North American PUBG players are experiencing high ping—but the game’s developer has a solution

Update 5.1 is live for all PUBG players on PC and console—but for North American players, the new content also came with a surprising fix for desync that funneled 60 percent of game sessions on NA servers to a centralized location in Dallas.

This resulted in several players suffering from massive spikes in ping while playing their matches because their connection was now being routed cross-country to that centralized point. As more fixes for the problem are being worked on, the developers have a method that might solve some of those issues in the meantime. 

The process may be complicated for people who don’t frequently use third-party applications to improve connections or access more features, so proceed carefully and seek help from the PUBG team if you have questions. 

Here is the process as posted to the official PUBG forums by one of the community managers:

• Download WinMTR
  • WinMTR is an open-source, free MS Windows visual application that combines the functionality of traceroute and ping in a single network diagnostic tool.
• Extract/Uncompress the ZIP file
• Open the WinMTR_x64 folder, then run WinMTR.exe
• Enter 52.117.179.255 in the Host section and press Start
• Launch PUBG
  • Keep WinMTR open
• Ensure Network Debug Statistics is enabled in the Gameplay tab of Settings
• Play a match for 5 minutes
  • If your ping or packet loss numbers are spiking, play for an additional 5 minutes.
  • If your ping is lower than normal and isn’t spiking (likely indicating your match isn’t on the new server location where you’re experiencing problems) reconduct the test by clicking Stop, then Start in WinMTR and joining a different match of PUBG for 5 minutes.
• Press Stop in WinMTR
• Press Export TEXT. Name the file PUBG_WinMTR_Test then click save
• Submit a ticket to our Customer Support team, uploading the PUBG_WinMTR_Test file with the subject WinMTR and issue type Gameplay Related > Feedback/Suggestions
  • Submit a support ticket here

The goal of this change was to reduce the overall ping disparity between players across the region, but as a concept that is bound to hurt the experience of players that are further away from the central location. It is clear the developers are aware of the issue and are working to fix it, but if they are set on keeping the current connection layout, it will take some time. 

If your game experience has been harmed by these changes you can try this fix and fill out a support ticket to make sure the developers know that it is still occurring.