Frequently Asked Questions

Question

My lag and ping are terrible. Can I do anything about it?

Answer

The following is from a post made by BigEye Half Life Engine "Three concerns to note. One - Part of the current lagging issue with ANY platform server is gameserver browsers, specifically "hlsw" - http://www.hlsw.net With the latest half-life server release, three new server side environment variables were added that change how client side browsers can interact with the half-life server. Two - It is quite possible that cheat detection may ALSO contribute to the lag, but only time will tell. Three - The best part, the default config.cfg file that comes with DoD is fubard and does NOT take into account broadband access, even if you choose broadband for your connection type. I will explain this last from an article that I found. So please continue to read. Here are the new env. variables: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- max_queries_sec . (default: 0.5) defines max queries per second per user (averaged over max_queries_window) max_queries_sec_global . (default: 10) defines max queries per second for all queries max_queries_window . (default: 30) defines time window to average query rates over ---------------------------------------------------------------------- There have been numerous other write-ups about these env. variables, so I won't go into detail, but basically the half-life developers seriously underestimated (or didn't care) how many people query through outside browsers. Hence, they set ridiculously LOW values and were arrogant enough not to explain to the gaming community that leaving the defaults would cause your server to be unusable. This explains why on Day 1 of the release why so many servers had problems. Now for the good part. You can control your gaming experience if you make appropriate choices and client-side settings (assuming the problem isn't a router or bad internet connection problem). Read on... What to do - Start DOD - Type 'net_graph 3' in the console after you have connected to the server. A real-time graph will be shown in the lower right corner of the screen. Type 'net_graph 0' to disable if you do not want to continue monitoring. The graph will show you inbound packets, outbound packets, ping, loss, and choke. - "ping" is how much time in Milliseconds (MS) it takes for a packet to travel from the server to you. - "Loss" is how many packets that are lost during transfer from the server to you. This could be due to a bad connection, not necessarily slow, but can be due to a bad route. However, the usual culprit is a mismatch between your bandwidth and the servers. i.e. your "pipe" is smaller than the servers and in order to receive the data that the server wants to send you, you will need to reduce the data from the server. - "Choke" is how many packets your computer is unable to upload because your connection is too slow and/or the server is requesting too much data. Here is how you can manipulate these controls for the client-side either through editing your config.cfg or entering them in your console. - "cl_updaterate XX" (where XX is set from the numbers below) - This sets how many updates per second to send to your machine. Modem = 15-25 Broadband = 25-40 I found my "default" set by the DoD_v1 installation was "20", middle-of-the-road modem. - "cl_cmdrate XX" (where XX is set from the numbers below) - This sets how many updates per second to send to server. Modem = 25-35 Broadband = 40-50 Again, I found my "default" set by the DoD_v1 installation was "30", which is middle-of-the-road modem. Obviously, if you have a broadband connection (Cable, DSL) then these are incorrect settings. "rate XXXX" - This sets the data transfer rate between server and client at any given time. There are quite a few differing opinions about this setting, but the developer set these at the following when Half-Life first came out. 28.8k = 1500-2200 33.6k = 2000-3500 56k = 3500-4000 ISDN = 4000-6000 xDSL, Cable, T1, etc = 6000-9999 NOTE on "rate" Setting your "rate" value higher/lower than the server's can cause you to have loss/choke. Review the guideline above concerning loss/choke. This setting is in direct relationship to the loss/choke settings. Use your game-browser (HLSW) to view the rate and set yours accordingly. The variables to look for are "sv_minrate" and "sv_maxrate". The server controls the actual amount of data that will be pumped out. It is usually best to set your "rate" according to your connection speed. If you have a 1.5 megabit connection (Cable, DSL) and the server's "sv_maxrate" is set to "9999", then you would be best to set your "rate" the same. "sv_minrate" The "sv_minrate" variable controls the "bare minimum" connection speed allowed by users. Using the chart above for "rate", most servers will set this value to "2500" to allow "most" modem users to be able to play. Servers can "force" lag on players by setting the "sv_minrate" variable to a number higher than dial-up modems are capable of achieving. "sv_maxrate" The "sv_maxrate" variable controls the "ceiling" connection speed bandwidth. Setting this too high could allow someone on a T3 connection to "steal" all of the bandwidth and lag everyone. As a general rule-of-thumb LOSS - controlled by "cl_updaterate" If you have "loss", then reduce your "cl_updaterate". If you don't have "loss", then you can try a higher "cl_updaterate" to reduce "ping". CHOKE - controlled by "cl_cmdrate" If you have "choke", then reduce your "cl_cmdrate". If you don't have "choke", then you can try a higher "cl_cmdrate" to reduce "ping". RATE Again, try and match your "connection" speed first, then the server's "sv_maxrate" second. NEVER exceed your "connection" speed's value (from the chart above). If you have both "loss" and "choke", then try reducing your "rate". If you have neither "loss" or "choke", then try increasing your "rate". Start off by setting your "cl_updaterate" and "cl_cmdrate" to a reasonable level at first, then try different rates. Increase the rate until you get loss and/or choke, then reduce your rate until the loss/choke stops. This will prevent high loss and/or choke in busy servers. It will take a few seconds before you will see the results of the commands, so don't increase/decrease the settings too quickly. Good luck.