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Game Development vocabulary · Multiplayer & Networking

Lag

Meaning in game development, with examples

/læɡ/nounCore term

In game development, lag means: A noticeable delay between a player's action and the game's reaction, usually caused by a slow or unstable network connection, which makes the game feel jumpy.

In Turkish: lag, gecikme, takılma

How it is used

An informal word used by players, community managers and developers. Also a verb: the game lags. Players say a server is laggy, and a lag spike is a short burst of very bad lag.

Example sentences

  1. Players in the Middle East report lag every evening after 9 p.m.

  2. That wasn't lag; the hitbox on that attack is just too big.

Common collocations

  • lag spike
  • input lag
  • laggy server
  • cause lag
  • lag compensation
  • latencyThe time it takes for data to travel between a player's device and the server or another player, usually measured in milliseconds. High latency makes online games feel slow.
  • netcodeThe networking code of an online game that sends game data between players and servers and keeps everyone's view of the match in sync despite delays.
  • tick rateHow many times per second a game server updates the game state and sends it to players, measured in hertz. A higher tick rate makes online play more precise.
  • frame rateThe number of images a game draws on the screen each second, measured in frames per second (fps). A higher, steadier frame rate makes the game look and feel smoother.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Multiplayer & Networking

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