Here’s How To Show Ping in Fortnite (On Every Platform)

Looking for the best in-game performance and seamless visuals? The key often lies in monitoring your ping, which measures the communication between your computer and the game server. High ping can lead to lag, glitches, and even disconnects, potentially costing you that coveted victory. Fortnite, as an online game, highly depends on your ping being as low as possible, but that statistic is not readily available for players unless you know how to enable it in the settings. This is what today’s guide is going to be about. Let’s see how to show ping in Fortnite.

Editor’s Note: This guide was updated in December 2023 and represents the most up-to-date state of Fortnite mechanics.

Showing your ping in Fortnite on PC

To enable your ping in Fortnite while playing on PC, you need to enable “Network Debug Stats” by following these steps:

1. Open the Fortnite menu by pressing ESC on your keyboard
2. Scrolls down the menu until you reach Settings
3. Click on the “Game” Icon
4. Scrolls until you see Network Debug
5. Enable the option and save the settings; once you return to the game, ping should be visible as a small number on your screen

Showing your ping in Fortnite on Xbox and PS

The process of showing your ping in Fortnite while playing on Xbox is pretty much the same as on PC; you need to look for your Network Debug Stats and enable them.

1. Press “Menu” button on your Xbox controller (the one with three horizontal lines)
2. Navigate to the gear icon to open Settings
3. Once in Settings, navigate to the “Game” tab
4. Look for an option related to HUD or Display settings
5. You should find an option for “Net Debug Stats,” enable it
6. After enabling Net Debug Stats, you should see additional information on your screen, including your ping, packet loss, and other network-related details.

Showing your ping in Fortnite while on mobile

The process of enabling ping on mobile is identical to the one on PC and consoles; you need to essentially once again locate the “Network Debug Stats.” Keep in mind that playing on a phone almost always results in ping worse than if you’re playing on a PC or console.

This is especially evident if you’re using public networks for playing.

What is a good ping in Fortnite?

Ping requirements vary between games, with an acceptable ping typically under 50 ms for optimal competitive online gaming. This ensures smooth gameplay without lags or glitches, offering sharp visuals and a faster, smoother experience. An average ping falls between 50 ms and 150 ms, allowing for generally smooth gameplay but occasional lags, especially when connecting to international servers. Ping exceeding 200 ms can lead to server glitches, delays, and communication issues, risking disconnection.

In Fortnite, it’s recommended to keep your ping under 50 ms, as this generally provides you with the smoothest gameplay, giving you plenty of time to both act and react to events within the game. Anything between 50 and 150 will result in occasional lagging, but it’s still playable.

Ping over 200 ms is generally catastrophic; you will disconnect often, your character will lag, and you will have severe issues when it comes to communication with your team.

How to keep your ping as low as possible?

These general tips to keep your ping as low as possible in Fortnite can be applied universally to all apps and games that are exclusively used/played online. If you’re suffering from high ping, there are some issues that you can affect and that you can’t affect:

1. Choose the right server – generally, the farther you are from the server, the worse your server response time will be. Yes, distances are huge issues when it comes to online gaming, and generally, someone playing from Europe should avoid connecting to Oceania servers, for example.
2. Use a wired connection: If you’re like 99 % of the world, you probably use Wi-Fi for everything, especially if you’re playing games on a laptop, mobile, or console. A wired connection is generally much faster than a Wi-Fi connection and results in fewer data packets being lost. You may lose the comfort of mobility, but you will gain superior ping.
3. Close background applications: streaming other things and downloading other games while playing online games is, in general, a bad idea because your network will be literally eaten up by downloads. You can always limit your download speeds and set custom values, but it’s common sense not to play Fortnite while streaming 4K movies or downloading the latest massive Call of Duty update.
4. Choose a better plan: sometimes, it’s out of your hands, and your network speed just sucks. In that case, if you are in a position to change providers or plans, opt out for more bandwidth and higher download and upload speeds.
5. It’s not your network; it’s your device: If you notice that your ping is relatively stable, but you still have horrific problems with lag, it may have to do something with your hardware, and it might be time for an upgrade. No amount of network juice will be able to alleviate your lag except for playing the game on minimal possible settings.

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