How to Fix Call of Duty Lag and Ping Issues
Call of Duty Warzone needs no introduction to gamers who are into the battle royale genre. For those who don't know, Call of Duty Warzone is a battle royale game that took the battle royale scene by storm on the day of its launch. Some of the major reasons for its success include it being free to play and having one of the greatest gameplay mechanics that Call of Duty fans have ever seen.
While Warzone is insanely popular, it is no stranger to lag and high ping issues that prove to be one of the worst nightmares of the gaming community. Here we will discuss all there is to know about Call of Duty lag and ping issues.
What is Call of Duty Lag
The time delay between an input and its appropriate response that has to be displayed on a user's screen is called lag. Lag can be very annoying to deal with, however, it is always present whether you play Call of Duty Warzone or not. Lag only becomes an issue when it becomes large enough that it is easily noticeable or causes a degradation in a gamer's in-game performance.
You may have experienced lag several times while playing Warzone. Let's say you are about to enter a building. You press the button on your keyboard to vault into the window but it takes about a second or two for your character to actually start the vault animation. This is lag.
What is Ping
It is not uncommon to hear both lag and ping in the same sentence. As gamers are obsessed with getting as high of a framerate as possible, they are also obsessed about getting the lowest possible ping. To understand why low ping is such a sought-after feature, let's understand what ping actually is.
Ping is basically the exact measurement of the time it takes a packet of information to reach the server, in our case, the game server, from a computer then back to the computer. Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms). Think of the packets of information as cars on a highway going from point A to point B. The time it takes for these cars to go from point A to point B and then back to A can be thought of as their ping.
Cars moving on the freeway have a speed limit, and if they maintain that speed regardless of where point A or point B is, the time it takes for them to go from point A to B then back to A will depend entirely upon the distance between point A and Point B. In the same way, the packets of information can only travel so fast. Because the speed of the internet data is constant, the time it takes for internet data to move will depend entirely on the distance. The further the server is from a particular computer, the higher the ping will be.
High Ping and Call of Duty Ping Issues
As discussed, ping is just a measure of time that it takes game data to travel. This means having some ping is unavoidable because it will always take some time for data to travel from a computer to the game server then back. While you can get near zero pings on LAN setups, the ping is not actually zero. Ping becomes a real problem when it gets too high. High ping is especially problematic in fast-paced games like Call of Duty.
What are Call of Duty Ping Issues
Ping issues can include several different annoying experiences however, some people confuse ping issues and lag to be the same thing. While ping issues do cause lag of some sort, they also include other problems. Some of the most common ping issues are high ping, ping spikes, rubberbanding, and network lag.
High ping induces network lag that can sometimes cause a delay of up to 4 seconds between an input and its appropriate action on the screen. If ping gets high enough, it may cause a super annoying experience called rubberbanding and, it makes a game completely unplayable. Ping spikes may also cause rubberbanding or lag.
Call of Duty Network Lag
High ping induces network lag that can sometimes cause a delay of up to 4 seconds between players making input and its appropriate response displayed on the screen. Playing a fast-paced game with high ping and network lag can put you at a serious disadvantage. Enemies can peak you and kill without you even having a chance to see them and your bullets start feeling they are made of rubber.
Call of Duty Rubberbanding
If ping gets high enough, it may cause a super annoying experience called rubberbanding and, it makes a game completely unplayable. Imagine trying to move forward while trying to run away from the toxic gas in Call of Duty Warzone, and you keep moving one step back for every two steps you move forward. This is rubberbanding in a nutshell, and these steps backward can occur as frequently as every second.
What is Good Ping
While we have discussed what ping is and what sorts of problems a high ping can cause, it is time to now explain what ping is actually considered high.
Exceptionally Low Ping – 20ms: It's not easy getting ping times lower than 20ms. For a ping lower than 20ms, your computer needs to be really close to the game server that you are playing on. An example of this situation is living in Luxemburg while being connected to the Luxemburg server. If you manage to get ping lower than 20ms, you don't need to stress about your ping anymore. A ping lower than 20ms will get you the most perfect gaming experience possible with zero to minimal perceivable lag.
Very Good Ping – 20 to 70ms: A reasonable ping that you can expect from a good gaming setup is anywhere between 20ms and 70ms. This is also a great ping to have, and you will not have to deal with any game-breaking lag, especially if the ping is nearer to 20ms than it is to 70ms.
Good Ping – Below 100ms: 100ms is currently the benchmark for recommended ping. Most gamers are recommended to aim for a ping that is lower than 100ms. With a ping below 100ms, you won't be able to experience any game-breaking lag however, it may be noticeable in some cases.
Playable – 100 to 150ms: As you get above 100ms, the ping only remains in the playable territory. This means that you will most definitely feel network lag and in some cases, you may even jump into game-breaking lag that will cause serious degradation in your in-game performance.
Unplayable Ping – Over 200ms: Ping over 200ms is not playable at all. You can try adjusting to it but you will be at a major disadvantage with a massive drop in your in-game performance. It is not recommended to play any game over 200ms ping. If you are getting over 200ms ping, it means that there is a serious issue with your network that needs fixing.
What Causes Call of Duty Lag
Lag can arise due to both network-related issues and hardware-related issues. However, we will discuss lag caused by hardware-related issues here because network-related issues will be covered in the "What Causes Call of Duty Ping Issues" section.
The most common type of hardware-related lag is input lag. Input lag is most commonly the byproduct of a low framerate. You may not have a consistently low ping but, if you are facing frequent framerate dips, you will certainly experience input lag.
What Causes Call of Duty Ping Issues
Ping issues almost always arise due to an issue with your network connection. These issues can range from major problems like visible damage on your Ethernet cable all the way up to tiny problems like windows update being downloaded in the background while you play games.
Because ping issues are related to networks, they are very hard to diagnose and even harder to fix. Even with tons of fixes available on the internet for ping issues, there is not a single one with a guarantee to fix your exact problem.
Call of Duty Lag Fixes
When it comes to hardware-related fixes, they can be some of the easiest to implement. However, these fixes may become expensive as some of them include upgrading a part of your gaming setup. As we have discussed the most common type of lag not related to the network is input lag and, it almost always arises due to a drop in framerate. Here are some of the potential fixes that you can try to fix your lag.
System Requirements
The first thing that any gamer should do before installing a game is making sure that their computer meats, preferably exceeds, the recommended system requirements for the game. Here are the recommended system requirements for Call of Duty Warzone.
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor: Core i5-2500k or better (Intel) / Ryzen R5 1600X or better (AMD)
Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 970 or better (NVIDIA) / Radeon R9 390 or better (AMD)
RAM: 4GB
Available Hard Disk Space: 175 GB
Direct X: 12.0
Network: Broadband Internet Connection
Graphics Settings
If you have a computer system that is more than capable of running Call of Duty Warzone and cranking out over one hundred frames and, you are still experiencing lag then you should probably check your graphics settings. The most important thing that you should check is the resolution that you are running on. Your computer may only be able to push one hundred frames on 1080p while you might be running the game on 4k. Play around with your settings and tweak them for maximum performance.
Background Applications
If you have tried tweaking your graphics settings and testing them on the lowest preset, and lag is persisting, then you are probably inducing unnecessary stress on your computer. This stress can come from unnecessary programs that are running in the background while you are playing games. Open task manager and close all applications that you are not using including browser tabs. Do not close those applications that you are not sure about. You don't have to worry about communication as you can use Discord and TeamSpeak.
Corrupted Game Files
Sometimes game files can get corrupted and cause frequent game crashes and even lag. Gameplay launchers have an option that allows players to verify game files. Verify game files for Call of Duty Warzone and it might fix your lag issue however this is not a guaranteed fix.
Driver Updates
Developers and hardware manufacturers are constantly trying to make the gameplay experience better for gamers. Hence, both developers and hardware manufacturers release regular updates for their games and hardware respectively. Make sure that you are playing on the latest build of the game. Also, make sure that your windows and graphics card drivers are up to date.
Sometimes a driver update for your graphics card or a windows update can cause a framerate drop and input lag. So if you are experiencing lag right after an update, you can try reverting to a previous version.
Call of Duty Ping Fixes
Ping fixes usually have something to do with your network and, as discussed above, they are usually very tedious and time-consuming to diagnose. Here are some of the most common network-related fixes that you can try to resolve the ping issues that you are facing.
Wired Connection
Wired connections are always better than wireless connections. This is because wired connections have to deal with no obstacles while transmitting data, while wireless data transmission has to deal with stuff like walls and furniture. Wireless connections are not stable and may cause packet loss and ping spikes. For a better gaming experience free of ping issues, try switching to a wired connection.
Gaming Routers
If you are not able to switch to a wired connection from a wireless connection, you should try getting a Wi-Fi router that is designed for gaming. Gaming Wi-Fi routers help in stabilizing the network connection and help in reducing all kinds of ping issues.
Network Limitations
A common household internet connection can only do so much because of the limited bandwidth. When there are several users connected to your internet connection, they usually use up all the bandwidth and leave little to nothing for your gaming. This also causes ping spikes and rubberbanding. To fix this you can try getting a separate connection. If a separate connection is not an option for you, you can try upgrading your connection to a faster bandwidth.
Damaged Cables or Hardware
Damaged cables are a no-go even if you are not facing any ping issues. If you are not facing any ping issues at the moment and your internet cables are damaged, the ping issues will start soon so it is better to replace them now. If your router is damaged or dusty then it is time for either an upgrade or cleaning. Cleaning your router may help fix your ping issues.
Background Updates and Downloads
Just as background applications can cause unnecessary stress on your hardware, background updates or downloads can cause unnecessary stress on your network. Make sure that windows are not downloading any updates while you are playing a game. It is also not a great idea to download any other large files while playing games.
WTFast
WTFast is a Gamers Private Network (GPN) that can help eliminate all the ping issues and lag that you are facing while playing Call of Duty Warzone. Diagnosing and finding potential fixes for network-related ping issues can take lots of time and effort. If you do not have spare time to figure out a potential fix for the ping issues, you should defiantly give WTFast a try.
WTFast switches your connection onto a network that is optimal for gaming. For an unmatched lag-free gaming experience get WTFast today.
