Playing Fortnite can be a great way to expend some competitive energy whilst winding down after a long, hard day (or week!) at work. However, nothing’s worse than loading up Fortnite on your PC, getting half way through a game, and then experiencing sudden lag, either rendering the game impossible to win, or even impossible to play.
Knowing your real-time ping score allows you to keep tabs on your connection speed to the Fortnite servers, and can help you in such situations to quickly identify the issue, and thus solve it faster.
To learn how to show your ping in Fortnite for PC, see our tutorial below. For all other queries and any additional information you may require, please direct your attention to our FAQs at the bottom of this article.
Table of Contents
How to show your ping in Fortnite for PC
- Open up the Fortnite app on your PC and sign-in if prompted
- Begin a game of Fortnite, and once in the game, press ESC to open up the menu
- From the in-game menu, click the cog-shaped icon to take you to ‘Settings’ (located to the right of the menu tab)
- Now locate and click on the cog-icon from the icons located at the top of ‘Settings’, to take you to ‘Game Settings’
- Once there, click on ‘HUD’ to alter the settings affecting your ‘Heads-Up Display’ (or what you see when you’re playing Fortnite)
- From here, locate the option to see ‘Net Debug Stats’ on your HUD, and toggle it ‘On’.
- Press ESC on your keyboard again to exit the menu, apply your settings changes, and return to your game.
- You’ll now see at the top of your screen/HUD (toward the left, in white text) your ping information, as well as your upload/download speed, and packet loss with regards to your connection to the Fortnite servers.
And there you have it, with just a few simple steps you can ensure that you always have ready visibility and access to your ping score, ensuring you know exactly how good your connection to the game servers is, and quickly check to see if this is the issue whenever you experience lag.
For additional information, or further queries, see our FAQs below.
Frequently asked questions
What is Fortnite?
Fortnite is one of the world’s most popular online multiplayer games. It is heavily stylised, with cartoon-esque graphics, larger-than-life weapons, crazy customisable character wardrobes and defaults, and even in-game dances which have since stormed both the internet and the streets.
The game was one of the first to popularise the now omnipresent ‘battle royale’ style, in which you as a single player are but 1 person among 100, each vying to be the last player standing. Entirely free to play, and produced by Epic Games, in Fortnite, you are dropped from a zeppelin onto a large map, in which you’ll find any number of buildings, loot boxes, weapons, and treasure chests.
As the game commences, a circle around the map grows increasingly smaller, narrowing the effective space in which to play, all the while you have to kill other players’ avatars to survive, build yourself defensive positions, and be the last person alive in the final wave to take the total victory.
What is ping?
Ping is essentially a network utility which tests the reachability of any given network from your PC, via your internet connection.
In simpler terms – and in the context of playing Fortnite on your PC – the ping number displayed is the time it takes for your PC to connect with Fortnite’s servers, and for Fortnite’s servers to then relay their information to you. In even simpler terms – the ping number is the speed of your connection to Fortnite’s servers.
As such, the lower the number, the faster and better your connection. The higher the number, the slower and potentially laggier your connection.
Why would I want to show my ping in Fortnite for PC?
Displaying your ping in Fortnite for PC just means that whilst you play, you can observe in real-time your connection speed to Fortnite’s servers.
Given that Fortnite is a massive online multiplayer game – requiring lots and lots of people connecting every second with Fortnite’s servers – your ping can actually have a pretty noticeable impact on your game playing experience.
In such heated competition, having a high ping number (i.e. a slow connection) can be the thing standing between you and victory.
Can other players see my ping if I show it on Fortnite?
No, showing your ping on Fortnite for PC only alters your personal HUD, so your ping will only be visible to you.
What to do if my ping is high and I’m experiencing lag?
First thing’s first, check the most up-to-date news regarding Fortnite and Epic Games’ own servers, either via the dedicated subreddits, or via their Twitter accounts. If Fortnite/Epic Games are experiencing server issues, they’ll be the first to let you know, and at least then you know that your high ping score is not something to do with your own setup.
If there’s nothing wrong with the Fortnite servers, however, then the issue is probably on your end. Make sure that you are connected to the servers of your own country. If you are playing in Africa, say, but are connected to European servers, then head into your Game settings and ensure that you disconnect and reconnect yourself to a more local server.
Additionally, ensure that you have closed all unnecessarily open background apps, and that you are not downloading anything (be it updates or files) in the background. If you’re experiencing high ping, then the best thing you can do is ensure that your PC is not being asked to perform any tasks it doesn’t need to, whilst also trying to run Fortnite for you.
Lastly, there are paid-for apps out there which help lower ping scores, such as No Ping, which help shield your connection to any given server, removing interference and thus speeding your connection up, and lowering your ping score.
