• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 19:22
CEST 01:22
KST 08:22
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Code S RO8 Preview: herO, Zoun, Bunny, Classic7Code S RO8 Preview: Rogue, GuMiho, Solar, Maru3BGE Stara Zagora 2025: Info & Preview27Code S RO12 Preview: GuMiho, Bunny, SHIN, ByuN3The Memories We Share - Facing the Final(?) GSL47
Community News
Code S RO8 Results + RO4 Bracket (2025 Season 2)2BGE Stara Zagora 2025 - Replay Pack2Weekly Cups (June 2-8): herO doubles down1[BSL20] ProLeague: Bracket Stage & Dates9GSL Ro4 and Finals moved to Sunday June 15th13
StarCraft 2
General
what is flash bitcoin Jim claims he and Firefly were involved in match-fixing Code S RO8 Results + RO4 Bracket (2025 Season 2) The SCII GOAT: A statistical Evaluation Code S RO8 Preview: herO, Zoun, Bunny, Classic
Tourneys
[GSL 2025] Code S: Season 2 - Ro8 - Group A [GSL 2025] Code S: Season 2 - Ro8 - Group B RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series SOOPer7s Showmatches 2025 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
[G] Darkgrid Layout Simple Questions Simple Answers [G] PvT Cheese: 13 Gate Proxy Robo
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 477 Slow and Steady Mutation # 476 Charnel House Mutation # 475 Hard Target Mutation # 474 Futile Resistance
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion BGH auto balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ FlaSh Witnesses SCV Pull Off the Impossible vs Shu StarCraft & BroodWar Campaign Speedrun Quest Will foreigners ever be able to challenge Koreans?
Tourneys
[BSL20] ProLeague Bracket Stage - Day 4 [BSL20] ProLeague Bracket Stage - Day 3 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL19] Grand Finals
Strategy
I am doing this better than progamers do. [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
Path of Exile Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Beyond All Reason What do you want from future RTS games?
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Who’s Getting the Effortless-Chic Look Just Right?
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread UK Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Vape Nation Thread
Fan Clubs
Maru Fan Club Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Korean Music Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
A Better Routine For Progame…
TrAiDoS
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Heero Yuy & the Tax…
KrillinFromwales
I was completely wrong ab…
jameswatts
Need Your Help/Advice
Glider
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 19356 users

What does Reduce Mouse Lag do?

Forum Index > Tech Support
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
spirates
Profile Joined August 2010
Sweden148 Posts
March 21 2012 12:30 GMT
#1
I've found 2 threads about this subject here but I dont feel that it's been any good answers in them, some ppl says it's good, other says it's bad..

I just made a custom game to see if I could see any difference but I couldn't. The only difference was that my fps dropped from 160 to 140 when I turned it on.
TheToast
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States4808 Posts
March 21 2012 15:20 GMT
#2
I haven't the slightest idea what your talking about. Is this an option in your driver software? In that case it could be raising the USB polling rate of the mouse which could (depending on the DPI/CPI and FPS of the mouse) increase the accuracy of the mouse pointer relative to mouse movement.

If you're talking about the "enhanced pointer precision" option in windows that enables mouse acceleration.

Either way, in the future these types of questions should really be posted in the Simple Question Simple Answer thread.
I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly's a good design. People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.
DannyJ
Profile Joined March 2010
United States5110 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-21 15:31:50
March 21 2012 15:31 GMT
#3
I think he's talking about the option in SC2. I have absolutely no idea what it does, at least tangibly. I've never noticed a difference.
Kaitokid
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
Germany1327 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-21 15:57:30
March 21 2012 15:57 GMT
#4
I definitely notice a difference but for some reason I prefer when its turned off. I did play with it activated for a while though, but I decided to turn it off after I saw a couple of good players not using it^^
MisterFred
Profile Joined October 2010
United States2033 Posts
March 21 2012 15:59 GMT
#5
On my computer, the mouse pointer is noticeably sluggish in responding to controls if I have it off. Turn it on and bam, perfectly responsive mouse. I think it just ensures that the CPU resources involved with the mouse are dedicated to the mouse alone, and not used for other purposes. That could be wrong though. As a side note, since most monitors can't displayer higher than 60 frames per second and even the better monitors don't do more than 120 frames per second, I'd just leave it on if I were you...

@The Toast its in the starcraft settings menu. I forget which panel.
"The victor? Not the highest scoring, nor the best strategist, nor the best tactitian. The victor was he that was closest to the Tao of FFA." -.Praetor
TheToast
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States4808 Posts
March 21 2012 16:04 GMT
#6
Ahh ic it's part of the client.

That explanation would seem to make sense, would explain the reduced FPS the OP is experiencing. I did a quick google and couldn't come up with any definate explanations of what exactly it does, just a lot of anecdotal evidence about it working or not doing anything at all.
I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly's a good design. People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.
jaj22
Profile Joined September 2009
United Kingdom1376 Posts
March 21 2012 16:51 GMT
#7
I believe what it does is reduce the graphics driver flip queue to zero, which means that the graphics driver won't queue up rendering operations for the next frame until the current one is complete.

SC2 has a highly irregular frame rate because the (expensive) fixed-rate game engine is in the same thread as the variable-rate renderer. At 60fps you'll get something like one long frame and three short ones, which can confuse the graphics driver frame queuing algorithm and causing problems like stuttering or high display lag. The reduce mouse lag option should fix this if that's the cause of the problem, at the cost of raw frame rate. I wouldn't recommend enabling it unless you actually have problems, although there's no harm in trying it to see which you prefer.

Note that there are other causes for stuttering problems too. Windows 7 core parking is another possibility, also related to the irregular frame rate.

hokuspokus
Profile Joined May 2010
Niger70 Posts
March 21 2012 17:04 GMT
#8
It definitely reduces the cursor lag. Most noticeably when you draw the unit selection box very rapidly you will (probably) notice huge lag if you haven't turned it on.
The post above me looks like the poster has a lot of knowledge (through vocab), but then he recommends to turn it off which I really don't understand. If he had tested it once he wouldn't recommend to turn it off.
Oh and the mysterious core parking isn't in any way related to stuttering in SC2.
R1CH
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Netherlands10340 Posts
March 21 2012 17:11 GMT
#9
jaj22 is correct, it turns off pre-rendering, meaning the game will always wait for your input before drawing the next frame. You should only turn it on if you actually experience mouse lag. The best way to test is to drag around in circles on the minimap and see if the white rectangle keeps up with your cursor.

If you have vsync enabled, you almost certainly need this enabled too, otherwise your mouse input will be delayed be up to 16ms (1000ms / 60fps). At higher frame rates like 150fps, the lag drops down to 6ms, at which point other factors like USB polling rate are going to come into play and enabling this option just reduces the frame rate, at which point a 3ms reduction in input lag vs a smoother frame rate is not beneficial.
AdministratorTwitter: @R1CH_TL
jaj22
Profile Joined September 2009
United Kingdom1376 Posts
March 21 2012 17:58 GMT
#10
On March 22 2012 02:04 hokuspokus wrote:
It definitely reduces the cursor lag. Most noticeably when you draw the unit selection box very rapidly you will (probably) notice huge lag if you haven't turned it on.
The post above me looks like the poster has a lot of knowledge (through vocab), but then he recommends to turn it off which I really don't understand. If he had tested it once he wouldn't recommend to turn it off.

The difference seems to be very small for most setups. Most of the time, the flip queue algorithms get it about right.

Personally I use flip queue 1 with all games. I don't have a very fast graphics card so it works out better than flip queue 0. If you hurt frame rate too much it can feel a lot worse than a small amount of mouse lag. It also depends on how well you cope with frame tearing, because flip queue 0 tends to hurt more with vsync enabled.

Oh and the mysterious core parking isn't in any way related to stuttering in SC2.

So you know what causes every instance of SC2 stuttering? Please tell.

TheToast
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States4808 Posts
March 21 2012 18:10 GMT
#11
Hmm interesting. I don't use vsync so I've never really looked into this.

I'm thinking when people post reporting they have mouse issues in SC2 this should probably be the #1 step we suggest that they try.

I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly's a good design. People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.
OPL3SA2
Profile Joined April 2011
United States378 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-21 18:18:46
March 21 2012 18:16 GMT
#12
It's hardware mouse option
Hardware mouse on/off

If you don't know what hardware mouse is, google it
edit: I should say that Hardware mouse has been an option since like, quake 1 (the original). Back then, it was pretty much a staple of professional play for people who had USB mouse instead of a ps2 input device. As time evolved, no one uses it anymore

I'll say this, if you turn it on and notice a difference, then immediately replace your computer
IMMEDIATELY
Playoffs? You're talking about playoffs?
jaj22
Profile Joined September 2009
United Kingdom1376 Posts
March 21 2012 18:38 GMT
#13
Hardware mouse cursor? SC2 uses that regardless of whether Reduce Mouse Lag is enabled.

hokuspokus
Profile Joined May 2010
Niger70 Posts
March 21 2012 18:39 GMT
#14
On March 22 2012 02:58 jaj22 wrote:
So you know what causes every instance of SC2 stuttering? Please tell.


All I said is that it's not related to in-game stuttering, the rest was your imagination. It may cause hiccups when starting programs but that's it. SC2 uses only 2 cores anyway and I haven't seen core parking disable more than 4 threads (If I have HT enabled) so it will not make any difference.
R1CH
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Netherlands10340 Posts
March 21 2012 20:25 GMT
#15
On March 22 2012 03:16 OPL3SA2 wrote:
It's hardware mouse option
Hardware mouse on/off

If you don't know what hardware mouse is, google it
edit: I should say that Hardware mouse has been an option since like, quake 1 (the original). Back then, it was pretty much a staple of professional play for people who had USB mouse instead of a ps2 input device. As time evolved, no one uses it anymore

I'll say this, if you turn it on and notice a difference, then immediately replace your computer
IMMEDIATELY

This is incorrect, it has nothing to do with mouse input, SC2 already uses DirectInput for mouse movement. On that note, DirectInput is no different from "raw" mouse input except in the way it's presented to the application.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ee418864(v=vs.85).aspx
AdministratorTwitter: @R1CH_TL
hokuspokus
Profile Joined May 2010
Niger70 Posts
March 22 2012 14:14 GMT
#16
On March 22 2012 05:25 R1CH wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 22 2012 03:16 OPL3SA2 wrote:
It's hardware mouse option
Hardware mouse on/off

If you don't know what hardware mouse is, google it
edit: I should say that Hardware mouse has been an option since like, quake 1 (the original). Back then, it was pretty much a staple of professional play for people who had USB mouse instead of a ps2 input device. As time evolved, no one uses it anymore

I'll say this, if you turn it on and notice a difference, then immediately replace your computer
IMMEDIATELY

This is incorrect, it has nothing to do with mouse input, SC2 already uses DirectInput for mouse movement. On that note, DirectInput is no different from "raw" mouse input except in the way it's presented to the application.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ee418864(v=vs.85).aspx


What about the feature to disable mouse-sensitivity in sc2 which should equal activating direct input. That's why the question comes up if sc2 uses direct input in general because if it would, there shouldn't be an option to deactivate in-game sens in the first place right?
IPS.Blue
Profile Joined January 2004
Germany309 Posts
March 23 2012 12:34 GMT
#17
On March 22 2012 02:11 R1CH wrote:
jaj22 is correct, it turns off pre-rendering, meaning the game will always wait for your input before drawing the next frame. You should only turn it on if you actually experience mouse lag. The best way to test is to drag around in circles on the minimap and see if the white rectangle keeps up with your cursor.

If you have vsync enabled, you almost certainly need this enabled too, otherwise your mouse input will be delayed be up to 16ms (1000ms / 60fps). At higher frame rates like 150fps, the lag drops down to 6ms, at which point other factors like USB polling rate are going to come into play and enabling this option just reduces the frame rate, at which point a 3ms reduction in input lag vs a smoother frame rate is not beneficial.

So basically "Reduce Mouse Lag" is like vsync for your mouse?
R1CH
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Netherlands10340 Posts
March 24 2012 06:32 GMT
#18
No.
AdministratorTwitter: @R1CH_TL
nttea
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
Sweden4353 Posts
March 24 2012 07:00 GMT
#19
Is this the reason some console ports fuck up my mouse so badly? like the cursor lags behind my mouse movement heavily. Also meaning i could maybe fix it with some setting outside the game?
Genome852
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States979 Posts
March 24 2012 09:43 GMT
#20
On March 24 2012 16:00 nttea wrote:
Is this the reason some console ports fuck up my mouse so badly? like the cursor lags behind my mouse movement heavily. Also meaning i could maybe fix it with some setting outside the game?


No... those are just sloppy ports with inbuilt mouse acceleration / smoothing.
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
21:00
Mid Season Playoffs
ArT vs ReBellioN
HonMonO vs Ziomek
Shameless vs LunaSea
MilkiCow vs GgMaChine
Moja vs HiGhDrA
Jumy vs TBD
Demi vs NightPhoenix
Solar vs Cham
SteadfastSC121
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
UpATreeSC 147
SteadfastSC121
PiGStarcraft54
RuFF_SC2 49
ForJumy 34
EnDerr 19
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 3562
Rain 1726
Artosis 389
Dota 2
monkeys_forever202
ROOTCatZ15
League of Legends
Dendi1378
Counter-Strike
fl0m6427
Foxcn187
Super Smash Bros
AZ_Axe83
Heroes of the Storm
Grubby2992
Other Games
summit1g9494
tarik_tv8086
shahzam772
C9.Mang0725
ViBE194
Trikslyr47
PPMD36
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream8230
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 19 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH281
• RyuSc2 44
• Hupsaiya 42
• davetesta29
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Migwel
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• Diggity11
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21338
League of Legends
• Doublelift6090
Other Games
• imaqtpie876
• Shiphtur352
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
38m
OSC
38m
WardiTV Invitational
11h 38m
HiGhDrA vs Nicoract
MaNa vs HiGhDrA
HiGhDrA vs Reynor
Nicoract vs Reynor
MaNa vs Nicoract
MaNa vs Reynor
MaxPax vs Spirit
Krystianer vs Spirit
OSC
13h 38m
BSL 2v2 ProLeague S3
19h 38m
Korean StarCraft League
1d 3h
SOOP
1d 9h
sOs vs Percival
CranKy Ducklings
1d 10h
WardiTV Invitational
1d 11h
Cheesadelphia
1d 15h
[ Show More ]
CSO Cup
1d 17h
BSL: ProLeague
1d 18h
Hawk vs UltrA
Sziky vs spx
TerrOr vs JDConan
GSL Code S
2 days
Rogue vs herO
Classic vs GuMiho
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
BSL: ProLeague
2 days
Bonyth vs Dewalt
Cross vs Doodle
MadiNho vs Dragon
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Cure vs Percival
ByuN vs Spirit
RSL Revival
5 days
herO vs sOs
Zoun vs Clem
Replay Cast
6 days
The PondCast
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Serral vs SHIN
Solar vs Cham
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 17: Qualifier 2
BGE Stara Zagora 2025
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
NPSL S3
Rose Open S1
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
2025 GSL S2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025
YaLLa Compass Qatar 2025
PGL Bucharest 2025
BLAST Open Spring 2025

Upcoming

Copa Latinoamericana 4
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
SEL Season 2 Championship
Esports World Cup 2025
HSC XXVII
Championship of Russia 2025
Murky Cup #2
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.