Ping & Latency Explainer
What “good ping” means depends on the game. Rate your own, then read the guide.
Enter your measured ping to see how it rates for different game genres. Thresholds are general guidance, not hard rules.
Inputs
Round-trip time in milliseconds. See the guide below for how to measure it.
Result
Good (35 ms)
Competitive FPS (CS2, Valorant)OK at this ping
Fighting (rollback netcode)OK at this ping
RacingOK at this ping
MOBA (LoL, Dota)OK at this ping
RTS / StrategyOK at this ping
MMO / RPGOK at this ping
Fine for almost all genres.
Ping is only one part of network feel; packet loss and jitter matter too.
Sources & references
- Cloudflare — What is latency / ping? — retrieved 2026-08-17
| Genre | Generally acceptable | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive FPS (CS2, Valorant, Apex) | < 20–35 ms | Tiny delays decide gunfights. |
| Fighting (rollback netcode) | < 40 ms | Netcode tolerates a bit more, but stay low. |
| Racing sims | < 45 ms | Precision timing at speed. |
| MOBA (League, Dota) | < 60 ms | Skill-shots need responsiveness. |
| RTS / Strategy | < 80 ms | Less reflex-dependent. |
| MMO / RPG | < 120 ms | World latency is forgiving. |
How to measure your own latency
Ping is the round-trip time (in milliseconds) for a packet to reach a server and return. The easiest manual check:
- Open a terminal (Command Prompt on Windows, Terminal on macOS/Linux).
- Type
ping <host>— for exampleping google.com— and read the “time=” value in the replies. Lower is better. - For a game, ping its regional server host if known; in most clients the ping shows in the server browser or scoreboard.
What changes your ping
- Distance: farther from the server = higher ping. Pick the closest region.
- Connection type: a wired Ethernet connection is steadier than Wi-Fi.
- Congestion: other devices streaming or downloading share your bandwidth.
- Packet loss & jitter: unstable ping hurts more than a steady higher ping.