A black screen on launch usually means the game picked a resolution or refresh rate your monitor can't show. Force it into a small window with launch options, then fix the setting from inside the game.
Add Launch Options
Every fix below that uses a launch option goes in the same box.
Open Properties
In your Steam library, right-click Garry's Mod and click Properties.
Find Launch Options
On the General tab, find the Launch Options box.
Type the Options
Type the options with a space between each one. Close the window to save.
Black Screen on Launch
Start the game in a window at a size every monitor can show:
-windowed -w 1280 -h 720| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
-windowed | Starts the game in a window |
-w 1280 | Sets the width to 1280 pixels |
-h 720 | Sets the height to 720 pixels |
-refresh 60 | Forces a 60 Hz refresh rate |
If the game shows up, open Options, then Video. Set Resolution to your monitor's real size and pick the Display mode you want. Click Apply, close the game, then delete the launch options.
Add -refresh 60 too if your monitor shows "out of range" or "no signal". That happens when the game asks for a refresh rate the screen can't run.
Reset Your Video Settings
If a window still shows black, reset every video setting to the default for your PC:
-autoconfigStart the game once with it, then remove it. While -autoconfig is in the box, the game ignores your saved config files.
Black Screen After Alt-Tab
In Full screen mode, switching to another window and back can leave the game black or frozen.
Use a borderless window instead. It looks the same as full screen, and alt-tab is instant.
Open Video Options
On the main menu, click Options and open the Video tab.
Change Display Mode
Set Display mode to Borderless Window.
Match Your Resolution
Set Resolution to your monitor's real size, then click Apply.
You can also start in borderless mode with launch options:
-windowed -noborderBlack Screen After Playing a While
If the screen goes black after minutes or hours of normal play, the game has usually frozen or crashed behind the black. Check Task Manager. If Garry's Mod shows as "Not responding", it froze.
Update Your Graphics Driver
Get the latest driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel's own website.
Verify Your Game Files
Right-click Garry's Mod, click Properties, open Installed Files and click Verify integrity of game files.
Lower Your Settings
Heavy servers use a lot of memory. Lower your settings and switch to 64-bit if you haven't. See the performance guide and the 64-bit guide.
If the game closes on its own, go to Garry's Mod Keeps Crashing.
Old Launch Options and Settings
Launch options copied from old guides can cause display problems. Clear your Launch Options box and test with nothing in it.
The game's Problems menu also flags display settings that cause trouble. On the main menu, it's the Problems button in the bottom right, next to the game controller icon. It warns you about:
- A DirectX level set to an unsupported value. This can cause instability and severe graphical issues.
- A screen resolution below the recommended size.
- A
mat_viewportscaleset so small the game may not be playable.
Each warning lists a quick fix where one exists.
Other Black Screens
The menu loads but stays black or blank. Verify your game files first. If you use a beta branch from the Betas tab, switch back to None and test again.
The game is running but not drawing. Close it from Task Manager, then start it with the windowed launch options above.
Unplug or turn off the second monitor and test. If that fixes it, set the right one as your main display in Windows before starting the game.
Game Won't Open at All
If nothing appears, not even a black window, the game isn't starting. Go to Garry's Mod Won't Launch.
Want a server to try it on? Justified is a Garry's Mod DarkRP server: justified.gg.
