Hola amigos,

Before we start talking about lag, we have to make sure that you are not suffering from it because you have your quality, performance and draw distance set too high.

The higher the quality, performance and draw distance, the more information your computer will receive from the servers hosting the regions (sims) around you, so the longer the time your computer will need in order to upload everything you see around. Remember each region is hosted in a different server.

Depending on your computer, especially your graphics card, memory and your internet connection, the higher you will be able to set these settings before you start feeling any lag. But remember that in order for an avatar to run smoothly, FPS (Frames Per Second) must always be above 15 fps.

1.  Click on Preferences
2.  Click on Graphics
3. Check the Custom Box and you will see the Draw Distance.
4.  Click on View top of your screen.
5.  Click on Statistics Bar
6. Click on Basic to open the FPS bar

Example 1

In the photo below, you will see my quality and performance at MID with a draw distance at 96 meters. You will notice that my FPS is at 19, which is really good. I shouldn't be experiencing any lag.

Example 2

Now let’s move our settings up. Quality and performance to HIGH with a draw distance of 128 meters. You noticed how my FPS dropped to 15, which is the minimum before I start feeling some lag.

Example 3

Now let’s set quality and performance to ULTRA and the draw distance to 256 meters. Here you will see that my FPS has dropped below 10. At this point, everything will start to move very slowly since now I am able to see further away and my computer is receiving more information, including info from more than 1 server and it needs more time processing it.

So bottom line, the higher the draw distance the prettier things look, but also the more lag you will feel. Now let’s talk about the Statistics Bar numbers, since it is there where you will find all region (sim) performance information and the cause of lag you might be experiencing.

1. Click on VIEW, top of your screen, then choose STATISTICS BAR.
2. Click BASIC to drop down the FPS Bar.
3. Under SIMULATOR (which means the server that is hosting the region (sim), you will see are three sections that tell us the overall performance of a region (sim).

• Time Dilation: This number should always be closer 1.0.  When a region (sim) is full, meaning there are a lot of residents, homes and things around this number can go down to .096/0.99 which is normal.
• Sim FPS (FPS= Frames per second): This number should always be 45. Again when a region (sim) is full it is common for the Sim FPS to drop to 44/43, but after a couple of seconds it should be back to 45.
• Physics FPS: This number must also be 45 but it can drop to 44 and the sim still works fine.

Different types of lag.

Now let's focus in the different types of lag an avatar may experience. It is really important to always remember that absolutely everything on a region (sim) causes some type of lag and this includes avatars.

Avatar Lag

Each avatar consumes resources from the server that host the region (sim). When an avatar is loaded with scripted objects such as huds, tons of prims and high resolution textures like in clothing, this avatar will consume more resources than your average avatar. Therefore his/her presence will put more pressure on that region (sim) and on your viewer.  It is very easy if you are been affected by another avatar. This is called Avatar Rendering Cost.

1. Click on "Advanced" that is located top of your screen. If you don't have the advance option click ctrl+alt+D
2. Click on Rendering
3. Click on Info Displays
4. Click on Avatar Rendering Cost
   
   You will see a number over your avatar's head. This number reflects the pressure your avatar puts on the server hosting the region (sim). The optimal number per avatar should be in green and between 0/1000.
   
   In the first photo below, you will see my avatar wearing just the basic stuff, high prim hair, a tee, pair of jeans, shoes and a couple of huds. As you can see, the Avatar Rendering Cost is between the normal range at 524 and in green.

Now let's add a few things to my avatar. A new shirt with some attached prims, a necklace, two bracelets and sunglasses. As you can see in the photo below, add a few things more to your avatar and the Avatar Rendering Cost and now it is at 2149 and in red. At this point, my avatar is using the resources three regular avatars would use. So the higher the number, the higher the load on the server your avatar is putting in it in order to work.

In order to avoid this type of lag, the Costa Rica Sims Estate does not mix residential parcels with commercial ones. This way we are reassured that there will not be high traffic impact on the residential regions and this is also why we do not allow big parties on residential regions (sims), since all residents on this type of region (sim) are paying tier and all deserve to be able to enjoy their homes.

Client Lag

This is perhaps the most common type of lag of all, and it relates to your computer specifically your graphics card and internet connection. This type will only affect you, and it's mostly caused by textures. The higher the resolution of a texture the more time your computer will need to upload it to your viewer and therefore your FPS (Frames Per Second) will drop, remember the magic number is 15. Here at the Costa Rica Sims, we make sure that the prims that we use for different needs such as plants, rocks, estate buildings, water, etc) all are made of textures not higher than 512 x 512 resolution.

How to determine if I'm suffering from client lag? Very simple.

1. Make sure you have the Quality and Performance settings including your Draw Distance at MID.
2. When all the 3 most important sections on the Statistics Bar (Time Dilation, Sim FPS and Physics FPS) are working normally and your FPS is still under 15.

How to determine if the textures around my avatar are too high in resolution:

1. Open the Advanced Menu ctrl+alt+D
2. Click on Advanced top of your screen
3. Click on Consoles then Texture Console
4. Stand next to the item you want to check and click to edit
5. Look at the yellow numbers at the bottom to determine the resolution on the item

The more unique textures on a region (sim), the more time it takes the server to upload all textures to your viewer. That is one of the reasons that when we are landscaping a sim we try to use the same plants all over the sim. Houses can be a lag nests. Some builders use too many high resolution textures when not needed, so before buying a house do the little test and see how laggy that house will be.

When it comes to client lag, the estate cannot do anything to help its residents with it.

Scripted Objects & Collisions Lag

This type of lag is caused by residents and their objects. Too many scripted objects and physical objects causing collisions on a region (sim) and all its residents will feel the same lag. Remember that all residents on one region (sim) share the resources of one server. If this server has to work too hard and cannot keep up with the demands of the residents currently in it, lag happens.

Too many highly scripted objects running in one parcel can lag the whole server down and everyone in that server will experience it.

No script should ever run higher that 0.150 ms. If we discover you have scripts running at 0.150 ms or higher we will ask you to remove them. No parcel may run higher than a total script-time of 2.00 ms (all scripts combined), unless you own the entire region (sim).

Objects that are physical, like animals, produce collisions that require complex processing and severely impact server performance. The physics ms in the statistics bar should be always closer to 0 ms. or a better understanding of what a collision is please click here.

Some experts in this matter have suggested that the total Script time on a sim should never be above 22 ms. Also the higher the Spare time the better for the overall of the region (sim). When in comes to Lag created by scripted objects, the estate can help minimize it by removing them. Please contact Giancarlo Takacs or any of the estate managers if you suspect there is a lag nest in your sim.

Server Lag

When the server hosting the region (sim) you are in is not performing well due to connectivity problems, server lag happens. In this case, all is needed is for the estate managers to restart the region (sim). You can check in the statistics bar and under Time (ms). Look for Net time, Simulation Time and Images time. If any of those three are above 1.0 for more than 5 seconds, contact us so we can restart the region (sim).

We will continue to work every single day to make sure the lag created by sources we can control is minimized. Also there are the times when the grid is unstable as no matter where we go things take forever to load for example. And finally remember the Homestead Regions have a slower performance rate than Full Prim Regions

As always, if you have any questions please contact me.

Love & Light,

Gian