Change Your GMod Server's Tickrate

Tickrate is how many times a second your Garry's Mod server updates the game, and it is set in the Startup tab, not in server.cfg. The panel starts new servers at 33, which suits most servers. Raising it makes the server update more often and uses more CPU. This guide shows where the setting is, what range it accepts, and how to confirm the server is running the number you chose.

Change the tickrate

1. Open your server and go to the Startup tab. It sits under More in the left rail.
2. In the Game card, find Tickrate.
3. Type a whole number from 16 to 100. The panel refuses anything outside that range.
4. Press Save changes. The toast reads Game saved.
5. If the server is running, press Restart now in the Restart to apply message at the top of the tab. Anyone playing is disconnected until the server is back up.

The tickrate is a launch setting, passed to the game as -tickrate, which Facepunch lists among Garry's Mod's command line parameters. So it takes effect when the server starts, which is why the panel asks for a restart.

What number to use

Facepunch's wiki says the game's own default is 66.6666 and recommends a value between 30 and 128. That is a recommendation, not a limit. Our panel starts at 33 and accepts 16 to 100, so it lets you go below Facepunch's recommended range and stops short of its top end.

• Leave it at 33 unless you have a reason. It is what we start every Garry's Mod server on.
• A higher number costs CPU. The panel's own help text for the setting says so.
• Change one thing at a time, so you know which change made the difference.

GMod server: connect, Workshop, gamemodes has a table of how much RAM different kinds of server need, which is worth reading before you raise the tickrate on a busy server.

Check what the server is running

After the restart, open the Console tab and run:

lua_run print(1 / engine.TickInterval())

engine.TickInterval() returns the time between ticks in seconds, so dividing 1 by it gives ticks per second. The number printed is a hair under the one you saved: our test server printed 32.999999016523 on 33, and 65.999998033047 after we changed it to 66 and restarted. If it is still the old number, the save didn't go through or the server hasn't restarted since.

If the change doesn't stick

• An error appears when you save. The value is outside 16 to 100, or it has a letter or a decimal in it. Use a whole number.
• The old number is back after a restart. Check that you pressed Save changes in the Game card and saw Game saved before restarting.
• Players say it feels the same. Ping is a big part of how a server feels. Australian game server latency: what ping to expect from each city shows what is normal from where they are.