NETWORKING & PHYSICS
Tick Rate Calculator
Convert server tick rate to ms per tick, ticks per frame, and CPU budget.
FIXED TIMESTEP
Calculate tick timing
Tick rate guide
Multiplayer servers advance the world in fixed steps — ticks. The tick rate decides how responsive the game feels and how much CPU the server burns. This calculator converts between tick rate, milliseconds per tick, and frames-per-tick so you can reason about your network and physics budgets.
The numbers behind the tick
A 64 Hz tick rate means the server runs one simulation step every 15.6 ms (1000 ÷ 64). At 60 FPS the client renders about 1.07 frames per tick — so roughly every second frame, the server has moved on. Games like Counter-Strike run 64 or 128 ticks; fighting games and racing games run 60+; MMOs often run 10–30 ticks with client-side prediction.
Higher tick rates feel snappier but multiply CPU cost per second and network bandwidth. The budget question: how many entities can you simulate inside one tick window?
Fixed timestep vs frame rate
Physics and networking need a fixed timestep — the simulation must be deterministic and identical on server and client. The renderer can run at any frame rate; the accumulator pattern (from Gaffer On Games' "Fix Your Timestep") steps the sim the right number of times per frame and carries the remainder.
This tool shows you the relationship: ticks per frame and frames per tick tell you how many sim steps to run per render frame and how often interpolation needs a new server snapshot.
Tip: For twitch shooters, 128 Hz is the competitive standard; 64 Hz is the mainstream default. Below 30 Hz, players feel lag even with good prediction — reserve it for strategy games where input latency matters less.
Frequently asked questions
What tick rate should my server use?
Twitch games: 60–128 Hz. Action RPGs: 30–60 Hz. Strategy/MMO: 10–30 Hz with prediction. Start at 30 Hz and raise until the feel is right, watching server CPU.
What is the difference between tick rate and FPS?
Tick rate is how often the server simulates the world; FPS is how often the client draws frames. They are independent — a 64 Hz server runs fine for a 144 FPS client.
What is interpolation?
Clients smooth between server snapshots so the world moves smoothly at render frame rate even though the server only updates at tick rate. You need ~2 ticks of buffer, which adds latency.
Privacy note: tick-rate calculations happen in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.