High Latency (Ping), Hit Registration Issues, and Lag

Delayed hit registration, lag, player "teleporting" (rubberbanding), and high latency (ping) all point to network connection issues. The root cause always lies somewhere along the connection line—between your PC and the game server.

If you are getting disconnected or kicked back to the lobby or main menu mid-match, please check this article. Below, we will focus exclusively on network lag and its impact on hit registration.

The red network icons showing three computers in the center of your screen indicate a communication disruption between your PC and the game server. This is usually caused by temporary packet loss or network congestion (insufficient bandwidth). Background apps hogging the internet bandwidth or the specifics of your network setup can cause this. Issues with the router might also contribute to this problem. If the equipment is working fine, please contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP), the company that provides internet access.

High latency (ping) slows down communication with the game server, which can cause successful shots to register later than they should. The higher the ping, the more likely you are to experience these delays.

The ping value depends entirely on your ISP, not the game server. All game servers are located in the same physical facility, known as a data center. This is where we host our game servers. While multiple machines inside the data center combine to form what we call the game server, the facility itself is a physical building in a fixed geographic location. Because all our end-nodes are physically close to each other, latency does not increase on our end.

What Causes High Ping?

Ping values are determined by the data routing used by both the local internet service provider (ISP) and upstream (backbone) network providers.
The local ISP provides internet access but relies on upstream providers to transmit data across long distances.
Most often, it is these upstream backbone networks that impact connection latency the most.
Ping values can spike due to technical issues, or because the local ISP switched to a different upstream provider that uses less optimal routing paths.
For example, if the game server is located in Moscow and the player lives in Saint Petersburg, an upstream provider might route data to Moscow through Europe or the southern regions of Russia.

How to Lower Your Ping

If connection latency spikes at the first nodes of the network path, it means the issue can be resolved directly by the local provider.

If the ping increase occurs at distant nodes, the problem lies within the backbone network. However, you should still contact your local ISP so they can escalate the issue to their upstream provider.

Unfortunately, in most cases, we cannot influence upstream providers, as they work exclusively with the local ISPs that utilize their services.

If your local provider is unable to resolve the situation, the only remaining solution is to switch to a different ISP.

This is not always possible and is often inconvenient, but sometimes it is the only way to improve connection quality.

When using ISPs that provide mobile (3G/4G) internet, ping is usually high. This type of connection is not intended for online gaming and does not meet the necessary stability and latency requirements.

ADSL telephone line connections are often unstable.

We recommend using a wired internet connection.

What Data to Provide to the ISP

Before contacting the ISP, you need to collect the diagnostic files using a special utility. You can find instructions on how to do this here. Once the process is complete, an archive containing the files will be generated.

Your ticket to the ISP support team can be phrased as follows:

"Hello, I am a customer of your internet services, and I am currently experiencing high latency (ping issues) when connecting to the online game Warface. I have run a network diagnostic to the game servers and attached a file with the ping and tracert logs. Could you please review the routing paths and let me know how we can reduce the response time to these game servers?

Game Server Information:

  • Data is transmitted via TCP and UDP protocols. Ports: 5222, 60000–65000
  • Main Server Address: s1.warface.ru
  • Moscow Regional Server: global.ping.warface.ru
  • Novosibirsk Regional Server: novosibirsk.ping.warface.ru
  • Khabarovsk Regional Server: khabarovsk.ping.warface.ru
  • Rostov-on-Don Regional Server: rostov.ping.warface.ru
  • Astana Regional Server: astana.ping.warface.ru

Note: Server IP addresses are subject to change. You can resolve the current IPs by running a ping command to the respective hostnames listed above."

Please provide this information and the diagnostic archive to your ISP.

What to Do If the Traceroute Shows "Request Timed Out"

If you see a "Request timed out" message on one or more hops during a traceroute, it means that specific network node is configured to ignore ICMP requests (the tracert and pathping commands).

It looks like this:

If there are no issues on subsequent hops, it indicates that network traffic is flowing properly. This message alone does not indicate a connection problem. However, if you still cannot log into the game, please follow the troubleshooting steps in this article.

More detailed information about the internet connection can be gathered using the WinMTR utility.

Important! The ping value depends on the internet service providers (both local and upstream). In both cases, only the local provider has the ability to address the issue. If the local provider is unable to resolve it, the only definitive solution is to switch to a different ISP. In the vast majority of cases, we cannot influence the ping values to the game servers. If any global issues occur on the game servers, an announcement will be published on the official game website.

Even with a high-quality internet connection and low server response times, successful shots may occasionally register slightly later than expected. This is due to the server-side hit registration and position prediction systems, which are constantly refined. We are currently sharing data with the development team so they can continue fixing potential bugs and improving performance.

If additional information is required for the ISP, or if the issue is specific and not covered above, please create a support ticket using the link at the bottom of this page.