A lagometer is a display of
network latency
Network delay is a design and performance characteristic of a telecommunications network. It specifies the latency for a bit of data to travel across the network from one communication endpoint to another. It is typically measured in multiples ...
on an Internet connection and of rendering by the client. Lagometers are commonly found in computer games or
IRC
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called ''channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat and ...
where timing plays a large role.
Quake and derived games commonly have them.
Advanced lagometer consists of two lines - bottom and top. The bottom line advances one pixel per each snapshot received from server (by default they are being sent at 20 snapshots per second rate), while the top one advances one pixel per each frame that is rendered by client. Thus, if the machine framerate was 20 per second, both lines - top and bottom - would run at the same speed.
Bottom bars correspond to delay before sending a snapshot by a server and receiving it by a client (so called "ping"). The shorter the bar, the smaller the ping was. Red bars mean that the frame has not arrived on time, yellow ones - that the snapshot was suppressed to stay under the rate limit.
Top bars can be drawn in blue or in yellow. While server snapshots are usually received at lower rate as the client framerate, the software interpolates position and movements until it gets an update from a server, when it adjusts own state accordingly.
The height of upper bars is proportional to the interpolated time between snapshots received (so as long as they come regularly, it stays below the "zero line" and is drawn in blue), or - if snapshots stop to arrive on time - is extrapolated after the last snapshot expected (then bars cross the "zero line" and are drawn in yellow).
If those bars stay yellow for too long, client is forced to interpolate its frames beyond the "reasonable level" and finally, when the snapshot arrives, the prediction turns out to hardly correspond to the server-side version, which results in a jerky, non continuous movement of scenery (obviously lowering the quality of gameplay).
Some games that use a "lagometer" will simply remove a player from the game if their lag is too high.
In the game Minecraft, the lagometer is displayed on the debug screen, as a line graph that will go up when lag spikes.
Use the following console commands for the following games:
{, class="wikitable" border="1"
, -
! Game
! Console Key
! Command To Turn On
! Command To Turn Off
! Notes
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,
Call of Duty
''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...
, Tilde (~)
, cg_lagometer 1
, cg_lagometer 0
, Use 'seta % #' prior the command to make the command permanently.
, -
,
Call of Duty: United Offensive
, Tilde (~)
, cg_lagometer 1
, cg_lagometer 0
, Use 'seta % #' prior the command to make the command permanently.
, -
,
Call of Duty 2
''Call of Duty 2'' is a 2005 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in most regions of the world. It is the second installment of the ''Call of Duty'' series. Announced by Activision on April 7, ...
, Tilde (~)
, /cg_drawLagometer "1"
, /cg_drawLagometer "0"
, Use 'seta % #' prior the command to make the command permanently.
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,
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
, Tilde (~)
, /cg_drawLagometer "1"
, /cg_drawLagometer "0"
, Use 'seta % #' prior the command to make the command permanently.
, -
,
Call of Duty: World at War
, Tilde (~)
, /cg_drawLagometer "1"
, /cg_drawLagometer "0"
, Use 'seta % #' prior the command to make the command permanently.
, -
,
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
, N/A
, /drawLagometer "1"
, /drawLagometer "0"
, In game console is not available.
Use config file (config_mp.cfg) to change default values.
Use 'seta % #' prior the command to make the command permanently.
, -
,
Call of Duty: Black Ops
, Tilde (~)
, /drawLagometer "1"
, /drawLagometer "0"
, Use 'seta % #' prior the command to make the command permanently.
, -
,
Quake III Arena
''Quake III Arena'' is a 1999 multiplayer-focused first-person shooter developed by id Software. The third installment of the ''Quake'' series, ''Arena'' differs from previous games by excluding a story-based single-player mode and focusing prima ...
, Tilde (~)
, /cg_lagometer 1
, /cg_lagometer 0
, -
,
Quake Live
''Quake Live'' is a first-person arena shooter video game by id Software. It is an updated version of ''Quake III Arena'' that was originally designed as a free-to-play game launched via a web browser plug-in. On September 17, 2014, the game wa ...
, Tilde (~)
, /cg_lagometer 1
, /cg_lagometer 0
, cg_lagometer 2 to display the client ping estimation too
, -
,
Tremulous
''Tremulous'' is a free and open source asymmetric team-based first-person shooter with real-time strategy elements. Being a cross-platform development project the game is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
The game features two opposi ...
, Tilde (~)
, /seta cg_lagometer 1
, /seta cg_lagometer 0
, -
,
Star Trek: Elite Force II
, Tilde (~)
, cg_lagometer 1
, cg_lagometer 0
, -
,
Star Wars: Jedi Knight
, Tilde (~)
, /cg_lagometer 1
, /cg_lagometer 0
, -
,
Source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
engine games
, Tilde (~)
, net_graph 1
, net_graph 0
, net_graph 2 or net_graph 3 for increased detail
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,
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
, Tilde (~)
, /cg_lagometer 1
, /cg_lagometer 0
, -
,
Medal of Honor: Spearhead
, Tilde (~)
, cg_lagometer 1
, cg_lagometer 0
, -
,
Return To Castle Wolfenstein
''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' is a first-person shooter video game published by Activision, released on November 19, 2001, for Microsoft Windows and subsequently for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Linux and Macintosh. The game serves as a reboot of the ...
, Tilde (~)
, /cg_lagometer 1
, /cg_lagometer 0
, -
,
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...
, N/A
, F3
, F3
, In game console is not available.
The lagometer can be visible either by pressing Shift + F3, which toggles visibility, or through the use of mods such as OptiFine.
, -
,
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance (Forever)
, N/A
, F11
, F11
,
, -
,
Roblox
''Roblox'' () is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program games and play games created by other users. Created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 20 ...
, N/A
, !fps
, !fps
, It can be used in some games
Game terminology