Radio frequency (rf) sputtering is used for the deposition and etching of thin layers. In both cases the target etch rate must be controlled, and often power input has been used as one of the controlling parameters. An earlier paper has shown that the applied rf target voltage (Vpp) was a more useful parameter, and here new data is presented which indicates that the peak‐to‐peak voltage remains the preferable parameter for both etch rate control and in transferring between machines. However, a new method is described here which obtains the discharge power by subtracting losses from the total power reading. This discharge power is shown to be related to etch rates, and can thus be used as an aid in the scaling of system sizes. In addition, this discharge power exhibits interesting behavior as the pressure is varied, at constant applied rf voltage. Three main regions are evident when etching Si with CF4: at low pressures directional ion‐induced etching is obtained; in an intermediate region the input power rises rapidly with pressure and the etching is less directional resulting in overhang profiles; and at high pressures an isotropic etching component results in undercut profiles. The two extreme regions correlate with the commonly identified regimes of: (a) low power input, low pressure reactive sputter etching, and (b) high power input, high pressure plasma etching.