How to fix VALORANT high ping (updated 2023)

At some point in our gaming careers, every single one of us has blamed something on high ping and lag spikes… whether justified or not.

Did you whiff a Vandal spray in VALORANT? Lag.

Did you accidentally let go of the defuse and lose the round? Lag.

Did you lose the 1v1 in Iso’s ult? Definitely lag.

(We know it definitely wasn’t your aim… but just in case, we’ll leave this here).

But for all the times we complain about it, when we are actually victimized by high latency, and when we do die because of internet issues, it’s one of the most infuriating experiences in the game. (And Omen forbid it happens in our comp matches.)

So, for our readers who have found themselves furiously Googling, “why am I lagging” or “how do I fix high ping in VALORANT,” this article is for you.

What is “ping”?

Before we explain how to fix your high ping, we need to know what exactly “ping” is.

One movement, one ping

Imagine you’re playing duelist in a game of Valorant, and you’re 5-man rushing a site on attack (generally a bad idea because splitting on attack on most maps—like Breeze—is better, but we’ll go with it for now).

As the duelist, your job is to get on site first and create space for your team, so you press the W key to run out. At this point, your computer sends a message to the VALORANT server: “hey, my user is pressing the W key, so their agent should be leaving A main now.”

Once that message reaches the server, your PC has done its job, but the process isn’t over. Now, the game’s server needs to respond, confirming the message and moving your duelist in the game.

When the PC has sent its message to the server, and the server has responded and adjusted the game accordingly, that’s the process complete: one ping.

That’s right, one ping. But a running, smooth game of VALORANT consists of millions of tiny actions, and the back-and-forth between your computer and the server needs to take place for every one of those actions…

And as you might surmise, for a smooth game with little to no lag, each one of these processes needs to happen incredibly quickly.

The good news is, they usually do! In fact, they’re usually completed in a matter of milliseconds.

The numbers… what do they mean???

This speed is precisely why, when you hover over your server list in the VALORANT client’s game-select screen, there’s a number next to each server name. This is the measure of the server’s “latency”: in milliseconds, latency is a measure of how quickly the back-and-forth process between your computer and the server completes.

(Technically speaking, when a teammate asks what your ping is for each server on the VALORANT server list, they’re really asking about the latency measurement. Ping measures the one-way travel time for the computer’s message to reach the server, or vice versa. Latency measures the total back-and-forth.)

Hopefully it’s clear why a lower number is always better when it comes to server latency: the lower the number, the less delay between your pressing a button and VALORANT’s response to your command.

Conversely, the higher the number, the more time between your pressing the W key and your agent actually coming out of A main… or even more maddening, between your left-click and the server’s actually registering your shot.

Have you ever engaged in an aim duel with an enemy Jett, heard your Vandal fire… but instead of getting the crispy one-tap, saw your screen go black instead?

Despite your toxic teammate’s reminder that “Aimlabs is free,” it may have not been an issue with your aim. It’s possible that your opponent’s latency was lower than yours—and therefore, even if you clicked each other’s heads at the same time, their shot simply registered with the server first.

As you might have gathered, a good gaming experience requires low latency and high response time… especially in a game that requires pinpoint precision, like VALORANT.

Ways to fix high ping

Now that we’ve talked about ping itself, let’s figure out ways to fix it if it gets out of hand, besides changing your server before you queue up a game. After all, your RR gains depend on it.

Check your downloads and running processes

If you’re a prolific PC gamer, you probably have several major clients installed on your computer… and chances are, one or more of them are probably running as you read this article.

The Steam, Epic, and Origin (and other similar) clients per se generally don’t consume many resources (although, it couldn’t hurt to close them to maximize your PC’s performance). However, for convenience, many of us leave autoupdates on for our favorite games.

Be careful: if one of the clients decides to start an autoupdate during your game, that could tax your download speeds and spike your latency. The same goes for any other program that could update without your permission… including Windows itself.

Other processes could similarly consume your download or upload bandwidth, so if you’re experiencing a ping spike, check to see if a YouTube video, antivirus, or other process is consuming your resources… and if you’re not sure, press CTRL+ALT+Delete and use Task Manager to check!

Check your hardware

In a pinch, there are some hardware adjustments you could try; keep in mind that tinkering with your gear will cause your connection to the game to drop and possibly cost your team a few rounds. However, that’s better than playing the whole game with an effective handicap!

• Restart your PC: If you’ve had your PC on for an extended period of time, you may have several process that have built up, consuming resources and bandwidth without your knowledge. Try restarting your PC to clear these processes.

• Restart your router: If you’re using a wireless connection, consider restarting your router to clear any possible hung processes, memory leaks, or errors that might be throttling your connection.

• Switch to ethernet: Speaking of wireless connection, if you are able to, we strongly recommend obtaining an ethernet cable and using a wired connection for VALORANT.

Wireless connection works, essentially, by passing packets of data via radio signals. Anything that gets in the way of these packets—such as walls, doors, a running microwave, or even other packets of wifi data—could compromise your connection speed and latency. Wired connections dodge this issue by preventing random packet interruption, so if you’re able to, try plugging into your router’s ethernet port.

And if you are restricted to using a wireless connection, consider moving your setup physically closer to your router to minimize the chance of packet interruption.

Check if someone else is consuming your bandwidth

If you live with other prolific internet users, or if you live in a dorm or apartment with shared internet, this affects you more. Other users’ engagement in heavy-bandwidth activities—such as streaming on Twitch, downloading heavy files, or watching YouTube videos—will consume network resources and result in less available speeds for you.

If you experience high ping in the middle of a match, and you’re sure that it’s not because of your equipment, check to see if someone else is using the internet and consider asking them to pause their activities until your match ends.

Check your internet service provider (ISP)

We acknowledge that because of geographical location, not everyone has a choice of internet service providers (ISPs); if this is you, please feel free to disregard this section.

When marketing their connection speeds, many ISPs advertise a high bandwidth figure, but the number they use usually refers only to download speed. Often, upload speeds will be significantly lower than download speeds—which means that the server will be able to easily send a response to your PC, but your PC will struggle to send information to the server.

Check your contract with your ISP to see how much download and upload speed you should have, then run an online ping test to check what you’re actually receiving. If the results significantly differ from what you should be receiving, contact your ISP to rectify the issue.

However, if your results match your contract but your connection still feels too low, take a look at alternative internet plans and see if you can upgrade your speeds.

While you’re at it, check to see if your ISP has data caps or throttling during peak hours—the former would affect you after a set amount of bandwidth use in a month, and the latter during high-usage hours in the day (usually the late afternoon and evening).

If you believe that data caps are causing your latency issues, consider downloading a VPN and changing your location—this might allow you to bypass geolocated data caps or on-peak throttles. (Incidentally, using a VPN is also one of the only ways to create a VALORANT account in a different region

Maybe not just a skill issue

Dying in VALORANT because of a skill gap is one thing. Dying because of hardware failure is another altogether. Hopefully this guide helped you identify and rectify some of the issues plaguing your latency, so you can get back to fragging out, lag free.

After all, like we said earlier, your RR depends on it.