SOLVED: Black screen on launch problem + CORE REASON (Steam & Game Pass)

[CopperHead4750]

TL;DR: Simply add '-ngxdisableota' (without quotes) to the Palworld launch options on Steam. For PC Game Pass users: right click the Desktop shortcut and go to Properties. In the Target field, add ' -ngxdisableota' after the quotes (note the extra space).

This is a solution for NVIDIA based pre-RTX series graphics cards without DLSS support. The issue is that Palworld is loading an Unreal Engine 5 DLSS plugin from NVIDIA without first checking for support. This plugin blocks the main process while trying to update itself via an OTA update. Without proper support, this update runs indefinitely while still blocking the main process, causing the black screen to persist.

How I found this solution: I've been trying to figure out this problem for quite some time, with 5.3 hours of black-screen "playtime". I've tried all the other solutions listed online. I eventually ran System Informer[github.com] to inspect the threads running during the black screen and noticed the thread using the most CPU was !agsCheckDriverVersion. Inspecting the thread stack revealed NVSDK_NGX_UpdateFeature. This appears to be related to NVIDIA DLSS, which many of us non-RTX users don't have. I then stumbled upon this post[forums.developer.nvidia.com] that mentions the DLSS plugin doesn't disable itself with non RTX cards and they had to tell their users to manually add '-ngxdisableota' to their startup options. Lo and behold, it also works with Palworld!

Let me know if it works for you and have fun playing!

P.S. It's worth noting that the NVIDIA NGX technology is only supported by RTX cards. There appears to be an additional '-ngxdisable' launch option available, though it doesn't seem necessary in our case. IF people are experiencing in-game problems, it may be worth trying.

(This post is copied from my original post on Reddit here)

[PakkaSW]

This workaround works for me. But my Graphik Card is a RTX 4090. I thought this should works. Thanks for spending time to find a solution.

[CopperHead4750]

Publicado originalmente por PakkaSW:

This workaround works for me. But my Graphik Card is a RTX 4090. I thought this should works. Thanks for spending time to find a solution.

Interesting, I wouldn't have guessed that. Maybe it's partly old cards and partly system specific. Are your Nvidia drivers up to date?

[Wozherd$🐧]

Publicado originalmente por PakkaSW:

This workaround works for me. But my Graphik Card is a RTX 4090. I thought this should works. Thanks for spending time to find a solution.

is it something in latest gpus that bugs? i used this to try fixing but can't tell if it's really working with gtx 1070

[pherkt95]

Publicado originalmente por CopperHead4750:

TL;DR: Simply add '-ngxdisableota' (without quotes) to the Palworld launch options on Steam. For PC Game Pass users: right click the Desktop shortcut and go to Properties. In the Target field, add ' -ngxdisableota' after the quotes (note the extra space).

This is a solution for NVIDIA based pre-RTX series graphics cards without DLSS support. The issue is that Palworld is loading an Unreal Engine 5 DLSS plugin from NVIDIA without first checking for support. This plugin blocks the main process while trying to update itself via an OTA update. Without proper support, this update runs indefinitely while still blocking the main process, causing the black screen to persist.

How I found this solution: I've been trying to figure out this problem out for quite some time, with 5.3 hours of black-screen "playtime". I've tried all the other solutions listed online. I eventually ran System Informer[github.com] to inspect the threads running during the black screen and noticed the thread using the most CPU was !agsCheckDriverVersion. Inspecting the thread stack revealed NVSDK_NGX_UpdateFeature. This appears to be related to NVIDIA DLSS, which many of us non-RTX users don't have. I then stumbled upon this post[forums.developer.nvidia.com] that mentions the DLSS plugin doesn't disable itself with non RTX cards and they had to tell their users to manually add '-ngxdisableota' to their startup options. Lo and behold, it also works with Palworld!

Let me know if it works for you and have fun playing!

P.S. It's worth noting that the NVIDIA NGX technology is only supported by RTX cards. There appears to be an additional '-ngxdisable' launch option available, though it doesn't seem necessary in our case. IF people are experiencing in-game problems, it may be worth trying.

(This post is copied from my original post on Reddit here)

Thank you very much!! I have a gtx 1070 and it worked for me :)

[Bestdadever]

this worked for me also thanks so much i have a GTX 760

[Zla9Bobrixa]

This worked for me also thanks so much

[LadyMoonlight]

Publicado originalmente por CopperHead4750:

TL;DR: Simply add '-ngxdisableota' (without quotes) to the Palworld launch options on Steam. For PC Game Pass users: right click the Desktop shortcut and go to Properties. In the Target field, add ' -ngxdisableota' after the quotes (note the extra space).

This is a solution for NVIDIA based pre-RTX series graphics cards without DLSS support. The issue is that Palworld is loading an Unreal Engine 5 DLSS plugin from NVIDIA without first checking for support. This plugin blocks the main process while trying to update itself via an OTA update. Without proper support, this update runs indefinitely while still blocking the main process, causing the black screen to persist.

How I found this solution: I've been trying to figure out this problem out for quite some time, with 5.3 hours of black-screen "playtime". I've tried all the other solutions listed online. I eventually ran System Informer[github.com] to inspect the threads running during the black screen and noticed the thread using the most CPU was !agsCheckDriverVersion. Inspecting the thread stack revealed NVSDK_NGX_UpdateFeature. This appears to be related to NVIDIA DLSS, which many of us non-RTX users don't have. I then stumbled upon this post[forums.developer.nvidia.com] that mentions the DLSS plugin doesn't disable itself with non RTX cards and they had to tell their users to manually add '-ngxdisableota' to their startup options. Lo and behold, it also works with Palworld!

Let me know if it works for you and have fun playing!

P.S. It's worth noting that the NVIDIA NGX technology is only supported by RTX cards. There appears to be an additional '-ngxdisable' launch option available, though it doesn't seem necessary in our case. IF people are experiencing in-game problems, it may be worth trying.

(This post is copied from my original post on Reddit here)

Thank you!!!!

[Roberto_Caputo]

Melhor dos melhores! Funcionou perfeitamente!

[RafiSlash21]

This works for me! finally dont have to change driver to play this game

[DailyOGC]

Many thanks! You save my life

[PakkaSW]

Publicado originalmente por CopperHead4750:

Publicado originalmente por PakkaSW:

This workaround works for me. But my Graphik Card is a RTX 4090. I thought this should works. Thanks for spending time to find a solution.

Interesting, I wouldn't have guessed that. Maybe it's partly old cards and partly system specific. Are your Nvidia drivers up to date?

I have the newest driver and Palworld is my only game that shows this issue.

[Wozherd$🐧]

it must be fixed in 1.4+ as i got no more black screens
or something in my system was updated

[dnlsokoloff]

This was working for a while, but my steam deck is back to black screening suddenly.