Run the test above for at least 60 seconds. Here is what each
number means for this game specifically.
Red lines (packet loss)
Loss is why doors and ladders stop responding: the interaction packet never reached the server. If the chart is clean while doors still ignore you, the server's simulation is behind, not your connection.
Jitter (stability)
Jitter is what makes infected and players move in jumps. DayZ interpolates aggressively over a slow update rate, so uneven arrival is immediately visible as teleporting.
Ping (latency)
Under 80 ms is fine for DayZ - the game's own update rate is slow enough that shaving off 20 ms changes little. Above 150 ms, close-quarters fights become guesswork.
What you see in game, and which number on this page explains it.
DayZ has a reputation for desync that is entirely earned, but the word covers three separate failures with three separate fixes, and confusing them is why so many players change routers for nothing. The first is ordinary packet loss on your own line, and it is the one this chart measures. Red lines mean interaction and movement packets are disappearing, which is why doors ignore you and shots land seconds late.
The second is server frame rate. DayZ's simulation is largely single-threaded, which means it is bound by the clock speed of one core rather than the number of them. As player count, vehicles and built structures accumulate over a wipe cycle, that single thread falls behind. Servers running at 30 to 60 frames per second feel normal; sustained values below roughly 15 produce world-wide lateness for everyone connected, no matter how good their connections are.
The third is specific to DayZ and catches people out constantly: the network bubble. Rather than telling every client about every object on the map, the server only sends you what is near you. When you walk or drive within roughly a kilometre of a large built base, everything in it enters your bubble at once and the server floods your client with updates for hundreds of items. The stutter that follows is bandwidth arriving in a lump, not a fault, and it settles once your client has caught up.
Telling the three apart takes one question and one chart. Ask in chat whether others are seeing the same lateness while this test runs. Everyone late plus a clean chart is server FPS. Only you late plus red lines is your line. Only near one location is the bubble.
If the chart above shows packet loss or high jitter, work through
these in order.
Why does DayZ desync even with a good connection?
Because server FPS is a separate thing from your ping. DayZ simulates mostly on one thread; when the server drops below roughly 15 FPS, the world reacts late for everyone, and no connection fixes that.
What is the DayZ network bubble?
Each player only receives updates for objects near them. When a large base enters that radius - roughly a kilometre - the server sends the whole thing at once and the client desyncs until it has caught up.
What tick rate do DayZ servers run at?
There is no single figure; it depends on the server and its hardware. Server FPS is the number that matters, with 30-60 considered healthy. This test sends 30 packets per second.
Why do doors not open when I press the key?
The interaction packet did not reach the server, or the server is too far behind to process it. Red lines on this chart point at the first cause; a clean chart points at the second.