Hi everyone,
I'm writing this mail as proposal to increase the default
`vm.max_map_count` [1] value in Arch Linux.
The default `vm.max_map_count` 65530 value is making some Windows games
crash (or even prevent them to start at all) while being played through
Wine or Steam Play (Proton).
Examples are (but not limited to) Star Citizen, THE FINALS, Hogwarts
Legacy, DayZ or Counter-Strike 2 (see [2] for a list of bug reported to
Valve for these games on that matter).
In that regard, SteamOS is shipping an increased `vm.max_map_count`
default value to address the above issue and numerous distributions have
since then decided to implement that change on their side as well, such
as Fedora [3], NixOS [4] and, more recently, Ubuntu [5].
While I'm aware that Arch is a user centric/DIY distro and everyone can
set their own `vm.max_map_count` value fairly easily, shipping an
increased value on our side would be a beneficial change to make in my
opinion as it would result in a smoother gaming experience out of the
box for our users without representing any downside/side effect (as far
as I'm aware).
In terms of implementation, the change basically consists of shipping
the following sysctl file:
```
# Increase the number of virtual memory areas that one process may request
vm.max_map_count=1048576
```
For reference, Fedora added it to their systemd package [6], while
Ubuntu handled it at the procps level [7].
I personally don't have a strong opinion on the implementation way/place.
To sum up, I think this would be a reasonable and positive change to
make to our distro.
I'd be happy to read your thoughts (or eventual objection)! 😊
[1] https://docs.kernel.org/admin-guide/sysctl/vm.html#max-map-count
[2] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/2057792/comments/5
[3] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/IncreaseVmMaxMapCount
[4] https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/238459
[5] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/2057792
[6] https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/systemd/blob/f39/f/10-map-count.conf
[7]
https://git.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/procps/commit/?h=applied/2%254.0.4…
--
Regards,
Robin Candau / Antiz