What are the Different Types of Minecraft Server lag?

There are a few different types of lag that can occur on your Minecraft server. Reasons for this may vary so knowing the type of lag your experiencing will help you troubleshoot your server’s performance.

Server Lag (TPS lag)

Server lag can be measured by using the TPS rate. TPS refers to the ticks per second and you can get your server’s TPS by doing the /tps command. The TPS is the only type of lag that you can control as the server owner.

If the TPS is 20, you’re server is running flawlessly and you don’t need to change a thing. If the TPS is between 19.95 and 19.99, the lag is likely unnoticeable and most servers run at this TPS.

If the TPS is below 20 but above 18.00, the server is taking longer than usual to complete each tick. However, it is unlikely any lag will be noticeable and it is usually safe to ignore. If your TPS is below 18.00, then you should try to determine the cause to improve your server’s performance.

A server with a TPS below 16.00 is when lag may begin to become visible. It still may not be noticeable at 16 TPS, but the further below the more noticeable it will become.

Connection Lag (Latency / Ping)

Connection lag refers to latency or ping between a player’s client and your server. The higher the ping, the more lag that the player is experiencing. If a player is experiencing high latency, it’s usually because the server is physically located further away from them. If you have a choice, you should locate your server near where most of your players will be playing from.

Client Lag

Client lag is measured using FPS or frames per second, not to be confused with TPS. The FPS measures the client’s ability to display and process the frames of the game. FPS is purely client-side and the server’s performance doesn’t affect FPS.

Remember, the only type of lag you can directly control on your server is server lag or the TPS. While there are things you can do to help reduce other types of lag that players experience while on your server, there are some factors that are just out of your control.

If you require any further assistance, please contact our support at: https://shockbyte.com/billing/submitticket.php

Mitchell Smith

Managing Director @ Shockbyte

  • lag, Minecraft Java Edition, Minecraft Pocket Edition, Minecraft PC, Minecraft Bedrock
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