# FeralInteractive/gamemode

Optimise Linux system performance on demand

Repository: https://github.com/FeralInteractive/gamemode
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/gamemode
Language: C
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: linux, videogames
Last push: 2026-06-15T12:02:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 62/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 87, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3067, "days_push": 79, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5985, forks 217 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:33.990763+00:00)

## What it is
GameMode is a daemon and library combo for Linux that lets games request temporary system performance optimisations such as CPU governor changes, I/O priority, GPU performance modes, and screensaver inhibition. It is activated automatically by supporting games or manually via the gamemoderun wrapper command.

## Use cases
- optimise linux system performance while gaming
- switch cpu governor to performance mode when a game launches
- run steam games with gamemode optimisations
- prevent screensaver from activating during gameplay
- apply gpu performance mode or overclocking on nvidia and amd
- set io priority and process niceness for games

## When to choose
- you game on linux and suffer from powersave cpu governor throttling
- you want on-demand system tweaks applied only while a game runs
- you use steam, lutris, or launchers that support gamemode integration

## When to avoid
- you need permanent system-wide performance tuning rather than on-demand optimisation
- you are not on linux
- you need a graphical tuning tool rather than a daemon and config file

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: active
- function: monitoring, configuration-management, developer-tools
- domain: gaming-tools, operating-systems, performance
- platform: cli
- tags: gaming, system-optimization, cpu-governor, gpu-performance, daemon, steam, linux

## Member repositories
- FeralInteractive/gamemode (main) score 62

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:33.990763+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:49:52.134450+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/FeralInteractive/gamemode (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:33.990763+00:00, sha 18b94528d632)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.