Ever wonder why there’s lag in your game?

Here’s how lag works—explained like you would to a curious 13-year-old gamer. 🐢

Lag usually comes from 3 main sources:

1️⃣ Hardware lag – delayed keyboard input or slow monitor response time.
2️⃣ Software lag – when rendering a frame takes more than 16ms, causing dropped frames at 60 FPS.
3️⃣ Network latency – the time it takes data to travel between your device and the game server.

🚀 Latency matters: Even light takes time—New York to Singapore is 230ms, but a 60 FPS frame needs only 16ms. That delay adds up fast.

💪🏼 Games fight lag using lag compensation and client-side prediction. But when predictions are wrong? You get rollback moments and missed actions.

Lag is part of online games—but understanding it shows how complex real-time, global gameplay really is.

Next time there’s lag, imagine your inputs zipping across the globe and back—in just milliseconds.

What’s something players often misunderstand about lag? Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇