When most people look up how to improve and get better in a game, they often look for mechanical tips and tricks. However, I believe that improving your settings early on, and getting comfortable with them, will drastically improve your gameplay.
Now, the best way to learn is to watch someone better than you play and study them. The same goes for settings. Why not get comfortable with settings that pro players use? Every player has their own “best” settings, and it can be tricky to fine tune them. However, you can use the pro settings as a base to work off of.
In this guide, I compiled a list of settings that the pro players in Rocket League use every day. Since each players settings aren’t exactly the same, I averaged them out and will discuss how to change them to suit you the best. Remember, you want settings that are comfortable for you. Give them a try for a few days before making any major changes.
Also read: 31 Essential Tips to Improve Your Gameplay
Camera
Probably the most important settings to change are the camera settings. The general consensus is that most of the default settings aren’t great. Some settings are more useful than others whereas others will need to be fine-tuned to suit your playstyle. However, if all you did from this guide was change the default camera settings, you would see a vast improvement on your gameplay.
Camera Shake (OFF) – This setting is more for realism than anything. Whenever you jump, hit the ball or another car, land, or get bumped by another player, your screen will shake imitating real life. However, this is very disorienting and should be turned off immediately.
Field of View (105-110) – This is the angle of vision that you have. This should be maxed out at 110, or pretty close to it. Few pros do have it set a little lower, but nothing under 105. With a higher field of view, you will be able to spot a teammate easier for a pass or see if an opponent is on your left/right.
Distance (260-290) – Distance dictates how far away the camera will sit from your car. The bigger the camera distance, the further away your car will seem. Go too far and everything will look small and awkward. Get too close and you won’t be able to see over your car. This is one of those settings that will be based on your preference, but most pros keep it between 260 and 290.
Height (100-110) – Camera height is how high up the camera will sit behind your car. You want to try to get the camera high enough where you can see clearly over your car but not too high, where its awkward to hit the ball in the air. Generally, 110 is the sweet spot.
Angle (-4) – Camera angle is, well, the angle at which the camera looks at your car. Where 0 is looking straight on, most pros keep this between -3 and -5 to help improve hitting the ball in the air and getting those double touches off the wall.
Camera Stiffness (0.4-0.6) – This setting varies quite a bit between players, and you should choose what is most comfortable for you. If you want the camera to “stick” more than aim for 0.55 or 0.6. However, if you prefer the camera to “drift” a little bit at high speeds, 0.4 or 0.45 is the preferred setting.
Swivel Speed (4.0-6.0) – Another setting that varies between players. This is just how fast your camera will spin when you look around. I recommend starting at 5 and increasing or decreasing until you find what is most comfortable for you.
Transition Speed (1.0-1.5) – Transition speed is the speed at which the camera toggles from ball camera to normal cam. Here, you don’t want the speed to be too fast because as you switch back and forth, you want to take in as much info as you can. Personally, I keep this at 1.0.
Invert Swivel (User Preference) – This one is on or off depending on how you normally play games. If you prefer inverted controls, check it on. Otherwise, just leave it off.
Controller
When it comes to using a controller, a lot of key bindings are going to be whatever feels comfortable to you. However, if you want to have the same bindings as a pro, it will take some getting used to. If you are a new player, getting used to these settings won’t be too difficult as you don’t have the muscle memory yet. However, if you are proficient in one setup, it will take several hours to get used to a new one.
I will go over the key binds for Xbox and PlayStation controllers (as these are the most used controllers) along with keyboards later on.
Should I use an Xbox Controller or a PlayStation Controller?
Whereas 99% of pro players play with some kind of console controller, you should stick to either the Xbox or PlayStation ones. There are a couple reasons for this.
First, they have very low input lag compared to others. The Xbox One controller has a 6.9ms delay, and the PlayStation 5 controller has a 2.8ms delay. On the other hand, a Nintendo Switch controller has a 11.7ms delay. Here is a video from Rocket Science explaining all of the various controllers and what kind of input lag each one has.
Next, is comfort. The Xbox controller is a little bulkier and will feel more comfortable if you have bigger hands or longer fingers. The bumpers are also easy to click with the same finger that is on the trigger. The PlayStation controller is skinnier and can be kind of awkward at times. However, if you prefer the “Claw” method of playing, this should be your go-to controller.
Xbox Controls
- Powerslide: LB
- Air Roll (Left/Right): LB/RB
- Boost: B or X (Whatever is more comfortable to hit Jump and Boost at the same time)
- Jump: A
- Ball Cam: Y
- Brake: LT
- Throttle: RT
PlayStation Controls
- Powerslide: L1
- Air Roll (Left/Right): L1/R1
- Boost: Circle
- Jump: X
- Ball Cam: Triangle
- Brake: L2
- Throttle: R2
Mouse/Keyboard
While mouse and keyboard is not a very common method of playing, there are still many pros that utilize it. I am no expert at these settings and have never played this way, so I cannot attest to how comfortable these settings are. But hey, if the pros use these settings, they are probably the best. Note: These are also the default controls for mouse/keyboard
- Powerslide: L Shift
- Air Roll (Left/Right): L Shift (Q/E)
- Boost: LMB
- Jump: RMB
- Ball Cam: Space
- Brake: S
- Throttle: W
Controls
This section will be highly influenced based on your comfortability as everyone is used to different sensitivities. Again, I will give a general range to focus on, but it is perfectly fine if you are more comfortable outside of these ranges.
Steering Sensitivity (1.3-2.0): This is how sensitive your analog sticks are when steering. The higher the setting, the less you need to move the analog stick to turn.
Aerial Sensitivity (1.3-2.0): Same as the steering sensitivity, but in the air. Most pros keep this similar to the steering sensitivity, but some like to have a higher aerial sensitivity.
Controller Deadzone (0.05-0.10): When determining the deadzone, you will want to start at 0.10 and work your way down. Deadzone is how far from center you need to move the analog sticks before the game registers it. Keep messing with these numbers until you feel comfortable with how your car handles.
Dodge Deadzone (0.5-0.75): Keep backflipping when you are trying to double jump? Turn this setting up until you find the perfect fit.
The other settings like ball cam mode and vibration are based on your personal preference. These don’t have a huge impact on the game, but I will say, if you like to stay in ball cam a lot, set that to toggle.
Video Settings
Video settings are often disregarded by newer players. A lot of people want the game to look pretty and feel realistic. While there is nothing wrong with that (and with a lot of practice you could possibly reach Supersonic Legend), it will impede you on increasing your skill.
With all of the fancy effects and realistic touches, the game looks absolutely gorgeous. But, it will take a hit on your frame rate or FPS (Frames per Second). In competitive games, you want as much FPS as you can get to help make the game feel smoother and help you react sooner. Now if you have a top end computer and are able to have capped FPS, go ahead and turn on some of the video effects (as long as you maintain that capped FPS). Otherwise, here is a list of settings to change to increase your computers performance.
Resolution (Native): This setting should be set to your native screen setting. Most screens are 1920×1080 16:9 ratio. However, if yours is different, make sure it is set to the right one.
Display Mode (Full screen): When the game is set to full screen, everything in the background gets put on hold and your computer will focus only on the game, enhancing performance and frame rate.
Vertical Sync (Off): Vertical sync helps reduce screen tearing, increasing input lag. Since input lag is what we are trying to reduce, turning this off and dealing with screen tearing is a much better option.
Anti Aliasing (FXAA Low or Medium): Anti-aliasing helps smooth the edges of objects out at a cost of FPS. You should start on FXAA low and increase it until you start losing FPS.
Render Quality (High Quality): This is the only setting I would keep on high. If this is set to performance, the game looks horrible and is not very fun to play. The FPS lost here isn’t that great and if your computer can handle it, I recommend keeping this at high quality.
Render Detail (Custom): This will be set to custom as we are going to uncheck some of the boxes on the right.
Frames Per Second (Uncapped): Setting this to uncapped will always make sure that your computer is trying its hardest to maintain the highest FPS it can.
Texture Detail (High Performance): Texture detail isn’t really a big FPS killer in this game but honestly, the arenas still look pretty good in high performance so in my opinion, it isn’t worth setting this any higher.
World Detail (Performance): This setting encompasses all of the distractions that can take your focus off of the ball. This should be set to performance and never changed, unless you are going for some cool photo ops.
Particle Detail (Performance): Another FPS saver. Not a very noticeable difference between quality and performance, so just keep it on performance.
Effect Intensity (Low Intensity): This is a very minor setting and I personally play with it set to default. But if you are still struggling with FPS, changing this to low intensity might get you a couple frames.
Checkboxes (Keep Transparent Goalposts On): High quality shaders, ambient occlusion, depth of field, bloom, light shafts, lens flares, dynamic shadows, motion blur, and weather effects can be turned off as they can drastically reduce your FPS. Keep transparent goalposts on as this lets you see the ball through the wall inside a goal.
If you change these settings and find that sweet spot that is comfortable for you, it will go a long way into making you a better player.