be regenerated by running the Skyrim Launcher again as described in section 1. Users with MO already installed and set up will have to run the Launcher via MO to reset the defaults for the profile.
Copy the following tweaks into the correct INI file inside their respective [sections]. If the setting already exists, change the value to the one below.
If the setting does not exist, enter it on a new line at the end of its [section]. If the [section] does not exist, create it on a new line below one of the [sections]. Carefully check to ensure that there are no:. Increase third-person zoom speed fMouseWheelZoomSpeed sets the transition speed when zooming in and out in third person mode. This also affects how fast the transition from first to third person occurs. More accurate aiming with bows and crossbows f1PArrowTiltUpAngle sets the upward tilt angle of arrows in first-person view.
It is recommended to change this so that arrows more accurately hit where the crosshair is pointing, although some arching is "natural. Unfortunately, there is no similar setting for third-person view. It is recommended to change this so that bolts more accurately hit where the crosshair is pointing. Once over three megabytes in size, the files seem to become corrupt. ENBoost 's screenshot functionality effectively replaces it. Smooth sun-shadow transitions fSunShadowUpdateTime sets the speed of sun-shadow transitions in seconds.
It is recommended to be adjusted to minimize the transitions. The value here increases the speed of the transition from one second to a quarter second. A value of 0. Increasing this also increases the distance the shadows will move during the transition. The tweak here increases the time between transitions from 10 to 30 seconds, causing the transition to move the shadows three times as far.
Enable or disable vertical sync iPresentInterval toggles vertical sync between frame render and screen refresh rate, removing screen tearing. Despite being erroneously placed in the SkyrimPrefs. It is recommended to be left at 1 enabled , which is its default value.
Setting it to 0 will disable it, which may be useful if another form of vertical sync or a frame rate limiter is used. Disable the intro video sIntroSequence sets the intro video before the main menu.
It is recommended to set it to blank for faster startup. Prevent lighting pop-in Raising fFlickeringLightDistance is believed to prevent lighting pop-in. It is recommended to adjust fGrassFadeRange rather than increase fGrassStartFadeDistance to remove the grass pop-in effect and performance benefits over the latter. Increasing this will create more diverse kinds of grass, especially with grass mods such as SkyrimLE:Skyrim Flora Overhaul at a small performance cost.
Without grass mods, changing this setting produces little effect. Negative values disable grass. It is recommended to increase this from its default value, 2, to 3.
Adjust grass density iMinGrassSize sets the grass density. Lower values produces greater density, but values between 1 and 40 look almost identical. A value of 0 removes all grass. Negative values e. High values starting around 50 and higher noticeably decrease grass density at a small performance gain.
Grass mods such as Grass on Steroids and Verdant take advantage of this and can create high density grass at high iMinGrassSize values. Setting iMinGrassSize too high e. STEP recommends to increase this to Disable the in-game tutorial pop-ups bShowTutorials toggles the in-game tutorial pop-ups.
It is recommended to disable them set to 0 once accustomed to the game. Increase map menu rotation range fMapWorldYawRange sets the yaw range that the map menu's camera can turn when the right mouse button is pressed. Setting this to allows the user to rotate full circle once. Increasing this beyond allows the user to rotate more than full circle. Obsessively high values e.
Increase map menu angle range fMapWorldMinPitch and fMapWorldMaxPitch sets the pitch that the user can change the angle of the map upwards and downwards when the right mouse button is held. Increasing it to the below values will enable the user the range of looking straight down on the map up to looking perpendicular across the map. Disable or enable precise lighting bFloatPointRenderTarget toggles the ability of lighting to be rendered using floating point decimal values rather than only integer values.
This increases the precision of lighting. It comes with a medium performance impact. For a STEP installation, set it to 0. Enable deferred shadows bDeferredShadows toggles deferred rendering of shadows. Enabled this for STEP.
Enable or disable shadows on land bDrawLandShadows toggles the ability of land objects such as rocks and mountains to cast shadows. It can be disabled set value to 0 for a slight performance gain. Enable this for STEP. Enable or disable shadows on grass bShadowsOnGrass toggles the ability of objects to cast shadows upon grass. The grass itself does not cast shadows. This may be disabled for a minor performance increase. Enable or disable shadows on trees bTreesReceiveShadows toggles the ability of trees to cast shadows on themselves.
It may be disabled for a slight performance gain. Enable the shadow filter iShadowFilter toggles the shadow filter on and off. If set to a value between 0 and 4, the shadow filter is on. If set to any other value, be it below 0 or above 4, the shadow filter is turned off, which causes buggy shadows that induce CTDs.
It is recommended to leave at its default value of 3, since all values between 0 and 4 appear to produce the same result. Enabling ZPrepass tells the game not to render certain objects to try to increase performance.
In testing, no difference was noticed, but that could mean nothing, given the nature of the setting. It is recommended to leave it at its default value since there very well might be a good reason Bethesda disabled it. Remove tree popping This almost entirely removes tree popping, due to the fact that trees are rendered at a sufficient distance to make the skinning process almost invisible. See the Skyrim Tree Settings Guide for more information.
Disable anisotropic filtering iMaxAnisotropy sets the level of anisotropic filtering AF. This improves the texture quality of distant objects.
It is recommended to be set to 0 and force it in the graphics driver which is explained in section 1. Increase the number of allowed decals These settings ensure that decals are displayed. Adjust antialiasing iMultiSample sets the level of antialiasing applied to edges to make them smoother and less jagged.
The difference between 4 and 8 is barely noticeable compared to the performance trade off. Enable file selection in the Skyrim Launcher bEnableFileSelection toggles the ability of the Skyrim Launcher to have Data greyed out and unclickable or active and accessible. Setting it to 1 will allow Data to be accessed in the Launcher. It is not toggleable in the Launcher, so one must add the line manually. It has been verified that it is not used by the game itself, just the launcher.
If this is not enabled, running the Skyrim Launcher may remove any existing load order. Increase the maximum amount of skinned trees uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender sets the maximum amount of skinned trees that can be rendered. Increasing this will help remove tree popping. Increase resolution of water reflections iWaterReflectHeight and iWaterReflectWidth set the resolution of water reflections.
Increase these to for a STEP installation. Please note that water noise has been disabled in the below comparison images to more easily see the difference. While the following INI tweaks may not be "recommended," they can be useful in many different ways. Improve third-person camera view while on horseback Places the camera just above the character head in third-person view, and corrects the camera angle in third-person view while on horseback from Third Person Horse Camera.
Set the mouse pointer to only be at one spot for manipulating ENB in-game configuration bBackgroundMouse toggles the ability of the mouse to move independently inside Skyrim default where bBackgroundMouse is disabled or dependent upon where the cursor actually is in the system bBackgroundMouse is enabled.
It can be enabled to prevent awkward mouse behavior during some actions e. However, it will probably need to be disabled during actual gameplay unless some bugs get fixed namely, problems when used in windowed and multi-monitor setups, along with causing the cursor to appear near the edges of the screen. Disable or enable decals bDecals toggles decals which are effects such as flame burn effects and blood on the ground.
They can be disabled set to 0 for a minor performance increase, but are recommended to be left enabled set to 1 , as some decals are actually necessary to solve quests such as the "Blood on Ice" quest. Enable modder's paradise mode bShowMarkers toggles markers for objects and their bounds like seen in the Creation Kit.
Since most users will have monitors, it is recommended to increase this to If you use a aspect ration monitor, use a value of It is recommended to set it to Center windowed Skyrim on screen at startup iLocation X sets the horizontal position from left of the Skyrim window in windowed mode in pixels e. To center it horizontally on your screen, take your screen resolution's width minus iSize W in Skyrim. To center it vertically on your screen, take your screen resolution's height minus iSize H in Skyrim.
Force Skyrim to remain active when out of focus bAlwaysActive toggles the ability of the game to remain active when it is out of focus e. Increase the time between subsequent "You are carrying too much to be able to run" messages fEncumberedReminderTimer sets the time interval between subsequent "You are carrying too much to be able to run" messages when the player's inventory has exceeded its weight limit.
Set this to the number of cores your CPU has, doubling that number if it has hyperthreading. The default value is 4, which is perfect for quad-core CPUs without hyperthreading. Disable or enable grass bDrawShaderGrass toggles the grass shader. Enabling it enables grass, while disabling it will disable grass. It is recommended to be enabled. Disable windy grass movement Removes the wind speed on grass to cause them to remain static for a potential performance increase.
It is recommended to be increased. The values given below were the maximum values that a difference was noticeable on vanilla Skyrim. No Man's Sky 1. Skyrim Legendary Edition 3. Skyrim Special Edition 1. Navigation Home. Step Portal. Recent changes. Random page. Contact Step. Tools What links here. Related changes. Special pages. Printable version. Permanent link.
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