Layouts and screens
Split one TV two, four, six, eight or sixteen ways, give three players a fair share, build a custom grid, or give every player their own monitor.
On this page
In the lobby, every monitor connected to your PC appears as a screen, with its resolution. Each screen has its own layout, and players can be spread over several screens.
Layouts
Pick a layout with the buttons under a screen:
| Layout | Players on that screen |
|---|---|
| Full screen | 1 |
| Top and bottom | 2, one above the other |
| Side by side | 2, left and right |
| 2 × 2 | 4 |
| More › Six players | 6, in 2 rows and 3 columns |
| More › Eight players | 8, in 2 rows and 4 columns |
| More › Sixteen players | 16, in 4 rows and 4 columns |
| More › Custom grid | The rows and columns set in Settings › Layout |
| More › Manual | Players dropped anywhere on the screen |
Side by side gives each player a tall window, top and bottom a wide one. Wide windows suit most games better, since games are made for wide screens.
Three players (or five, or seven)
With three players on a 2 × 2 layout, one place stays empty. Give that space to a player with the grow button next to their name in the side panel ("Grow over the free neighbouring places"): their window stretches over the free place, so one player gets half of the screen and the others a quarter each. The same button shrinks it back.
For finer control, select a player's place and press R (X on a controller) to resize it: the arrows move a corner, X switches to the other corner, and Enter (A) is done.
Custom grid
Settings › Layout sets the custom grid: the number of horizontal and vertical divisions. For example two vertical divisions and one horizontal give a grid of 3 columns and 2 rows, so 6 places. Then choose More › Custom grid under a screen. Profiles keep their own copy of these settings.
Manual
More › Manual lets you drop each player anywhere on the screen and resize their window freely. Use it for unusual screens or for a big main view with smaller side windows.
Several monitors
Drag players onto the screen you want them on. Some setups that work well:
- One player per monitor: full screen on each.
- A TV and a monitor: two players top and bottom on the TV, one on the monitor.
- Two monitors, four players: side by side on each monitor.
Keep the same display scaling on all monitors, ideally 100 %.
Behind the windows
Some games can't fill their place exactly (fixed aspect ratios, minimum sizes). In Settings › Layout:
- Split-screen division fills the screen behind the game windows with a colour (black by default), so the desktop never shows through. Hide desktop only shows that background without resizing or moving the windows.
- Cutscenes mode (Ctrl+M) is for the moments a game plays a cutscene in every window: it can mute the other windows, keep their size, or unfocus them.
- Windows merger shows every copy in one window, which lets an upscaler such as Lossless Scaling work on the whole split screen. It doesn't support several monitors yet.
Ctrl+R puts the windows back in place if a game moves or resizes its window during the session, and Ctrl+N switches the layout while you play.
Windows look stretched or blurry? See Performance.