How to lower your ping

Modern online games require a lot of resources from your computer. But sometimes, even if you have an above average or cutting edge machine, it is still possible to experience ping issues. Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms) and represents the elapsed time between when your computer sent a data packet to a server and the server received it.

When playing online multiplayer games, a decent ping is under 60ms, while a ping value of 20-30ms is near perfect. Unfortunately, there are times when you just can't achieve a high enough ping to beat your opponents. If you can figure it out, check out the rest of this article on how to improve your ping.

How to lower your ping and improve online play

As many factors affect the quality of your game server connection, there is a list of things you can do.

• Make sure to disable any updates that may be running in the background. These are the most likely cause of high pings because they will download without you realizing it, eating up your internet bandwidth.
• If you are running multiple apps in the background while playing an online game, this can also use up a lot of your device's resources and cause connection issues. The best practice, in this case, is to close all background applications and allow your computer or console to devote itself entirely to the game you're playing.
• If you're using a Wi-Fi connection, the first thing to try is resetting your router.
• Then try moving the router around in hopes that your gaming device picks up a better signal.
• Sometimes there may be one or two devices nearby that are interfering with the Wi-Fi signal. Try moving any suspicious devices to another room, just to make sure that they are not the one causing the problem.
• If none of this works, you need to connect your device directly to the router using an Ethernet cable. This will provide a connection that is much less susceptible to any outside interference.
• Finally, check the system requirements for the game you are playing. If your computer fails to process all the information in time, then network lag may appear. To resolve this issue, make sure to use the graphics settings that the game automatically recommends. If that doesn't fix the high ping, try lowering the screen resolution or visual detail quality.

If none of these options help you improve your ping significantly, you can try playing around with the game settings. Since each game has specific features, the next sections will cover some of the most popular games today.

How to Lower Your Ping on Roblox

When playing Roblox online, the first thing to do is to check the graphics settings of the game. Depending on your computer configuration, lowering the graphics quality a little can improve your ping.

1. Press "Escape" on your keyboard to bring up the main menu.
   
2. Click on "Charts" to open the appropriate settings.
   
3. Change the "Graphics Mode" from "Automatic" to "Manual".
   
4. Now try narrowing down some of the available options and see how well the game goes after that.

Once you strike the right balance between looks and performance, your ping will likely improve.

How to lower your ping in Fortnite

If you've done your best to make the connection to the game server the best it can be, it's time to check out the game options that might help you.

1. During the game, press the "Esc" key on your keyboard.
   
2. Click on “Settings”.
   
3. In the top menu, click on the game settings icon, the one that looks like a cog.
   
4. In the “Language and region” section, navigate to the “Pairing region” option.
   
5. On the right side of the screen, you should see the available regions that you can use. Select the one with the lowest latency – the number in parentheses next to the region name. For example, you might find something like this: NA-WEST (52MS). This is for the western part of the North America region, which has a decent ping of 52 milliseconds, on average.
   

Once you've moved to the region with the lowest ping, simply exit out of settings and continue playing.

How to Lower Your Ping on PS4

To quickly improve the ping on your SONY PlayStation 4, follow these steps:

1. In the home menu, go to "Settings".
2. Select network. »
3. Select “Configure Internet Connection”.
4. Select "Wi-Fi" or "LAN", depending on the connection you are currently using. To avoid confusion, LAN is the Ethernet cable connection.
5. Choose your router from the list and press the "Option" button on the controller. Now you can check if it works on 5 GHz or 2,4 GHz frequency. If your PS4 is in the same room as your router, choose 5 GHz. Otherwise, opt for the 2,4 GHz option.
6. Now set the following options like this:
   1. IP Settings: Automatic
   2. DNSP hostname: Do not specify
   3. DNS Settings: Manual
7. The next step is to set the DNS settings. These will depend on your location, so use the following settings depending on your region:
   1. USA
      1. Primary DNS: 8.8.8.8
      2. Secondary DNS: 8.8.4.4
   2. Europe
      1. Primary DNS: 1.1.1.1
      2. Secondary DNS: 1.0.0.1
8. Now save the settings and exit the menu.

If you apply these settings, your ping should improve significantly. Otherwise, refer to the first section of this article for guidance on what to do next.

How to lower your ping on Xbox

After trying the steps in the first section of this article and your Xbox is still having ping issues, you may need to force reset its network settings. Here's how:

1. Go to the Xbox "Network Settings" menu.
   
2. Choose the “Disconnect” option.
   
3. Wait for the console to disconnect.
4. Once offline, wait 20-30 seconds.
5. Now select "Go Online" and wait for your Xbox to reconnect.
   

This will allow the router to assign a new IP address to your console, allowing it to get a lower ping.

How to reduce your ping on PC

Since most of the suggestions in the first section of this article are also for PCs, you should try them all first. If they don't help, here's another thing you can try.

Since your computer is probably using some sort of firewall or antivirus or even both, it would be wise to add your online games to their whitelists. Thanks to this, the firewall and/or antivirus will treat the communication between the game and its server as ordinary traffic. This will reduce the number of security scans, thus avoiding potential drops in connection speed responsible for high pings.

How to reduce your ping in Valorant

If you are experiencing high ping in Valorant, there is not much you can do other than the steps you can find in the sections above. Go through each of them, focusing especially on connecting to the servers that are geographically closest to you.

How to Lower Your Ping in Minecraft

To fix the lag in your Minecraft session resulting from high ping, try lowering the game's graphics settings drastically. If the high ping persists, you'll know that it's not the game settings that are causing it.

1. During gameplay, open the main menu, choose "Options" and go to "Video Settings".
   
2. Set “Graphics” to “Fast”.
   
3. Disable "Fluid Lighting".
   
4. Drastically reduce the "rendering distance".
   
5. Set “Frame Rate” to 60.
   

If the game isn't lagging anymore, you can go back to the video settings and start increasing some of the options until you find the right balance.

Additional FAQ

What does lower ping mean?

Reducing the ping means establishing a better quality connection between your computer and the game server you are using.

How can I reduce my ping?

When you talk about lowering your ping, it also means that you are trying to improve your connection speed. As mentioned above, you can reduce your ping in different ways. If you're using Wi-Fi, try moving your router or connecting it to your computer using an Ethernet cable. Also, be sure to connect to servers dedicated to your region or those that are geographically close.

Why is my ping so high?

There can be many reasons for this, the most common include poor Wi-Fi reception, network interference from nearby devices, or connecting to a server far from you. Additionally, the game's graphics settings can be set too high, sometimes causing the game to lag.

Is a higher ping better than a lower ping?

No it is not. A higher ping shows you how long it takes your computer to send a signal to the server. If it takes longer than expected, you will have higher ping values. You want to keep it as low as possible, which means there is almost no latency in the communication between your computer and the server.

Keep your ping low

Hope you now know how to lower your ping when playing video games. Whether it's a problem with your network settings or something specific to the game you're playing, chances are you'll be able to fix the problem.

Just keep in mind that most of the time ping issues stem from a bad network connection, rather than the game itself. And sometimes the fault is not on your side at all – the server you are on may be having problems at the time.

Did you manage to lower your ping? Which game did you have the most ping issues with? Please share your experiences in the comments section below.