Some Games are crashing linked to a vm_max_map_count too low

[vinceff]

Hello there,

I submit this request to improve the gaming experience in ubuntu for all users.
Today, Hogwarts Legacy, Star Citizen and few more games are crashing or just not starting because the vm_max_map_count is locked at 65530. If we change this value to a value > 200000, all games are working well and there is no bug linked to maps.

Some others distribution like Fedora or Pop OS, have already made the change few month before.

It's time to Ubuntu to makes the change also.

Thanks in advance for applying this request.

How to make this change :

One file to modify :
/etc/sysctl.conf
Add this line :
vm.max_map_count=2147483642
Save
Reboot and enjoy

Best Regards
Vinceff

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Libera.chat.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/2057792/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[vincent delor (cardiacman)]

Hi,

SteamOS and Fedora has already adopted a higher default value for this parameter, leading to a noticeably smoother gaming experience. Implementing a similar adjustment in the next Ubuntu release could provide a substantial boost to the gaming community, making Ubuntu an even more attractive platform for gamers.

Thank you for considering this enhancement. Your efforts to improve the gaming ecosystem on Linux are greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Vincent.

[Yannick Defais (sevmek)]

For reference, here is the change for Fedora:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/IncreaseVmMaxMapCount

Here is a list of games presumably affected by this low value in vm_max_map_count as reported to Valve:

THE FINALS
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/7317#issuecomment-1974837850

Hogwarts Legacy
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/6510#issuecomment-1422781100

DayZ
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/3899#issuecomment-1304397069

Counter-Strike 2
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/2704#issuecomment-1705199788

Regards

[dan stewart (ledam)]

Many crash because VM_max_count two low.

[Nicolas Du Moulin (nicdm)]

I can confirm this! Some games do crash because of a to low VM_max_map_count.

This change will improve the gaming experience on Ubuntu and thus would be a nice one to have in the next LTS release.

[francois pussault (fpussault)]

I confirm this! Some games might crash low VM_max_map_count is set too low.

[mikeonlinux (mickael-stemmer)]

Can confirm some games crash due to VM_max_map_count being set too low by default.

[A1RM4X onYouTube (a1rm4x)]

Non exhaustive list of games impacted by this bug:
- Dayz
- Hogwarts legacy
- Counter-Strike 2
- Payday 2
- Star Citizen
- ....

Thanks.

[STLRX (stlrx)]

Got same issue

[NHiX (nicolasnhix)]

I confirm this ! Please modify default value of VM_max_map_count

[Elfedac (elfedac)]

Hello,
Got same issue linked to a vm_max_map_count too low.
Regards.

[Julian Andres Klode (juliank)]

Subscribing Canonical desktop team to get their input.

Basically the ask is to ship this file:

https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/systemd/blob/f39/f/10-map-count.conf

I believe if we do it should be shipped in procps; or possibly, gamemode should set that option?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thanks for the report.

So

- the kernel default and current value is 65530

- Fedora changed to 1048576 (https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/systemd/blob/rawhide/f/10-map-count.conf) which was enough according to their testing

- you are suggesting 2147483642 , which is several order of magnitude higher

Unsure if there are possible side effects or downside of having a too high value but it's late in the cycle and 1048576 seems like a more reasonable default

@Julian I think from a Desktop perspective we are +1 on bumping to at least 1048576, technically that should be done in systemd I think. It that a FFe/change that you/foundations are wanting to work on?

[vinceff (vinceff)]

Hello Sebastien,

I agree with you.

The value 2147483642 is the value purposed by TKG kernel, but as mentioned in my report, if the value is > 200k well issues in game is over.

I think, the fedora value is a good approach because we already have return of their experience, and there is no trouble linked about this value reported in the fedora side.

[Julian Andres Klode (juliank)]

I'm agreeing with desktop in following Fedora to bump to 1048576, the precedence makes this safe, and this I consider this a bug fix for crashing software and not a feature request.

[Julian Andres Klode (juliank)]

Uploaded procps with the file; leaving gamemode task open because maybe dynamic enhancements there still make some sense in 24.10

[vadim (vadim1337)]

I suggest including 2147483642 not in LTS, but in Ubuntu 24.10 as an experiment. Because I noticed an unpleasant detail. For example, there is a game "Don't Starve," I know there is a native version, but this is just as an experiment with Proton. If you launch the Proton version, you will receive a message when vm.max_map_count = 1048576: "steam_app_218740" is not responding. You may choose to wait a short while for it to continue or force the app to quit entirely. But when vm.max_map_count = 2147483642, there are no problems, everything loads instantly.

[Mateusz Stachowski (stachowski-mateusz)]

Just updated the package from noble-proposed and the file is there with the agreed value.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package procps - 2:4.0.4-4ubuntu3

---------------
procps (2:4.0.4-4ubuntu3) noble; urgency=medium

  * No-change rebuild for CVE-2024-3094

 -- Steve Langasek <email address hidden> Sun, 31 Mar 2024 08:16:00 +0000

[Uwe Schindler (uwe-thetaphi)]

To complete the list of products: In addition to games, this change is also useful for users of Elasticsearch and/or Opensearch and Apache Lucene/Solr on large clusters.

Elasticsearch also suggests raising the value, although not so high: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/vm-max-map-count.html
Opensearch: https://opensearch.org/docs/latest/install-and-configure/install-opensearch/index/#important-settings
Apache Solr: https://solr.apache.org/guide/solr/latest/deployment-guide/taking-solr-to-production.html

If you e.g. start Elasticsearch without a large enough vm.max_map_count, it will print a log message to raise it and exit.

My personal opinion: Actually the game issues described here should better be fixed in Steam's launcher when starting such a game (or in Wine). The downstream software should better ask the user to raise the value upon starting.