An artificial reality system is described that implements adaptive degrees-of-freedom (DOF) selection when tracking frames of reference and rendering artificial reality content. In one example, the artificial reality system comprises a head mounted display (HMD) that outputs rendered artificial reality content. A performance monitor determines one or more performance indicators associated with the artificial reality system. A degree-of-freedom (DOF) selector applies one or more policies to the performance indicators to select between a first mode in which a pose tracker computes one or more poses of the HMD within the 3D environment using 6DOF and a second mode in which the pose tracker computes the one or more poses using 3DOF. The pose tracker computes the one or more poses for the HMD within the 3D environment in accordance with the selected mode. A rendering engine renders the content for the artificial reality application based on the computed pose.