Server Ping Timeout/Stuttering

[Yaga]

Along with intermittent stuttering, I have recently started suffering from crashes to server menu after being connected to a MP server for a short period of time. In the client stats, this is always accompanied by a period of growing packet loss. I can't explain this packet loss on my network, and only DCS seems to be reporting it.

 

Separate issue (maybe): constant stuttering. Began a few weeks ago after migrating DCS to a new SSD. Before this I never suffered from stutters.

 

Attached log from a recent ping timeout occurring on Blue Flag Syria.

 

Thanks.

dcs.log

[Flappie]

Hi Yaga. Here's what I can see in your log file:

 

• Your Windows 10 is up to date.
  
• Your pagefile size is OK (16 GB for 32 GB of RAM).
  
• You're using VR.
  
• Your NVIDIA driver is recent (August 2020).
  
• Your main network interface is called "Ethernet 2" and runs IPv6.
  

 

Network issues:

The log shows your client loses its connection to the server. This is not a crash.

2020-09-21 06:07:39.557 INFO NET: disconnected: 5 Server ping timeout

2020-09-21 06:07:39.559 INFO NET: disconnected from server

2020-09-21 06:07:39.559 INFO Dispatcher: Stop

2020-09-21 06:07:39.573 INFO NET: client has stopped

Some network devices don't handle IPv6 very well. Please try disabling IPv6 in your "Ethernet 2" interface properties, in Windows, and see if that's any better.

 

Stutters:

A lot of DCS stutters issues are caused by Malwarebytes (MBAM) software. If you have MBAM, try disabling it before playing and see if it your issue is solved. If you don't have any MBAM software installed, we'll try running the game using Windows safe/diagnostic mode.

[Yaga]

Hi Yaga. Here's what I can see in your log file:

 

• Your Windows 10 is up to date.
  
• Your pagefile size is OK (16 GB for 32 GB of RAM).
  
• You're using VR.
  
• Your NVIDIA driver is recent (August 2020).
  
• Your main network interface is called "Ethernet 2" and runs IPv6.
  

 

Network issues:

The log shows your client loses its connection to the server. This is not a crash. Some network devices don't handle IPv6 very well. Please try disabling IPv6 in your "Ethernet 2" interface properties, in Windows, and see if that's any better.

 

Stutters:

A lot of DCS stutters issues are caused by Malwarebytes (MBAM) software. If you have MBAM, try disabling it before playing and see if it your issue is solved. If you don't have any MBAM software installed, we'll try running the game using Windows safe/diagnostic mode.

 

Thanks for the response. Disabling IPv6 seems to have fixed the network issues.

 

As far as the stuttering, I do not run Malwarebytes, so something else is the culprit.

[Flappie]

Thanks for the response. Disabling IPv6 seems to have fixed the network issues.

Great news. :)

 

As far as the stuttering, I do not run Malwarebytes, so something else is the culprit.

OK, let's try this then:

 

1. Press Windows key, type "msconfig" and press Enter.
   
2. In the General tab, tick "Diagnostic startup" and click "Apply" (you will see some other boxes get ticked, it's OK).
   
3. Click OK and choose to restart your computer.
   
4. Log into Windows as usual.
   
5. Launch DCS on screen (you won't be able to use VR). You will get several error messages since your PC network is disabled. Just click OK until you see DCS main menu.
   
6. Fly the Su-25T in an instant action mission and see if you experience any stutter.
   

Once you're done with testing, just open "msconfig", tick "Normal startup", click OK and restart your system.

 

After the reboot, everything will be back to normal. Launch DCS on screen, try the same Su-25T instant action mission and see how it goes.

 

This is supposed to be a simple disagnostic to prove the influence of an external program on DCS (or not). However, one lucky user has seen his stutters disappear simply by going into Windows safe mode once. I have no clue what happened then. Let us know how this test goes.

[Yaga]

Great news. :)

 

OK, let's try this then:

 

1. Press Windows key, type "msconfig" and press Enter.
   
2. In the General tab, tick "Diagnostic startup" and click "Apply" (you will see some other boxes get ticked, it's OK).
   
3. Click OK and choose to restart your computer.
   
4. Log into Windows as usual.
   
5. Launch DCS on screen (you won't be able to use VR). You will get several error messages since your PC network is disabled. Just click OK until you see DCS main menu.
   
6. Fly the Su-25T in an instant action mission and see if you experience any stutter.
   

Once you're done with testing, just open "msconfig", tick "Normal startup", click OK and restart your system.

 

After the reboot, everything will be back to normal. Launch DCS on screen, try the same Su-25T instant action mission and see how it goes.

 

This is supposed to be a simple disagnostic to prove the influence of an external program on DCS (or not). However, one lucky user has seen his stutters disappear simply by going into Windows safe mode once. I have no clue what happened then. Let us know how this test goes.

 

Done. I don't think there was stutter.. but I'm not sure it's a good indication without VR. The stutter occurs mostly while quickly looking around outside the pit, especially when transitioning from looking down into the pit to looking up at the world. Other VR apps do not show the same stutter, nor does the DCS main menu stutter. However, while refreshing the server list, I do get stutter.

[Flappie]

DCS is very demanding resource-wise. That's why you don't necessarily see stutters in other games.

 

Have you by any chance been using a DCS dedicated profile in your NVIDIA/MSI/whatever-gaming-brand software? Some user had serious stutter issues because of MSI Dragon Center. Once he deleted the DCS profile in it, his stutters were gone forever.

 

Can you please attach your process list? Here's how to make one.

[Yaga]

Reinstalled Windows and did a fresh download of DCS. Fixed the stutter.

 

I seem to still have the timeout issues. Are there any conditions in which either DCS or Windows would voluntarily terminate a network connection?

 

One thing I've noticed is that before the "server ping timeout" disconnect, and while DCS is reporting increasing packet loss with the server, only certain connections are failing to communicate. For instance, I see all units on the server as stationary, yet MP chat still works as normal. As though a specific connection is voluntarily terminating and causing the disconnect.

 

Doesn't happen all the time. Seems potentially connected to high unit counts, but I'm not 100% sure since the same server will be fine sometimes and not fine other times.

 

I also added an additional 32gb of ram bringing me up to 64gb total. This doesn't seem to have any effect on timing out.

[Mustang]

Reinstalled Windows and did a fresh download of DCS. Fixed the stutter.

 

I seem to still have the timeout issues. Are there any conditions in which either DCS or Windows would voluntarily terminate a network connection?

 

One thing I've noticed is that before the "server ping timeout" disconnect, and while DCS is reporting increasing packet loss with the server, only certain connections are failing to communicate. For instance, I see all units on the server as stationary, yet MP chat still works as normal. As though a specific connection is voluntarily terminating and causing the disconnect.

 

Doesn't happen all the time. Seems potentially connected to high unit counts, but I'm not 100% sure since the same server will be fine sometimes and not fine other times.

 

I also added an additional 32gb of ram bringing me up to 64gb total. This doesn't seem to have any effect on timing out.

 

Are you still using the USB network adapter for connection? I recall you having issues months ago with that.

[Yaga]

Are you still using the USB network adapter for connection? I recall you having issues months ago with that.

 

Nope. New PC since then and I'm using the network adapter on my z390 MB now.

[Flappie]

Hi Yaga. Glad the stutters are gone. :thumbup: Can you please attach a recent dcs.log ? I'd like to see how much pagefile Windows is giving to DCS.

[Yaga]

Hi Yaga. Glad the stutters are gone. :thumbup: Can you please attach a recent dcs.log ? I'd like to see how much pagefile Windows is giving to DCS.

 

Log attached. Multiple sessions, and the last 'disconnect from net' was due to a ping timeout. If you need a clean run without the shaders mod, I can create one. However, the issue does not seem tied at all to Mustang's haze shader pack.

 

I'm curious about DCS switching between "forestDistanceFactor has been changed to 0.400000. Update lod buffers" and "forestDistanceFactor has been changed to 1.000000. Update lod buffers". I am not doing this in settings. In settings, DCS was set to 40% for trees rendering the entire duration of this log.

dcs.log

[Flappie]

I'm curious about DCS switching between "forestDistanceFactor has been changed to 0.400000. Update lod buffers" and "forestDistanceFactor has been changed to 1.000000. Update lod buffers". I am not doing this in settings. In settings, DCS was set to 40% for trees rendering the entire duration of this log.

I see this quite often in the users log. I may have the same thing but I'm away from my computer. I guess this is normal.

 

What is not normal is that Windows only gives you a 9 GB pagefile. I say 'not normal' because my PC always gives me a pagefile as large as my RAM, in auto mode.

2020-10-07 02:36:36.823 INFO DCS: CPU cores: 8, threads: 8, System RAM: 65467 MB, Pagefile: 9728 MB

Your log doesn't show any memory issue, but considering you have 64 GB of RAM, I suggest you raise the size of the pagefile manually in the Windows settings. Say 32GB min and 64 GB max. Place it on a good SSD with a lot of room. I cannot guarantee it will prevent DCS from disconnecting but it's worth a try.

 

Btw, I've just seen that you flew more than 6 and a half hours in a row! Wow. :joystick:

 

 

If you keep having disconnections, take a look at your Windows Event Manager, at the time of the disconnections.

[Yaga]

I see this quite often in the users log. I may have the same thing but I'm away from my computer. I guess this is normal.

 

What is not normal is that Windows only gives you a 9 GB pagefile. I say 'not normal' because my PC always gives me a pagefile as large as my RAM, in auto mode.

Your log doesn't show any memory issue, but considering you have 64 GB of RAM, I suggest you raise the size of the pagefile manually in the Windows settings. Say 32GB min and 64 GB max. Place it on a good SSD with a lot of room. I cannot guarantee it will prevent DCS from disconnecting but it's worth a try.

 

Btw, I've just seen that you flew more than 6 and a half hours in a row! Wow. :joystick:

 

 

If you keep having disconnections, take a look at your Windows Event Manager, at the time of the disconnections.

 

Previously I've tried increasing the page file manually without any luck fixing this issue. I will try again, but I'm not too optimistic.

 

Is there any way to access more detailed logs on DCS network activity? I see the pinned post:

 

"DCS uses outgoing connections to

 

HTTP

http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com:80

 

HTTPS

http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com:443

 

XMPP master.eagle.ru:5222

 

For multiplayer game traffic DCS uses both TCP and UDP on port 10308

 

For Voice TCP and UDP on port 10309

 

webgui_port = 8088"

 

Curious if one or more of these connections is closing. In the DCS alt+pause monitor, sent/received data simply stops, packet loss builds over a few minutes, and eventually I'm kicked to the server menu.

 

There's nothing in Windows that should be causing this. Nothing in my router logs that indicate the router intentionally closed the connections, and nothing in events manager that seems to correlate.

 

This issue only occurs on the Blue Flag Syria mission (probably an important bit of info), and seems to occur most when I'm interacting with the server through rapid chat commands or placing user marks in F10. Other times however, it will occur while just sitting in the first jet I slot into after joining. I feel like i can identify a few patterns between my client behavior and when the server communication ends, but without knowing a bit more about how DCS is handling network connections it's hard to do much more than speculate.

 

There are a few people on the server that also have this as a recurring problem. All any of us can determine is that sometimes network traffic between our client and the server simply stops, despite the server running normally and other clients experiencing no issues.

 

Can exports effect DCS network traffic? I export a jetseat, SRS, scratchpad, and tacview. I also viewport my RWR in the F-16.

Edited October 7, 2020 by Yaga

[Flappie]

I don't think local exports can do any harm to network traffic.

 

I know some users have infinite freezes when they zoom in F10 view over Syria, but they don't talk about disconnections.

 

Please open your Windows Event manager and look for network messages (disconnections, sleep mode, whatever could hurt your link to the DCS server).

 

If you cannot find any issue in the Event manager, we will try monitoring your DCS connection using Wireshark, if you're up for it.

[Yaga]

What I see in wireshark is that the server simply stops sending my client UDP traffic. After 2 minutes it sends a command to terminate the connection and I get the ping timeout message.

[Flappie]

Have you checked whether your IP address changes during your MP sessions?

 

See below:

So my issue is on my end... I was constantly getting "server ping time out"... or something like that.. this was after being in for usually 3-5 minutes.

 

Come to find out I had a double NAT issue... Contacted my ISP and had them setup a static IP address. Told tech that this was for gaming and that I wanted 1 ISP number running through my setup. Got the numbers today and updated my router with all the new Ip's and I have yet to have a disconnect..

 

Something for others to consider..

[Yaga]

Have you checked whether your IP address changes during your MP sessions?

 

See below:

 

I don't see anything to suggest this issue.

 

Xcom updated the mission a bit and it seems like my problems went away. As far as I know, the change was just a reduction in unit count. As I said before, BF Syria was the only server I had any issues staying connected to. Not sure why it effected some of us more than others.

 

I guess without really knowing how the dedicated server handles traffic, it's hard to say why it was spontaneously stopping UDP traffic from the server. But some condition exists in which it will do this.

 

I appreciate you spending time troubleshooting this with me. :thumbup:

[Flappie]

You're welcome. :) I don't like mysteries in IT. There's always a logical explanation. But sometimes it's hard to find it.

 

Maybe your connection had a bigger ping and the server judged your connection was not fast enough?

 

You should monitor your online connection. For years I was hosting DCS MP sessions and friends would tell me my voice on TS was sometimes hashed and the aircraft were rubber banding. Still, I had no such issues in other MP games. Then I found out my WiFi was bad, having high packet delay variation. As a result, I bought a 20m Ethernet wire and... problem solved! Conclusion : DCS needs a very good internet connection, not necessarily fast, but constant.

[Yaga]

Issue seems to have returned, not sure if related to most recent OB patch. After about 2 hours server connection times out reliably. Log attached.

dcs.log

[Flappie]

Hi Yaga, can you check in your Windows Event Viewer if something happened at the time DCS got disconnected from the server? Look into System, Software and Security categories.

 

2020-11-11 10:56:03.461 INFO NET: disconnected from server

Mind the time of the log is UTC.

[Yaga]

Hi Yaga, can you check in your Windows Event Viewer if something happened at the time DCS got disconnected from the server? Look into System, Software and Security categories.

 

 

Mind the time of the log is UTC.

 

I don't see anything obvious. The only error that gets thrown is when my jetseat shuts itself down (happens after DCS.exe terminates, so this isn't the disconnect issue). Is there something specific I should be looking for?

 

Seems like in the DCS log, the disconnect from net event always occurs shortly after a "DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU" event.

[Flappie]

I don't see anything obvious. The only error that gets thrown is when my jetseat shuts itself down (happens after DCS.exe terminates, so this isn't the disconnect issue). Is there something specific I should be looking for?

Network disconnections usually show up as yellow (warnings) or red icons (errors).

 

Seems like in the DCS log, the disconnect from net event always occurs shortly after a "DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU" event.

I doubt there's a link: you got this message a lot during the whole session.

 

Line 1392: 2020-11-11 06:56:35.938 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1398: 2020-11-11 07:06:35.958 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1403: 2020-11-11 07:16:35.968 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1430: 2020-11-11 07:26:35.988 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1456: 2020-11-11 07:36:36.008 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1461: 2020-11-11 07:46:36.018 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1466: 2020-11-11 07:56:36.028 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1509: 2020-11-11 08:06:36.037 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1524: 2020-11-11 08:16:36.058 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1532: 2020-11-11 08:26:36.066 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1547: 2020-11-11 08:36:36.076 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1552: 2020-11-11 08:46:36.096 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1786: 2020-11-11 09:01:55.006 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1793: 2020-11-11 09:11:55.013 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1801: 2020-11-11 09:21:55.035 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1811: 2020-11-11 09:31:55.054 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1822: 2020-11-11 09:41:55.073 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1827: 2020-11-11 09:51:55.085 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1847: 2020-11-11 10:01:55.094 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1911: 2020-11-11 10:11:55.104 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1925: 2020-11-11 10:21:55.113 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1933: 2020-11-11 10:31:55.122 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1938: 2020-11-11 10:41:55.143 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

Line 1975: 2020-11-11 10:51:55.165 INFO TACVIEW.DLL: DCS World simulation is taking 100.0% of CPU

[Flappie]

Here's an interesting thread about someone having an internet dropping issue with his Z390 motherboard. He fixed his issue by disabling the "Energy Efficient Ethernet" option.

[Yaga]

Here's an interesting thread about someone having an internet dropping issue with his Z390 motherboard. He fixed his issue by disabling the "Energy Efficient Ethernet" option.

 

I tried this, and it doesn't seem to have any effect. Good find, though, it sounded promising. I still reliably lose connection after 2 hours, every time, on any server. Recent log attached. First disconnect is connection time out, second disconnect is intentional.

 

I've increased my pagefile size, we'll see if that has any effect.

20201112.log

[Flappie]

Another user has stopped using SA-2 and SA-3 units in his multiplayer missions, claiming they were causing disconnections (no kidding), at least over Syria.

Could you check whether your DCS behaves the same way or not?