How to fix Lag/Desync in Valheim Dedicated Server

What is Desync in Valheim Dedicated Servers?

There are two types of desync in gaming.

One is where your latency related to the server is not equal and this means that the packets of data sent to your computer have to be put together via the PC, and so your PC can lag frames due to latency, issues in tandem with the frame rate, lag is a noticeable delay (latency) between the action of players (input) and the reaction of the server supporting the game, which has to be sent back to the client.

The other type of desync is when the server you are connected to is receiving and transmitting data at a Different rate than your PC, and so there is a Mismatch between you and the servers live game paying, the packets of data sent to the game servers and or received to our pc and so the packets sent to your computer are not in sync with the data running in live time on the game server, this is usually what we refer to as desync, And it is what causes frames being missed in-game and so our characters can appear to move un smoothly to make up for the desync.

So game lag or desync is basically a desynchronization between your computer and the computer or server you are connecting to.

Lag can be tolerated if the game is slow-paced if it’s a turns game like chess but for most survival and first person shooters like PubG with a considerably faster pace, they will require very low lag to provide satisfying gameplay.

With Valheim Dedicated Server the desync issue has been rampant and here we are out to figure out how to fix the issue using Data Rate Modifier BepInEx.

What is Data Rate Modifier and how it fixes lag in your Valheim Server

Normally, the game limits all network transmissions to 50kbps.

This is bad for a multitude of reasons. Imagine a scenario where 5 players are uploading at the max rate, 50kbps.

The server will only be able to send all 5 players updates at 50kbps. It is receiving 250 but cannot reciprocate that.

This mod will modify the data rate that the game uses for network actions. This allows you to use your network to the best potential.

It is best to have all clients and the server running the mod.

However, it is still beneficial to only run this only on the server.
It may even be beneficial to only run it on your client but this is untested by myself. There is no harm in doing so however.

Configuration of Data Rate Modifier

There is a configuration file for this mod. You can change the multiplier that is used.

The configuration file is generated after you run the game once after installation.

The default is 10. This means the default rate * 10, which is ~500kbps. This is more than enough for most scenarios.

If you are running a server with many players and install this there, you may wish to increase the multiplier to 20 or 30 to allow the server room to sync all the players information.

Installation of Data Rate Modifier to a Valheim Server

• Ensure BepInEx is installed. Follow these instructions to install BepInEx in your server
• Download this mod and put it into the BepInEx/plugins folder

That’s it! This fixed all of my group’s problems and many others have let me know that it’s a game changer.

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