Planning
How to read ping, latency and packet loss
Players say a server is laggy when it might be a network problem, a server performance problem, or both. Knowing the terms helps you tell which.
The key terms
- Ping or latency: the round-trip time in milliseconds between you and the server.
- Jitter: how much that ping changes from moment to moment. High jitter feels like stuttering.
- Packet loss: the percentage of data that never arrives. Even a small amount can cause rubber-banding.
Testing from your PC
- Open Command Prompt on Windows, or a terminal on Mac and Linux.
- Run ping followed by your server address.
- Look at the time values and the summary at the end showing packets lost.
For the route, use tracert on Windows or traceroute on Mac and Linux. On Linux and Mac, a tool called mtr can combine both. It shows each hop along the way.
Reading the results
- Steady low times and 0% loss: the network is healthy.
- Times that jump around: jitter, often caused by Wi-Fi or a busy connection.
- Any consistent loss: worth investigating.
- One hop in a traceroute showing loss while later hops are fine is usually harmless, because some routers deprioritise these replies.
Is it the network or the server?
- Ping is high or lossy, but the game itself runs smoothly in other ways: likely network.
- Ping is fine but actions are delayed or the world lags: likely server performance, such as low TPS, memory pressure or heavy plugins.
Check your server's Console and resource usage in the panel to see which it is.
Quick fixes on your side
- Use a wired connection instead of Wi-Fi.
- Pause downloads and streaming while playing.
- Restart your router.
- Try another DNS or a different network, such as mobile data, as a test.
When to contact us
If several players in the same region see the same problem, send us their ping and traceroute results through our Discord. Also tell us the time it happened, which helps us investigate. Some ICMP ping replies may be blocked by design, so a failed ping does not always mean the server is down.