TF2 on Steam Deck, best settings and more

This guide will cover some things that can help you have a more enjoyable time on this unique device. You may notice that it does not have a mouse and keyboard, but that's okay, we can do well in Casual mode anyway!

So, you've got a Steam Deck.

Lucky you. As of recently, I got one too. However, this guide was actually written before I received it. Prior to getting the Steam Deck, I spent a lot of time playing TF2 with a Dualsense controller, which is very similar in a lot of ways:


It also has gyro controls, I kind of forgot to mention that. I'm not editing the image again. Shut up. With that in mind, I think I know a thing or two about getting gamepad controllers to work well in this game. Worth noting that the Deck has some extra buttons on the back you can take advantage of.

Also, I own a Steam Controller as well, which will be important later. But before we get into controls, I think it's best to talk about what you should do to get TF2 running nice and well first.

Here's a relevant video

But before I get into that, here's something. Somewhat recently, I put out a good video detailing a lot of the stuff that's already in this guide. If you prefer a more visual explanation, here you go. Do keep in mind that this video talks about gamepad controllers, as well as the older Steam Input UI which is still on regular PCs at the moment. The Steam Deck's interfaces are new and laid out a bit different. However, the features themselves are very very similar.

Change the default TF2 gameplay settings

I'm sure a lot of you have already played this game on a PC, and the Steam Deck is your second device to play TF2 on. In that case, you likely already know a lot about what I'm mentioning here, so you can skip this section. Plus, if you have cloud saves enabled, all of your settings will be moved over seamlessly, though special configs will still need to be manually moved over.

However, there's probably at least a few people who are brand new to TF2, and want an easy guide.

Fortunately, I don't have to make one myself. There's loads of other videos talking about the subject. Here's a video by Aar that explains some of the problems with TF2's default settings.

Some notable highlights include:

• The field of view setting is too low and results in the game feeling like it's zoomed in. Raise this setting.
  
• The viewmodel field of view setting is too low and results in your weapon feeling like it's zoomed in. Raise this setting.
  
• Fast weapon switch is disabled by default. If you enable it, the game will feel like a more modern shooter, where weapons deploy instantly without needing a menu first.
  
• Enable hitsounds and damage numbers if they're not on already.
  
• Disable mouse acceleration if it's enabled (you will probably thank me later)
  
• OPTIONAL: Enable viewmodel minmode. This reduces the size of weapons on your screen, allowing you to see more.

The video does mention internet settings as well, but given that you're likely playing through Wifi, I don't know how well changing it would pan out. Since I don't know about that for sure, I can't advise you to change those settings.

Optional - Get an FPS config

TF2 runs... okay on Steam Deck. However, in some intense scenarios, the framerate might drop a little bit. This mainly happens when large groups of players are on-screen, such as when spectating from far away. So we can pin the blame on the CPU getting stressed out. TF2 is notoriously unoptimized for modern systems, especially ones with multi-core and multi-threaded CPUs. The Steam Deck happens to have one of those, so performance isn't as ideal as you'd expect.

If this is bothering you, installing an FPS config will make the game less intensive on your CPU. Limiting the game to 60 FPS using TF2's built-in FPS limiter may also provide better latency compared to using the Steam Deck's own 60 FPS limit. Reducing the load on your system may also provide you better battery life.

A config is simply a bundle of files that contain TF2 console commands. These commands tweak various graphical settings, some of which are inaccessible though the normal options menus and advanced options menus.

The reason this is an optional step is because it's not strictly necessary. If you want to do this, I suggest Mastercomfig. Do keep in mind to use the Linux versions, and avoid making changes to mat_phong, mat_bumpmap and mat_specular, as setting those ones to 0 can cause some graphical glitches on Linux.

Mastercomfig has many customizable settings and can be downloaded via this link:
https://mastercomfig.com/

If you want to avoid using a config, disabling the glow effects via the Advanced Options Menu is one of the biggest FPS gains you can get out of this game, as these effects are very CPU intensive.

An introduction to TF2's Steam Input settings

Now we get to the actual gameplay stuff!

TF2 was given support for Steam Input when the Steam Controller launched. You know, this thing.



Thus, TF2's controller support uses the Steam Controller layout by default. However, the Steam Controller lacks a right stick, a left dpad, and only has two rear buttons. When it comes to TF2 on Steam Deck, this means:

• The right trackpad is used for looking
  
• The Steam Deck knows this, and allows the stick to be used for looking as well
  
• The left trackpad will act as a left dpad
  
• The Steam Deck knows this, and makes the left dpad mimic the left trackpad
  
• Two of the rear buttons are unused by default, as the Steam Controller only had two rear buttons, not four.

Since it's redundant to have multiple inputs function in the exact same way, you should probably make manual changes here. When you go to the Controller Options (usually via the Steam Button while in-game, or via the controller options button), this will open Steam Input - an advanced controller remapper. It lets you change basically everything about the controller. At least, in terms of what the buttons, sticks, and trackpads do.

You can choose to either use the new menu, or the legacy one (the old one). I highly suggest using the new menu, as it is the easiest one to access in a pinch, and you can open it while the game is running. However, if for whatever reason you need the old UI, it is still accessible.

Here is something of note. The game actually has four different presets for controller bindings. These consist of:

• In-game
  
• Menus
  
• In-game pop-up (taunt menu, disguise kit, build PDA)
  
• Spectating

This allows you to tweak the controls for each circumstance, without affecting any other settings. However, this will mean that some changes might have to be repeated several times in a row, such as if you decide to change sensitivity settings. In that case, you will need to change them in the "In-game" preset AND in the "In-game pop-up" preset.

TF2 has some basic options for bindings. I'll bold the most important ones, and give some reasons for functions that aren't as big of a priority:

• Movement
  
• Looking
  
• Attack
  
• Alt attack
  
• Special attack (Only applicable to some weapons or modes)
  
• Reload (Since auto reload is a thing, this button is used rarely)
  
• Jump
  
• Use Item (only applicable on certain maps/gamemodes or with certain items)
  
• Duck
  
• Next weapon
  
• Previous weapon
  
• Drop item (Only applicable to modes with flags or similar pickups)
  
• Change class
  
• Change team (Only applicable in community servers)
  
• Inspect
  
• Taunt
  
• Push to talk
  
• Open loadout
  
• Open backpack
  
• Toggle menu
  
• Show contracts
  
• Show scoreboard
  
• Toggle ready (only used in some gamemodes)
  
• Call a Vote (also accessible via the main menu)
  
• Yes / Accept
  
• No / Decline
  
• Vote option 3 (Only applicable in some community servers)
  
• Vote option 4 (Only applicable in some community servers)
  
• Vote option 5 (Only applicable in some community servers)
  
• Call Medic!
  
• VoiceThanks (This one is not named like the others below for some reason)
  
• Say: Go go go!
  
• Say: Move up!
  
• Say: Spy!
  
• Say: Ubercharge ready!
  
• Say: Help!

...Wait, that's it? TF2 has so many more options when using a keyboard! Why are there so few voice lines to choose from?!

No matter. One cool aspect of Steam Input is that you can bind the controller's buttons to keyboard keys! This will allow you to use more of TF2's functions, since anything that can be bound to a keyboard is available to our controller.

Borrowing extra functions from the keyboard

If you want to borrow some actions from the keyboard, you'll need to look at TF2's default keyboard bindings. That way, we'll know what to bind each controller button to. In fact, you probably already know this, because the Steam Deck itself even instructs you to do this in one of its built-in tutorials.

The TF2 Wiki has a list of TF2's default bindings.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Numbers 1 through 6 are used for directly switching to different weapons. (However, you will not need the Number 5 for the Destruction PDA, as all building and destruction is handled via the Build PDA (slot 4) when using a controller.)
  
• Q switches to the last weapon you had active
  
• Voice menus can be opened with Z, X and C, but will require number keys 0-9 to actually use
  
• Loadout presets are unbound by default, but can be binded to keys through the Options menu
  
• B button disguises the Spy as the last disguise he used, and also allows you to change the weapon your disguise is holding

Gyro aiming - The mouse of the controller

Let's take a short break from button inputs and talk about aiming.

Some people have a terrible habit, where they turn off the game's default motion controls (aka gyro controls) without giving them a fair chance. Do not be like those people. Here is why.

The Steam Deck's motion controls should do a good job of mimicking how a mouse works. Therefore, by disabling this function, you are removing your ability to use a mouse. Not having a mouse is especially bad in a game like TF2, so...

DON'T disable the motion controls!

Every time somebody disables the motion controls, a Sandvich Heavy dies on 2fort.

Don't believe me? Here's me rocket jumping with it.

I'm not using a stick for the vast majority of this. It's purely me moving my controller, as if it's a mouse. Granted, this isn't a top tier jump map. But I'm certainly jumping well enough for Casual mode, surely?! Why do some people act like this is impossible to do?

Anyway, what you SHOULD do is tweak the gyro's sensitivity to something you like. I recall the default sensitivity being quite low, so I personally raised it so that I could instantly look behind me by just nudging the controller a little. This gives enough room to do quick flicks without throwing the device around and tiring yourself.

The Steam Deck, by default, only enables the motion controls while your finger is touching the right touchpad. This lets you mimic the action of lifting the mouse from the mousepad, allowing you to move the controller without it affecting what happens in the game. If you choose to use the right stick for looking around, you'll be pleased to know the stick also has this functionality.

This is going to be very intuitive to those who are new to gyro aiming. However, you cannot use the face buttons while your finger is touching the stick or the touchpad, which can be rather limiting if you want to use those face buttons for useful binds. The game doesn't normally have any useful binds on there, but perhaps you may want them to switch between specific weapons? Therefore, a more experienced controller player may be annoyed at how they have to keep their thumb on the stick.

Thankfully, you can instead opt to have a button disable the gyro while held. If you want to do this, here's how:

• Select the gyro
  
• Select the gear icon
  
• Navigate to "gyro"
  
• Change "Gyro enable button" to whatever you want it to be
  
• Change "Button Behavior" to "Off" Or, if you prefer, you can make it "Toggle".

Many experienced players do this because they find that the gyro, by itself, sort of makes the right stick/pad obsolete for anything besides large turns.

But what if we could make the right stick even better at looking around?

Flick Stick - Instant spychecking and more

One day, a man called Jibb Smart came up with a unique idea of using the right stick. He got to work, and invented something called Flick Stick. It has since been added to Steam, and thus, the Steam Deck.

Here's a video by him, explaining how it works.

To summarise:

• Pointing the stick in a direction will cause you to face that same direction in the game.
  
• Pointing the stick down results in a 180. Pointing the stick right results in a 90 degree turn. This works for every single angle.
  
• Pointing the stick up results in nothing, since that would be forward, which you are already facing.
  
• Rotating the stick after pointing it lets you rotate your character, by turning it.
  
• It uses the entire stick for only looking left and right, so you will need to use the gyro or touchpad to look up and down.
  
• This does not remove the ability to look left and right with the gyro or touchpad

Here are some ideas on how you could use this in the game:

• Checking your back for Spies
  
• Charge turning with the Tide Turner, when gyro isn't enough
  
• Air strafing, when gyro isn't enough
  
• Increasing your awareness of surroundings
  
• Looking behind you to do a rocket jump
  
• Funny infinite spins during setup time
  
• Trickstabs, maybe?
  
• Quickly searching for heal targets as Medic

These controls are so good that they've been added to various other games in an official capacity. Such as CS:GO, Fortnite, Boomerang X, and Deathloop. Jibb Smart has been involved in many of these implementations, which is nice to see. Unfortunately, TF2 hasn't been updated to simply add Flick Stick to the in-game options menu. Instead, the Steam Deck can emulate mouse inputs to sort of "fake it" into the game.

This can be done by going to the Steam Deck's controller settings, selecting the right stick, and selecting Flick Stick. You can choose between "FS: Look" and "Flick Stick", but "Flick Stick" is less buggy. You may need to toggle the advanced settings in order to see the Flick Stick option.

You will have to manually tweak the Flick Stick's sensitivity slider until a full rotation of the right stick results in a full rotation in the game. Rotating the stick multiple times can help you determine whether it is set too high or low. You only have to go through this hurdle one time, and never again.

Of course, you still have the trackpad, which may be helpful for classes like Sniper. However, given how frantic of a game TF2 is, flick stick is more suited to this particular game, especially considering Spies.

If you personally don't like the touchpad, and prefer Flick Stick for looking around, you can instead remap the touchpad to something that may be more useful.

Using the touchpads for radial menus

Have you ever played a shooter with lots of weapons? Often, these games will have a weapon menu, where you rotate the stick to select a weapon.

Steam Deck allows you to make these sorts of menus from scratch, and make them do keyboard actions. You can make them work with either a stick or a touchpad.

This involves selecting the desired stick or touchpad, and selecting "radial menu" from the first dropdown menu. From there, you can manually map each option to a desired keyboard key, or in-game action. Each radial menu can have up to 20 inputs assigned to it. So, if you used all of those, you'd have 40 available buttons on the two pads!

Pro tip! In the In-game pop-up preset, create a radial menu with the keyboard buttons 0-9! This will allow Spy to instantly disguise without needing to slowly select an option with the dpad. Or, you can instantly select a particular taunt in the taunt menu. Sort of like you're actually pressing a number key on a keyboard!

Since this radial menu is created in the in-game pop-up preset, it will not exist when you do not have any pop-up menus open. Meaning you've just gained a ton of functionality without disrupting your normal control scheme!

Here's an example of me using them on sticks and touchpads on a PC, giving me multiple options for switching classes in spawn, using voice commands, picking voting, and opening the vote menu.

Note: Steam Deck's radial menus will look different to the ones shown in the video. If you want to see more detailed examples, watch this video by NerdNest:

Advanced: Using the console, and scripts

If you have a keyboard plugged in, or are willing to enter console commands with the on-screen keyboard, you can use TF2's console to add extra functionality to keyboard keys. Many TF2 players will already be aware of such binds, but here are some ideas:

• Switch classes with the numberpad buttons[gamebanana.com]
  
• Spy undisguise bind (bind key "disguise 8 -2")
  
• Quick Eureka Effect teleporting[gamebanana.com]
  
• Quick build-destroy for Engineer[gamebanana.com]
  
• Demoknight charge jump bind (Here's mine)[pastebin.com]

As you can see, some of these require a lot of typing. Fear not, you can copy and paste these into scripts, which the next section will go over.

Advanced: Changing binds depending on class

TF2 has support for class config files. If you are a seasoned TF2 scripter, you do not need me to explain this to you, so you can skip to the next section. If you are not aware, here's an explanation.

Basically, .cfg files are files with console commands in them, that automatically execute whenever you swap class. This is useful for having custom controls for a specific class.

You should be able to find these config files by going to your "Team Fortress 2" folder, then "tf", then "cfg".

NOTE FOR MASTERCOMFIG USERS: Mastercomfig will move all of these files into a folder named "user", inside the .cfg folder.

The files are named as follows, in alphabetical order:

• demoman.cfg
  
• engineer.cfg
  
• heavyweapons.cfg
  
• medic.cfg
  
• pyro.cfg
  
• scout.cfg
  
• sniper.cfg
  
• soldier.cfg
  
• spy.cfg

If these files are not present in the cfg folder, create them and then open them with whatever .txt file editor you have available.

Advanced: An example of using a script with the D-pad

You'll likely already know that these scripts only work with keyboard buttons. But remember how you can bind the controller's buttons to the keyboard? Let's bind the D-pad to the Keyboard's up, down, left and right keys. Since our D-pad is now acting as the keyboard's arrow keys, we can now bind the arrow keys to commands, and change their function depending on what class we want to play.

When consulting the list of key names, we'll learn that these buttons are named as follows:

• UPARROW
  
• DOWNARROW
  
• LEFTARROW
  
• RIGHTARROW

So, if we open Scout.cfg and type in:

bind LEFTARROW kill

Whenever we switch to Scout, and press left on the d-pad, assuming we have bound it to the left arrow button, Scout will instantly die. If you want to change this button's functionality when playing a different class, edit Soldier.cfg, and Pyro.cfg, etc.

Advanced: Ideas for class specific binds

Now that we have bound the left DPAD to the keyboard's arrow keys, we can use it for scripting. Here are some ideas:

• Use our DPAD for our "quick build and destroy" script, but only whenever we play Engineer
  
• Use our DPAD for Spy's disguise kit (slot4), an undisguise bind (disguise 8 -2), and a lastdisguise bind. The last remaining button is up to you.
  
• Use our DPAD for voice commands when playing a more basic class, like Scout or Pyro.
  
• Use our DPAD for air strafing when playing Soldier, if you really want those precise left and right inputs.

Voice command binds can be found here, if you want them.

Everything I say here can also apply to the face buttons, and the rear buttons. You will simply need to bind them to other keys on the keyboard, and then use those keys in your script files. For example, here's a setup I use on my Dualsense (with the button names changed to match those on Deck):

• When I play almost every class, I use the Y, B and A buttons for switching between weapon slots 1, 2 and 3 respectively. I like to use the X button for pausing gyro aiming, so I leave X alone.
  
• When I play Demoknight, the B button stops being useful. As the shield is a passive item, not an active one. So I instead use the B button as a charge-jump bind.

This was accomplished by binding the face buttons to keyboard buttons, and then using .cfg files to change their functions when switching classes.

Action Set Layers

If you thought scripting wasn't enough, hoo boy, do I have news for you.

Action Set layers allow you to temporarily switch the behaviour of buttons, sticks, touchpads, or anything really. Here are some practical examples:

• While holding L, change the right touchpad to work as a radial menu instead of looking
  
• While holding L, change the D-Pad's bindings to 4 completely different ones
  
• While holding L, change the left stick's click to say the "Spy!" voiceline instead of the "MEDIC!" one

In other words, you are changing the "mode" of that button, or stick, or touchpad.

This allows you to essentially double the number of keybindings you have available, allowing a die-hard tinkerer to squeeze just about every TF2 function onto this device, even the totally obscure and pointless ones that rarely ever get used.

For example, Spy mains might love the ability to map every single possible disguise to a single trackpad or stick, using a mode switch to toggle which team to disguise as. Skipping the need for the disguise kit completely. Though, I'd only recommend doing this if Spy is the only class you really plan on playing.

For the sake of not making this guide drag on forever, there are plenty of videos you can find on Youtube that can teach you how to do this.

Resolving bugs

There is a particularly annoying bug with TF2 specifically, where your view will sometimes snap to a random position when opening a taunt menu, or respawning. This is a bug with TF2's "look" mode when using gyro. Here is how I managed to fix it:

Update: The Deck UI was recently updated, so this has become a lot easier to do. New instructions are below:

• Open the controller configurator
  
• Select the gyro
  
• Map the gyro as a mouse, instead of to "look"
  
• Adjust the sensitivity, if you need to. This should be fixed now.

I have also sometimes ran into bugs with radial menus, on a PC. If they stop working, the way I fix it on a PC is to open the controller settings and then close them. This forces a refresh, and it fixes the problem. However, I do not know whether this issue applies to the Steam Deck, and same goes for the fix.

I can see that the radial menus had a visual overhaul, so maybe it was fixed? I cannot test this, though.

Custom HUDs

One of the reasons why this game is not Steam Deck Verified is that some of the text is too small and is too hard to read. Now, I don't think this is a particularly massive problem, mainly because I believe this refers to things like the contracker menu, where text is sometimes 6 pixels tall. The rest of the game tends to have bigger text than that. That said, some of the text is still rather small for a handheld.

However, I have been tinkering with the game, and I've been creating a HUD mod that raises most of the game's text to be larger. It's not perfect, and some small text may still remain (like on the Scoreboard, perhaps), and there's also a limit to how big I can make some text without it breaking the HUD or warranting a HUD redesign. However, it should still be a decent improvement over the default text size.

This mod is not finished yet. Come back in a few days or weeks years and a download link will probably be in this section of the guide. It's also possible that someone else might make a mod with some other quality of life changes, or maybe you're the type of person to use a completely different HUD instead, and that's fine.

Conclusion

The Steam Deck is a very versatile device with many input options, more than a standard controller. In addition, gyro aiming is extremely powerful, allowing you to almost rival the speed and accuracy of a mouse. Because, well, it essentially turns your entire controller into a mouse.

For the first time, TF2 players have a way to play the game on the go. And thanks to the many options available, they can do it without sacrificing too much effectiveness. However, it will require you to learn a new control scheme. And while this may be daunting at first, you will eventually be topscoring in Casual mode, just like I can with my Dualsense controller.

Just be aware that playing at 60hz is still a disadvantage, and the Deck is bigger than most controllers. Playing on a more powerful PC with a regular gyro controller at a higher refresh rate will always be better, but the Deck is still pretty competent at playing the game.

I hope this guide will help dispel some of the stereotypes floating around, about how controllers are supposedly bad and shouldn't be used, even in Casual mode. Don't listen to those people. If you're good enough at tinkering, and are willing to spend time practicing a new control scheme, you can squeeze some extra effectiveness out of this thing! Besides, how else are you going to play Phlog Pyro on the toilet? I want to make everyone else poop themselves as much as I am right now!

I suppose it also helps if you're already skilled at TF2. Because that way, you'll likely still do well even if you're not fully accustomed to the controls yet.

The point is, just have fun. And if you turn off gyro controls, I will aggressively trimp into your window and politely ask you to turn them back on!

[ToadBurgers]

I’m totally new to playing tf2 and totally new to a steam deck, does anybody have any template recommendations please ? Preferably some that would be easy for a console gamer to understand , thanks :)

[RiverwoodChicken]

If anyone could message me their mastecomfig modules settings they used to get a stable 60fps, it would be greatly appreciated. I've tried customizing different presets, always using the OpenGL addon, and no matter what I do it always runs pretty poorly with constant stuttering and extremely inconsistent fps (between 40-60 fps).

[Fiddlah]

Hey is it possible to DM you my config so I can get help making a control scheme?

[SolarLight]

Only suggestion I have is to check the launch options and make sure there's nothing unusual there. -nojoy and -nosteamcontroller can cause problems.

[Big Green]

None of my controls work. Can't even use the track pad the game accepts no inputs. I'm using the default control scheme and running the native Linux build.

[🦊Trapezoid]

Guys how much FPS you have on SD? I'm using 24 inc full HD monitor and this game is unplayable. I have so many drops to 15 FPS
I'm using Low Master config and aHud

[P. Sebs]

I think one warning that should be added is to make sure that the -nosteamcontroller launch argument is to never be used. I've seen a lot of people confused on why their controller isn't detected. Apparently this launch argument is used a lot in performance configs that people found online.

[SocknessMonster]

Do you have a config for a steamdeck? My models are glitching out and i cant see anything, (highest ram steamdeck)

[Cowabunga, It Is.]

Hey um solar for me it just thinks that the pro controller is Xbox 360, do you know how to fix this

[Clanes]

Been looking through this guide and slowly trying to work everything into my set up slowly after trying a bunch of community templates so I can play MvM with my friends while bedridden.

One issue I seem to be having is that my Gyro will just randomly stop working with any template that I use. But hopefully I'll find the issue to that before I'm done setting everything up here.