Now Reading: Is 100 ms Ping Good? Bad for Shooters, OK for MMOs
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Is 100 ms Ping Good? Bad for Shooters, OK for MMOs
100 ms ping means a tenth of a second passes before the server responds to you. That's where most fast online games start to feel laggy.
100 ms usually comes from playing on a server in another continent, using mobile or satellite internet, or a problem on your network such as Wi-Fi interference or bufferbloat.
Is 100 ms ping good for your game?
Here’s what 100 ms means in each game. “Updates” is how many server ticks pass during one round trip at 100 ms, based on commonly reported tick rates. The fewer updates you’re behind, the closer the server’s view of the game is to yours.
| Game | Server tick rate · updates per round trip | Ideal ping | At 100 ms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valorant (Competitive FPS) | 128 Hz · 12.8 updates | Under 30 ms | Too high |
| Counter-Strike 2 (Competitive FPS) | 64 Hz · 6.4 updates | Under 30 ms | Too high |
| Rainbow Six Siege (Tactical FPS) | 64 Hz · 6.4 updates | Under 40 ms | Too high |
| Overwatch 2 (Hero shooter) | 64 Hz · 6.4 updates | Under 40 ms | Too high |
| Fortnite (Battle royale) | 30 Hz · 3.0 updates | Under 50 ms | Too high |
| Apex Legends (Battle royale) | 20 Hz · 2.0 updates | Under 50 ms | Too high |
| Warzone (Battle royale) | 20 Hz · 2.0 updates | Under 50 ms | Too high |
| League of Legends (MOBA) | 30 Hz · 3.0 updates | Under 50 ms | Playable |
| Rocket League (Sports) | 60 Hz · 6.0 updates | Under 40 ms | Too high |
| FC 26 (Sports) | Not published | Under 50 ms | Playable |
| Helldivers 2 (Co-op) | Not published | Under 80 ms | Playable |
| GTA Online (Open world) | Not published | Under 80 ms | Playable |
| Roblox (Sandbox) | Not published | Under 80 ms | Playable |
What 100 ms ping feels like
100 ms is about 14 frames at 144 fps. In Valorant that's around 13 server updates per round trip, so enemies often appear to shoot you before they're on your screen. In Fortnite and Warzone, you'll notice delayed hits and doors or builds that react late. Turn based games, MMOs and casual co-op are still playable.
100 ms in frames
| Monitor refresh | 100 ms equals |
|---|---|
| 60 fps (16.7 ms per frame) | 6.0 frames |
| 120 fps (8.3 ms per frame) | 12.0 frames |
| 144 fps (6.9 ms per frame) | 14.4 frames |
| 240 fps (4.2 ms per frame) | 24.0 frames |
Ping is a round trip. Your action takes roughly half of it, about 50 ms, to reach the server. Against an opponent on 10 ms, you are about 45 ms behind each way, or 6.5 frames at 144 fps.
How far away is a 100 ms server?
Light in fibre covers about 200 km per millisecond, so a round trip of 100 ms limits the server to about 10,000 km away in a perfect straight line. Real routes are longer and pass through routers, so in practice 100 ms usually means a server within about 4,850 km.
| Route | Distance | Typical ping |
|---|---|---|
| Frankfurt to Dubai | 4,836 km | about 100 ms |
| Los Angeles to Tokyo | 8,817 km | about 105 ms |
| Singapore to Sydney | 6,306 km | about 92 ms |
Typical ping is the commonly observed round trip between these cities. Undersea cables and routing make some long routes faster or slower than distance alone suggests.
Which internet connections get 100 ms?
| Connection | Typical ping to a nearby server | Can it reach 100 ms? |
|---|---|---|
| Fibre (FTTH) | 3–15 ms | Yes, usually lower than this |
| Cable | 10–30 ms | Yes, usually lower than this |
| DSL / VDSL | 15–45 ms | Yes, usually lower than this |
| 5G home internet | 20–50 ms | Yes, usually lower than this |
| 4G mobile | 30–70 ms | Yes, usually lower than this |
| Starlink | 25–60 ms | Yes, usually lower than this |
| Geostationary satellite | 550–700 ms | Rarely this low |
100 ms is only part of the story
A steady 100 ms feels very different from a 100 ms that keeps jumping around or drops packets. Here’s how 100 ms feels with different jitter and packet loss.
| 0% loss | 1% loss | 3% loss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jitter 3 ms | Noticeable lag | Laggy | Laggy |
| Jitter 15 ms | Noticeable lag | Laggy | Unplayable for fast games |
| Jitter 35 ms | Laggy | Laggy | Unplayable for fast games |
If your ping looks fine but games still lag, run a 60 second packet loss test and a bufferbloat test.
How to fix 100 ms ping
- Check the server region first. A wrong region is the most common cause of 100 ms ping, and switching can cut it in half.
- Turn off any VPN while gaming.
- Use Ethernet and restart your router.
- Run a packet loss test. Loss and jitter often come with high ping.
- If you’re on 4G, 5G or satellite internet, that may be the limit. Fibre or cable usually gives far lower ping.
- Check which provider you’re really using with the ISP lookup before contacting them.
Compare 100 ms with other ping values
| Ping | Rating | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Is 60 ms ping good? | Playable | -40 ms vs 100 ms |
| Is 80 ms ping good? | Playable | -20 ms vs 100 ms |
| Is 120 ms ping good? | High | +20 ms vs 100 ms |
| Is 150 ms ping good? | High | +50 ms vs 100 ms |
See every value side by side in the ping chart from 1 to 150 ms, or test your own ping.
Frequently asked questions
Is 100 ms ping bad?
For shooters, fighting games and Rocket League, yes. For MMOs, strategy games and casual co-op, it’s acceptable.
Why is my ping suddenly 100 ms?
Common causes are someone streaming or downloading on your network, Wi-Fi interference, the game picking a far region, or evening ISP congestion.
Is 100 ms ping good for League of Legends?
It’s playable but noticeable. Skill shots and last hits feel delayed compared with 30 to 50 ms.
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