Steam store opens but downloads crawl: the download stream is probably on the proxy. Store and community may need the proxy; downloads and updates usually want DIRECT. Do one A/B test—run a download on DIRECT and on the proxy—before you write a single rule.
Prefer a few local rules over flipping Global just for Steam. On current builds the entry point is right-click the profile you use, choose Edit Rules, and put the Steam DIRECT lines in the prepend area so they land ahead of the provider ruleset. Writing prepend-rules into Merge config stopped working in v1.7.x; the rename and migration are covered in Merge custom rules. General approach: DIRECT rules.
Windows: send the process DIRECT
Send steam.exe and steamwebhelper.exe (plus any peer app you actually run) to DIRECT. Confirm on the Connections page that the download traffic left the proxy group. Domain DIRECT works when you know the content hosts; process DIRECT is simpler but process names differ on Steam Deck/Linux.
Profile → Edit Rules → Prepend area:
- PROCESS-NAME,steam.exe,DIRECT
- PROCESS-NAME,steamwebhelper.exe,DIRECT
- DOMAIN-SUFFIX,steampowered.com,DIRECT
- DOMAIN-SUFFIX,steamcontent.com,DIRECT
Save, re-run a download, and watch the Connections list: the steam processes should now read DIRECT, not your outbound group.
Tun, launchers, and multiplayer
Tun can raise game RTT by tunneling too much—compare with Tun off (Tun). Friend/lobby timeouts are a separate UDP/node issue from download DIRECT. Epic and Battle.net follow the same pattern: one launcher at a time, one rule set at a time.
| Traffic | Typically wants | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Store / community / login | Proxy (if geo-blocked) | Needs the right region or auth path |
| Game downloads / updates | DIRECT | Big bulk, no geo need, proxy is a hairpin |
| Lobby / voice / multiplayer | Stable UDP node | Latency-sensitive, not bulk |
Store breaks after DIRECT, or still slow
If login fails after you DIRECT the downloads, proxy the store domains again, or enable system proxy briefly just for login. Still slow on DIRECT: home bandwidth, an HDD library, or peak hours. Pause url-test storms during big downloads so auto-select isn’t saturating the line (latency).
Safety and rollback
No “Steam crack accelerators.” Use the download center. You’re done when downloads show DIRECT, gameplay RTT is acceptable, and store login still works when needed. Rollback is trivial: delete the lines you added to the prepend area.