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Game Mechanics / 4 min /

What is tick rate? Why some game servers feel sharper than others

Online games run on a server that does not watch the match like a film. It works in steps called ticks, and the *tick rate* is how many steps happen each second.

Slide the tick rate in the demo below and see how the server's picture of a moving player turns into jumps at low rates. Learn what a higher tick rate really changes, why ping and a stable connection often matter more, and what you can actually do about it as a player.

Moving player square above a row of stepped server snapshot outlines showing the gap between ticks

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