Unleashing the Power of Fortnite: How to Display Ping for Better Gaming Performance

As an avid Fortnite player, you’ve likely encountered the term “ping” frequently. But what is ping, and why is it crucial in Fortnite? This guide delves into the definition of ping, its significance, and methods to check and enhance your ping in Fortnite. Regardless of your platform (PC, console, or mobile), we have you covered. Let’s explore everything you should understand about ping in Fortnite!

What is Ping in Fortnite?

Ping is the signal intelligence data that measures the time in milliseconds (ms) needed for a data packet to travel from you to the server and then back. Higher ping rates are an indication that there will be a delay to visual reactions in real-time and the quality of the experience will be ‘laggy’. Fortnite shows ping along with other player statistics, collectively referred to as ‘HUD’ and ‘UI’ elements, in the top right corner of the screen when in-game.

Why is Ping Important in Fortnite?

Ping is important in Fortnite because it provides immediate feedback on the quality of a player’s internet connection. Packet loss, defined as the percentage of total packets entering the network that are lost, is the single largest contributor to decreased quality. This can seriously affect your gameplay by allowing opponents to win battles when you cannot respond in a timely manner. Referring to the number in the upper right-hand corner of the game screen helps users get a real-time snapshot of the quality of their connection.

How to Check Your Ping in Fortnite?

To check your ping in Fortnite on PC or consoles such as Xbox, or PlayStation, navigate to the game’s settings by selecting the three horizontal lines in the upper-right corner while in the lobby, tap the settings gear icon, or use the shortcut options Esc (PC) or Options (Xbox or PlayStation). Navigate to the Game UI Controller section and look for an option called Net Debug Stats. There you can find your FPS and ping values. If you don’t see Net Debug Stats, look for Status bar type instead. There you can still get your FPS and ping values by selecting Both instead of Off.

The answer to the question of why can’t I see my ping? on Fortnite can be that Fortnite is not optimized for ease of use. At times the game doesn’t allow you to check the ping in real-time while playing. As noted by one user, it is possible to see your ping by going through Windows or PlayStation network settings, but it won’t be an accurate number. For an average consumer, it’s fair to say that Fortnite simply does not provide an easy-to-find and standard way to check your ping on the game interface.

Checking Ping on PC

Showing ping on Fortnite on PC is a simple process which involves opening the game’s settings by going into the Game User Settings, turning it on, and resuming the match with the ping visible in the top right corner.

To have the ESAI provide a spoken answer, say Ok Google, turn on my mic then ‘How do I show my ping on Fortnite?’. Ping will be over 100 ms if the wifi router is too far away or if there is physical interference. It can also be impacted if there is heavy traffic on the local network. It can be improved by using an ethernet cable and moving closer to the router. Furthermore, inappropriate server utilization by other apps could also impact the game’s performance and players can use a GameBench tool to help them better understand how to resolve these problems.

Community/Progressive House producer, Gareth Emery frequently live streams himself playing Fortnite, and here he shows that console commands are necessary to show ping in Fortnite on PC – you can therefore not display the integer natively without doing this.

Checking Ping on Console

Experienced teams of guides at How to show Ping in Fortnite and other gaming companies report that measuring Fortnite ping on consoles and video game platforms is not as straightforward as on desktop and mobile devices. Therefore there are no easy ways to show ping in Fortnite on console compared to desktops and mobile devices.

As of March 2021, none of the consoles, including Playstation, XBOX, or Nintendo, include an in-game function to test ping. Users instead have to manually bring up DNS settings and monitor network performance to measure ping which is an annoyingly intrusive process that disrupts gameplay.

To check ping on consoles in Fortnite, follow this annoyingly obtrusive and disruptive procedure. Navigate on consoles to Network settings, Select Test network connection, then choose detailed results. On the first page, look for IP address. Next, go to a web browser and simply enter the IP address in the address bar and hit enter. Just this will show ping times to that particular IP address.

To expand even more, some gaming routers offer a feature that shows ping inside the game. You can search for gaming routers that show ping in an internet search engine or check gaming platforms’ technical forums whether they might have a solution for your system.

Checking Ping on Mobile

Checking Ping on Mobile in Fortnite can be accomplished in the same way as on a computer. Download a free Ping app from the Google Play or Apple App store. The next section provides a guide on how to check ping on mobile using the popular mobile Ping app, Network Master.

On iOS, once the Network Master app is successfully installed, you can choose Speed Test, then tap Get it start. The Latency/Ping upload and download speed will be showed.

With Android phones, install the Network Master app. Select the gradient curve in the lower right corner of the main menu. Operating in the same way as on iOS, press the go button to see the lists of server locations and check Fortnite server locations.

How to Improve Your Ping in Fortnite?

Your ping in Fortnite is determined by mainly two factors:

1. the quality of your ISP (Internet Service Provider), which provides your internet connection, and
2. the distance between the Fornite server you are using in the game and your home internet connection.

You can improve both factors to improve your ping in Fortnite. Here are some general steps to improve your ping so that it is always at a good level for your game requirements:

1. Use a wired connection: Wired or Ethernet connections are generally faster than wireless. So, if you have the option to connect your console or computer directly to your router, do so.
2. Limit the number of connected devices: The more devices there are sharing your internet connection, the less available bandwidth there is for your Fortnite game. Ensure that other devices, especially streaming devices, are turned off so that your game does not lag.
3. Be sure to limit background updates: Make sure your computer and other connected devices are not updating in the background. Game updates or other software downloads will reduce the available bandwidth for your Fortnite game.
4. Use tools that allow for internal bypass of typical internet choke points: This can be a service like Outfox or a VPN that offers you a better connection route, or that reduces the physical distance between you and the game server. These do often involve additional costs but can offer significant reductions in ping periods for your Fortnite gaming.
5. Upgrade your internet service to a higher performing one: ISPs and their internet plans vary in speed and quality.Realistically, depending on the infrastructure in your region, not all of them offer speeds that will work. Check the Fortnite system requirements or support page for minimum required speeds and compare that with the speeds available with your internet package with your ISP. If it is not good enough for your requirements, consider upgrading your package or switching to a different ISP.

Connect to a Wired Internet Connection

You will achieve a lower ping in Fortnite games if you connect via an ethernet cable as opposed to Wi-Fi. Because ethernet connections are faster with a lower latency, they have been the go-to standard for gamers since the early days of the internet. Connecting your PlayStation, Xbox, or PC to your modem or router with a category 6 (Cat6) or category 6a (Cat6a) ethernet cable should help you achieve the lower ping you desire.

Close Background Applications

Sometimes you can show ping in Fortnite by closing background applications. Background applications can consume your system’s processor and network bandwidth causing adversely prolonged latency spikes during gameplay. Especially applications running in the background like Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and torrent applications. Closing third-party applications from the background is an effective way to reduce the impact on network performance, thereby reducing latency caused by jitter from network degradation and processing delays.

Lower Your Graphics Settings

If you live in a remote place with a poor internet connection, lowering the graphics of your game can improve your ping and latency while you are playing Fortnite. This will make the game run smoother on your side and reduce the load on your network. During network congestion, lower graphics settings can help lighten the traffic on your network and improve the ping time of your game. Lightspeed’s Mohamed Musbah advises that the following settings are capable of providing a performance increase equal to lowering overal graphic quality.

• Shadows: Off
• Anti-aliasing: Off
• Textures: Low to Medium
• Effects: Low to Medium

How to Show Your Ping in Fortnite?

Show ping in Fortnite by pressing the Escape key (default `) or going to the game’s lobby near the character’s locker on the top of the screen. A numeric field next to the Wi-Fi bars that look like a satellite dish on the top right shows the ping in milliseconds.

Additional aid for showing ping in Fortnite past the standard method includes the HUD Scale setting. This lets you adjust the size of everything on the screen in Fortnite, from the map in the top left to the number of remaining players in the top right. Settings (Gear Icon) ▸ Game Performance ▸ Display HUD Scale. Moving this slider to the right will reduce the text and mission box sizes on the screen including the text size of the ping, making it harder to see. To increase it, move the slider to the left.

Enabling the Ping Display in Settings

To show ping in Fortnite, you must enable it in the User Interface settings. Perform the following concise steps to do so:

1. Click the Escape Key (default PC) while in Fortnite to bring up the Menu.
2. Select the Cog Icon for Settings.
3. Select the Game tab from the upper part of menu.
4. Scroll down and ensure that Show Ping is set to On.
5. Quit from Fortnite’s settings and check the game as your ping should now be displayed on the right side of your screen.

Using a Third-Party Program

You can show ping via third-party software if you go into Fortnite’s configuration settings to enable it. Fortnite developers do not officially support any third-party software that shows ping in the game directly. Game Rant recommends third-party software called Outfox. It is a VPN service that is used primarily to reduce lag, but it continuously displays a ping readout on your screen. Set Up Points is another option. The software is highly configurable and works with most video games.

Using a Ping Checker Website

A ping checker website can show your ping rate from your computer to servers the website is connected to. They cannot show your ping rate to Fortnite servers unless Fortnite actually connects to the website. You can scuttle through myriad websites that offer a check such as Ping-Test.net or Ping-Info.net. As of 2021 these websites are known to be unreliable as shown by their absence from a new list.

What is a Good Ping in Fortnite?

A good ping in Fortnite is defined as something less than 59 ms, according to the speed standards by the ITU (The International Telecommunication Union). This would mean the player perceives a nearly real-time communication with the server of 59 milliseconds. When the ping is less than 100 ms, players will not have to worry about communication lags by more than a tenth of a second in most cases.

According to the 1811 broadband speed recommendations by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a minimum speed of 3 Mbps for a game like Fortnite is suggested, within their general benchmark for 10 Mbps. This includes both the download speed, representing the bandwidth going from the server to the client, and the upload speed, representing the bandwidth the other way.

What Does High Ping Mean in Fortnite?

High ping means a high kill time in Fortnite. Faster ping times may help you get the jump on enemies quicker or provide a smoother experience if you regularly see jerky character movements onscreen.

Ping is the time measured in milliseconds that it takes for data to go from your computer to a server and back again. In the case of Fortnite, the server is the Fortnite game server and the data is the video graphics and player positions being shown on your screen. High pings suggest poor connection quality and do not bode well for playing. A high ping could be caused by out-of-date or cheap equipment, proximity to server, and internet congestion among other things. None of which players generally have control over. However, high consistent pings can suggest something is wrong with your settings or your internet.

Latency-sensitive apps and video games work best when a network connection’s latency is consistently low. For Fortnite, this is ideally under 50 milliseconds. Latency that ranges from 50 milliseconds to over 100 milliseconds can cause frustating gaming lag, where one player encounters a delay when interacting with another player who has lower latency. For Fortnite you can monitor your ping with and external network performance monitoring software such as Jitter, PingPlotter, or even playing another online game that shows your ping. A Google search should be able to assist you in the most current way to check your Fortnite ping.

What Does Low Ping Mean in Fortnite?

Low ping in Fortnite refers to a delay of less than 50 milliseconds, with 0 milliseconds ideal. Any delay upwards can impact smoothness, and a delay as high as 100 milliseconds can cause noticeable gameplay problems in Fortnite. It can be difficult in the moment to gauge the degree to which your ping is impacting your gameplay, but a low number is beneficial. Aiming and building are much easier when shooters have 10ms ping versus 50ms ping during the action.

Can You Reduce Your Ping in Fortnite?

Yes, you can reduce Fortnite’s latency and improve game quality and speed but not completely eliminate it. Latency mostly depends on distance from the Fortnite server and internet connection quality. To reduce ping in Fortnite through either of these channels requires physically moving to a new location and choosing a high-speed internet plan or asking ISP to devote more bandwidth to you during high peak usage hours.

Fortnite lags when multiple applications, browsers or streaming services are running at once and utilizing memory drained from Fortnite. It is important to make sure that all other applications on your device are closed during Fortnite gameplay.

Connection issues such as poor packet loss or high jitter are harder to fix. One possible point of improvement is the service plan provided by your ISP. If Fortnite is the only application running on a device or network connection is good, ping in Fortnite can only be lowered to a certain point, implying a necessity for acceptance that latency will always be present. The Ping reducer ExitLag will reduce high ping and latency, though never eliminate it altogether as it reduces ping in Fortnite to a level conducive to online game play.

US-based technology startup Network Perception, using proprietary network protocols for efficient online gaming, have received grant money from the National Science Foundation to explore networks supporting gaming environments through Machine Learning and source code techniques. Southeast Asia-based Evolve Company Limited is developing a network monitoring and optimization system that improves online game-playing experience.

Conclusion

Player ping in Fortnite can be displayed when playing the game in real-time through the detailed network stats which are only available when using a computer or mobile device to tether to cellular data. But consoles like the PS4 and Xbox are not flexible enough to do so. NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming can also be used if real-time ping cannot be caught while using personal devices by pre-downloading Fortnite on NVIDIA’s servers and accessing it remotely.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I turn on the ping display in Fortnite?
To show ping in Fortnite, go to the game settings and click on the “Game” tab. Then, enable the “Net Debug Stats” option under the “HUD” section.

2. Why is it important to display ping in Fortnite?
Ping is an important measure of your internet connection’s stability and can have a significant impact on your gameplay experience. Showing your ping in Fortnite can help you identify and troubleshoot any connection issues.

3. Can I customize the ping display in Fortnite?
Yes, you can customize the ping display in Fortnite by adjusting the “Net Debug Stats” option in the game settings. You can choose to display ping as a number or as a bar on your screen.

4. How can I improve my ping in Fortnite?
To improve your ping in Fortnite, try connecting to a closer server, reducing the number of devices on your network, or using a wired internet connection instead of Wi-Fi.

5. Is there a way to show ping on console versions of Fortnite?
Yes, you can show ping on console versions of Fortnite by enabling the “Net Debug Stats” option in the game settings. The ping will be displayed in the top right corner of your screen.

6. What is considered a good ping in Fortnite?
A good ping in Fortnite is typically below 50ms, but anything below 100ms should still provide a decent gameplay experience. If your ping is consistently above 100ms, you may experience lag and delays in the game.