Don’t Starve in Fullscreen, Windows 10 (2021)

Overview

This is the information you are looking for. It seems to be very hard to find good, up-to-date information about setting full screen mode. I haven’t played Don’t Starve for a long time, I remember when the map was made of circular islands, connected by corridors. Now that I decided to play it straight, I find the full screen dilemma, and oh boy, everyone seems to have a different opinion about setting up a full screen. And every single one I found, is just dead wrong, or incapable of explaining it plainly. So, here’s my take on how to play Don’t Starve in full screen. For real.

Let’s start!

I assume that you started and stopped the game at least once.

The moment you exit the game, two files are created or updated in your system, a log file and a settings file. Let’s find them.

Open this folder:

Open your C drive (where I’m assuming your Windows is installed) and follow this path:

C:UsersYOUR_USER_NAMEDocumentsKleiDoNotStarve

in which “YOUR_USER_NAME” is your Windows user name.

In that folder, you will find 2 important files: log.txt and settings.ini

============================
FIRST STEP

Delete the files: log.txt and settings.ini

============================
SECOND STEP

Start the game, and it will start in window mode as default.
When the main menu loads, just exit the game.
Two new fresh log.txt and settings.ini files were now created.

============================
THIRD STEP

Open the file log.txt with Notepad. Do not use Word.
Around line 48, you will see something like this:

GPU name NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 driverDate 20201231000000.000000-000 megsOfRam 4095 refreshRate 75 videoModeDescription 1920 x 1080 x 4294967296 colors driverVersion 27.21.14.6109

Only two values are important, and in this example:

refreshRate 75
videoModeDescription 1920 x 1080 (the rest of this line is not important)

Your values may be different.
Take note of your values of refreshRate (ex. 75) and videoModeDescription (ex. 1920 x 1080), and you can CLOSE this file log.txt now.

In the next step, these values are going to be used in different settings.
Here is an example of these values being used in the Fourth Step:

refreshRate 75
videoModeDescription 1920 x 1080

will be used inside a different file as

fullscreen_width = 1920
fullscreen_height = 1080
refresh_rate = 75

Let’s continue.

============================
FOURTH STEP

Open the file settings.ini with Notepad. Do not use Word.

This is an example of a fresh settings file:

[graphics] dynamic_loading_level = 0 [STEAM] DISABLECLOUD = false [MISC] ENABLECONSOLE = false FIRST_TIME_INSTALL = false autocompiler_enabled = true MOTD_IMG = 26

There are 3 groups of values here, [graphics], [STEAM] and [MISC].
Any line bellow them, until the next group, belongs to that group only.

Paste these lines under the [graphics] group:

dynamic_loading_level = 0 fullscreen = true fullscreen_width = 1920 fullscreen_height = 1080 refresh_rate = 75 display_id = 0

… and change the values of “fullscreen_width”, “fullscreen_height” and “refresh_rate” with the values you took note on the THIRD STEP.

NOW SAVE THE FILE.

Here’s an example of how it should look like:

[graphics] dynamic_loading_level = 0 fullscreen = true fullscreen_width = 1920 fullscreen_height = 1080 refresh_rate = 75 display_id = 0 [STEAM] DISABLECLOUD = false [MISC] ENABLECONSOLE = false FIRST_TIME_INSTALL = false autocompiler_enabled = true MOTD_IMG = 26

Congratulations!

At this point you will play the game in full screen.
But lets throw a bonus step, audio settings!

============================
BONUS STEP: Audio Settings

Open the file settings.ini with Notepad. Do not use Word.

At the end of the file, make a new line and paste this:

volume_ambient = 10 volume_sfx = 10 volume_music = 5

Remember to SAVE THE FILE!

Here’s an example of how it should look like:

Values to use here should be between 0 and 10.
Using volume_music at 5, will make you bleed less from your ears.

============================
E-FAQ
Expected Frequently Asked Questions

Question: I don’t understand, can you explain better?
Answer: Please ask a friend or a parent to follow these steps for you.

Question: I can’t find “log.txt” or “settings.ini”, I can only find “log” and “settings”!
Answer: Please ask a friend or a parent to follow these steps for you.

Question: Are you sure?
Answer: Yes, please ask a friend or a parent to follow these steps for you. This is a great game, and you should be playing it in full screen.

That’s it, love you, bye bye! ♥
— Dawns

Don’t Starve Guide

Overview

Let’s start!