Requirements
What a Punktfunk host needs — system, desktop, GPU and network.
Check your host against this list before you install. What each combination can do, feature by feature, is in the Support matrix.
The floor for a working host
| System | Floor |
|---|---|
| Ubuntu | 26.04 or newer |
| Debian | 13 or newer, including LMDE 7 |
| Fedora | 43 or 44 |
| Arch, CachyOS | current |
| Bazzite, Fedora Atomic | current Bazzite; Fedora Atomic 43 or newer |
| SteamOS | SteamOS 3 |
| NixOS | 24.11 or newer, x86_64-linux |
| Windows | Windows 11 22H2 (build 22621) or newer, x64. Windows 10 isn't supported |
On Linux the desktop sets the floor, not the package. Ubuntu 24.04 installs punktfunk-host
but can't stream: its KWin 5.27 and GNOME 46 are below the desktop floors, and there is
no gamescope for it. Debian 12 is below the package's glibc (2.39).
Cinnamon, Linux Mint and LMDE
Cinnamon can't stream its desktop. Its compositor, Muffin, can't create a virtual display, and no setting changes that. A Cinnamon box can still stream games through a headless gamescope, or you log into a GNOME or Sway session instead.
| Edition | Base | Can it host? |
|---|---|---|
| LMDE 7 | Debian 13 | ✅ Games through gamescope (Debian) |
| Linux Mint 22.x | Ubuntu 24.04 | ❌ No gamescope, and its KWin and GNOME are below the floors |
| Linux Mint 23 | Ubuntu 26.04 | ✅ Games through gamescope |
Desktop
The host needs a Wayland session: a desktop you log into, a
headless session, or none at all with gamescope, which the host
starts per client. On a box that boots to no session, set PUNKTFUNK_COMPOSITOR=gamescope in
host.env.
| Desktop | Floor |
|---|---|
| KDE Plasma | Plasma 6. Above 60 Hz needs KWin 6.6; the headless session needs KWin 6.5.6 |
| GNOME | GNOME 48 |
| Sway, scroll | sway 1.8 |
| Hyprland | Any version, with xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland installed |
| niri | The biri fork, built 2026-09-04 or later; stock niri can't host |
| Omarchy | Omarchy 4.0 |
| gamescope | 3.16.22; 3.16.23 for the Steam overlay; HDR needs punktfunk-gamescope |
| Cinnamon | Can't host (above) |
On Hyprland with ecosystem.enforce_permissions turned on, grant the host screencopy and virtual
input: a denial shows as black frames and dropped input, not as an error.
GPU and driver
| GPU | Encoder | You need |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | NVENC | Driver 535 or newer with its GL/EGL userspace, and nvidia-drm modeset=1 |
| AMD, Intel | Vulkan Video (HEVC, AV1), VAAPI (H.264 and fallback) | Current Mesa with its Vulkan driver (26.2 or newer for Vulkan Video on Intel), and the VAAPI driver |
| None | Software H.264 | PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER=software, a fallback rather than a daily driver |
Your distro's install page installs the right driver packages. On Intel Gen12 (Tiger Lake) and
newer, including Arc, encoding needs the HuC firmware loaded: check dmesg | grep -i huc if encoding
fails. GeForce cards cap how many NVENC sessions run at once, which matters only when many devices
stream together.
HDR on Linux needs gamescope with punktfunk-gamescope, or GNOME 50 mirroring a real HDR monitor:
HDR.
Network
Put the host and client on the same network: your LAN, or a VPN that joins them. Wired or fast Wi-Fi works best. Don't port-forward the host; to let someone in from outside, see Friends over the internet. Ports: Ports & firewall.
A client
Something to stream to: Install a Client.