CS2 Tickrate and Performance

What is tickrate?

The tickrate determines how often the server calculates the game state per second.

Tickrate Updates/s Use
64 tick 64 Standard (matchmaking)
128 tick 128 Competitive (FaceIT)

The CS2 sub-tick system

CS2 uses a new sub-tick system:

  • Actions are sent to the server with an exact timestamp
  • The server calculates the tick and interpolates the position
  • In theory, tickrate should matter less

Network optimization

rate 786432
cl_interp 0
cl_interp_ratio 1
cl_cmdrate 128
cl_updaterate 128

Measuring server performance

sv_showfps 1          # Show FPS
net_graph 1           # Network statistics
stats                 # Server performance

Performance tips for server admins

  1. CPU priority: CS2 servers are CPU-bound, not RAM-bound
  2. Player count: 5v5 = optimal; 10v10 needs more CPU
  3. Workshop maps: Can require more resources than standard maps
  4. Limit plugins: Every plugin costs performance
  5. Server region: Choose a location near your players (DE = Frankfurt/Nuremberg)

Anti-cheat (VAC)

VAC is active by default on CS2 servers. For tournaments we additionally recommend:

  • A workshop map with an anti-cheat plugin
  • Enabling GOTV for replay recording