Citra MMJ Lag and FPS Drops
While playing Nintendo 3DS games with the Citra MMJ, your games may start running fine, but gradually the FPS starts to drop. For example, while playing Pokémon X, the FPS is initially around 30, but over time, the frame rate starts to drop significantly, and the game becomes stuttery and laggy.
After analyzing the issue, there could be several reasons behind this. The shader cache could cause stutters, the game might be more demanding on the hardware, and incorrect graphics settings could affect performance. Moreover, an outdated Android version may also be a reason for poor game performance, or the device itself may have hardware limitations.
Fix Citra MMJ Lag and FPS Drops Issues
Here are the troubleshooting steps you can try:
Restart Your Phone
Before trying any fix, first restart your phone and then check your game. If it starts running smoothly, well and good. Otherwise, try the below-mentioned fixes one by one.
Close Background Apps
A very quick fix to improve game speed and reduce lag is to close all unnecessary background apps like YouTube, Discord, etc. These apps use RAM and CPU resources in the background, leaving less power available for emulation, so the game starts lagging.
Let the Shader Cache Build
When you turn on Hardware Shader for any game, the emulator compiles shaders and stores them in the shader cache to save the shader data for that game so that it doesn’t have to compile the effects again and again every time you play. While compiling the shader cache, your game may lag for some time, but as soon as the cache is compiled, the game should run smoothly with fewer stutters.
However, if your game continues to lag even after the shader cache has been compiled, check the Hardware Shader Causes Graphics Glitches troubleshooting guide.
Disable Audio Stretching and Enable Async Emulation
Disabling Audio Stretching and enabling Async Emulation can help squeeze out some extra FPS by reducing the processing workload. As a result, the emulator may perform more efficiently.
So, if your game is continuously running rough, try these settings and see whether they make a difference.
Enable Texture Load Hack and Skip Slow Draw
If you enable the Texture Load Hack and Skip Slow Draw speed hacks, they can improve both the FPS and the emulation speed.
So, if your game is continuously running rough, try these settings. However, keep in mind that every game behaves differently, so the results may vary.
Use FPS Cheats
In some games, there is an option to enable FPS cheats through Citra MMJ’s cheat menu. To check whether a game has FPS-related cheats, long-press the game in the emulator.
If the game supports these cheats, you can enable them to improve the frame rate and improve your gameplay.
Check Your Device Hardware
Citra MMJ’s performance largely depends on your phone’s hardware. Devices with Snapdragon 600-series or newer processors, as well as some MediaTek Dimensity, Exynos, and Kirin processors, can generally run games better.
Devices with non-Snapdragon processors may struggle to run demanding games. If your phone has older or weaker hardware, then Citra MMJ’s settings alone may not completely solve the FPS problem.
Use Default Graphics Settings
First of all, you should review your graphics settings. The recommended approach is not to change the graphics settings too much. Instead, keep them at their default values and use the native resolution setting whenever possible.
Higher graphics settings can increase the workload on your device and reduce the FPS. If you have changed many graphics options and your game is lagging, then the very first fix you should try is to restore the graphics settings to their default values and test the game again before trying any other troubleshooting steps.
Disable VSync
Turn off VSync. It usually synchronizes the game’s frame rate with your display, but in some cases, it can reduce performance.
After disabling VSync, launch your game and check the FPS. You may notice smoother gameplay and fewer frame drops.
It is also recommended to keep most audio settings at their default values because audio settings can have an impact on emulator performance.
Not all Citra MMJ builds include this option. Check whether your version has this setting before trying this fix.
Check for System Updates
If you are using Citra MMJ on Android, then this is one of the first things you should check when troubleshooting.
Outdated GPU drivers or system software can cause FPS drops and compatibility issues on some devices. Although GPU drivers cannot be updated separately on most Android phones, installing the latest system update may include newer graphics drivers and performance improvements.
So, one quick fix is to check for and install any available system updates before trying other troubleshooting steps.
Usually, FPS does not drop because of a Citra MMJ bug. Performance often improves after changing a few settings, enabling some performance tweaks, checking for system updates, and playing long enough for the shader cache to finish building.
Final Thoughts
Citra MMJ lag and FPS drops can happen for many different reasons. You can fix this issue by waiting for the shader cache to build, disabling Audio Stretching, enabling Async Emulation, using FPS cheats, and turning on the Texture Load Hack and Skip Slow Draw speed hacks.
Moreover, you can try additional fixes like restoring the default graphics settings, disabling VSync (if your Citra MMJ build includes this option), and checking for system updates.
If none of these solutions improves performance, then check whether your phone (hardware) is powerful enough to run the emulator. Nintendo 3DS games are difficult to emulate, so if your device is not powerful enough, you may experience lag and FPS drops, especially while playing more demanding games.
