Drag clicking is a thing in competitive PvP Minecraft scene where a stat called CPS (or clicks per second) is critical. It isn’t the sole thing that will make you better at PvP Minecraft (a high refresh monitor could also help) but increasing your CPS can give you an advantage over other players. And the way to do this is by drag clicking. But how to drag click? Find out below.
Drag clicking and its benefits
Drag clicking is also called tap clicking, and it’s done by slowly gliding your finger across the mouse button (left or right). The mouse and the finger have to be squeaky clean to allow your finger to apply the highest amount of drag while gliding over the mouse button. The skin and mouse buttons must be super clean because drag clicking creates friction while sliding your finger across a mouse button. The procedure actuates the mouse switch each time your finger lands on the mouse button. The higher the friction, the more clicks per second you can achieve.
PvP Minecraft isn’t the only game where drag clicking can give an advantage. Every game where more clicks per second can improve your score or give you an edge over other players (think clicking games such as the famous Cookie Clicker) can benefit from higher CPS performance. In Minecraft, though, a score of about 20 CPS is the upper limit where further increasing CPS won’t increase your advantage in a meaningful way.
With that said, achieving 20 clicks per second by doing standard mouse clicks is pretty much impossible, except if you can freeze time or something. Just try clicking any mouse button 20 times per second with regular movements, and you’ll quickly find out just how futile that is. This inefficiency is where drag click comes in. Players can reach well above the upper 20 CPS limit by drag clicking, thus gaining an essential advantage in their favorite games.
Preparing your mouse and fingers
Before you even try to perform your first drag click, you should prepare your mouse and fingers. The first thing to do is to get isopropyl alcohol (70 percent isopropyl is fine). If you don’t have it, soap and water will do just fine. Next, clean the mouse button you plan on using for drag clicking (left or right, it doesn’t matter which one you’re using). You can use a Q-tip, toilet paper, a kitchen paper towel, microfiber cloth, etc.
Be sure to clean the whole button and don’t overuse the alcohol. A small amount soaked onto the Q-tip/paper towel/cloth is enough. If using soap and water, you should wash your hands first and then soak the material used for cleaning with soap and water. If you’re using alcohol, let the alcohol evaporate after you clean the mouse with it. In the meantime, wash your clicking finger with alcohol and also let the alcohol evaporate. If you’re using soap and water, clean the mouse surface with a dry and clean paper towel or microfiber cloth after washing it with soap and water. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to learn how to drag click.
How to drag click
If you’ve thoroughly cleaned your mouse and clicking finger, it’s practice time. Place your finger over the mouse button so that your fingertip is barely making contact with the button. Then slowly glide the finger over the mouse button while moving your wrist upwards. The video above explains the drag-click procedure perfectly. Just follow the movements shown on it, and you should drag click in no time.
Do note that if you have a mouse without highly sloped downwards buttons or where the buttons are separate elements and not parts of the mouse body (like on our Logitech G305), you might want to use a different tactic. Instead of moving the finger with your wrist, try moving it forwards with your whole arm while keeping the wrist stationary.
This way, it’ll be much easier to learn how to drag click if you’re a total beginner to drag clicking like we are. Just remember that keeping your wrist stationary while drag clicking can be painful. Combine this with placing the fingertip perpendicular to the mouse button so that you’re drag clicking with the part of your fingertip that’s just below the nail, and you should learn the procedure in about five minutes.
After you learn how to drag click without moving your wrist, we recommend that you slowly start moving the wrist while performing drag clicks. Once you know how to drag click with the wrist movement, you’re pretty much ready. Now all you have to do is to practice and improve your technique. The most important part is consistency. You want to perform a drag click each time you move your finger across the mouse button. And that needs patience and practice.
If you’re having a hard time while trying to drag click, you’re probably pressing the mouse button too hard. It’s like equipping your PC with top-of-the-line components and then packing them inside a zero-airflow case. You can, and should, do better than that. If your finger is pressing the button like a maniac, you’ll press the button even before your finger starts moving. And keeping the switch pressed while gliding the finger across the mouse surface. Of course, you don’t want to keep the mouse switch actuated. You want to create friction and let the resulting vibrations press the mouse switch.
Next, you should know that drag clicking will degrade your mouse switches much faster than regular clicking. Clicking the switch over 20 times each second is detrimental to the longevity of the switches, so make sure you understand the consequences before you try to drag click. Finally, some Minecraft servers don’t look too kindly on players who drag click. If you don’t want to get banned, check your server drag click stance before you start to drag click like there’s no tomorrow.
Best mice for drag clicking
Now, let’s talk about the best drag-click mice. Users all over the internet swear in the A4 Tech Bloody series of mice, especially the A60 and A70. And we can see why. Both mice feature a high body arc with its apex placed directly in the middle of the mouse body. This design, combined with the buttons being part of the body and a generous amount of space between the button and the switch, makes these mice perfect for drag clicking.
So, if you’re looking for a good drag click mouse, these are the features to look at. A mouse with a high arc from the side, with its left and right buttons being part of the body and not separate elements. The last feature, lots of space between the button and the switch, isn’t as important, but it certainly helps. And don’t forget that you can drag click on almost every mouse.
We thought it was impossible to drag click on the G305 due to the design and separate buttons. But after practicing for a couple of minutes, we managed to pull off quite consistent drag clicks. Not every try resulted in that sweet sound of our finger pressing the mouse switch dozens of times each second, but we’re slowly getting there. And don’t forget, a high framerate is also essential for PvP games, including PvP Minecraft.