Forum Discussion

Seasoned Newcomer

Re: Battlefield 6 Season 3 Performance and Netcode Issues

Since the start of Season 3, I (along with others) have been seeing horrible "network" performance issues. I quote "network" because it does not appear to actually be a network issue directly. Please read details below before saying this is simply a local network, device issue, or ISP issue.

For reference, I have symmetrical fiber internet over 1Gbps both up and down. My typical ping in BF6 is always <15ms (on the scoreboard even when this occurs). The average response time to most major network services on my network is also typically less than 15ms (and frequently less than 10ms).

For months prior to season 3, I have been able to play BF6 on my PC handheld without issue. I've never seen any network problems both docked (on ethernet) or undocked (on wifi).

Ever since season 3 was released, something has been broken. A match typically starts fine as it did before. Once I approach an enemy or fire at/take fire from one, my connection icons go crazy. Lag is apparent in-game, making it hard or extremely difficult to engage in a fight. This then persists for the remainder of the game.

Looking at my network performance whenever this happens, all other services are completely fine. I also own the Xbox Series X version of this game and DO NOT experience this issue on that platform on the same EXACT network. Ever.

There appears to be an issue with something on the PC version of BF6. Some users on reddit have speculated that it's an issue causing increased CPU usage by the anti-cheat software masquerading as a network performance issue. Whether or not that's the case, I don't know.

But it's not just a network issue. If it was, I would be seeing this across my network and on the Xbox version of the game. My non-BF6 network performance graphs are regularly completely normal across the board when I've tried playing the PC version of the game. Low response times, high speeds, 0% packet loss.

I've tried the following based on Reddit threads regarding the same issue:

Repairing the anti-cheat software using the installer inside the root folder for BF6
Completely uninstalling, redownloading, and reinstalling the game
Removing any USB peripherals and any external, removable storage
Ran Steam's integrity check
Both hardwired ethernet and wifi connections. The hardwired connection was the same on the Xbox Series X utilizes and performs fine on.
Lowered all graphical settings to as low as they can go

None of the above have worked.

While I also understand it could be some kind of PC-related update on the Windows side or firmware side, I have a hard time believing that it ONLY affects BF6 and no other multiplayer games on the same platform. And that it coincidentally only started when the Season 3 update released.

There are multiple Reddit threads on this issue as well. Just a few below:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefield/comments/1tupfjl/seasons_3_lag_in_battlefield_6/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefield/comments/1tr8s94/fix_this_dice/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefield6/comments/1tc0v8t/latency_issues_since_s3/

I am not the only person experiencing this. The game is quite literally unplayable and has been for over 3 weeks now since the season started. I can fortunately play on Xbox as well, but this is rendering what was a full-priced purchase completely useless. Would appreciate someone from DICE actually listening to this and investigating the issue.

Platform: PC / Steam

Hardware: Xbox Ally X (a PC handheld)

(cm edit - updated title for vis)

6 Replies

burchmorexbox
Seasoned Traveler
1 day ago
Hey.
So I had this issue after the Season 3 update. Virtually every single match I played had persistent, game-breaking network lag. Not poor performance per-se, but players/vehicles glitching around, getting all my hitmarkers in one frame, dying in one frame etc. Before the Season 3 update I had *never* had issues like this even once.

I assumed it was a problem with the game, since it was clearly caused by the Season 3 update. However, it was not exclusively caused by it.
I saw someone else in this forum mention they fixed the issue by cleaning their PC and replacing their CPU's thermal paste, because they were getting high CPU usage, and thus high temperatures, and it was getting throttled. So I decided to play monitoring my CPU temp and sure enough, I was hitting the limit my CPU's "max" temp.
However, I don't know how to clean/replace CPU thermal paste, so instead I just put my CPU in 'eco' mode via AMD Ryzen Master, which prevents it from going into "turbo" clock speed mode and ensures the temps stay well below the throttle threshold. Since then I have not had a single network lag issue. It does mean I get somewhat reduced performance, since my CPU isn't working as hard, but at least the game is playable.
So the issue appears to be a combination of high CPU usage causing high temperatures, combined with some change in the Season 3 update that makes the networking bug out when the CPU is throttled. I don't really understand why the issue occurs during throttling specifically, because presumably a throttled CPU just runs at a slower clock speed, which afaik is exactly what my 'eco' mode does. Yet the former causes awful lag while the latter doesn't.
If I were you, I would look into if you have a similar 'eco' mode. Or at least play the game while you have Core Temp running and see if you're hitting your CPU's "max" temperature.
I share your frustration though. I was rage posting on this forum daily for about two weeks, demanding DICE at least say something publicly about the issue.
SuperTongue
Seasoned Newcomer
18 hours ago
Interesting point here - while I can't really redo the thermal paste (I don't want to crack open my XAX since it's still under warranty), I did look into the "eco" mode suggestion via Armory Crate. This (and a comment on a reddit post) led me to trying the FPS Limiter option as well.
The Operating Mode change (as it's called in Armory Crate on the Xbox Ally X) didn't seem to help. I lowered it to 13w from the normal unplugged setting of 17w. I also tried the Turbo option at 25w and it didn't help either.
However - the FPS Limiter in Armory Crate did seem to make a difference. By setting it to 30 or even 40 FPS, the issue basically went away. Conversely, flipping it any higher (to the 60, 90, or completely off settings) reintroduced the issues immediately in-game.
Would agree at this point - there seems to be something in the Season 3 update causing the network issues relating to CPU throttling. Hopefully with more and more reports, DICE can eventually address this considering it did work fine without any intervention prior to the update.
Appreciate the reply and suggestions here - at least the game seems to be playable again (albeit at a lower FPS)!
SolisCorsier
Rising Hotshot
16 hours ago
I agree and confirm that I'm experiencing a lot of discomfort from this thing. It feels springy when I walk or run.
SuperTongue
Seasoned Newcomer
14 hours ago
Any reason this got moved out of the Bugs section? This is a problem with the game itself that's documented by a number of users and was getting a number of votes before it moved here. It's not just a technical issue on the user's end.
EA_Shepard
Community Manager
14 hours ago
SuperTongue Hey, so we are tracking basically all of this on a larger post that has more eyes on it, so i am merging yours with it since you put a lot of effort into calling these things out.

Thanks
SuperTongue
Seasoned Newcomer
13 hours ago
Great, thank you for the clarification! Glad this is getting some attention!