In a method, device and magnetic resonance apparatus for determining basic shim settings for shim elements of a magnetic resonance scanner of the apparatus, an optimization function is established in a processor, which includes multiple optimization parameters, including a first optimization parameter that designates a homogeneity value of a spatial distribution of the basic magnetic field in the scanner, and a second optimization parameter that designates a value of a force acting on the shim elements. The processor is configured to calculate the spatial distribution of the shim elements by minimizing the optimization function, dependent on the first and second parameters. Shim settings for the scanner are determined using the calculated spatial distribution of the shim elements.