Does lift-off distance matter in a gaming mouse?

Mouse lift-off distance, or LOD, often appears as a setting you can tweak in the companion software apps for gaming mice. But what it means and how to use it to get the best performance is an often-misunderstood thing.

Take it from me, like your mouse’s DPI and polling rate, lift-off distance really does matter. If you get this setting right, you can prevent erratic movements, keep your position centered, and steady your crosshair. You’ll ultimately perform better in your games too.

What is lift-off distance?

In a nutshell it’s the height at which your mouse’s sensor stops sending a signal to your computer when you lift it up. A high lift-off distance means the mouse will keep tracking at a high elevation above the tabletop, whereas a low lift-off distance means the mouse will cut out a little closer to the surface you’re using it on.

Lift-off distance is often measured in millimeters, with increments between 1mm and 10mm (1cm). Lower lift-off distances are often considered to be 1mm and 2mm, while higher lift-off distances are anything from 3mm to 10mm. Some companion apps just give you the option of choosing between a Low, Medium, or High lift-off distance.

If you don’t think you ever lift your mouse, try watching yourself play. Most gamers, and yes, even competitive gamers, lift their mice from time to time — it’s very common.

High or low? What’s best?

Lift-off distance is one of those really polarizing topics for gamers — like asking someone if they like the chocolate chips in chocolate chip ice cream, there’s usually strong views about it one way or the other. In fact, we can mock up a hypothetical boxing match with the differing viewpoints.

Boxing in the blue corner are players who prefer high lift-off distances. The right hook behind their argument is that a higher lift-off distance allows them to keep aiming at elevation, to track their opponents in the split second or so they’ve lifted their mouse.

In the red corner is the conventional viewpoint that appears in all the marketing materials for gaming mice. The knockout behind this argument is that competitive gamers need to recenter their mice a lot, so low liftoff distances make for more predictable and reliable movements when they do so, allowing them to keep their aim steady and positioning centered.

But which viewpoint is right?

The status quo: The LOD most gamers adopt

It’s generally accepted that lower lift-off distances are better for competitive gaming, especially for first-person shooters.

Take a firefight in an FPS game as an example: Say you’re pursuing an opponent and near the end of your pursuit you lift your mouse to recenter it. If your mouse’s sensor has a low lift-off distance it will just cut out, your crosshair will stay on target, and you will have an excellent chance of still hitting that target.

The opposite is also true: If you have a higher lift-off distance set, your mouse’s sensor will keep tracking when you lift it up. But since your movement isn’t to continue tracking your opponent, just to put it back in the center of your mat, you’ll most likely lose your crosshair aim and or your positioning and therefore miss.

Having said that, a low lift-off distance isn’t ideal for every situation. Competitive gamers will often chop and change lift-off distances to suit different games or even different player classes within games.

In fact, one gamer on reddit swears that a higher lift-off distance of 3mm gives them better control of tracking when their “fingers make contact with their mouse mat, and when they make fast flicks.”

Lift-off distance and you

The best way to find the ideal lift-off distance is by trial and error. In your mouse’s companion app try adjusting your mouse’s lift-off distance in increments starting from the lowest and gradually increasing the distance until you find a sweet spot.

In your tweaking, consider factors like: the kind of game you’re playing, how often you lift, the height you lift, your grip style (claw grippers tend to lift more), and how tall your mouse’s feet are.

The extent to which you can fine-tune your lift-off distance will, however, be limited by the level of personalization that your gaming mouse’s software gives you. For instance, the Logitech G Hub gave me a choice of, Low, Medium, or High lift-off distances for the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2.

But Razer’s Synapse app let me set the Razer Cobra Pro’s lift-off distance to one of 26 granular distances. That meant I had 23 more chances to get it just right.

Now that you know a little more about lift-off distance, like most hardware settings, there’s nothing like a spot of gaming to refine them. So, what are you waiting for? Load up a game and start tweaking!