Understanding Game Server Tick Rates

You often hear competitive players argue about "tick rates." But what exactly is a tick rate, and why does it impact your gameplay experience so heavily?

The Definition of a Tick

A "tick" is a single cycle of the server's game loop. During a tick, the server reads player inputs, calculates physics (like bullet trajectories and player movement), applies game rules, and broadcasts the updated state back to the players. The tick rate is how many times this loop happens per second (Hz).

64-Tick vs 128-Tick

In older Source engine games like CS:GO, a 64-tick server updated every 15.6 milliseconds, while a 128-tick server updated every 7.8 milliseconds.

• Higher tick rates mean smoother, more accurate hit registration. If you shoot an enemy moving quickly, a higher tick rate ensures the server registers their position exactly when you pulled the trigger.
• Physics differences. In CS:GO, jump-throw smoke grenades landed differently on 64-tick vs 128-tick servers due to rounding differences in physics calculations.

The CS2 Sub-Tick System

Counter-Strike 2 revolutionized this with the "Sub-Tick" architecture. Instead of waiting for the next tick to process an action, the server records the exact microsecond an input occurred between ticks. It then retroactively calculates the physics based on that precise timestamp.

While the base server still runs at 64 ticks, the sub-tick system provides the precision of a 128-tick server, making hit registration feel incredibly crisp across all official and community GameSphere servers.