The client's tickrate changes to match what is set on the server. This is why it's important that you change your client settings to match the server's settings. If your client settings are not set to match the server's settings, then you wont see the benefits of higher tickrates. See the section below on "What Should My Client Settings Be" to change your client settings to what they should be.

If you join a 100 tickrate server and your own game's client settings aren't set correctly, then you wont get the benefit of the additional tickrate.

The clients rate should = the servers sv_maxrate

The clients cl_updaterate should = the servers sv_maxupdaterate which equals the servers tickrate.

Thus a server with sv_maxrate 30000 tickrate 100 sv_maxupdaterate 100 the clients should run the following settings:
•rate 30000
•cl_updaterate 100
•cl_cmdrate 100
•cl_interpolate 1
•cl_interp 0.1
•cl_smooth 0

These settings will provide the best client experience for the example server's variables and tickrate settings.

If the server you are joining has different values than the ones above, you'll need to change accordingly. The above information is only an example and may not be the optimum settings for every server.

IN is what is being received by you the client, FROM the server.



The amount of IN Updates received by the client per second (controlled by cl_updaterate) will in most cases equal the servers tickrate, but will NEVER exceed:


•The Clients cl_updaterate
•The Servers sv_maxupdaterate
•The Server/Clients tickrate which are always the same, as the client will always use the same tickrate as the server it connects to

Which ever is the smallest of those 3 numbers will determine the number you see for Updates per second RECEIVED by the client.


OUT is what is being sent by you the client, TO the server.


The amount of OUT Updates sent by your computer per second (controlled by cl_cmdrate) will NEVER exceed:


•The Clients cl_cmdrate
•The Server/Clients Tickrate
•The Clients Frames Per Second

Which ever is the smallest of those 3 numbers will determine the number you see for Updates per second SENT by the client.

The IN & OUT both have 3 components, starting from left to right:

3. The size of the game packet in bytes being sent and received.

4. The Average amount of KiloBytes Per Second being Sent or Received of GameData + UDP Segment + IP Packet overhead.

If you multiply 3. by 5. and then divide by 1000 you will get a close approximation of this value.

5. The Average amount of Updates being Sent or Received per Second (Not the tickrate).

4. and 5. shown in net_graph 3, are only averages. There values are not completely accurate and sometimes reflect impossible values.