What is eDPI? Effective DPI explained
eDPI (effective DPI) is your in-game sensitivity multiplied by your mouse DPI. It removes DPI differences from comparisons, and nothing more. Here is what it is good for, and where it stops being useful.
Published 07 Oct 2026 · By the SensForge team
Quick answer
eDPI = in-game sensitivity × mouse DPI. It lets two players with different DPI
compare aim settings in one number. For example, 0.5 sens at 1600 DPI and 1.0 sens at 800 DPI are
both 800 eDPI. Calculate yours with the eDPI calculator.
What eDPI actually normalizes
Because sensitivity and DPI multiply together, doubling one and halving the other keeps your effective movement per inch identical. eDPI collapses that pairing into a single figure, useful when discussing settings with someone who runs a different DPI step.
| Player | DPI | Sens | eDPI |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 800 | 1.0 | 800 |
| B | 1600 | 0.5 | 800 |
| C | 400 | 2.0 | 800 |
Same eDPI across three DPI steps, assuming raw input and no acceleration.
The catch: eDPI does not cross games
Each game converts mouse counts to rotation with its own yaw constant. eDPI contains no yaw term, so identical eDPI values produce different physical turns in different games. If you switch games, the number to preserve is cm/360, eDPI alone will mislead you. That is why our eDPI calculator shows both.
How to use eDPI well
- Use it within a game to compare settings with teammates, quickly and fairly.
- Pair it with cm/360 whenever the conversation crosses games.
- Treat bands as conventions. Most competitive players sit in 200–1,600 eDPI depending on title and role; outliers on both ends win tournaments.
- Change one variable at a time if you experiment (DPI or sens, not both) so you know what caused the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Is eDPI the same as DPI?
No. DPI is a hardware property of the mouse; eDPI is DPI multiplied by in-game sensitivity, so the same mouse can produce any eDPI depending on the game slider.
Can I compare eDPI between different games?
Only loosely. eDPI ignores the game's yaw constant, so 800 eDPI in Valorant and 800 eDPI in CS2 are not the same physical sensitivity. Use cm/360 for cross-game comparison and eDPI for same-game comparison.
Why do all eDPI calculators give the same number?
Because the formula is trivial (sens × DPI). The value of a calculator is the surrounding context: bands, cm/360, and converting the number across games, which is what our tool adds.