With the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, you’ll want to make sure you’re using the best settings. This guide covers the Controllers, Audio, and Graphics settings in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 menus. Optimal settings are always going to be subjective, but here we detail our best settings options for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Here are the recommended settings for console players on PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S:

Best controller settings

Inputs

• Button Layout Preset: Tactical
• Flip L1/R1 with L2/R2: Off
• Stick Layout Preset: Default
• Controller Vibration: Off
• Trigger Effect (PS5): Off

Whether you choose default or tactical button layout might depend on the type of controller you use. There’s a lot of movement happening in Modern Warfare 2 with plenty of opportunities to slide, dive, crouch, and go prone. Tactical layout is recommended for those using a standard controller, as it maps your crouch/slide/dive button to the thumbstick, so you can be quick without ever needing to move your thumb. If you have something like a Scuf or another controller type that lets you remap your buttons, you can just leave this on default setting.

Aiming

• Horizontal Stick Sensitivity: 6
• Vertical Stick Sensitivity: 6
• ADS Sensitivity Multiplier: 1.00
• Sensitivity Multiplier:
  • Third Person: 1.00
  • Ground Vehicles: 1.00
  • Air Vehicles: 1.00
  • Tablet: 1.00
• Vertical Aim Axis:
  • Vertical Aim On Foot: Standard
  • Vertical Aim Third Person: Standard
  • Vertical Aim Ground Vehicles: Standard
  • Vertical Aim Air Vehicles: Standard

For the stick sensitivity, it can vary from player to player. Some pro players stay around 6-8 sensitivity with Call of Duty multiplayer, but some play at extremely high levels of sensitivity. I’d recommend trying out a 6 stick sensitivity and adjusting from there.

Gameplay

• Aim Down Sight Behavior: Hold
• Automatic Sprint: Automatic Tactical Sprint
• Equipment Behavior: Hold
• Weapon Mount Activation: ADS + Melee
• Interact/Reload Behavior: Prioritize Reload

Advanced controls

Aim assist

• Target Aim Assist: On
• Aim Assist Type: Default
• Aim Response Curve Type: Standard
• ADS Aim Assist: On

Feel free to test out all the Aim Assist types, but you’ll likely just want to keep it set to Default. Precision and Focus gives you a stronger aim assist that only kicks in close to the target. There’s also a Black Ops aim assist option for a traditional aim from the Black Ops series, but that seems to feel much like the default setting.

Aiming

• ADS Sens. Multiplier: 1.00
• ADS Sensitivity Transition Timing: Instant
• Custom Sensitivity Per Zoom: Off
• Inputs Deadzone:
  • Left Stick Min: 0.3
  • Right Stick Min: 0.3
  • Left Stick Max: 0.99
  • Right Stick Max: 0.99
  • L2 Button: 0.3
  • R2 Button: 0.3

Movement Behaviors

• Sprint/Tactical Sprint Behavior: Toggle
• Auto Move Forward: Off
• Tactical Sprint Behavior: Single Tap Sprint
• Grounded Mantle: Off
• Automatic Airborne Mantle: Partial
• Automatic Ground Mantle: Off
• Invert Slide and Dive Behavior: Standard
• Plunging Underwater: Movement
• Sprinting Door Bash: On

Setting the Automatic Grounded Mantle to Off isn’t a huge deal, but it will help keep you from accidentally mantling at a bad time.

Combat Behaviors

• ADS Stick Swap: Off
• Backpack Alternate Control: Off
• ADS Interruption Behavior: Interrupt
• Weapon Mount Movement Exit: On
• Weapon Mount Exit Delay: Medium
• Depleted Ammo Weapon Switch: On
• Quick C4 Detonation: On

Vehicle Behaviors

• Vehicle Camera Recenter: Short Delay
• Camera Initial Position: Free Look

Overlays Behavior

• Scoreboard Behavior: Toggle
• Ping Wheel Delay: Moderate
• Double Tap Danger Ping Delay: Moderate

Best graphics settings for console

Details and textures

• On Demand Texture Streaming: Off
• World Motion Blur: Off
• Weapon Motion Blue: Off
• Film Grain: 0.00
• Depth of Field: Off
• FIDELITYFZ CAS: On
• FIDELITYFZ CAS Strength: 50

For the On-Demand Texture Streaming, it’s unclear how much data this uses. If you have unlimited data then it can’t hurt to turn it on, but set this to off or limited if you have a data cap. You could set the setting’s download limit to something small. It also requires 25GB of extra storage, which is something you might not want to use up.

View

• Field of View: 100.00
  • ADS: Field of View: Affected
  • Weapon Field of View: Default
• First-Person Camera View: Least 50%
• Third-Person Camera View: Least 50%
• Brightness: Adjust brightness to your specific monitor/TV
• Safe Area: Adjust to your specific monitor/TV

The higher you set the field of view, the more you can see, but it also zooms everything out. For the Field of View, the settings let you go all the way to 120, but this tends to leave you feeling zoomed out too far. It’s all personal preference here, but I recommend testing somewhere between 90-100.

Best audio settings

Volumes

• Audio Mix: Home Theater or Headphones Bass Boost
• Master Volume: 100
• Music Volume: 75
• Dialogue Volume: 80
• Effects Volume: 100
• Hit Marker Volume: 80
• Mono Audio: Off

This setting is the hardest to list because it can be a lot of personal preference and dependent on what device you’re using for audio. If your sound is coming through your TV, Home Theater gives you great sound and decent footstep audio. If you’re using a headset, Headphones Bass Boost is a great option. Everything is super loud in Call of Duty games, but you don’t need everything at max volume to make the most of the experience. Personally, I like to slightly lower the volume of everything except the effects volume. Effects is going to include the game’s precious footstep audio, so I’d never suggest turning that one down.

Subtitles

• Subtitles: Default
• Subtitles Size: Default
• Opacity: 0

This is absolute personal preference. Here you can choose Default, where subtitles only appear during the campaign, or you can choose to activate subtitles across all modes, or even turn them off. There are also three subtitle sizes to choose from, so pick what size best suits your needs. There’s also an option to change the opacity, so you can lower it or increase this for better visibility.

Voice Chat

• Voice chat device: Choose your specific device
• Microphone Test: Off

Channels

• Auto-Connect At Match Start: Lobby
• Mute Yourself When Connecting: Off

Audio Advanced Settings

• Juggernaut Music: On
• Hit Marker Sound Effects: MW
• Reduce Tinnitus Sound: Off

The default settings are listed for the Advanced Audio because, again, this is personal preference. I personally like the Reduce Tinnitus Sound turned on to reduce the sometimes extreme sound of the flashbang and concussion grenade effects. Choose what’s best for you.

Adjusting these console settings should help you get the best aim, movement, audio, and visuals for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Make sure to check out our perk guide for Modern Warfare 2, as the perk system is a bit different for this new year. We also list the best killstreaks in Modern Warfare 2, and explain all the changes to the Gunsmith feature.