Valve has historically taken a hard stance against external software that injects code into the Dota 2 process. The "Dark Dota" or "Dota 2 Hack" communities often bundled Delay Reducers with zoom hacks and auto-dodgers. Because of this association, many anti-virus programs and V (Valve Anti-Cheat) flag generic delay reducers as malicious.

Software like NoPing or ExitLag acts as a modern delay reducer by finding more efficient routing paths between your PC and Valve’s servers.

By default, Valve sets certain "lerp" (linear interpolation) values to prioritize smoothness over raw responsiveness. For the average player, this is beneficial. For the professional player, this "smoothing" feels like input delay—a slight disconnect between the click and the action.