What Is Tick Rate in Online Games

By Ambar Jimenez | 2025-12-22 18:25:20

In the split-second world of an online firefight, you land what seems like a perfect headshot, only to watch your opponent turn and kill you a fraction of a second later. The killcam tells a different story, showing you never fired at all. This frustration often has a hidden culprit: Tick Rate, the silent, metronomic pulse that governs the precision of every online match. While ping gets most of the attention, tick rate is the equally critical factor that determines how faithfully your actions are sampled and transmitted by the game server.Tick rate, measured in Hertz (Hz), is the frequency at which a game server updates its simulation of the match and processes inputs from all players. A 64-tick server updates 64 times per second; a 128-tick server updates 128 times per second. This fundamental rhythm affects everything from the accuracy of your shots to the smoothness of movement and the fairness of close-quarter duels. Whether you're playing a tactical shooter on PC, a battle royale on PlayStation, or a competitive fighter on Xbox, understanding tick rate is key to demystifying online gameplay and optimizing your experience. This guide will explain what tick rate is, how it works, and why the difference between 64 and 128 can feel like playing two different games.

What Is Tick Rate? The Core Definition

Tick Rate is the number of times per second a game server computes a new snapshot of the game world. During each "tick," the server:

Receives and processes all player inputs (movement, shooting, abilities) that have arrived since the last tick.

Runs the game's physics and logic simulation based on those inputs.

Determines the outcomes of all actions (e.g., hit registration, damage calculation).

Sends a bundled update packet back to all players, informing their clients of the new official game state.

Think of it like a flipbook: a higher tick rate means more pages (frames of the simulation) per second, creating a smoother, more accurate representation of motion and timing.

Why Tick Rate Matters: The Impact on Gameplay

The tick rate is the server's resolution of time. A higher tick rate creates a finer-grained, more precise simulation.

Higher Tick Rate (e.g., 128 Hz) Pros:

More Accurate Hit Registration: Shots are sampled more frequently, meaning the server checks for bullet impacts closer to the exact moment you fired. This reduces instances of "I shot first!" frustration.
Smoother, More Precise Movement: Player position updates are sent to your client more often, making other players' movement appear less jerky or teleporty.
Reduced "Peeker's Advantage": The time gap between when a player peeks a corner (on their screen) and when you see them peek (on your screen) is slightly smaller.
Finer Control for "One-Frame" Techniques: In games like Counter-Strike, actions with very tight timing windows (like "bunny hopping" or certain grenade throws) become more consistent and reliable.

Lower Tick Rate (e.g., 30 Hz, 64 Hz) Pros:

Lower Server Cost & Bandwidth: This is the primary reason it exists. Fewer updates per second means less computational load on the server and less data transmitted to players, allowing developers to host more matches simultaneously (crucial for free-to-play games with millions of players).
More Forgiving for Lower-End Hardware & Connections: Players with slower PCs or higher latency may experience fewer performance hiccups.

The Tick Rate Pipeline: From Your Click to the Server

To see why it matters, let's trace an action:

Frame 0 (Your Screen): You click to shoot at an enemy. Your client sends a "shot fired" message to the server.

The Server's Next Tick: The server is running at 64 Hz, meaning it processes events every 15.6 milliseconds (1000ms / 64). Your shot message must wait for the beginning of the next tick cycle to be processed.

The "Tick Delay" Problem: On average, your input will arrive halfway between ticks, causing a delay of ~7.8ms before it's even processed. This is the tick delay.

Processing & Broadcasting: On its tick, the server processes your shot, calculates hit registration, and sends the results back to all players in the next update packet.

At 128 Hz, ticks occur every 7.8ms, cutting the average tick delay in half to ~3.9ms. Your actions are sampled and reflected in the game world nearly twice as fast.

Tick Rate vs. Related Concepts: Don't Get Confused

Tick Rate vs. FPS (Frames Per Second): Your FPS is how many frames your client's GPU renders locally. Tick Rate is how many updates the server calculates. They are independent. You can have 300 FPS on a 64-tick server.
Tick Rate vs. Ping/Latency: Ping is the round-trip travel time for data between you and the server. Tick Rate is the processing frequency of the server once the data arrives. High ping means late data; low tick rate means infrequent processing.
Tick Rate vs. Refresh Rate (Hz): Your monitor's refresh rate is how many times per second it can display a new image. A high refresh rate (144Hz, 240Hz) lets you see the results of server updates more smoothly, but doesn't change how often those updates are generated.

Industry Standards: What Games Use What Tick Rate?

64-Tick (The Common Standard):
- Official *Counter-Strike 2* Matchmaking
- Call of Duty series
- Apex Legends
- Overwatch 2
- Battlefield series
- Reason: The balance of cost, scale, and acceptable performance for the vast majority of players.
128-Tick (The Competitive Standard):
- Valorant (128-tick for all matches)
- FACEIT / ESEA CS2 PUGs (Third-party competitive services)
- Riot Games' League of Legends (Though an MOBA, it uses a high simulation rate)
- Reason: Prioritizes competitive integrity and precise mechanics for dedicated players. Requires more expensive infrastructure.
20-30 Tick (The Large-Scale Compromise):
- Battle Royales like Fortnite and Warzone (especially in early game with 100+ players).
- MMOs with massive player counts.
- Reason: Server CPU must simulate an enormous number of players and a vast world. A lower tick rate is a necessary trade-off for scale.

What Is Tick Rate in Online Games - Guide 2

**The "Sub-Tick" Innovation: Counter-Strike 2's Answer**

Valve's CS2 introduced a paradigm shift with its "sub-tick" architecture. The goal: deliver 128-tick precision without the full server cost.

How it (conceptually) works: Instead of only sampling inputs at fixed 64-tick intervals, the server records the exact sub-millisecond timestamp of every player action (movement start, shot fired). When processing atick, it uses these precise timestamps to rewind and simulate the worldmore accurately for that specific action.
The Result: Movements and shots can feel more responsive and accurate thantraditional 64-tick, aiming to bridge the gap toward 128-tick feel. It's a clever engineering solution, though its implementation has beendebated by the competitive community.

How Tick Rate Affects You: A Player's Guide

For the Competitive / Esports Aspirant:

You will feel the difference between 64 and 128 tick. Your shots will feel more reliable, movement crisper. If you're serious, seek out 128-tick platforms (like FACEIT for CS2) or play games built on it (Valorant).
Your hardware should match: A high-refresh-rate monitor (240Hz+) and a stable high-FPS system letyou fully perceive the benefits of a high-tick-rate server.

For the Casual / General Player:

You may not consciously notice it, but a low tick rate contributes togeneral feelings of "unfairness" or "clunkiness" in online play.
Your priority should be minimizing ping and packet loss first. A stable 20ms connection on a 64-tick server will feel better than a 80ms connection with jitter on a 128-tick server.

How to Find a Game's Tick Rate:

It's rarely displayed in-game. Check the developer's technical blogs, patch notes, or community resources. For CS2, the command cl_updaterate in the console can give clues, but is often locked by official servers.

The Future of Tick Rate

The trend is toward dynamic or adaptive tick rates, where the server intelligently adjusts its update frequency based onthe in-game situation (e.g., lower in the pre-game lobby, higher during a critical 1v1 fight). The ultimate goal is server cost efficiency without sacrificing peak competitive performance.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Can I increase a game's tick rate on my end?
A: No. Tick rate is a server-side setting. You cannot change it as a client. Any console command that claims to do so (like cl_updaterate or rate) only controls how your client requests data, but it cannot make the server send updates more frequently than its configured tick rate.

Q: Does a higher tick rate require a better internet connection?
A: Yes, slightly. 128-tick servers send roughly twice the data per second as 64-tickservers. You need a stable connection with enough upload/downloadbandwidth (typically >10 Mbps) and, more importantly, very low packet loss. High packet loss on a 128-tick server is more damaging than on 64-tick.

Q: Why don't all games just use 128-tick?
A: Cost and scale. Doubling the tick rate essentially doubles the CPU load on the server.For a free-to-play game with hundreds of thousands of concurrent matches globally, that means a massive increase in infrastructure costs. Developers make a calculated trade-off.

Q: Is a higher tick rate always better?
A: For gameplay precision, yes. But there are diminishing returns. The jump from 64 to 128 Hz is verynoticeable. The jump from 128 to 256 Hz would be far less perceptible to most humans, while being exponentially more costly.

Q: How does tick rate interact with "peeker's advantage"?
A: A higher tick rate reduces the inherent peeker's advantage. With more frequent updates, thedefender receives information about the peeker's position more quickly,narrowing the time window where the peeker acts with information thedefender doesn't have. It doesn't eliminate it (ping is a biggerfactor), but it helps.

Tick rate is the unseen metronome of competitive integrity. It quantifiesthe difference between a game that feels responsive and fair, and onethat feels just a step out of sync. By understanding it, you can makeinformed choices about which platforms to play on and better diagnosethe root causes of your online frustrations.

Can you feel the difference between 64 and 128 tick? Do you seek out high-tick-rate environments, or do you think itsimportance is overblown for the average player? Share your experiencesand opinions in the comments below. If you're curious about the tickrate of a specific game, ask and our community will help find theanswer. For more deep dives into the technology behind online play,explore our guides on Hit Registration, Netcode, and Reducing Ping. Now, get in the game—and may your ticks be high and your ping low.

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