Rocket League Competitive Control and Game Settings Guide

by Ungoliant0

Disclaimers

1. This is a very broad topic that doesn’t have just one best answer. So I’m just going to mention the most popular options I know of and you can decide for yourself or do some further research.
2. This guide is aimed towards the competitively oriented reader that values performance above all else – fancy graphics, immersion etc. Otherwise, just use whatever you want. You don’t need a guide for that XD. So I’m going to skip saying “do this only if you’re competitively oriented” and “in my opinion, its best if…”, etc.
3. If you’re a 1800 GC and your settings work for you, I don’t presume to tell you what to do. This guide is meant for new players or players that only recently decided to value performance. If you find any mistakes or things I’ve forgotten to include, please let me know.
4. For every section, I’m going to give a TL;DR, and then provide an explanation.
5. I define competitively oriented as someone determined to improve that values his performance over immersion, graphics etc, rather than someone that actively competes in RL. According to this definition, a bronze player that wants to improve is in my book a competitively oriented player.

Input Shape – [Square] vs. [Circle]

Use default input shape with [1.1-1.5] sensitivity.

Many pros used to use [Square], but the meta nowadays is using the default [Circle] (also called “cross deadzone”) and just increasing steering and aerial sensitivity to [1.1-1.7]. Notable pros that still use [Square] are Scrub Killa, remkoe (both use XBONE controllers), Metsanauris (DS3 with a built-in square), Ronaky & Kassio (both use DS4). The rest use the default with increased sensitivity. Both ways are means of being able to reach the full range of motion on your controller. Further explanation by Rocket Science.

I used to use [Square] and moved to [Circle] + increased sensitivity, and it feels better for everything except for half flips which just take some getting used to, or just using air roll left\right while practising. Bottom line, I would use circle input shape (the default) and increase sensitivity to [1.1-1.5]. As every controller is different, these numbers are dependant on what max value your controller can reach on the diagonals.

The meta is shifting towards higher sensitivity values it seems, with mechanically gifted players such as JSTN and Aztral using [~1.7]. Other pros choose lower sensitivities, like Flakes’ [1.0] and Fairy Peak!’s [1.2]. I would try to use lower values first and perhaps increase with small increments every few weeks and see what works best for you. High vs. low sensitivity is a trade-off between being able to reach high values faster, and ease of being more accurate. Another thing to consider regarding sensitivity is that is it might not even be necessary to reach the entire range of motion, as using pure diagonals can be rare. Some players would prefer to take the hit of being unable to reach 100% on the diagonal, for the benefit of increased accuracy. As this is dependant on your controller, and every controller is different, the sensitivity value does not tell the entire story. You need to try for yourself what values suit you. Keep in mind though that what might be currently comfortable, does not necessarily mean it is the best setting for you. Keep an open mind and experiment, but eventually settle on something and start building that muscle memory.

Lastly, it’s preferable to not use steam controller configurations as that adds input lag (in a later video, Rocket Science shows even more input lag than the 1ms mentioned in the deadzone video). If you really want to use [square] input shape, it’s preferable that you use DS4Windows or Durazno^2 rather than enabling Steam controller config. This is how you disable it.

Deadzone

• DS4: [0.05-0.08] ([0.05] is the most popular).
• XBONE: usually people go with higher values: [0.06-0.1].
• Dodge deadzone: [0.5-0.7].

Cross deadzone (which is used by everyone), just means that values close to the axes are rounded to the nearest value on the axes. The larger the value, the easier it is to perform straight-line movements – forwards, backwards, sideways and flip cancels. The lower it is, the more responsive your controls are, which is especially important for mechanics that require micro-adjustments, like dribbling etc.

Here’s a nice animation that explains it. You can also use HalfwayDead’s utility to see how different values affect you. The general rule of thumb is: have it as low as you can without getting stick drift (car steering while not touching the controller).

Dodge deadzone you can increase until you stop getting accidental backflips.

Controller Controls/Keybinds

All default except:

• L1 – Airroll + Powerslide.
• R1 – Boost.
• Square – Ballcam toggle.
• Triangle/Circle – Airroll Left/Right.
• Disable vibration.

These are just one possibility. The important part is that you should not be hindered by your controls. Certain mechanics require being able to use all or some combination of boost, jump, and powerslide. Bad controls will prohibit these movements. Viable controls will allow them. There are RLCS winners that use claw grip, many pros use default settings, Rizzo uses his left stick to drive forward/backwards, there are pros that use the keyboard (Yukeo, Fruity, Torsos). Find what works out best for you, making sure you can easily reach boost/jump/powerslide simultaneously and don’t be afraid of experimenting (but eventually settle on something).

Move boost from the right thumb to a designated finger. It makes sense, conceptually, having boost near drive-forward. Having Airroll/Powerslide with a designated finger, together, also works well, as they are mostly mutually exclusive (one is used in the air, the other is not), and represent similar concepts. The most used action of those that are left is ballcam toggle, so I would move that to somewhere accessible. Air roll right/left could be less accessible, since they are only needed for tornado spins, and perhaps half flips if you can’t do these using air roll.

I’ve seen many players use these or similar, though many OG pros are still using keybinds closer to default (only moving boost perhaps, or only moving powerslide etc).

If you rely on air roll left/right rather than air roll, you’d have to find a way of making them more accessible than in my suggested preset, while still having jump and powerslide accessible (perhaps a controller with paddles like scuf, XBOX elite or the new DS4 back attachment).

KBM Keybinds

Yokeo’s keybinds. These controls maintain the principles previously mentioned. Every important action has a designated finger. I would move the [Rear View] action from the scroll wheel to the mouse thumb pad (if you have it), as in order to click the wheel you have to lift one of your fingers from its mouse button. You could also move [Camera Swivel Left/Right] from Q/E to the mouse thumb pad, to prevent from having to lift your fingers from A/D.

Set [Keyboard Input Acceleration Time] to 0 and [Aerial/Steering Sensitivity] to 2.

Camera

Disable camera shake XD. Most pros use FOV [110]. The meta used to be height/angle [110/-3], but these days it seems like there’s a shift to [100/-4], [90/-5] and [100/-3]. Distance is usually 260-280, stiffness 0.4-0.6.

Although, somewhat of a niche in pro play, there is still something to be said for high stiffness, as a setting that is completely different than the meta. Although Lethamyr has since moved on to lower stiffness, some pros are using high stiffness. If you’re interested, research this further on your own, as it is not common enough for me to say whether this is a good idea or not (although, it is certainly viable).

Hardware

Get a [144-240Hz] monitor. Preferably [1080p], [TN] for low 1ms response time. You don’t have to use [G/Free-Sync] as they do add minimal input lag, and you don’t notice tearings at these FPS levels anyway.

You also need a decent enough PC to support 240+ FPS while not overheating, though that shouldn’t be too difficult, as RL is a relatively light game.

Enable steam FPS counter, and make sure you’re getting stable FPS.

If you use a controller, use a USB cable rather than Bluetooth as it is more consistent. The USB should be connected to the back of the PC (that is, right into the motherboard’s panel), rather than the front USB panel, as in many cases, the front USB hub can add a lot of input lag. On the same note, never use WIFI. Use an ethernet connection.

Overclock your controller to a polling rate of 1000Hz (like any proper gaming keyboard or mouse) to reduce input lag.

Video Settings

Use competitive settings.

Even if your monitor is only 60Hz, [240FPS] is not wasted. If your PC can’t get stable 240FPS, just cap FPS as high as possible, while still stable.

• Disable VSync (adds lots of input lag) and the other fancy graphics effects (except transparent goalposts).
• Put everything on highest performance (except render quality).
• Play on fullscreen as otherwise, the desktop’s VSync might apply, and that adds input lag.

This video by Rocket Science shows 120 and 240 FPS caps are most consistent.

Gameplay Settings

• Text Chat: if you find yourself getting tilted you can disable this. If you still want to be able to communicate during kickoff, BakkesMod has a nice feature called kickoff only chat.
• Voice Chat: disable.
• Input buffer: good connections should use STS, less ideal connections use CSTS. I change between STS and legacy all the time as I can’t decide which I like better (this is probably not a good idea).

Rest of the settings are not interesting (perhaps just set all those rates & limits to high).

Interface Settings

• Nameplate scale: just play with this and see how it works for you. I’ve seen most use [120-140%].
• Nameplate mode: [always visible].
• Colourblind mode: gives a high contrast borders to nameplates. I use this (I’m not colourblind), and I’ve seen some pros use it as well.

Audio Settings

Some people can be distracted by non-relevant sounds. Gameplay volume is the only sound that can contribute to your gameplay, so have everything else off (unless of course, you get enjoyment and immersion out of the other settings). Some people play with sound entirely off. This comes with a cost, as they can’t hear players jumping/boosting behind them, which can be an invaluable information.

Chat

Bind everything to “Savage!”, “Okay.”, “What a save!” and “Take the shot!”.

huEHUehuEHUe

Hopefully, this was helpful. Good luck!