Dead by Daylight stuttering can turn an otherwise smooth match into a frustrating experience. You might see sudden FPS drops, brief freezes during chases, or Survivors teleporting across the map even when your ping looks normal. In some cases, the stuttering happens only when you rotate a character in the lobby.
In this guide, we’ll walk through 6 quick and effective troubleshooting methods for Dead by Daylight stuttering on PC, starting with simple checks and moving on to more involved solutions.
Fixes for Dead by Daylight stuttering
You might not need to try them all. Simply work your way down until you find the one that gives you luck.
- Check your network connection
- Update your graphics and chipset drivers
- Verify the integrity of game files
- Disable overlays and reduce background load
- Lower graphics settings and use a stable frame-rate limit
- Check for a game update or known issue
Fix 1: Check your network connection
If Survivors teleport, rubberband, or appear to move through pallets unexpectedly, check for network instability before changing graphics settings.
Network problems can cause gameplay to look choppy even when your PC maintains a stable frame rate. However, these symptoms can also result from server-side issues, so it’s important not to assume that your internet connection is always responsible.
Try these steps:
- Check your in-game connection indicators, if available, and watch for latency spikes or packet-loss warnings.
- Pause downloads and uploads running in the background. Check Windows Update, cloud-sync services such as OneDrive, and other applications that may be transferring large amounts of data.
- Close bandwidth-intensive applications before starting another match.
- If you’re using Wi-Fi, try moving closer to your router or connecting through Ethernet.
- Restart your router if other devices are also experiencing connection problems.
You can also run an internet speed test, but remember that download speed alone doesn’t tell you whether your connection has packet loss or unstable latency.
Fix 2: Update your graphics and chipset drivers
Outdated, corrupted, or incompatible drivers can contribute to FPS drops, frame-time spikes, and other performance problems in games like Dead by Daylight. Updating your drivers is a reasonable troubleshooting step, especially if other games are experiencing similar performance issues.
You can also check your PC manufacturer’s website for the latest compatible chipset and graphics driver. But if you want to keep your driver up-to-date without needing to search for newer drivers regularly, let Driver Easy do it for you.
Just scan your PC, and Driver Easy detects your hardware and finds the appropriate drivers. You can then update and manage your drivers in one place, with options to switch versions, back up drivers, roll them back, or uninstall them when needed. You can also use Game Boost and System Clean for additional PC maintenance.
- Download and install Driver Easy.
- Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
- Click the Activate & Update button next to the flagged GPU or chipset drivers to automatically update them. Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system.
You’ll be prompted to upgrade to the Pro version, which unlocks the full set of premium features and comes with technical support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. (Go Pro now to get a 50% OFF discount!) If you’re not ready to buy, you can start a 7-day free trial to try all the Pro benefits.
Once you’ve updated the relevant drivers, restart your PC and launch Dead by Daylight again. Play a match and check whether the frequency or severity of the stuttering has been reduced.
If the issue remains, try the next fix below.
Fix 3: Verify the integrity of game files
Missing, corrupted, or improperly downloaded game files can cause unexpected behavior, including freezing, crashes, and performance issues. If you’re playing through Steam, use its built-in verification tool to check your installation.
- Launch Steam.
- In the LIBRARY, right-click your game and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
- Select the Installed Files tab and click the Verified integrity of game files button.
- Steam will verify the game’s files – this process may take several minutes.
After verification, launch the game and test the same situation that previously triggered the stuttering. If Steam finds and repairs files, check whether the problem improves. If verification completes without finding issues, move on to the next fix.
Fix 4: Disable overlays and reduce background load
Game overlays and background applications can consume system resources or interfere with game rendering on some configurations. Temporarily disabling them can help you determine whether they’re contributing to Dead by Daylight stuttering.
Try turning off overlays from applicationS such as Discord, Steam, NVIDIA App, or other third-party recording, monitoring, or performance utilities.
Besides, close unnecessary background applications, particularly programs that consume substantial CPU, memory, or GPU resources.
If disabling an overlay or closing a background application reduces the stuttering, re-enable applications one at a time to identify the likely cause. If nothing changes, restore any settings you prefer and continue troubleshooting.
Fix 5: Lower graphics settings and use a stable frame-rate limit
If Dead by Daylight drops frames during intense gameplay, your graphics settings may be too demanding for your current configuration. Lowering selected settings can reduce rendering load and help stabilize frame times.
- Launch Dead by Daylight and open Settings.
- Navigate to the available graphics or display options.
- Lower demanding settings, such as Shadow Quality, Effects Quality, or Anti-Aliasing, where available.
You can also try a frame-rate limit your PC can maintain consistently. The best cap depends on your hardware, monitor refresh rate, and actual in-game performance. For example, some players have reported that changing the frame-rate cap from 60 to 120 FPS improves lobby character rotation.
Test a repeatable situation, such as a busy chase or a scene with several characters and effects. If frame drops become less frequent after lowering settings, rendering load may be contributing to the problem.
Fix 6: Check for a game update or known issue
If Dead by Daylight stuttering began immediately after a game update and your PC performs normally in other games, the problem may be related to the current game build.
Updates can introduce bugs or performance regressions that require a developer-side fix. In such cases, changing Windows settings or replacing hardware may not help.
Here’s what to do:
- Check for updates: Open Steam and make sure Dead by Daylight is fully updated.
- Check official announcements: Review Dead by Daylight’s official news, patch notes, and support channels for reports of known performance issues.
- Compare symptoms: See whether other players are reporting the same type of stuttering after the same update. Similar timing and symptoms can help identify a game-wide problem, although community reports alone don’t prove the cause.
- Report the issue: If the problem persists, submit a report through the appropriate official support channel. Include your hardware specifications, Windows version, graphics driver version, and when the stuttering began.
If the game is experiencing a confirmed performance regression, you may need to wait for an official patch.
Dead by Daylight stuttering can stem from several different issues, so the most effective fix depends on the symptoms. If the problem occurs only in the lobby, start by lowering the graphics settings. If you experience constant FPS drops during matches, check your graphics drivers, game files, background applications, and graphics settings.
Work through the fixes one at a time and test the game after each change. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below.