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 an oGCD sometimes vanishes entirely in a double weave. The input never reached the server, the animation lock still ran on your client, and the ability is simply gone from the rotation.
Jitter (weaving reliability)
Weaving is the tightest timing in the game. Jitter changes the arrival time of the server's confirmation, so a weave that works nine times drops on the tenth - which is far more frustrating than a consistently high ping you can adapt to.
Ping (slidecast window)
Your round trip is added to every animation lock. Under 60 ms, double weaving is dependable; above 100 ms it stops being reliable at all, and slidecast windows shrink to the point where you must move earlier than the visuals suggest.
What you see in game, and which number on this page explains it.
Final Fantasy XIV should, in theory, be forgiving about latency: it is an MMO with a global cooldown measured in seconds, not a shooter decided in single frames. In practice it is one of the most latency-sensitive games people play, and the reason is a specific combination of design choices rather than poor networking.
The first is the three-second combat tick. Damage over time effects resolve on it, and many mechanics snapshot their state against it. The second is that area attacks are resolved by a snapshot taken when the cast completes, not when the explosion appears on your screen. That gap is what produces the most common complaint in the game - being hit by something you clearly walked out of - and it is not a bug. Your movement has to reach the server before the snapshot, and your round trip is added to that deadline.
The third is animation lock. Each ability locks you for a short period, and the end of that lock is confirmed by the server rather than assumed by your client. A higher round trip makes the confirmation arrive later and therefore lengthens the lock in practice. Double weaving - fitting two off-global abilities between two global cooldowns - lives inside that margin, which is why it stops being reliable somewhere above 100 ms.
The distinction that matters for diagnosis is between steady and unsteady. A consistent 130 ms is learnable: you press earlier, you move earlier, and your rotation holds. An unstable 60 ms is not, because the correct timing changes from one global to the next. That is why jitter, not the headline ping number, is what this page asks you to look at first - and why a lost packet, which removes an ability outright, is worse than either.
If the chart above shows packet loss or high jitter, work through
these in order.
Why do I get hit by AoEs I walked out of?
Because most area attacks snapshot at cast completion, not at the visual effect. Your round trip is added to when the server sees you move, so a high ping means you must leave earlier than the animation suggests.
Why does double weaving fail at high ping?
The server confirms the end of each animation lock. A longer round trip makes that confirmation arrive later, effectively lengthening the lock and squeezing the second weave out of the window.
Does FFXIV really run on a three-second tick?
The combat tick is three seconds - that is what damage over time follows and what many mechanics snapshot against. It is not the network packet rate, which Square Enix does not publish.
Is packet loss or ping worse for FFXIV?
Loss. High ping is consistent and can be played around by acting earlier. A lost packet removes an ability outright, and nothing in your rotation recovers it.