The game tick is the fundamental quantum of time used in RuneScape. It is a unit equal to length of 0.6 seconds. All actions that require server processing are governed by this value. Purely client-side actions (such as opening a right-click menu or switching interface tabs) are processed separately, and thus unaffected by the tick.

Each action you register within one tick, will start to take place by the beginning of the next tick.

The length of a tick can be measured by timing a repeated action. For example, Disassembly takes 2 ticks (1.2 seconds) per item.

Examples

Combat

• Attack speed, the time between attacks.
• Global ability cooldown is 3 ticks.

Skills

• Gathering skills generally have 1 chance at retrieving a resource every 1–5 ticks, depending on the action.
• Production skills can make 1 item every X number of ticks, with the interval varying based on the action.

Other

• Walking moves the player character 1 square every game tick; running, 2 squares.
• Player chat messages stay above their heads for 5 ticks, unless another message is sent sooner.