Best League of Legends Settings for FPS and Low Input Delay

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The fastest way to boost FPS in League of Legends is to set Shadows and Environment Quality to Low, turn off ‘Wait for Vertical Sync’, and set a manual frame cap a few frames below your refresh rate. League is CPU-light, so once graphics are lowered the biggest gains come from a correct FPS cap and Windows tweaks — not a better GPU. This guide covers the best video and system settings for smooth teamfights and low input delay on any PC.

Best League of Legends Settings for FPS and Low Input Delay

League runs fast on almost anything — the goal is stable frame times through teamfights, not maxed shadows that dip your FPS when the screen fills with effects.

Best League of Legends video settings

Open Settings → Graphics in the client or in-game and set these:

SettingRecommended value
ResolutionNative
Window ModeBorderless (or Fullscreen for lowest latency)
Frame Rate CapManual — a few frames below refresh
Wait for Vertical SyncOff
Anti-AliasingOff
Character QualityLow–Medium
Environment QualityLow
ShadowsOff (Low if you want a little depth)
Effects QualityLow
Hide Eye Candy / Enable HUD AnimationsDisabled
Enable Movement PredictionOn

The two most expensive settings are Shadows and Environment Quality — turn Shadows off and Environment to Low first for the biggest FPS gain with almost no competitive downside. Effects Quality is the one that dips your frame rate during a five-on-five teamfight, so keep it Low.

Cap your FPS correctly — the biggest League fix

League’s built-in caps are coarse, so set a manual one that fits your monitor:

  • 141 FPS for 144Hz
  • 237 FPS for 240Hz
  • 117 FPS for 120Hz
  • 237 or uncapped on 240Hz+ if you run G-Sync/FreeSync

A stable cap below your refresh rate keeps aim and cursor feel consistent instead of spiking and dropping between the base and a teamfight. Uncapped play in the loading screen and menus also spins your GPU to 100% for no reason, so a cap keeps temperatures and coil whine down too. For the reasoning, see How to Cap Your FPS Correctly.

Why League feels laggy even at high FPS

League of Legends is single-thread CPU-sensitive, not GPU-demanding, so a high average FPS number can still feel inconsistent. The usual culprits, in order:

  1. Uncapped frame rate fighting your monitor’s refresh — set the manual cap above.
  2. ‘Wait for Vertical Sync’ on, which adds input latency — turn it off.
  3. Background apps (browsers, Discord streams, launchers) stealing CPU time exactly when a teamfight spikes the load.
  4. A Balanced power plan parking CPU cores between spikes — see the Windows section below.
  5. A full shader/DirectX cache causing brief hitches on champion abilities you haven’t seen this session.

Fixing these matters more in League than lowering graphics, because the game rarely runs out of GPU — it runs out of clean, uninterrupted CPU time.

Windows tweaks that stop the hitching

Do these once and they help every game, not just League:

  1. Set a High Performance power plan so Windows stops parking cores — see Best Windows Power Plan for Gaming.
  2. Make sure League runs on your dedicated GPU, not integrated graphics (Windows → Graphics settings → add League of Legends.exe → High performance). This is the #1 cause of “terrible FPS” on laptops.
  3. Disable Xbox Game Bar and Game DVR to remove background capture overhead.
  4. Clear your shader cache if you get repeated first-time-ability hitches.
  5. Close overlays and browser tabs before ranked — League’s stutter is almost always a background-load problem.

Best settings by goal

Maximum FPS on a weak PC or laptop

  • Shadows Off, Environment and Effects Low, Character Low
  • Anti-Aliasing Off
  • Confirm the dedicated GPU is selected
  • Manual FPS cap that matches your panel

Cleanest high-refresh competitive setup

  • Shadows Off, Effects Low (keeps teamfights stable), Character/Environment Medium
  • Wait for Vertical Sync Off with G-Sync/FreeSync on
  • Manual cap a few frames below refresh for tear-free, low-latency frames

Lower input delay beyond the game

Once your FPS is stable, the remaining feel comes from system latency. Turn off mouse acceleration, run a high, capped frame rate, and tune Windows timing — a lower timer resolution keeps frame pacing tight, which is exactly what makes cursor movement feel connected in a fast MOBA. See How to Minimize Input Delay for Competitive Gaming and The Ultimate Guide to Timer Resolution for Gaming + Tier1Suite.

The best League of Legends settings keep your frame time steady when a teamfight fills the screen with effects. Turn Shadows off, drop Environment and Effects to Low, disable V-Sync, and set a manual FPS cap below your refresh — then fix the power plan and dedicated-GPU settings, because in League those Windows tweaks matter more than graphics.

Frequently asked questions

What settings give the most FPS in League of Legends?

Shadows and Environment Quality are the two heaviest settings in League of Legends — set both to Low or Off first. Then drop Effects Quality and Character Quality to Low. League is CPU-light, so the biggest wins come from a correct frame cap and Windows tweaks rather than lowering graphics, but Shadows off alone reclaims noticeable frames during busy teamfights.

Should I cap or uncap FPS in League of Legends?

Cap it a few frames below your monitor's refresh rate — 141 on a 144Hz monitor, 237 on a 240Hz monitor — so the game stays inside your G-Sync/FreeSync range and never overshoots. Uncapped FPS causes tearing and inconsistent frame times that feel like micro-stutter even when the average number is high. Avoid the '60 FPS' and 'Benchmark' presets; set a manual cap instead.

Why does League of Legends feel laggy on a good PC?

League is single-thread CPU-sensitive, so felt lag on strong hardware usually comes from an uncapped frame rate fighting your monitor, background apps stealing CPU time during teamfights, Windows parking cores on a Balanced power plan, or a full shader cache. Cap your FPS correctly, close background load, set a High Performance power plan, and turn off 'Wait for Vertical Sync' to remove the added latency.

Does League of Legends need a good PC to run at high FPS?

No. League of Legends runs at 240+ FPS on modest modern hardware because it is CPU-light and not GPU-demanding. If you get low FPS, the cause is almost always a bad power plan, an uncapped frame rate, background apps, or an integrated GPU being used instead of your dedicated card — not a lack of hardware power.

Should I turn off V-Sync in League of Legends?

Yes for competitive play. 'Wait for Vertical Sync' in League adds input latency. Turn it off and instead cap your FPS a few frames below your refresh rate, ideally with G-Sync or FreeSync enabled on your monitor, to get tear-free frames without the latency penalty V-Sync introduces.