Common misconceptions about lag- by Jediknightkrazy

April 18, 2008 at 2:23 pm | Posted in Tips, Tricks and Help | 5 Comments

Seeing Sonic Boy’s recent blog post, I thought I’d clear up a few things on lag:

All lag is caused by my ancient computer.

WRONG! There are two types of lag: client and server. Let me explain:

The “client” is your computer, and every other player’s computer. The server is a computer at ROBLOX HQ which you all connect to while playing an online place.

These “servers” aren’t supercomputers, though… heavy physics simulations, lots of bricks/snaps to manage, can make EVERYONE connected to the server lag.

Okay… but the rest of the lag is caused by my computer!

Not necessarily. Sometimes your internet connection will be slow, and delay the time that your computer and the server can communicate. Here’s some tips to determine the type of lag:

1. Move the camera around a bit. If the camera moves smoothly, then the lag is on the server or your internet.
2. If your character is moving painfully slowly, then your server is bogged down. Try a different server.
3. If your character takes a couple of seconds to respond to your input (i.e. controls, keypresses), then the lag is probably your ISP. Go to http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ to determine your current speed.

If my place lags, I need to nuke some bricks and snaps.

Not always. Many times, a server will be hosting more than one place, and maybe the other places have too many bricks/snaps/physics, and your place is fine. Try another server (that is, leave, shutdown, Visit Online) and see if the problem persists.

Basically, there are three kinds of lag:

1. Render lag. ROBLOX is drawing more bricks than your computer can handle. Camera movement is choppy. Character is moving at normal speed, but movement is very choppy.
2. Connection lag. Your internet connection is slow. Camera movement is smooth, and things are moving at normal speed, but character takes a few seconds to respond to your commands.
3. Server lag. This is what most of us think of when we think of lag. There is too much going on on the server. Camera movement is smooth, but things are moving at a snails pace, one… step… at a… time.