What is FPS in Dota 2?

FPS — Frames per Second (FPS) on the monitor screen — is the number of consecutive frames that the graphics device can process and display in one second.

Games can be divided into two categories based on their frame rate: those with a constant frame rate and those with a variable frame rate. Games with a constant frame rate produce the same number of frames per second on both low-end and high-end computers; if the system cannot keep up with rendering, the entire game slows down. Games with a variable frame rate begin to drop frames on low-end computers, but the pace of gameplay remains unchanged.

In the modern gaming industry, the use of a fixed frame rate has been almost completely abandoned. Today, variable frame rate is the standard, including for Dota 2.

The higher the FPS, the smoother and more enjoyable the visuals on the monitor. When the system can’t generate enough frames, some of them are skipped in the game to maintain the overall pace of gameplay. This is commonly referred to as “freezes” or “FPS drops”. With low FPS, playing isn’t just uncomfortable — it’s practically impossible — because it increases the delay between clicking a mouse or keyboard button and the action appearing on screen, which is critical in fast-paced games.

Note that the monitor you use also affects how smooth the visuals are. Even if your system can produce 100–200 FPS in Dota 2, but your monitor’s refresh rate is 60 Hz, the actual number of frames per second cannot exceed that value. A monitor’s refresh rate is the number of times per second the monitor is physically capable of updating the image on the screen.

Furthermore, when the FPS and the monitor’s refresh rate don’t match, an unpleasant visual glitch occurs — screen (frame) tearing. The graphics card sends frames in the middle of the monitor’s refresh cycle, so the top half of the screen displays one frame while the bottom half already shows the next one. In most games, including Dota 2, this problem is solved by enabling vertical synchronization (V-Sync, G-Sync/FreeSync) in the game’s graphics settings, which prevents the system from generating more frames than the screen’s refresh rate can handle.

It’s worth noting that frame interpolation technologies (NVIDIA DLSS / AMD FSR) are not supported in Dota 2. Since Valve’s MOBA runs on the Source 2 engine, its performance depends primarily on your CPU rather than your GPU. Furthermore, any form of frame generation inevitably increases Input Lag — the delay between a mouse click and the action on screen — which is a critical drawback for Dota 2.

You can find out how to enable FPS display in Dota 2 in our article. Additionally, you can check out our list of ways to boost FPS in Dota 2.