Most troubleshooting pages for this game mix two very different things: problems the studio has publicly acknowledged and is fixing, and workarounds players invented. Those deserve different amounts of your trust, so they are kept apart here.
Failed to join squad
What the studio has acknowledged
The launch-week known-issues post lists crossplay toggle matchmaking adjustments under "under investigation". That is the closest thing to an official confirmation that squad formation is broken in some cases.
Hotfix 1.0.3.1 is worth checking your expectations against: it contained crash fixes, customisation fixes, and one line about improvements to server stability. It included no matchmaking or squad fixes at all. If you updated hoping squad errors were addressed, they were not.
What players report
- Deployment errors when running a closed group. Unticking "fill squad" to play privately produces an error on deployment, most consistently reported on PS5.
- Invited players not registering. One player invites, the other — usually on console — never appears in the squad, and the squad then dissolves.
- Inconsistent over time. Some players find it works the next day with nothing changed. Others stay locked out.
- No private lobby exists. There is no separate private-room option, only the fill squad checkbox, so there is no alternative route to try.
What to actually do
- Leave "fill squad" at its default rather than unticking it.
- Fully restart the console or PC of whoever cannot connect.
- Re-form the squad from a different member as host.
- Try again later in the day.
There is no configuration change on your end that fixes this, because it is not a configuration problem.
Stuttering, low FPS and crashes
What the studio has acknowledged
- Nvidia hitching. The only PC stutter cause the studio has confirmed, and their stated resolution is to update your graphics drivers. Do this first — it is the one fix with an official answer attached.
- Memory crashes from heavy customisation. Most common when playing in a squad, when using DLC clothing, and when using items with logos or patterns. Hotfix 1.0.3.1 fixed this, along with crashes from exiting the customisation menu too quickly and some cosmetic items showing wrong patterns.
- Memory optimisation for lower-spec machines. The second hotfix was specifically aimed at memory usage for low-spec systems and Xbox Series S crashes.
The single most effective player-found setting
Drop Shader Quality to Low. Community testing found it has the largest impact on performance of any setting, with almost no visible difference in image quality — one report on an i5-12400 with an RX 6700 XT held a stable 80–100 fps at 1440p with FSR on quality after making that change.
If you change one setting, change that one.
Do not upgrade your GPU over this
Performance across the same GPU generation is wildly inconsistent, which tells you this is a software problem rather than a hardware one:
- A 9070XT paired with an i9-14900K drops to 70 fps on the hospital map.
- Desktop 4060 and 4080 cards are reported as poor at anything but low settings.
- A 2080 at 1080p runs at over 100 fps.
A card two generations older outperforming newer ones is not a pattern you can buy your way out of. Wait for optimisation patches instead.
Handheld and small-form-factor certification
- Steam Machine — Verified
- Steam Deck — Playable
A warning about other guides
If you find a guide telling you to fix stuttering with console commands like
mat_queue_mode, mat_disable_d3d9ex, cl_cmdrate or m_rawinput, close it.
Those are Source engine commands, and they are for the 2011 game No More Room
in Hell, not this one. No More Room in Hell 2 runs on Unreal Engine 5 and those
commands do not exist in it. This is a common enough mix-up that it is worth
checking any guide you follow for it.