GameINI

You can configure settings per game through their GameINI. GameINI is a plain text file with game's GameID as its file name and INI as its file extension. It can be retrieved from game's properties; right-click the game from game list then choose Properties from the context menu, then click on the Edit Config button and edit the empty text file that pops up. When editing, carefully arranged line, headings, and capitalization are important.

For controller settings, go to GameINI (Controller Settings).

Properties Window
These are settings you can update GameINI directly from the game properties window.
 * Enable Dual Core - controls
 * Enable MMU - controls
 * Skip DCBZ clearing - controls
 * Enable FPRF - controls
 * Synchronize GPU thread - controls
 * Speed up Disc Transfer Rate - controls
 * DSP HLE emulation (fast) - controls
 * Deterministic dual core - controls
 * Stereoscopy Depth Percentage - controls StereoDepthPercentage in
 * Convergence - controls StereoConvergence in
 * Monoscopic Shadows - controls StereoEFBMonoDepth in

[Core]
The following entries go under [Core] (or [Dolphin.Core]) section of the GameINI.

Dual Core

 * or  to enable and disable "Dual Core" mode respectively.

Graphics Backend

 * to set the video backend to Direct3D 11.
 * to set the video backend to Direct3D 12. Direct3D 12 was removed in then reintroduced in, this setting will do nothing during this interval.
 * to set the video backend to OpenGL.
 * to set the video backend to Vulkan.
 * to set the video backend to Software.
 * to set the video backend to Null(no output).

CPU Emulator Engine

 * to set the CPU emulator engine to "Interpreter".
 * to set the CPU emulator engine to "JIT x64".
 * to set the CPU emulator engine to "JITIL". Removed (will do nothing) in and later.
 * to set the CPU emulator engine to "JIT ARM64".
 * to set the CPU emulator engine to "Cached Interpreter".

Floating-point Result Flag

 * or  to enable and disable "Floating-point Result Flag" calculation respectively.

DSP HLE

 * or  to enable and disable "DSP HLE" respectively.

If DSP HLE is disabled, DSL LLE will be used, it will use either DSP LLE recompiler or DSP LLE interpreter based on your general Dolphin settings, or see. More information at Audio Emulation.

Emulation Speed (formerly Framelimit)

 * will set it to "unlimited".
 * will set it to "10%".
 * will set it to "20%".
 * will set it to "30%".
 * will set it to "40%".
 * will set it to "50%".
 * will set it to "60%".
 * will set it to "70%".
 * will set it to "80%".
 * will set it to "90%".
 * will set it to "100%", as in normal emulation speed.
 * will set it to "110%".
 * will set it to "120%".
 * will set it to "130%".
 * will set it to "140%".
 * will set it to "150%".
 * will set it to "160%".
 * will set it to "170%".
 * will set it to "180%".
 * will set it to "190%".
 * will set it to "200%".

CPU Overclock
Implemented in and later.
 * or  to enable and disable "CPU Overclock" respectively.
 * translates to "100%" CPU clock. The value of Overclock can be any float, and it acts as a multiplier; 0.5 is 50%, 1.0 is 100%, 1.5 is 150%, 2.0 is 200%, etc.

Synchronize GPU Thread
SyncGPU is a speed hack for dual core mode to allow games to get around dual core glitches without having to use single core. Usually not much faster than single core mode. On Android, the Synchronize GPU thread setting instead provides three choices. To set the same configurations through the GameINI (which also works on non-Android versions) use:
 * or  to enable and disable the "Synchronize GPU thread" respectively. Even with this setting set to false, Dolphin will still synchronize the threads during idle skipping.
 * and  for "Always"
 * and  for "On idle skipping"
 * and  for "Never"

GPU Overclock

 * translates to "100%" GPU clock. The value of Overclock can be any float, and it acts as a multiplier; 0.5 is 50%, 1.0 is 100%, 1.5 is 150%, 2.0 is 200%, etc. This setting has an effect only if SyncGPU is enabled or Dual Core is disabled.

Speed Up Disc Transfer Rate
Accelerates the emulated disc speed, removing any loading emulation.
 * or  to enable and disable the "Speed up Disc Transfer Rate" respectively.

Dualcore Determinism

 * or  to enable and disable "Deterministic dual core" respectively.   will only enable "Deterministic dual core" during Netplay or movie recording/playback.

Memory Management Unit (MMU)

 * or  to enable and disable the "Memory Management Unit" respectively.

DCBZ
Will do nothing in and later.
 * or  to enable and disable "Skip DCBZ Clearing" respectively.

Progressive Scan

 * or  to enable and disable "Progressive Scan" respectively.

GameCube Language
Implemented in and later.
 * for English or Japanese, depending on the region of the console/game.

Choose a number for the language you want from the list below: 0 = English/Japanese 1 = German 2 = French 3 = Spanish 4 = Italian 5 = Dutch

[Controls]
See GameINI (Controller Settings)

[Video_Settings]
The following entries go under [Video_Settings] (or [Graphics.Settings]) section of the GameINI.

Internal Resolution
Values starting from 0 represent the drop down order in the list that dolphin uses.

Shader Compilation
0 = Specialized (Default) 1 = Exclusive Ubershaders 2 = Hybrid Ubershaders 3 = Skip Drawing

Compile Shaders Before Starting

 * or  to enable and disable "Compile Shaders Before Starting" respectively.

Texture Cache Accuracy
Controls the "Texture Cache Accuracy" setting, shown as a slider in the GUI.
 * -> Texture Cache Accuracy "Safe", the left most option on the slider.
 * -> Texture Cache Accuracy "Middle", the middle option on the slider.
 * -> Texture Cache Accuracy "Fast", the right most option on the slider.

GPU Texture Decoding

 * or  to enable and disable "GPU Texture Decoding" respectively.

Aspect Ratio
Values starting from 0 represent the drop down order in the list that dolphin uses.
 * is auto, assigned based on what the emulated console indicates.
 * to force the aspect ratio to 16:9.
 * to force the aspect ratio to 4:3.
 * to set the aspect ratio to "Stretch to window".

Widescreen Hack
Separates the aspect ratio rendered by the game from the one displayed in the game window. Use options in addition to this setting.
 * or  to enable and disable the "Widescreen Hack" respectively.

Anti-Aliasing

 * will set it to the top of the list value which is "None". "2x", "4x", "8x" samples would need,  ,   to be used respectively.
 * or  will toggle between "SSAA" and "MSAA" respectively. The amount of samples used for SSAA will depend on the MSAA value above.

External Frame Buffer
Will do nothing in and later.
 * or  to enable and disable "External Frame Buffer" respectively. Virtual or Real will be set according to what you have set it last at the general settings. To control it use together the line below:
 * or  to enable "Real XFB" or "Virtual XFB" respectively.

Fast Depth Calculation

 * or  to enable and disable "Fast depth calculation" respectively.

Per-Pixel Lighting

 * or  to enable and disable "Per-Pixel Lighting" respectively.

Disable Fog

 * or  to enable and disable "Disable Fog" respectively.

Load Custom Textures

 * or  to enable and disable "Load Custom Textures" respectively.

Prefetch Custom Textures

 * or  to enable and disable "Caching custom textures to RAM on startup".

[Video_Enhancements]
The following entries go under [Video_Enhancements] (or [Graphics.Enhancements]) section of the GameINI.

Anisotropic Filtering
Values starting from 0 represent the drop down order in the list that dolphin uses.
 * will set it to the top of the list value of 1x equivalent of disabling it. 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x would need,  ,  ,   to be used respectively.

Force Texture Filtering

 * or  to enable and disable "Force Texture Filtering" respectively.

Post-processing Effects
This option will only work with the OpenGL and Vulkan backend on versions before. Use the names listed in the drop down menu of the option, below we use sepia as an example.
 * , also you can put the name of your preferred shader here.

Force 24-Bit Color

 * or  to enable and disable "Force 24-Bit Color" respectively.

Disable Copy Filter

 * or  to enable and disable "Disable Copy Filter" respectively.

Arbitrary Mipmap Detection

 * or  to enable and disable "Arbitrary Mipmap Detection" respectively.

[Video_Hacks]
The following entries go under [Video_Hacks] (or [Graphics.Hacks]) section of the GameINI.

EFB Copies

 * or  to enable "EFB to Texture" and "EFB to Ram" respectively.

Scaled EFB Copy

 * or  to enable and disable "Scaled EFB Copy" respectively.

Skip EFB Access From CPU

 * or  to disable and enable "Skip EFB Access From CPU" respectively. Beware that it has the opposite behavior of the GUI option!

Ignore Format Changes

 * or  to disable and enable "Ignore Format Changes" respectively. Beware that it has the opposite behavior of the GUI option!

Bounding Box

 * or  to enable and disable "Bounding Box" calculation respectively.

Vertex Rounding

 * or  to enable and disable "Vertex Rounding" respectively.

XFB copies

 * or  to enable "XFB to Texture" and "XFB to Ram" respectively.

Immediate XFB

 * or  to enable and disable "Immediate XFB" respectively.

Skip Presenting Duplicate Frames

 * or  to enable and disable "Skip Presenting Duplicate Frames" respectively.

Defer EFB copies to RAM

 * or  to enable and disable "Defer EFB Copies to RAM" respectively.

Defer EFB Cache Invalidation

 * or  to enable and disable "Defer EFB Cache Invalidation" respectively.

Manual Texture Sampling

 * or  to disable and enable "Manual Texture Sampling" respectively. Beware that it has the opposite behavior of the GUI option!

[Video_Hardware]
The following entries go under [Video_Hardware] (or [Graphics.Hardware]) section of the GameINI.

V-Sync

 * or  to enable and disable "V-Sync" respectively.

[Video_Stereoscopy]
The following entries go under [Video_Stereoscopy] (or [Graphics.Stereoscopy] although that is currently bugged, see here) section of the GameINI.

Stereoscopic 3D Offset Settings

 * Percentage to multiply with the depth value of StereoDepth in.
 * Base convergence value to be multiplied with the percentage value of StereoConvergencePercentage in.
 * or  to enable and disable "Monoscopic Shadows" respectively.

Stereoscopic 3D Mode
Values starting from 0 represent the drop down order in the list that dolphin uses.

Stereoscopic 3D Settings

 * Separation distance between the virtual cameras.
 * Distance of the convergence plane.
 * or  to enable and disable "Swap Eyes" respectively.

[DSP]
The following entries go under [DSP] (or [Dolphin.DSP]) section of the GameINI.

Audio Backend

 * This option was removed in and later for many reasons, Dolphin will try to use Cubeb instead.
 * This option was removed in and later for many reasons, Dolphin will try to use Cubeb instead.
 * This option was removed in and later for many reasons, Dolphin will try to use Cubeb instead.
 * This option was removed in and later for many reasons, Dolphin will try to use Cubeb instead.
 * This option was removed in and later for many reasons, Dolphin will try to use Cubeb instead.
 * This option was removed in and later for many reasons, Dolphin will try to use Cubeb instead.
 * This option was removed in and later for many reasons, Dolphin will try to use Cubeb instead.
 * This option was removed in and later for many reasons, Dolphin will try to use Cubeb instead.

DSP Emulator Engine

 * or  for "LLE recompiler" and "LLE interpreter" respectively. This is when  is disabled.

Volume

 * , values starting from 0 up to 100 max are valid.

Wii System Language
Implemented in and later.
 * for English

Choose a number for the language you want from the list below: 0 = Japanese 1 = English 2 = German 3 = French 4 = Spanish 5 = Italian 6 = Dutch 7 = Simplified Chinese 8 = Traditional Chinese 9 = Korean