The Top 6 Quest 3 Settings To Experiment With Using SideQuest

Improve performance, extend battery life, and make the most out of your Quest 3 by adjusting these 5 settings—only through the SideQuest app

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SideQuestVR

5 min readMar 22, 2024

Whether you’re using the SideQuest app on your PC, mobile device, or in VR through your headset, one of the coolest features we’ve implemented is the ability to adjust several headset settings you can’t access from its built-in settings menu.

We’ve rounded up a list of 5 key settings we’d recommend you experiment with first. These settings are most likely to impact your Quest experience and improve your quality of life, from improving frame rate to disabling that occasionally pesky proximity sensor.

1. Set CPU and GPU levels

Think of your CPU and GPU as the engine of your Quest. By default, it’s set to work as hard as any game needs it to, however, there might be instances where you really wanna open it up and unleash full power…

If you’re running an older game, or a game that’s no problem for your Quest to handle, crank it up to level 4 and make that experience buttery smooth. Or, if you want to save a bit of battery power, turn it down to level 2 and let it coast.

The choice is yours!

2. Change the Default Texture Size

Changing the Default Texture Size will alter how high quality some in-game textures are rendered. This will improve the effective resolution of a lot of games, providing a sharper image without lag.

Managing this was a little tricky on older Quest models as the CPU/GPU could be pushed to its limits very quickly, however, the more powerful Quest 3 can handle a bit more.

This will increase your battery consumption a little, but we think it’s worth it for that boost in image quality while you’re gaming. And for best results, we’d recommend setting it at at least 2048.

3. Adjust Refresh Rate

This another great setting to help you optimize your Quest’s visual performance. If you notice that the game you’re playing is a bit stuttery and your Quest is struggling, consider dropping the refresh rate to give it an easier time.

Of course, if you want it to work harder, you can crank things up! We’ll leave it to you to experiment—and, if you’re using the in-VR app, you can change this setting on the fly while you play!

4. Disable the Proximity Sensor

The Proximity Sensor detects when the Quest 3 is on your face, waking it up when you put it on, and sending it to sleep when you take it off in an effort to conserve battery.

Sometimes, this automatic wake/sleep function can get in the way of what you’re doing, like logging you out of an online game due to inactivity or interrupting the process of setting up video capture.

Of course, disabling the Proximity Sensor will mean that the battery will continue to drain when you take the headset off, but you can manually induce sleep mode by quickly pressing the power button.

And if you want to re-enable the Sensor, it’s as easy as clicking the other button!

Please note: The default Proximity Sensor settings (i.e. on) will be restored every time you power off and restart your headset.

5. Video recording settings

We’ve also included some extra video capture settings that are perfect for streamers.

For example, you can increase the default recording resolution of 1024x1024 and record in a resolution of 1600x1600, which not only makes for great quality viewing but also will not crop any of your gameplay—what usually happens when you record in 16:9 or 9:16.

You can also alter what FPS your captured footage is recorded in, for a smoother viewing experience!

6. Enable the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP)

If you want to transfer a lot of files to your Quest 3 like photos and videos, then this is definitely something you want to turn on.

Switching on the MTP will essentially make your Quest 3 appear as an external drive on your PC or laptop, so when you plug it in, you’ll see it appear in your file explorer immediately, making transferring those files a cinch!

More settings to explore!

In this article, we’ve covered just 5 of the Quest headset settings you can tweak using SideQuest—but there are plenty of others for you to start experimenting with!

You can toggle foveated rendering, chromatic aberration, activate ‘experimental mode’, and much more besides!

Just remember: All of these settings will revert to their defaults when you power off your Quest. So, if you find a balance you really love, just remember to take 30 seconds to switch to those settings again when you jump back in!

About SideQuest

SideQuest represents the ultimate community in standalone VR. A place where developers and players around the globe can create, share, and get excited about the virtual reality apps they love.

Developers (like us) are free to experiment with mechanics and modes on their journey to official stores, while players can safely explore thousands of apps across the wonderful world of VR — the biggest collection all in one place, actually.

Because who needs limits, right?

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