[LINUX] CS2 keeps recalculating shaders EVERY time

[Melon]

Hi!

Is it only me? CS2 keeps recalculating shaders EVERY time, even if I play the same map two times in a row. I tried clearing the cache, validating the integrity of files. I think this started happening after some update (maybe a week or two ago)?

Can this be fixed or do we have wait for Valve to update CS2/Proton?

[YUBER]

thats a problem

[CS2Lord]

Where do you see the recalculation: Steam's shader-processing window before CS2 opens, or stutters/loading inside the game when entering the map? Those need different troubleshooting. Also, are you running the Linux version or explicitly forcing Proton in Properties > Compatibility? CS2 lists Linux support on its official store page, so mentioning Proton doesn't by itself establish which version you're running: https://store.steampowered.com/app/730/CounterStrike_2/

Please include your distro, GPU and driver version, and whether the second load is in the same game session or after restarting CS2. For the comparison, leave the cache intact and repeat the same map without changing the driver/settings or clearing anything between attempts. Note whether the processing takes the same amount of time each time. That would help distinguish a cache not being retained from a short recurring processing check. I don't have a confirmed fix or evidence that this specific symptom requires a Valve update yet.

[Pepper]

you can disable shader cache. this issue has been there since forever

[Melon]

Bro, sorry, but your whole answer smells like AI.

But if you really want to know:
This is happening in game, it always takes the same ammount of time, it always calculates the same ammount of shaders. I can load a map, play on it the second time and the recalculation happens.

I shouldn't have mentioned Proton, because CS2 runs natively on Linux <facepalm>

```
Linux melon-x570ud 7.1.13-2-MANJARO #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:41:39 +0000 x86_64 GNU/Linux
```

```
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Vega 10 XL/XT [Radeon RX Vega 56/64]
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:0a:00.0
logical name: /dev/fb0
version: c1
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom fb
configuration: depth=32 driver=amdgpu latency=0 resolution=1920,1080
resources: irq:117 memory:e0000000-efffffff memory:f0000000-f01fffff ioport:e000(size=256) memory:fcb00000-fcb7ffff memory:c0000-dffff
```

```
OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 26.2.2-arch1.1
```

[CS2Lord]

Fair criticism: my first reply was too broad. Thanks for the details. Native CS2, Vega and repeated in-game loads narrow this down.

One concrete check: look for MESA_SHADER_CACHE_DISABLE=true in your launch options or Steam environment, and check whether any MESA_SHADER_CACHE_DIR/XDG_CACHE_HOME override points to a persistent directory writable by your user. Mesa documents those controls here: https://docs.mesa3d.org/envvars.html#envvar-MESA_SHADER_CACHE_DISABLE

That checks whether the driver cache can actually persist; it doesn't prove the cache is the cause. I'd leave it enabled for this comparison rather than disable it as a fix. If those settings are normal, the exact shader counter/message plus your two-load reproduction is useful evidence for a bug report. I can't identify a confirmed Mesa 26.2.2 or CS2 regression from this alone.

[Davey]

just press skip and call it a day. gpu nowdays are that fast that do it in real time

[Melon]

Originally posted by Davey:

just press skip and call it a day. gpu nowdays are that fast that do it in real time

You cannot skip shaders calculation while loading map

[ٴkv]

My experience with CachyOS was the worst ever.
50minutes preloading Vulkan shaders making my CPU goes 79 degrees when i have an Undervolt of -50 on all cores and NEVER i reach more than 60 degrees on Windows 11 26H2.

Please, delete Linux and come back to Windows. The input lag of Linux is terrible and it doesnt even have Fullscreen option (more input lag)

[HØNΞY BΛDGΞR]

Disable Shader Pre-Caching

Steam > settings > Shader Pre-Caching > Enable Shader Pre-caching

Then disable it.

[HØNΞY BΛDGΞR]

Originally posted by Pepper:

you can disable shader cache. this issue has been there since forever

Opps, I said the same with out reading the comments :'D

[Misaka 10032]

It appears that the shader compilation during map load was added recently. This increases the map load time significantly. But on the plus side I don't have the issues with broken textures anymore. I'd wish that the shaders could be cached

[Pepper]

Originally posted by HØNΞY BΛDGΞR:

Originally posted by Pepper:

you can disable shader cache. this issue has been there since forever

Opps, I said the same with out reading the comments :'D

it's fine bro ..

[Melon]

Fixed with 6 October 2026 update, admin please closet his topic