How to Improve FPS in CS:GO by Disabling 'Muzzle Flash' From Weapons

CS:GO players are constantly trying to improve their FPS (frames per second) in-game. A simple way to achieve this is by disabling ‘Muzzle Flash’, which have been found to significantly drop frame rate. Rifles are one of the most used weapons in CS:GO and it is natural for a player to spray fire with them. This results in a lot of muzzle flash that negatively impacts the frame rate, dropping it by nearly ‘80-100’ and hence producing a visible lag. CS:GO players can solve this problem and attain a more stable FPS in-game, by either reducing or disabling the muzzle flash feature.

Read on to find out how exactly does muzzle flash result in such a massive drop in FPS, and different ways to reduce or disable this feature. Doing so will help you achieve a consistent frame rate when spraying with a weapon in CS:GO, automatically resulting in improved FPS and better performance in-game.

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How ‘Muzzle Flash’ impacts FPS in CS:GO

A CS:GO player who goes by the name of ‘u/hallowed_kisak’ on Reddit, recently found out that one of the main reasons behind significant FPS drop in Counter-Strike is ‘Muzzle Flash’. As the name suggests, muzzle flash is nothing but the visible glow near the tip of the weapon after a bullet is fired from it. 

This feature while making the game feel more realistic, has been found to negatively impact game performance in CS:GO. Muzzle flash is not a big issue when using sidearms like pistols, or scoped weapons like the scout or the AWP, as its impact is minimum. But becomes a huge problem when spray firing with a weapon like rifles or sub-machine guns, directly resulting in a drop of about 80 to 100 FPS.

Muzzle flash negatively affects the frame rate in CS:GO more than any other feature like sounds, animations, tracer effects, particles, and other such relative characteristics. According to the research conducted by ‘u/hallowed_kisak’, “95% of lag while shooting is caused by muzzle flashes”.

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How to disable ‘Muzzle Flash’ in CS:GO

A fix from Valve might not be possible at the moment due to the intricate nature of CS:GO’s game code. However, there are a few temporary solutions available that can help in mitigating the problems caused by ‘Muzzle Flash’. Players that experience visible lag due to FPS drop when spraying with a weapon in CS:GO, should try out the following console command:

• `r_dynamiclighting 0`

This command helps in disabling the muzzle flash feature completely, automatically resulting in a more stable FPS when spraying with a weapon. Yes, there might still be a drop in frame rate but it will not be high enough to experience visible lag. However there is a slight tradeoff, as disabling ‘dynamic lighting’ will not help players in certain situations like spotting the enemy position through smoke due to their muzzle fire.

An alternate solution to this problem was also provided by the CS:GO community, allowing players to disable dynamic lighting only when they are firing, otherwise keep it enabled by default. The console command for this is as follows,

• alias "+dynamicToggle" "r_dynamic 0; +attack"
  alias "-dynamicToggle" "-attack; r_dynamic 1"
  bind "MOUSE1" "+dynamicToggle"

Using this, players can bind their dynamic lighting mode to the left click of their mouse. So every time they fire, dynamic lighting is automatically disabled and it does not result in heavy FPS drop. Once they stop firing, dynamic lightning is enabled again so that the visibility does not get compromised.

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