Retraction Settings Guide
Retraction pulls filament back into the nozzle during travel moves to stop oozing and stringing. The correct distance and speed depend on your extruder type, filament material, and nozzle temperature. Getting it wrong in either direction causes more problems than it solves.
Retraction by extruder type
| Extruder type | Distance | Speed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct drive (Bambu Lab, Prusa, Voron, Elegoo Neptune 4) | 0.5–1.5 mm | 30–45 mm/s | Shorter distance is better — over-retraction causes clogs. |
| Direct drive (Creality Sprite, Anycubic Kobra) | 1.0–2.0 mm | 25–40 mm/s | Heavier direct drives need slightly more retraction. |
| Bowden (long path, e.g. Ender 3 stock) | 4.0–7.0 mm | 40–60 mm/s | Large distance compensates for tube compliance. Use Capricorn PTFE for best results. |
| Bowden (short path, e.g. Ender 3 V3 SE) | 2.0–4.0 mm | 35–50 mm/s | Short Bowden sits between direct and long Bowden. |
Retraction by material
| Material | Recommended distance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PLA | 0.5–1.5 mm (DD) / 4–6 mm (Bowden) | PLA is easy — start at 1 mm DD, 5 mm Bowden. |
| PLA+ | 0.8–2.0 mm (DD) / 4–7 mm (Bowden) | Slightly more viscous than PLA; needs a bit more retraction. |
| PETG | 0.2–1.0 mm (DD) / 2–4 mm (Bowden) | PETG strings even with correct retraction. Keep it short and reduce temp. |
| ABS | 0.5–2.0 mm (DD) / 3–5 mm (Bowden) | ABS is fairly forgiving. Focus on temperature control first. |
| TPU/TPE | 0 mm (disable) | Never use retraction with flexible filaments — it causes tangles in the extruder. |
| Nylon | 0.5–1.5 mm (DD) / 3–5 mm (Bowden) | Dry filament first — moisture causes strings that retraction cannot fix. |
| PC | 0.5–1.5 mm (DD) / 3–5 mm (Bowden) | High temp; keep retraction conservative to avoid cold-zone jams. |
How to dial in retraction: step by step
- Dry your filament first. Moisture causes stringing that no amount of retraction tuning will fix. Run moist filament through a dryer for 4–8 hours before testing.
- Set a baseline temperature. Run at the material's recommended temperature. Retraction tuning at a suboptimal temperature gives misleading results.
- Print a retraction test. Download a retraction tower (e.g., Teaching Tech's) that changes retraction distance across the height. Print at 0.5 mm steps from 0 to 3 mm for direct drive, or 2 to 8 mm for Bowden.
- Find the minimum effective distance. Identify the lowest distance that eliminates stringing. That is your starting point — do not increase it further without need.
- Test retraction speed. With distance fixed, run a speed test from 20 to 50 mm/s. Faster speed reduces ooze; too fast grinds or skips on flexible filaments.
- Enable combing in your slicer. Combing routes travel moves inside the perimeter, so the nozzle never crosses open air. Combined with correct retraction, this eliminates most stringing without large distances.
Common retraction mistakes
- Too much retraction → clogs and under-extrusion
- Pulling the filament too far back moves the melt zone boundary into the cold zone, where filament can solidify and block the hotend. This is the most common mistake. Keep retraction as short as the minimum that stops stringing.
- Retraction with TPU/flexible → extruder jams
- Flexible filaments buckle and tangle in the extruder when retraction is applied. Disable retraction entirely for TPU and TPE. Use combing and slower travel speed instead.
- High retraction speed with abrasive filaments → grinding
- Carbon-fiber and glow-in-the-dark filaments are abrasive. High retraction speeds grind a groove into the filament. Reduce speed to 20–25 mm/s and use a hardened steel drive gear.
- Stringing persists after correct retraction
- Wet filament is the usual culprit. PETG and Nylon are especially hygroscopic — even a half-day of open air exposure can cause visible stringing. Dry and re-test.
Find retraction settings for your printer
The settings database includes retraction distance and speed from official slicer profiles for every listed printer: