---
title: "Why ping varies and how to measure your server's latency"
description: "What really determines the ping between you and the server, how to measure latency, jitter and packet loss the right way, and why the number shown in the game isn't the same as the test's."
url: "https://redhosting.com.br/en/base-de-conhecimento/por-que-o-ping-varia-e-como-medir-a-latencia"
type: "article"
language: "en"
category: "Other"
published: "2026-09-02"
translations:
  pt-BR: "https://redhosting.com.br/base-de-conhecimento/por-que-o-ping-varia-e-como-medir-a-latencia.md"
  en: "https://redhosting.com.br/en/base-de-conhecimento/por-que-o-ping-varia-e-como-medir-a-latencia.md"
  es: "https://redhosting.com.br/es/base-de-conhecimento/por-que-o-ping-varia-e-como-medir-a-latencia.md"
  de: "https://redhosting.com.br/de/base-de-conhecimento/por-que-o-ping-varia-e-como-medir-a-latencia.md"
---

# Why ping varies and how to measure your server's latency

What really determines the ping between you and the server, how to measure latency, jitter and packet loss the right way, and why the number shown in the game isn't the same as the test's.

- RedHosting knowledge base guide — category: Other
- HTML page: https://redhosting.com.br/en/base-de-conhecimento/por-que-o-ping-varia-e-como-medir-a-latencia
- Published on: 2026-09-02 · Language: en

High ping is a common complaint and a rare diagnosis: almost nobody measures before drawing conclusions. And "the ping is bad" can mean three very different things — high latency, unstable latency or packet loss —, each with its own cause and fix.

## 1. Three numbers, not one

    What it isWhat it measuresHow you notice it

    **Latency**Round-trip time of a packetConstant delay between acting and seeing the result
    **Jitter**Variation in latency between packetsShort freezes, rubber-banding, choppy voice
    **Packet loss**% of packets that don't arriveFreezing, disconnects, ignored commands

A stable 60 ms latency is far less annoying than 30 ms swinging between 20 and 200. That's why "my ping is low but the game stutters" isn't a contradiction: the average is fine and the variation is terrible.

## 2. What determines latency — and what doesn't

The floor is physical: the distance between you and the server. A packet can't travel faster than light in fiber, and the real path is never a straight line. São Paulo → Recife has a minimum of a few dozen milliseconds that no configuration can beat — and from Europe or North America to São Paulo the floor is well above 100 ms.

Above that floor, what matters:

- **The route** your provider chooses. Two customers in the same city can have different pings to the same server, because one's traffic goes through a nearby exchange point and the other's takes a detour.
- **Your local connection.** Wi-Fi adds latency and, above all, jitter. Cable is the only change that usually gives a big gain at no cost.
- **Saturation of your link**, in either direction. A large download on another device at home fills the queue and everything else waits.

What does **not** determine latency: your plan's speed. 500 Mb doesn't arrive sooner than 100 Mb — bandwidth is how much fits per second, latency is how long it takes to start arriving. They're different quantities, and switching plans to "improve ping" almost never works.

RedHosting's infrastructure is in the [Ascenty SP4 datacenter, in São Paulo, with a direct connection to PTT Brasil](/en/datacenter) — the national internet exchange. That's what shortens the route to Brazilian providers, compared with hosting outside the country. For players and visitors in Brazil and South America, it's where the lowest latency is.

## 3. Measuring the right way

### Latency and packet loss

A single measurement tells you nothing. Send 30 packets and look at the summary at the end.

On Windows:

```
ping -n 30 YOUR_IP
```

On Linux and macOS:

```
ping -c 30 YOUR_IP
```

The last line has the four numbers that matter: minimum, average, maximum and deviation. **The gap between minimum and maximum is your jitter.** The line above shows packet loss as a percentage.

### Where the route gets worse

`ping` tells you it's bad; the route trace tells you **where**. On Windows:

```
tracert YOUR_IP
```

On Linux and macOS, `mtr` is much better because it measures continuously instead of just once:

```
mtr -r -c 100 YOUR_IP
```

Read it top to bottom looking for the hop where latency goes up and never comes back down. That hop is where the problem starts.

  ⚠️**Common misreading**: Packet loss on a middle hop, with the following hops clean, is almost always a false alarm: many routers deprioritize replying to this kind of probe while forwarding real traffic normally. Only worry about loss that shows up on a hop **and continues** to the destination.

## 4. Why the in-game ping doesn't match the test

Because they measure different things. `ping` measures a packet's trip across the network. The number in the game includes the trip **plus** the time the server took to process the tick and reply.

The difference between the two is the diagnosis:

    network pingin-game pingThe problem is

    lowlowNowhere — everything is fine
    **high**highIn the network: route, Wi-Fi or saturated link
    low**high**In the server: low TPS, processing overload

The third case is the most misread: the network is great and it's the server that can't keep up. In that case the fix has nothing to do with the internet — it's in [How to improve server performance](/en/base-de-conhecimento/como-melhorar-o-desempenho-do-servidor).

  💡**Tip**: A Minecraft server processes the whole world on a single thread. If TPS drops under load, more cores won't fix it — clock speed will. That's why the [Ryzen 9](/en/VPS) line is the one for gaming, and the [Xeon](/en/vps-xeon) line for running many things in parallel.

## 5. What you can actually improve

  In order of what usually pays off most

    ✓**Switch from Wi-Fi to cable.** It's the change that reduces jitter the most, and it costs nothing.

    ✓**Close what uses bandwidth** on other devices: streaming, downloads, cloud backup.

    ✓**Test at another time of day.** If it gets worse every night, it's your provider's congestion, not the server's.

    ✓**Compare with another destination.** High ping to everything points to your connection; high only to one destination points to the route.

    ✓**Take the `mtr` to your provider** when things get worse on a hop in their network — with the trace in hand, the ticket moves.

## When to contact us

If the trace shows the problem starting inside RedHosting's infrastructure, open a ticket at [financeiro.redhosting.com.br](https://financeiro.redhosting.com.br) or message us on WhatsApp at **+55 11 98833-3902** with the `mtr` or `tracert` output pasted in. With the trace, diagnosis starts in the first reply.

## Frequently asked questions

**How do I test my server's ping?**

With `ping -n 30 YOUR_IP` on Windows or `ping -c 30 YOUR_IP` on Linux and macOS. What matters is the summary on the last line: minimum, average, maximum and packet loss. A single measurement tells you nothing.

**Does a faster internet plan improve ping?**

Almost never. Bandwidth is how much fits per second; latency is how long it takes to start arriving. They're different quantities, and 500 Mb doesn't arrive sooner than 100 Mb.

**My ping is low but the game stutters. How is that possible?**

Two causes. Either it's jitter — average latency is fine and the variation is terrible —, or the network ping is fine and the server can't keep up with the tick. In the second case the fix is server performance, not the internet.

**What is jitter?**

The variation in latency from one packet to the next. A stable 60 ms is far less annoying than 30 ms swinging between 20 and 200 — jitter is what causes short freezes, rubber-banding and choppy voice.

**What reduces ping the most at no cost?**

Switching from Wi-Fi to cable. It's the change that reduces jitter the most and costs nothing.

**I saw packet loss in the middle of the tracert. Is that a problem?**

Usually not. Many routers deprioritize replying to this probe while forwarding real traffic normally. Only worry about loss that shows up on a hop and continues to the destination.

**Where are RedHosting's servers?**

In the Ascenty SP4 datacenter, in São Paulo, Brazil, with a direct connection to PTT Brasil — which shortens the route to Brazilian providers. Details at [redhosting.com.br/datacenter](/en/datacenter).

## Navigation — Other (article 4 of 9)

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