Why this lesson matters
The campaign dumps a lot of junk on the ground. Without a loot filter you're either hovering every white and magic drop, or you're skipping past the pile and missing the currency, gem, or base that actually mattered. You want a filter on by Act 2 — this is a campaign basic, not something you set up after you've finished Foundations.
What a loot filter actually is
A loot filter is a .filter text file of Show/Hide rules the Path of Exile 2 client reads. It changes how items look on the ground (color, beam, sound, map icon) and which ones disappear entirely. You're not writing one from scratch. You're installing someone else's file and picking a strictness level — how aggressively it hides low-value clutter.
The file itself is official filter syntax, not a hack or a mod. Drop it in the game's filter folder, pick it in Options, done.
Picking a starting filter and strictness level
Don't shop a long list yet. Start with NeverSink's Filter for PoE2, 1-REGULAR. That's the default on the loot filter library — seven tiers from 0-SOFT through 6-UBER-PLUS-STRICT, updated before every league, and the one worth learning the strictness names on.
Do not pick Very Strict (4) or above while leveling, unless you're running twink gear. NeverSink's own guidance: those tiers hide too much of the campaign's useful bases and currency. Soft and Regular show more than you need later; that's the point while you're still learning what "good" looks like.
The library page also lists a few NeverSink-based alternatives (Cyberion, Pecham, Ment) if you already know why you want a different emphasis. Don't duplicate that shopping trip here — pick Regular, install it, come back to the library when you want to compare.
Installing it
Download the .filter file (or a zip of several strictness tiers) from the author's GitHub, forum thread, FilterBlade, or the official in-game Filter Ladder. PoE Source does not host the files — they update on their own cadence, and a copy here would go stale the moment upstream ships a patch.
Put the file in the game's filter folder — the same place the in-game folder button opens, not the onlinefilters subfolder:
- Windows: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Path of Exile 2
- Linux / Steam Deck (Proton): steamapps/compatdata/2694490/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Path of Exile 2
Then in-game: Escape → Options → Game → Item Filter, pick the file from the dropdown. If it doesn't appear, click the refresh control next to the dropdown (or restart once if you subscribed via the Filter Ladder).
You can swap filters live without restarting the client. Keep Regular, Semi-Strict, and Strict in the folder and switch as you progress.
GitHub copies do not auto-update. Re-download at least once a league (monthly is better) so you don't miss newly-tiered currency. The Filter Ladder subscription and FilterBlade's updater are the auto-update paths if you want that.
Adjusting strictness as you progress
Rough ladder, not a hard rule:
- Leveling / campaign — 1-REGULAR. You still need to see bases, flasks, and the currency you're learning.
- Early maps — 2-SEMI-STRICT. Packs get denser; hiding more whites and junk flasks is the point.
- Once you know your build's currency needs — 3-STRICT or above. If you're still picking up every Transmutation because you're not sure, you're not ready for Strict yet.
If the ground looks empty and you're worried you're hiding something valuable, step down a tier for a few zones rather than turning the filter off.
What to read next
The loot filter library is the live list — NeverSink plus the alternatives, with source links. When a stock filter isn't enough (hide this base, shout that currency), FilterBlade.xyz is the usual next step: customize NeverSink rather than writing Show/Hide rules by hand.
Sources: NeverSink's Filter for PoE2 — GitHub · FilterBlade.xyz · PoE Source — loot filter library