Server Tick Rates for Popular Games Compared

Client update rates refer to how often you see the game updating on the platform you’re playing on. Server tick rates refer to how many times the server is updated with information from your client.

In games like Call of Duty and Apex Legends, you’ll often shoot or throw equipment just as you’re eliminated and you’ll see that it didn’t register in-game even though you saw it on your screen. This is because the game’s server tick rate updates more slowly than your client updates.

Valorant, with 128-tick servers, rarely suffers from this issue. However, like many FPS games, it still suffers from peeker’s advantage.

Peeker’s advantage is an issue that plagues FPS games and is a result of server tick rate limitations, ping and more, with this collection of things being referred to as ‘netcode’.

“Netcode is a term most commonly used by gamers when discussing synchronization issues between clients and servers.” – Wikipedia.

When you peek in a game, or swing around a corner, you can see an opponent holding an angle. If that opponent is stationary, the game server already knows their exact location. However, because you’re moving, there is a tiny amount of time where your movement has to be sent to the server and then the server has to relay that information to the person holding the angle. This is where peeker’s advantage comes into play – you literally see them before they see you.

A sub-tick server rate, as used in Counter-Strike 2, is an attempt by Valve to move beyond tick rate. Now, servers “can track every player’s precise actions between ticks” to determine the exact moment you fired, jumped or peeked.

A variable server rate, used in titles like FIFA 23 and Escape From Tarkov, means that the server tick rate varies depending on how much load the server is under. Or, more simply, how many players are online.