If you have ever experienced lag or stuttering while playing CS2, you know how frustrating it can be and how much it disrupts gameplay. To help you out, we’ve gathered all the information you need to understand why your game might feel laggy and what settings you can adjust to try to fix the problem.
Understanding packet loss and interpolation
Packet loss is when some data sent between your computer and the server is lost. This means that important information about player positions or actions doesn’t reach you in real-time, causing player movements to appear laggy or even making players teleport suddenly.
Interpolation helps smooth out player movement when packet loss occurs. It works by filling in the missing data, guessing where the player should be based on their previous movements and actions
Commands to Adjust Interpolation
In earlier versions of Counter-Strike, you could adjust interpolation settings using the cl_interp and cl_interp_ratio commands. In CS2, you can no longer change these commands directly from the console. Instead, you must set the amount of interpolation through the in-game setting called Buffering to smooth over packet loss. You can choose between values None, 1 packet, and 2 packets.
A higher value gives the game more time to smooth out any lag. If you don’t experience any lag or packet loss, you should set the value to None.
None:
cl_interp 0
cl_interp_ratio 0
1 packet:
cl_interp 0.015625
cl_interp_ratio 1
2 packets:
cl_interp 0.031250
cl_interp_ratio 2
Understanding cl_interp and cl_interp_ratio
The cl_interp command controls the number of seconds your game waits for missing data before guessing and applying that missing data.
The cl_interp_ratio command works as a multiplier for cl_interp, adjusting how much extra time your game adds when applying the missing data.
How to Show Packet Loss in CS2
To display the amount of packet loss when joining a server, use the command: cl_hud_telemetry_net_misdelivery_show 2
