VR

What VR devices does DCS World support

HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset, HP Reverb G2, Oculus Rift S, Oculus Rift CV1, Oculus Quest 2, HTC Vive Cosmos, HTC Vive Pro, HTC Vive Pro 2, Pico3, Pico4, Pimax 4K, Pimax 5K, Pimax Vision 8K, Valve Index, Samsung HMD Odyssey and others.

How to use VR in DCS World standalone (not Steam)

HP Reverb G2 and others:

To work in VR mode in DCS World, you need to download and install two free programs from Steam:

1. SteamVR:
   https://store.steampowered.com/app/250820/SteamVR/

2. Windows mixed reality:
   https://store.steampowered.com/app/719950/Windows_Mixed_Reality_for_SteamVR/

The first launch of SteamVR will enable a VR gaming headset.
Windows mixed reality runs in the background after installation, so there is no need to run it.
The next step is to launch DCS World, go to the settings, the VR tab and check the option - Enable virtual reality headset.
Next time DCS World is launched, start in VR mode.

Oculus Quest 2:

1. Start Oculus app.
2. Plug the USB  to Oculus Quest 2.
3. Enable Oculus link.
4. Start DCS World with a mouse click directly from the desktop.

If you try to run DCS World inside your Oculus Quest 2, it will likely crash, in this case, disconnecting and reconnecting the cable.

DCS World won't start, crashes, slows down in VR mode

- First, make sure your system meets the recommended system requirements for VR systems:
https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/downloads/world/stable/

- Make sure Windows, software, and all device drivers are installed and up to date.

- Delete any unofficial user mods if installed.

- Make sure you are not using mods like ReShade, VRShader or similar mods.

- There should be no additional launch parameters in the shortcut properties.

- Reduce the graphics settings for the VR device.

- When playing with the Oculus Rift S VR headset, it may crash or freeze when the VR controllers are turned off.

- Nvidia drivers, starting with version 496.xx, have a new Shader Cache Size feature, it is recommended to set this parameter to 10 GB.

- Workaround for FPS drops in VR headset:
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/272378-vr-sudden-fps-drop/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-4796362

- Disable USB Power Saving:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-fix-oculus-rift-s-touch-tracking-issues#power

- In some cases, complete removal of SteamVR, including all settings, helps.
To do this, follow these steps:

• Delete SteamVR from Steam Library; 
• Manually delete the SteamVR folder from ...\Steam\steamapps\common
• Delete steamvr.vrsettings file from ...\Steam\config
• Delete lighthousedb.json file from ...\Steam\config\lighthouse
• Install SteamVR

- DCS World records all its actions and information in the dcs.log file, you can find out detailed information on how to find this file by clicking here
Before creating a support ticket, you can open this file and view it to the end.
At the end of the dcs.log file, there may be similar, repetitive information:

Example 1: Device unplugged: \\?\USB#VID_045E&PID_0659&MI_04#8&2b67381b&0&0004#{deac60ab-66e2-42a4-ad9b-557ee33ae2d5}\HolographicDisplay

Example 2: Device plugged: \\?\USB#VID_2833&PID_0051#1WMGH520CK9374#{a5dcbf10-6530-11d2-901f-00c04fb951ed}

Note: The highlighted text can be entered into a search engine to identify the device that is unplugged.

Try to use the solutions found on the Internet, as well as our tips:

• Make sure your VR headset is in good working order, contact a service center for warranty repair.
• Make sure the USB port to which the VR device is connected is working.
• Check the cable for connecting the VR device to the computer, try replacing it.
• Make sure your PSU has enough power to power the VR device. If the power supply is insufficient, try disconnecting other USB devices or use a powered USB hub.

Technologies ASW (Oculus), Motion Vector (Windows Mixed Reality), Motion Smoothing (Steam VR)

It is a frame-rate smoothing technique that almost halves the CPU/GPU time required to produce nearly the same output from the same content.

In other words, at frame rates less than 90, these technologies generate extrapolated frames from previous frames created by the VR application, dropping the frame rate to 45 and inserting the generated frames, bringing the number of frames to 90.

Sometimes these technologies can cause problems such as artifacts and distortions. If you experience such problems, we recommend that you set your VR headset and DCS World to obtain a frame rate of at least 90 or disable these technologies.

Our recommendations for setting up VR headsets can be found below.

How to disable these technologies:

1. ASW can be disabled in several ways:

• Through the Oculus debug tool;
• Through the Oculus tray tool;
• During the game, pressing the key combination Ctrl + Num1 with Num Lock on.

2. Motion Vector can be turned off using Windows Mixed Reality.

3. Motion Smoothing is disabled with Steam VR.

Recommendations for setting up a VR headset

See the links below for optimal VR settings for high frame rates:

HP Reverb G2:
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/257819-my-3090-settings-for-my-g2-2711/
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/254858-nastrojki-bignewy-reverb-g2-dlja-vysokoj-chastoty-kadrov/?tab=comments#comment-4501253

Oculus Rift S:
https://vr4dcs.com/2019/09/15/rift-s-setup-in-dcs/

Pico 4:
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/314835-pico-4-how-to-set-it-up-for-dcs

General recommendations:
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/318004-dcs-now-supports-openxr-natively/
https://vr4dcs.com/2020/07/19/os-optimization-for-win-10-2004-key-tuning-for-dcs-world-and-vr/
https://www.gamersbynight.com/dcs-settings-vr/

Joystick inputs not working in VR?

Check the DCS VR mirror is the active window on the desktop.
In the VR settings tab select confine mouse cursor to window option this will help keep the window in focus. 

If you have not found the answer to your question

If you have read this section of the FAQ and did not find the answer to your question, we have a thread on the forum for discussing VR:
https://forum.dcs.world/forum/302-virtual-reality/

We also have a dcs-vr-chat section in Discord, where you can ask your questions:
https://discord.gg/eagledynamics

How to launch DCS World Multithreading in VR

If you're interested in enabling multithreading in DCS, we recommend checking out our forum where you can find detailed information and instructions on how to do so:
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/320618-dcs-multithreading-faq/