To hear footsteps and gunfire clearly in Soldier of Fortune II, turn the music off (s_musicvolume 0), raise the sound quality to s_khz 44, and play with headphones. If the sound crackles, stutters or is missing, lower s_khz to 22, raise s_mixahead slightly, and check that Windows is sending sound to the right device before you start the game.
The sound settings
| CVAR | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
s_volume | Master sound effects volume. Range 0.0 (silent) to 1.0 (full). | 0.8 | 0.8 |
s_musicvolume | Volume level for background music. Range 0.0 (silent) to 1.0 (full). | 0.5 | 0 |
s_khz | Audio sample rate in kilohertz. | 22 | 22 |
s_separation | Stereo channel separation for positional audio. Range 0.0 to 1.0. | 0.5 | — |
s_doppler | Enables the Doppler effect for moving sound sources. | 1 | — |
s_mixahead | Audio mix-ahead time in seconds. Controls how far ahead audio is mixed. | 0.2 | — |
Change them in the console with ~. A change to s_khz needs the sound system to restart: type /snd_restart, or restart the game.
Hear enemies before you see them
- Turn the music off:
/s_musicvolume 0. Music hides footsteps, reloads and grenade bounces. - Raise the quality:
/s_khz 44, then/snd_restart. Higher sample rates sound crisper and make high-pitched sounds easier to place. - Use headphones. Stereo separation (
s_separation) tells you which side a sound is on. On speakers, much of that is lost. - Turn off Windows’ extra effects. In Windows sound settings, open your playback device, turn off “Spatial sound” and audio enhancements, and set the format to 16-bit, 44100 or 48000 Hz.
- Consider turning off Doppler:
/s_doppler 0. It changes the pitch of fast-moving sounds, which some players find makes them harder to recognise.
Game sound options
| CVAR | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
cg_soundFrag | Plays a sound effect when you get a frag (kill). | 1 | — |
cg_soundGlobal | Enables global game sound event notifications (kill confirmations, etc.). | 1 | — |
cg_voiceRadio | Enables receiving radio voice commands from teammates. | 1 | — |
cg_voiceGlobal | Enables receiving global voice chat from all players. | 1 | — |
The kill sound (cg_soundFrag) confirms a kill without you looking at the screen. If radio messages get in the way in a busy public game, cg_voiceRadio 0 mutes them. See chat and radio commands.
Fixing sound problems
Crackling or stuttering sound
- Lower the sample rate:
/s_khz 22and/snd_restart. - Give the mixer a little more time:
/s_mixahead 0.25. Higher values are smoother but delay sound slightly, so don’t go above about 0.3. - Close programs that use audio heavily in the background.
Missing sounds in big fights
Raise the memory for sounds: /seta s_soundpoolmegs 50, then restart the game.
No sound at all
SoF2 uses the Windows default playback device when it starts. Set the right device as default in Windows sound settings, plug in your headset, then start the game. Plugging headphones in after the game has started often leaves it playing to the old device. More fixes are in SoF2 on Windows 10 and 11.
Balancing volume
s_volume is the master volume for game sounds, from 0 to 1. The default 0.8 leaves a little headroom. If explosions are uncomfortably loud with headphones, lower it to 0.5 or 0.6 and turn up your headset instead, so quiet sounds stay audible without loud ones hurting.
Save it in your config
// Sound
seta s_volume "0.8"
seta s_musicvolume "0"
seta s_khz "44"
seta s_separation "0.5"
seta s_doppler "0"
seta cg_soundFrag "1"Add it to autoexec.cfg in your base folder. Your other settings are in best SoF2 settings.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn off the music in SoF2?
Type /s_musicvolume 0 in the console, or lower the music volume in the game’s sound options.
What s_khz should I use in SoF2?
44 for the best quality. If you hear crackling, use 22. After changing it, type /snd_restart.
Why does SoF2 have no sound?
The game was probably started before your headset or speakers were set as the Windows default playback device. Set the right device as default, then restart the game.
How can I hear footsteps better in SoF2?
Turn the music off, use headphones, set s_khz 44, and turn off Windows’ spatial sound and audio enhancements.