Settings

Settings

Wiki pages: Home • Install • Settings • Debugging • Controller Mappings • Splash Videos • Tips • Gotchas • Scoring

This page lists every setting in SteamShellSettings.ini, with a description and the script’s default value.

Notes:

• Booleans are true/false.
• Times are typically in milliseconds (ms) unless noted.
• After editing the INI, use Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R to reload without rebooting.

[Paths]

Setting	Default	Description
SteamPath	C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe	Full path to Steam.exe

[BPM]

Setting	Default	Description
BpmTitle	Steam Big Picture Mode	Big Picture window title (must match your BPM title)

[Features]

Setting	Default	Description
EnableSplashScreen	true	Show a black splash overlay during boot
EnableTaskbarHiding	true	Hide taskbar & tray windows (kiosk feel)
EnableWindowManagement	true	Center windows; maximize large windows (skips OSK + Steam KB)
EnableAutoHideCursor	true	Hide cursor after MouseHideDelay inactivity
EnableSteamRefocusMode	true	Refocus BPM after SteamRefocusDelay when nothing else is visible
EnableGameForegroundAssist	true	Detect fullscreen-ish games and bring them to front
EnableAlwaysFocus	true	Allow specific apps (ExeList) to always win focus over Steam
EnableMouseParkOnBoot	true	Park cursor off-screen to the right at startup
EnableMouseParkEveryRefocus	true	Park cursor off-screen whenever SteamShell activates a window

[Timing]

Setting	Default	Description
SplashScreenDuration	10000	Splash duration in milliseconds (0 disables fade)
WindowCheckInterval	500	How often to center/maximize new windows (ms)
SteamRefocusPollingInterval	1000	How often to run focus checks (ms)
MouseMonitorInterval	250	Mouse polling interval (ms)
MouseHideDelay	1000	Hide cursor after this many ms without movement
SteamRefocusDelay	3000	Wait this many ms before refocusing BPM (when no windows remain)

[Splash]

Setting	Default	Description
Mode	Black	Black | Video
VideoPath	``	Full path to startup video (mp4/wmv). Leave blank for Black.
Mute	false	Mute video audio
PlayFullDuration	true	If true, play full video before fading out (safety timeout still applies)
SafetyMaxMs	15000	Failsafe max time to keep splash up in Video+PlayFullDuration mode. Set LONGER than your video length.
FadeOutMs	300	Fade out duration in ms (0 = no fade)
TopmostGuardMs	500	Re-assert topmost while visible (0 disables)
MpvPath	``	Full path to mpv.exe (required when Mode=Video)
ForceSDR	true	Force MPV to output SDR (prevents HDR/Dolby Vision mode switching)
DebugOverlay	false	If true, shows the reason video failed on the splash screen

[WindowManagement]

Setting	Default	Description
MinWidthPercent	0.20	Only maximize windows wider than this % of screen width
ExcludeExeList	``	Optional: Pipe-separated EXEs to skip (e.g. GameBar.exe|YourTool.exe)
ExcludeClassList	``	Optional: Pipe-separated window classes to skip (e.g. UnityWndClass|Chrome_WidgetWin_1)

[AlwaysFocus]

Setting	Default	Description
ExeList	``	Pipe-separated EXEs: Example SplitSecond.exe|EADesktop.exe
AlwaysFocusCooldownMs	1000	Minimum time between re-activating an AlwaysFocus window

[GameForegroundAssist]

Setting	Default	Description
GameCPUThresholdPercent	5.0	CPU % that adds a score bonus
FullscreenTolerance	0.98	Window must be >= this % of screen size to count as fullscreen-ish
FullscreenPosTolerancePx	2	Window position must be within this many px of 0,0 for fullscreen-ish
GameForegroundCooldownMs	1500	Minimum time between forced game activations
GameAllowZeroCpuAsCandidate	true	If CPU samples 0, still allow candidate
GameRequireSteamForeground	true	Only run game assist when Steam is foreground (safe default)
GameAssistLogEvenWhenSkipped	false	Log candidates even when skipped due to Steam not foreground
EnableAudioAssist	true	Add score if the process is outputting audio
ScoreAudioActive	30	Score bonus when audio peak is detected
ScoreFullscreen	70	Base score when fullscreen-ish
ScoreBorderlessLarge	45	Base score when large borderless but not at 0,0
ScoreTitleBonus	10	Score bonus if window has a non-trivial title
ScoreCpuAboveThreshold	20	Score bonus if CPU >= GameCPUThresholdPercent
ScoreCpuNonZeroBonus	15	Score bonus if CPU > 0 but below threshold
GameMinScoreToActivate	60	Minimum score required to activate the best candidate

[Logging]

Setting	Default	Description
EnableGameScoreLogging	false	Write scoring/decisions to SteamShell.log
GameLogMode	OFF	OFF|ACTIVATIONS|TOPN|DIAGNOSTIC
GameLogTopN	3	When TOPN/DIAGNOSTIC, log this many top candidates
GameLogIntervalMs	3000	Rate limit for TOPN/DIAGNOSTIC logging
GameLogIncludeTitles	true	Include window titles in the log
GameLogRejectNearCandidates	true	In DIAGNOSTIC, also log near-fullscreen rejects
GameLogRejectMinAreaPercent	0.85	Only log rejects with >= this % of screen area
GameLogRotateMaxKB	256	Rotate log when it exceeds this many KB
GameLogRotateBackups	2	Keep this many rotated backups

[MousePark]

Setting	Default	Description
MouseParkRightOffsetPx	50	Park cursor this many px beyond the right edge
MouseParkYPercent	0.50	Park cursor at this % of screen height

[StartupPrograms]

Setting	Default	Description
Enable	false	Start additional user-defined programs at boot (hidden)
DelayMs	2000	Wait this long after SteamShell starts before launching them
Program1	``	Define programs as Program1..Program20. Format: ProgramN="C:\Path\App.exe" --arg1 --arg2 Quotes recommended if the path contains spaces. Everything after the exe is treated as arguments. Programs are started with Run(..., "Hide") and SteamShell will also attempt to hide any windows they create briefly.
Program2	``

[Controller]

Setting	Default	Description
EnableControllerMouseMode	true	Enable controller mouse/keyboard mapping (hold View/Back)
ControllerIndex	0	0=first controller
ControllerPollIntervalMs	16	Poll rate (ms)
ControllerDeadzone	8000	Stick deadzone (0-32767)
ControllerMouseSpeed	100	Pixels per poll tick at full deflection
ControllerMouseFastMultiplier	2.5	Multiplier while RT is held
ControllerScrollIntervalMs	80	Min ms between scroll ticks
ControllerScrollStep	1	Wheel notches per scroll tick
ControllerChordHoldMs	500	Long-press threshold (ms) for B/X/Y secondary actions

[ControllerMap]

This section stores the editable controller button mappings (Short/Long) used while holding View/Back.

How values work

• Builtin:<Action> uses one of SteamShell’s built-in actions.
• Send:<Chord> sends an AutoHotkey-style chord (recorded by the UI).
• Optional: <Key>.Display=<Pretty label> lets the UI show a friendly name for Send: bindings.

Builtin actions

None, LeftClick, RightClick, Enter, Esc, AltF4, TabTip, OSK, WinG, TaskManager

Defaults

Mapping key	Default	Notes
RB.Short	Builtin:LeftClick
RB.Long	Builtin:None
RT.Short	Builtin:RightClick
RT.Long	Builtin:None
LT.Short	Send:^+o	Displayed as Ctrl+Shift+O
LT.Long	Send:^+f	Displayed as Ctrl+Shift+F
LB.Short	Send:^!{Tab}	Displayed as Ctrl+Alt+Tab
LB.Long	Builtin:TaskManager
A.Short	Builtin:Enter
A.Long	Builtin:None
B.Short	Builtin:Esc
B.Long	Builtin:AltF4
X.Short	Builtin:TabTip
X.Long	Builtin:OSK
Y.Short	Builtin:WinG
Y.Long	Builtin:None
Start.Short	Builtin:None
Start.Long	Builtin:None
L3.Short	Builtin:None
L3.Long	Builtin:None
R3.Short	Builtin:None
R3.Long	Builtin:None

Tip: stick + D-pad behavior (mouse move / scroll / arrow keys) is fixed and not stored in this section.