Also check out some of the best games for Linux.
What Is GameMode?
GameMode is a command line utility that improves gaming performance on Linux. It is developed and maintained by Feral Interactive. GameMode works by optimizing your system for gaming. It sets your CPU governor to “performance” mode and your system’s I/O priority to real time. This ensures that your games have the best chance of running smoothly without hiccups. Additionally, GameMode can disable or reduce the effects of CPU frequency scaling and process scheduler latency adjustments. This further improves game performance, especially in multiplayer games where every second matters. On the other hand, if you are having high CPU usage issue in Linux, we have the fixes here.
How to Install GameMode on Your Linux System
You may be asked whether you want to continue with the installation. If so, press Y to proceed. This downloads the package to the folder from which you are running the terminal. The command will test the GameMode installation with a series of commands. If everything worked correctly, you will receive a success message stating that all tests passed.
Using GameMode to Improve Gaming Performance on Standalone Games
By default, GameMode does not detect your games. Therefore, you have to start it every time you want to play a game. Although the game in this example, Kmines, does not use heavy graphics, we are starting it using GameMode to illustrate how to run games. To start your game using GameMode, follow these steps: Your game should start with enhanced performance from GameMode. If your game uses GameMode, you should get a message saying “gamemode is active” on your terminal. If you close the game, GameMode will be deactivated automatically. Alternative: if your computer only has a limited amount of RAM, use zswap to improve its performance.
Using GameMode on Steam
You can also run your Steam games using GameMode to improve gaming performance. Assuming that you have Steam set up and your game downloaded, follow these steps to play games on Steam using GameMode: Exit the properties window. To confirm that your game launched correctly, open a new terminal window and type this command to check whether GameMode is active: If all went well, you should get a message saying, “gamemode is active.” Tip: learn how to track your Steam stats, deals, spending and play time.
Using GameMode on Lutris
If you are an avid Linux gamer, you may be familiar with Lutris Lutris, an open-source gaming platform for Linux, that makes it easy to install and manage games from various sources, including Steam, GOG, and even your collection of Windows games. Similar to Steam, setting GameMode on Lutris involves adding a command prefix to the game launch configurations. To improve gaming performance using GameMode on Lutris: Click on “Save” to exit the configuration menu. The best part about using GameMode on Lutris is that you only have to configure the game once. The game will automatically run when you launch it the next time with GameMode on. You can also run the gamemoded -s command to check whether GameMode is active.
Using GameMode on Non-Games
While GameMode was designed to be used with games on Linux, you can also use it on non-games to improve performance. This feature is handy when running heavy apps, such as video- and photo-editing tools. Using GameMode with non-games is pretty straightforward. Launch the app from the terminal using the gamemoderun prefix. For example, the following command will launch GIMP with enhanced performance from GameMode: All screenshots by Allan Ngetich. For prolonged battery life, follow these tips to improve battery life on a Linux laptop.
