Game Compatibility
| Graphics API | Non-VR | OpenXR | Legacy Oculus API (OVR) | Legacy SteamVR API (OpenVR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenGL | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Direct3D 11 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Direct3D 12 | ❌ | 🧪 | ☠️ | ✅ |
| Vulkan | ❌ | 🧪 | ❌ | ✅ |
🧪: support is experimental; problems (including crashes) should be expected ☠️: support is being removed due to no known usage
OpenXR + Vulkan: the game must use XR_KHR_vulkan_enable2 and the xrCreateVulkanInstanceKHR() + xrCreateVulkanDeviceKHR() functions.
Legacy Oculus API (OVR):
- where possible, OpenXR is strongly recommended instead
- only Link, Air Link, or Virtual Desktop are supported
Legacy SteamVR API (OpenVR): where possible, OpenXR is strongly recommended instead
32-bit games:
- in v1.8 and below, only OpenVR is supported for 32-bit games
- in v1.9 and above, 32-bit OpenXR games will also be supported.
Common Games
| Game | Non-VR | Native OpenXR | Legacy Oculus SDK (OVR) | Legacy SteamVR API (OpenVR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCS World | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Falcon BMS | ✅ | n/a | n/a | ✅ |
| iRacing | ❌ | ✅📝 | ❌ | ✅ |
| MSFS 2020 - D3D11 | ✅ | ✅ | n/a | ✅ |
| MSFS 2020 - D3D12 | ❌ | 🧪 | n/a | ✅ |
| MSFS 2024 | ❌ | 🧪 | n/a | ✅ |
| BeamNG.drive | untested | ❌ | n/a | ✅ |
| Elite Dangerous | ❌ | n/a | ❌ | ✅ |
BeamNG.drive
As of April 4th, 2024, BeamNG.drive in VR is incompatible except when using SteamVR, because BeamNG.drive does not use XR_KHR_vulkan_enable2 + xrCreateVulkanInstanceKHR() + xrCreateVulkanDeviceKHR().
iRacing
You may need to set DepthLayerExtensionEnabled=0 in your iRacing ini file - see known issues.
Support for other APIs is blocked by the anti-cheat software.
Elite Dangerous
- Support for other APIs is blocked by the anti-cheat software.
- The game does not natively support OpenXR.
- The game is reported to work with OpenKneeboard via OpenComposite, however see below.
OpenComposite
OpenKneeboard usually works with OpenComposite, however, no help is available when using OpenComposite with any game, and any issues reported will be closed/ignored.
For assistance when using OpenComposite, try the support channels for OpenComposite itself, or community resources for the game, such as the game’s Discord, subreddit, or forum.
Usually, problems are caused by OpenComposite not being installed or configured correctly.
Advice
- For VR: use OpenXR if natively supported by the game - otherwise use OpenVR (SteamVR). OpenXR will give you the best performance and reliability
- OpenVR is the least likely mode to have compatibility issues, followed shortly by OpenXR. Non-VR and Oculus have significantly higher chances of issues
- Setting WinTab to ‘invasive’ in input settings also raises the chance of issues
Anti-Cheat
While OpenKneeboard is not a cheat, it does hook into the games rendering and input pipelines, which over-eager anti-cheat systems may consider ban-worthy. While this is similar to how other overlays work (e.g. Steam and Discord), it is possible that using OpenKneeboard may lead to an anti-cheat ban.
As of February 8th, 2026, the developers have not received any reports of any users receiving any bans in any games, but this remains a theoretical possibility in the future.
IL2 have issued permanent forum bans for discussing this warning, but are not known to have issued any game bans for using OpenKneeboard.
Note that OpenKneeboard has NO WARRANTY; see the LICENSE file and full text of the GPLv2 for details.