Re: Battlefield 2042 Tick Rate

Nothing to do with console limitations. Just that doubling the player count from 64 to 128 also doubles the internet bandwidth requirements. But if the servers tick rate is cut in half, then the bandwidth requirements end up staying the same.

Plus the technical play test was capped at 30fps. Like I said, a WireShark capture will verify the tick rate. Maybe Chris at Battle(Non)Sense will do a netcode video when BF2042 comes out.

"Plus the technical play test was capped at 30fps. Like I said, a WireShark capture will verify the tick rate. Maybe Chris at Battle(Non)Sense will do a netcode video when BF2042 comes out."

Chris has tried to test the netcode on Battlefield 2042 Open Beta, but stated  that, due to there being no server browser or team switch option, testing the tick rate was virtually impossible. He did notice that the game client and server exchange was locked at 45 packets per second in both directions.

@Maj_MeerkatWell it seems you *probably* have your answer for now

Actually he does not @carsono311.  

But it does give us some indicators at best...  😋

If @Maj_Meerkat refers to "BF2042 Tick Rate", as meaning Server Tick Rate, then the best way to describe it with the current meaning attached to it, is that it's generally the frequency that things update on the server itself.

Because when looking at multiplayer shooter games like BF, there are 3 tech values that are important:

• The Server Tick Rate (server simulation rate) - This is how often the server updates the game world.  And please note, that this is not how often it receives/sends data.  It is the frequency by which it simulates/calculates the data in the game world. This value has typically been 30Hz in recent BF games on console, some higher at 45Hz or even 60Hz.  PC have often been at 60Hz or even higher at 120-144Hz (sorry, not followed this tech recently, so not aware what latest and best have been for PC on aka BFV).  Such Server Tick Rate cannot easily be changed or just turned up at will, as many things in the game engine and interdepending infrastructure rely on this value.
• The Client to Server Send Rate - This is how often each client sends an update to the game server. This is the value that was confirmed to be 45Hz during our Beta.
• The Server to Client Send Rate - This is how often the server sends an update to your game client on your local platform. This value was also confirmed to be 45Hz during our Beta.

By increasing the server to client send rate, we would see a more accurate and updated version of the game world.  However, it cannot be increased above the Server Tick Rate, as it would just be sending the same information twice then, if the the server simulation rate is just at the same 45Hz.

So it would be fair to say that the Server Tick Rate was most probably 45Hz or more during our Beta gameplay.

It could have been better and higher.  But we don't know for sure.

Actually in most past BF games, there we had a slower Server to Client Send Rate than the Server Tick Rate.

And I definitely hope that we will get minimum 60Hz Server Tick Rate on our regular BF2042 game servers.

EA, please do not go cheap on us here, as it directly impacts the gaming experience in a bad way if you do!  🙏

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@carsono311 wrote:
@OskooI_007Oh I absolutely expect a BattleNonsense video.

I remember his Battlefield V video and I think I remember him saying that game only needed like 2 or 3Mbps download and upload… so I don't think bandwidth would be the issue on the client side. Server side should not be an issue either, but I guess there would be an associated increase in cost for leasing a higher throughput cluster…

I would be very interested in knowing this!

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Yeah @carsono311 ,

Past many 64-player BF games only required at peak around 2.8Mb download and around 750kb upload speeds.  So most modern internet lines will have no problem handling this or more for BF2042.

But your comment regarding the server parks that EA rent from their partners is the sensitive point, as these will need a boost to handle the more clients connected on each logic server unit.  EA have run cheap on these in the last games, as they stack several logic servers onto the same physical unit.  Which then if all loading up, have suffered from not able to timely serve all game simulation calculations and updating all connected clients within the server tick time.  Especially caused by many out of region connected players and poor line qualities resulting in packet resend requests non-stop...  

Reason again why we desperately need/want the full player live scoreboard, including the latency listed for each connected player there!

The server simulation for BF1 updates every 5-10ms or 100-200Hz on PC. Having the server simulation run 2X faster than the network tick rate is probably ideal. 

So if BF2042's network tick rate is 45Hz, then 90Hz for the server simulation would be ideal. 

90Hz = 11ms (1,000ms ÷ 90Hz = 11ms)

So if you can find a BF2042 server with a Srv Tick of 11ms or less, it should perform well in theory.

Agreed @OskooI_007 ,

Having the Server Tick Rate running at a higher rate than the Client to Server Send Rate and especially higher than the Server to Client Send Rate is always the ideal!  

We have through the times moved from 10Hz, to 20 and now up to 45Hz for the Server to Client Send Rate, but it means that EA should enable we have server tick rates at 60Hz, ideally actually above the double server to client rate, so at 90Hz or higher!

We have had some great servers running at this or even up to 120 and 144Hz in the past.  Will be interesting to see what EA are willing to offer us by lowest default for BF2042 at launch, as this is a vital game-making or game-breaking part of the infrastructure! 

Thank you to @CyberDyme @OskooI_007 @carsono311  for giving us some insight into the this techinical aspect of the game. Hopefully we can get someone at DICE to respond to the question. Is there someone from DICE who deals with the the network infrastructure side of the game who has popped up on Twitter or other social media accounts?

Hello, since Battlefield 2042 is out now since a couple of weeks and Chris from Battlennsense did not yet make a video to test the server tick rate was i looking for it myself on google. this threat is the first that comes up. I know in early Battlefield 5 days the server tick rate was 30 i think, and the community was complaining alot (getting killed behind cover etc) so they increased the tick rate to 60hz.

Now i read that battelfield 2042 beta had probably 45hz makes me solalal happy/sad, its still higher than competitors like pubg and call of duty who use 30hz tick rate, but i can still feel and notice the low 45hz tick rate in battlefield 2042 or am i wrong?! so what is now the actual server tick rate of battelfield 2042, i feel that todays servers would be fast enough to have 60hz tick rate even if there are 128 players nowadays. But it would come at an increase cost for servers. am i wrong am i right i dont know.

But i do know that some older and smaller games like counterstrike, has 92hz tick rate and unreal tournament has a tick rate of 120hz. let me tell you something, 120hz tick rate feels amazing to play at, yes i know there is only 10 players at once.

IS EA SAVING ON SERVERS, BECAUSE THE COMPETITION DOES NOT DO IT BETTER, OR ARE WE ALREADY AT THE TECHNICAL LIMIT?

Ran some WireShark captures and verified that the maximum network tick rate for both send and receive is 45Hz.

Receive rate from server = 45Hz

Send rate to server = 45Hz

I can understand why Chris from Battle(non)Sense stopped providing feedback. He's done all kinds of photoshop mockups with user interface improvements and netcode videos. DICE never implemented a single one of his ideas.