Latency

If you’ve ever run a server, played on a server or you’re Australian then the phrase “IT’S LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGING” probably sounds familiar.

Unfortunately this isn’t always something that’s easily correctable, providing you’ve ensured the issue isn’t related to your hardware the server runs on then you should consider the network and primarily latency.

Latency related issues can normally be identified by one of these factors being true.

• Blocks don’t automatically disappear after being mined
• One bar of connectivity in the tab menu
• You’re located on the other side of the planet

Technically speaking, the total duration of the request being sent from your machine, processed by the recipient and then sent back is measured in milliseconds ‘ping’ (latency). The longer it takes to process a request the more noticable and degraded your user experience becomes.

Note

If you’ve previously been able to join a Minecraft server without issues but you login the next day and it’s unplayable then the latency should resolve with time. This is most likely due to maintenance in a datacentre somewhere on the planet that your requests utilise.

Your ISP is unable to do anything about latency

Tools to Help

Unfortunately there is no single tool to fix your problem however if you’re looking at hosting a Minecraft server for friends split across the globe we’ve got some advice and test locations you can use to estimate your ping.

Testing Latency

Before you purchase a server, you will want to test the location for it’s ping. Vultr offer a wide range of locations that all support both IPv4 and IPv6 and respond to ICMP (ping), MTR and traceroute requests.

We have selected 4 of their locations that represent the most common locations offered by service providers. You can use any of these locations to get an indication of what your ping would be like to any future server you buy, it could also be worth sending these links to your community memebers to ensure you find the best compromise for your entire playerbase.

• https://lon-gb-ping.vultr.com - London, UK
• https://fra-de-ping.vultr.com - Frankfurt, DE
• https://tor-ca-ping.vultr.com - Toronto, CA
• https://sgp-ping.vultr.com - Singapore, SG

Ideal Ping

Generally you can tollerate higher than normal ping within Minecraft compared to FPS titles due to the fact it’s played at a slower pace.

Ping (MS)	Summary
0-10	You’re either hosting the server locally or the server is hosted within your city / country (providing you’re an FTTP customer).
11-50	This is where most of your connections will reside, most often will also account for servers hosted in neighbouring countries / states.
51-150	This is where you could start to see the occasional block break delay or quick movements might not work as expected. The avg Hypixel ping is roughly in this ball park.
151 +	Most lag related complaints will occur from players in this category (mostly from Asia / Aus). If you have a large audience in this region it would be worth considering a second server here.