Midjourney Settings Explained: Every Option in V8

On midjourney.com the settings panel sits behind the settings button in the Imagine bar. It is easy to ignore, but it quietly decides how every image you make will look, how much GPU time it costs and who can see it. Midjourney also syncs these settings with Discord, so a change on the website applies there too. This guide walks through each group of options as they appear for the current default model, V8.2, and gives sensible starting values for the most common kinds of work.

How settings and parameters relate

Almost every option in the panel has a parameter twin. The panel sets your default; a parameter at the end of a prompt overrides it for that prompt only. If your default stylize is 100 and you type --s 50, that prompt runs at 50 and the next one goes back to 100.

Two habits follow from this:

• Set defaults for the work you do most. If most of your images are product shots, make Raw and a low stylize your default rather than typing them every time.
• Write the exceptions into the prompt. A one-off portrait at a different ratio is better handled with --ar 4:5 than by changing the panel and forgetting to change it back.

When you copy a prompt from your gallery, the parameters that were in force are part of the record, so a prompt you saved can be rerun even after your defaults have changed. Our parameters reference covers each one in detail.

Model: version, HD and Raw

Version

Midjourney's documentation lists V8.2 as the current default version, released as the default on 24 July 2026. V8.2 focuses on aesthetics, image quality and personalisation, and it introduced the Edit model, which replaces Omni Reference, Character Reference and the older Retexture tool. V7 and V6.1 are still selectable, and some features only exist on older versions, for example Omni Reference in V7 and multi-prompts with :: in V6.1 and earlier. Pick a version per project and keep it: the same prompt and style code can look quite different from one version to the next.

SD and HD images

From V8.1, Midjourney can generate HD images at around 2048 pixels on the long side directly, instead of generating at 1024 pixels and upscaling. HD is switched on in the Version section of the settings or with --hd; --sd forces standard resolution. Midjourney's GPU table lists an SD prompt at about 0.8 minutes of GPU time and an HD prompt at about 1.3 minutes. A practical rule: explore in SD, then rerun the keepers in HD. Note that HD images cannot currently be upscaled further, and using Pan, Zoom Out or Vary Region on an HD image returns an SD result.

Raw

Raw turns off the automatic styling Midjourney adds to short prompts. In the current versions it is the --raw parameter or the Raw option in the Model section of the panel. With simple prompts Raw tends to give more photographic, literal images; with detailed style prompts it lets your words carry the look. Turn it on by default for product, architecture and documentary-style photography.

Aesthetics: stylize, variety and weirdness

These three sliders shape the look of every grid.

• Stylize (--s, 0 to 1000, default 100) sets how much artistic freedom Midjourney takes. Low values follow the prompt closely; high values look more designed but drift from your words. When personalisation is on, stylize also controls how strongly your profile is applied.
• Variety is the website name for chaos (--c, 0 to 100, default 0). It makes the images in one grid differ more from each other. Use it to explore, not to finish.
• Weirdness (--w, 0 to 3000, default 0) pushes towards unusual, experimental images. Midjourney notes it is experimental and not fully compatible with seeds.

The quality parameter that older guides recommend does not apply to V8.x: Midjourney's compatibility chart lists --q for V6 and V7 only.

Speed, visibility and personalisation

GPU speed

Fast mode uses the monthly Fast time included in your plan. Relax mode is unlimited on Standard, Pro and Mega plans but queues your jobs, with waits Midjourney describes as up to around 30 minutes. Turbo is up to four times faster than Fast and uses double the Fast time, but it is not currently supported in V8.1. The parameters --fast, --relax and --turbo override the default per prompt. Draft and long batches are a good use of Relax; client deadlines are what Fast is for.

Stealth and public

Stealth mode keeps new creations off the public website and is available on Pro and Mega plans. It does not hide images made in public Discord channels, and switching it on does not make existing public images private: you change those from the Organize page. --stealth and --public override the default per prompt.

Personalisation

The Personalization button next to the Imagine bar applies your default profiles to every prompt. You unlock your Global profile by picking images you like on the Personalize page; Midjourney notes that your Global V7 profile also works in V8.1 and V8.2. Turn it off for client work where your own taste should not leak into the brand's look, or use a specific profile with --p and its ID.

Settings at a glance

Best settings for realistic images

There is no secret preset, but a small set of choices does most of the work for photographic results:

1. Turn on Raw and drop stylize to somewhere between 0 and 100.
2. Keep variety at 0 once you know what you want.
3. Turn personalisation off, or use a profile trained on photographs.
4. Describe the photograph, not the subject alone: lens, light, film or sensor, time of day. Our lighting prompts and lens and depth of field guides have the vocabulary.
5. Generate in SD, choose, then rerun the winner in HD.

Try it

overcast morning on a small fishing harbour, wet stone quay, coiled ropes and a blue wooden boat, 35mm documentary photograph, soft diffused light, muted colour --ar 3:2 --raw --s 50

Run it once as written, then again with --s 400 and without --raw. Comparing the two grids side by side is the quickest way to see what your default settings are doing to every prompt you write.