Best Mouse Settings for Valorant in 2026 — Sensitivity, DPI & Polling Rate Guide

DPI (Dots Per Inch) is a hardware setting on your mouse. It controls how many pixels your cursor moves per inch of physical mouse movement. Higher DPI = more cursor movement per inch.

In-game sensitivity is a multiplier applied on top of DPI. VALORANT takes your raw mouse input and multiplies it by this value to determine how far your crosshair moves.

The combination of both is what actually matters. Two players with identical crosshair speed might use completely different DPI and sensitivity values:

All three players above have the same effective DPI (eDPI) of 200 — meaning their crosshair moves the same distance per inch of mouse movement. The DPI itself does not matter as long as your eDPI is the same.

For VALORANT, set your mouse DPI to 800. This is the sweet spot for most players and the most common DPI among pros.

Why 800?

1. Modern sensors are optimised for 800–1600 DPI — no smoothing, interpolation, or jitter
2. 800 gives you a good range of in-game sensitivity values (0.2–0.5) that are easy to fine-tune
3. Windows cursor speed is comfortable at 800 for desktop use
4. Higher DPI like 1600 works fine too — just halve your in-game sensitivity

How to set DPI: Use your mouse manufacturer software (Logitech G Hub, Razer Synapse, SteelSeries Engine, etc.) or the DPI button on your mouse.

Your effective DPI (eDPI) is the single number that defines your sensitivity:

The average pro VALORANT eDPI in 2026 is around 250–280. Most pros fall in the 200–400 range.

What eDPI should you use?

Quick setup for 800 DPI: Start at 0.3 sensitivity (eDPI 240). Play 5 deathmatch games. If you overshoot, lower by 0.02. If you undershoot, raise by 0.02.

Polling rate is how often your mouse reports its position to your PC, measured in Hz. Higher = smoother, more responsive cursor movement.

Set polling rate in your mouse software. 1000 Hz is the sweet spot — lower polling rates add measurable input lag, while going above 1000 Hz provides minimal benefit and increases CPU overhead.

If you have a 4000 Hz mouse (Razer Viper V3, Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2), you can use 4000 Hz in VALORANT — the game supports it. But the difference from 1000 Hz is nearly imperceptible.

Raw input tells VALORANT to read mouse data directly from the hardware, bypassing any Windows mouse processing (smoothing, scaling, pointer speed adjustments).

This is critical. Without raw input, Windows applies its own cursor acceleration curve on top of your settings, making your aim inconsistent.

1. Open VALORANT > Settings > General
2. Scroll to Mouse section
3. Set Raw Input Buffer to On

With raw input enabled, your Windows pointer speed setting (Control Panel > Mouse > Pointer Options) has zero effect on in-game aim. Only your DPI and in-game sensitivity matter.

Mouse acceleration makes your cursor move further when you move the mouse faster, even if you move the same physical distance. This destroys muscle memory because the same hand movement produces different results depending on speed.

Disable in Windows:

1. Open Control Panel > Mouse > Pointer Options
2. Uncheck “Enhance pointer precision” — this is Windows mouse acceleration
3. Click Apply

Disable in mouse software:

1. Logitech G Hub: Settings > uncheck any acceleration option
2. Razer Synapse: Calibration > ensure acceleration is Off
3. SteelSeries Engine: check that acceleration multiplier is 0

Disable in VALORANT: There is no in-game mouse acceleration in VALORANT, but having it enabled in Windows or mouse software still affects your aim if raw input is somehow off.

Here are the mouse settings of top VALORANT pros as of early 2026. Use this as a reference range, not a prescription — your ideal sensitivity depends on your mousepad size, hand size, grip style, and role.

Key takeaways:

1. Average pro eDPI: ~250
2. Range: 200–320 covers 90% of pros
3. All use 1000 Hz polling rate
4. Most use 800 DPI (some use 400)
5. Zero pros use mouse acceleration

Valo Optimise handles the OS-level mouse optimisations automatically: disabling mouse acceleration, configuring raw input, setting the correct Windows pointer speed, and ensuring no mouse software is adding hidden processing.

It also monitors your mouse polling rate and warns you if it drops below 1000 Hz during gameplay (which can happen with wireless mice on weak Bluetooth connections).