Run the test above for at least 60 seconds. Here is what each
number means for this game specifically.
Red lines (packet loss)
In a MOBA, loss shows up as abilities that go on cooldown without firing and as last hits that are credited to someone else. The server never received the input, so from its point of view you did not press the button.
Jitter (ability timing)
Deadlock mixes MOBA timing with shooter aim, so jitter hurts twice: skill shots miss and creep aggro flickers. Keep it well under one server update - anything above 15 ms is noticeable in fights.
Ping (latency)
Under 40 ms is comfortable. Above 80 ms, dodging a telegraphed ability stops working reliably, because the window you are reacting to has already closed on the server by the time you see it.
What you see in game, and which number on this page explains it.
Deadlock is one of very few games where you can verify an external measurement against the game's own numbers without installing anything. It runs on Source 2 and inherits the engine's diagnostics: open the console with F7 and enter cq_netgraph 1, and a live readout of ping, packet loss and jitter appears in the corner of the screen. There is no equivalent in the normal user interface, which is why most players never find it.
That combination makes a genuinely useful test possible. Run this page in a second window while the network graph is up in game. If both show loss, the problem is on your side of the internet and the usual fixes apply. If the in-game graph shows loss while this chart stays clean, your local network and your ISP's first hops are healthy and the trouble is on the route to Valve's datacenter - a peering or transit problem you cannot fix, but which is worth reporting to your ISP with both screenshots attached.
Valve has not published a tick rate for Deadlock, which is worth stating plainly rather than guessing at. Counter-Strike 2, on the same engine, runs 64 ticks with sub-tick input timing, and 60 is a reasonable working figure for a game in this genre - but it is a working figure, and this page labels it as one. We send 60 packets per second so the traffic pattern is realistic.
For a game that mixes MOBA cooldowns with shooter aim, the metric that matters most is jitter rather than raw ping. Abilities are discrete events with a fixed cost when they fail, and lane trades are decided in the couple of hundred milliseconds where an uneven packet stream does the most damage.
If the chart above shows packet loss or high jitter, work through
these in order.
How do I see my ping and packet loss inside Deadlock?
Open the console with F7 and enter cq_netgraph 1. It shows ping, packet loss and jitter live in the corner of the screen - Deadlock has no separate ping display in the UI.
What tick rate does Deadlock use?
Valve has not published one. This test sends 60 packets per second as a working figure; CS2, which uses the same engine, runs at 64 ticks with sub-tick input timing.
Why do my abilities fire late?
Either latency or loss. A steady delay that matches your ping is latency and can be played around; abilities that go on cooldown without any effect are lost input packets, and those show as red lines here.
Does Deadlock's netcode compensate for high ping?
Source 2 uses lag compensation for hitscan, so shots are evaluated against what you saw. It does nothing for lost packets, and it cannot give you back the reaction window a high ping removes.