Rates Rates is a word which players use to refer to a small number of commands that can be changed by the player to improve hit registration and performance. These are listed here, along with a short decription. These 3 commands are commonly referred to as 'rates'. If asked 'what rates do you use', you would reply something like "20000/100/100" which refers to what you have set for the below (in order). All defaults refer to broadband rates. rate = sets a maxiumum limit of bytes per second the client can send the server cl_updaterate = updaterate defines how many updates per second you can get from the server cl_cmdrate = defines how many updates per second you send to the server Ideally, you want these as high as possible, the more updates sent and received from the server, the more accurate the server will know your position in the game world. The more accurate your position, the better you bullets will appear to register. incidentally, maximum rate command is 25000, so anything higher is pointless. Default updaterate is 30, default cmdrate is 20. Most players prefer to use something between 50-100, however it entirely depends on the individual and their connection, setup & circumstances.
Choke & Loss Choke tells you the number of updates not sent in either direction because the communication link is saturated. Loss tells you the number of updates which were sent but never reached their destination. Choke is more important than loss because you are flooding the connection and it can't cope with all the data. This means that it is best to reduce the values of your rates. Loss is not so important and if you're getting lots of loss then the connection between you and the server isn't very good. Both choke and loss can be caused by using rates which are too high or too low. Conclusion: Start with a higher rate settings, for example the maximum 25000/100/100. If you need to amend, lower in stages (so maybe 20000/85/85 then 18000/66/66 etc) until you have something your happy with. NOTE: using very low rates simply to make yourself harder to hit is not using appropriate rates for your connection, and can get you banned from the game
Interpolate
Interpolation is a method of the server taking into account the latency of client to server when it is calculating position and bullet registration. Basically, if everything happenned in real time, instantly, it would not be necessary. Unfortunately however, although the times to send/receive information between client and server are small (counted in milliseconds), when it comes to split second bullet registration, even very small time delays are a problem. So the server compensates for this by using interpolation. cl_interpolation = Can be set to 1 or 0. On or Off. If you turn it off, you will 'see' exactly what the server sees. If its on, what you see has the compensation built in. cl_interp = The amount of interpolation the server will adjust your position to allow for latency. Default is 0.1. For the most accurate gaming experience, have your rates set high and your interpolate off (0 for both values for the above 2 cvars). However, this is only really possible on high (75-100) tickrate servers. Having interpolation off on default tickrate servers (33) will make your game appear jerky. Watch this video to see how your chaging your interpolate or LERP can affect your game play:
Tickrate
Tickrate is set in the server command line. It is the amount of times per second the server updates. Default is 33, but servers can be set higher, usually at 66, 75, or 100. The higher the tickrate, the more CPU power required to calculate all the updates. Note: Most default source servers have a tickrate of 66. The more updates per second, the more accurate everyones position will be calculated in the game world. The most accurate gaming can be had by using high rates, no interpolation, and use a 75 or 100 tickrate server.
Hitting and Missing (sponge!) Many players claim that using lower rates makes players harder to hit, this is commonly referred to as rate hacking. In fact, rate hacking is using inappropriate rates for your setup. In most league or clan server's you will be banned for this type of rate hacking.
As you can see my 1.3 rates and source rates differ from each other, this is because the difference in engines that run the particular game, so please treat each game differently for rate settings. Alternativly you can have a look at my rate calculator for source here