Lets take a moment to talk about lag!

Many of you whine and cry "lag lag lag" and almost always blame it on the server and/or plugins in the server. Well I'm going to set the record straight. While yes server lag is a possibility, most of the time the lag is being generated on your end.

How can this be you aay? simple. Three different ways.

1.  Computer Specs:

When Minecraft was first released it was like linux; you could put it on any ol piece of crap computer and it ran well. Minecraft has evolved and changed immensely since then and with all the changes that have been made it now requires better graphics, processing power and memory.

System Requirments (directly from Mojang):

• CPU : Intel P4/NetBurst Architecture or its AMD Equivalent (AMD K7)
• RAM : 2GB
• GPU : Intel GMA 950 or AMD Equivalent
• HDD : At least 90MB for Game Core and Sound Files
• Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 or up is required to be able to run the game.

• CPU : Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 (K8) 2.6 GHz
• RAM : 4GB
• GPU : GeForce 6xxx or ATI Radeon 9xxx and up with OpenGL 2 Support (Excluding Integrated Chipsets)
• HDD : 150MB

My Recommended Requirments: My current setup and I have seen very little to no client side lag.

• CPU : Intel core series or AMD Equivalent
• RAM : 4GB or more
• GPU : 1GB or more graphics card that supports OpenGL 2 (NO intergrated/onboard graphics)
• HDD : 150GB+
• 64-BIT Operating System
• 64-BIT Java Enviroment(Highly Recommended)

So you say  "I meet the Minimum requirements but i still lag! now is it the server?" The answer is NO. While you do meet the Minimum Requirments, they are just that, the minimum needed to run the game.

So you say " I meet the mojang recommended requirements but I still lag. what now?"  I recommend that you try to meet my reommended requirments. I have used the recomended requirements from mojang and was less that impressed.

I know some of you dont have the ability to meet these specs so you will have to deal with the lag until you can.

So you say "I meet your requirements but I still lag. Now what?"  Move on to issue 2.

2. Poor Internet connection:

Some of you know you have this issue (and I also know that for some of you there is not much you can do about it). If your connection to the internet is GOB they your going to have issues. It doesnt matter how great the server is your still going to lag.

3. Netowork conditions/your distance to the server:

Network conditions between you and the server can cause lag. wither it be busted equipment, netowork overload  or an active DDOS attack it will cause lag.

Distance between you and the server also plays a role.  If your in the serbian oil fields or in Dialup New Zealand it takes your network traffic a lot longer to get to the server (which is located in Pennsylvania, USA) and greater the chance of it being held up.)

Now combine these two and you have one hell of a mess that you have no control over. Normally this issue will be temporary (except the distance) and should be a constant cause of lag.

So next time your lagging and before blaming the server or blaming a plugin, go through this list of possible causes. If you cant make it through this list then its on you.

On a whineing related side note.... For those of you who complain about donating and say stuff like "reall?!? how much does a server cost?"  You have to understand it costs a lot of money per year to keep this server. Further more for those of you who say tremor profits from it... your wrong!  Every dontation made goes directly back to the server and its monthly costs. Tremor and DP dont get paid for the work and maintence they do to keep pwn9 and all of its services up and running. The sacrifice their personal time and resources to keep pwn9 running and bringing in new ideas to make it better.

For example Tremor just had more memory added to the server to make the YASMP and PWN9 expierence as a whole better.

So next time you see Tremor or DreamPhreak take a moment to say Thank You and maybe..... even maybe...donate to help keep the server running. To those of you who have been donating... Thank You!