The formula
Take the DPI set in your mouse software and multiply it by the sensitivity slider in the game. 800 DPI at 0.35 in Valorant is 280 eDPI. 400 DPI at 2.0 in CS2 is 800 eDPI.
The point of the number is that different splits collapse into the same result. 1600 DPI at 0.5 and 400 DPI at 2.0 are both 800 eDPI, and in the same game they turn you exactly the same distance per centimeter of mouse travel.
Why players use it
Pro settings lists quote eDPI because it lets you compare two players inside one game without caring how they set up their mouse. A 400 DPI player and a 1600 DPI player sit on the same scale.
The ranges are narrow enough to be useful. Valorant pros mostly sit between 200 and 360 eDPI. CS2 pros mostly sit between 640 and 1040 eDPI. If your number is far outside those bands you are not wrong, but you are making a choice most players at the top did not make.
Where eDPI breaks
eDPI does not carry between games. Each game turns a different number of degrees per mouse count, so the same eDPI feels completely different from one title to the next. 280 eDPI is ordinary in Valorant and unplayably slow in Overwatch 2.
It also assumes nothing else is touching your input. Mouse acceleration, a Windows pointer speed away from the default notch, or a game with its own acceleration curve all make the number lie.
When you need a sensitivity that means the same thing everywhere, use cm/360, which measures the physical distance your hand moves. That is what the sensitivity converter uses under the hood.
How to change it
Raise DPI in the mouse software or raise the sens in the game, and eDPI goes up. Move both in opposite directions and it stays put. Most players keep DPI fixed at 400, 800, or 1600 and adjust the in-game slider, so a change is one number.
The eDPI calculator does the multiplication, shows your cm/360, and tells you what the same turn is in six other games.
What your eDPI means as distance
eDPI is a speed number inside one game, but the game's yaw turns it back into hand movement. In Valorant, cm/360 is 13,063 divided by your eDPI. In CS2 and Apex it is 41,564 divided by your eDPI. Those two constants are just 360 × 2.54 divided by each game's yaw (0.07, and 0.022).
| Game | eDPI | cm per 360 |
|---|---|---|
| Valorant | 200 | 65.3 |
| Valorant | 280 | 46.7 |
| Valorant | 360 | 36.3 |
| CS2 | 640 | 64.9 |
| CS2 | 800 | 52.0 |
| CS2 | 1040 | 40.0 |
This is why the pro ranges above line up. Valorant's 200 to 360 and CS2's 640 to 1040 look three times apart as eDPI, but both come out at roughly 36 to 65 cm per 360 once the yaw is applied.
The same turn in other games
A Valorant setup at 800 DPI and 0.35 sens is 280 eDPI and turns you 46.7 cm per 360. Here is what that exact hand movement looks like when each game's own yaw is applied, still at 800 DPI:
| Game | Yaw | Sens at 800 DPI | eDPI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valorant | 0.07 | 0.350 | 280 |
| CS2 | 0.022 | 1.114 | 891 |
| Apex Legends | 0.022 | 1.114 | 891 |
| Deadlock | 0.044 | 0.557 | 445 |
| Overwatch 2 | 0.0066 | 3.712 | 2,970 |
The eDPI column is the point: it jumps from 280 to nearly 3,000 for an identical physical movement, which is why a number copied from another game's settings list means nothing. Use the sensitivity converter to do this for your own numbers.
Changing DPI without changing your aim
To move to a different DPI and keep the same eDPI, scale the in-game sens the opposite way. Going from 800 to 1600 DPI doubles the DPI, so halve the sens: 800 DPI at 0.35 becomes 1600 DPI at 0.175, and both are 280 eDPI.
If the cursor still feels different afterwards, check what is between the mouse and the game before touching the number again: Windows pointer speed (the default is 6 of 11 with Enhance Pointer Precision off), and whether the game reads raw input. The mouse settings guide covers both.