Multiplayer games have become so prevalent that a single-player story is now described as an in-game feature. However, while you’ll find that most types of games are multiplayer, from first-person shooters to racing and sports simulators, there’s one problem that plagues them all: bad servers.
Server issues can completely ruin a gaming experience, causing great frustration for gamers. Lag, crashes, and loss of progress are common issues you may encounter due to unstable server performance. These issues are not limited to a single game or developer, but rather affect the entire industry, making the need for effective solutions urgent. Check out how to fix Linux server issues using these ideal troubleshooting steps.
1. Hacking and bots
While in-game hacking isn’t technically a server issue, game servers should be able to detect if someone is running cheats and not allow them to join official matchmaking (a system that aims to organize matches between players based on specific criteria such as skill or level). The same goes for bots as well.
This is a common problem across game genres, but FPS titles are the most affected. You’ll encounter hackers using aimbots or wallhacks in almost every game unless you decide not to use official matchmaking and end up playing something like FACEIT instead.
Games have tried to address this issue, but the measures are half-baked at best. For example, in CS2, you can buy Prime status and play with other Prime players. But that only reduces the chance of being hacked. It also means that the free-to-play section of the game is a mess, which drives away new players who want to try out the game before spending money on it.
It’s not an impossible problem to fix, and perhaps the best example of how to get rid of hackers in your game is Valorant. However, Riot’s approach to solving the problem adds a few more issues that we’ll talk about later.
Grief or sarcasm may not seem like a big deal, but the moment you enter a game lobby where you can’t tell if your opponent is exploiting or hacking, you’ll also rally against them. Rocket League players will back me up on this.
Every online game has communities around it, and they all have at least some toxic elements. However, the presence of hackers is often directly proportional to how dangerous the game community is.
2. Random disconnection
No matter how good your computer or internet connection is, if the game you are trying to play does not have stable servers, there is a chance that you will be randomly kicked or disconnected from the game server for no apparent reason.
For me, this was the most common issue with EA’s FIFA 23, to the point where I stopped playing the multiplayer game, FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), after a while. I would get disconnected despite having a good computer and stable internet connection, and I would often get penalized for leaving a match.
FC24 has somewhat fixed this issue, but it still exists. For a company with EA’s resources, you’d think this would be an easy fix, but no. This issue has affected EA’s soccer games since at least FIFA 21 and it’s still present in FC24.
Of course, EA games aren’t the only ones suffering from this issue. Despite a stable game like Valorant, I’ve been kicked from a game server for no reason, only to try to rejoin and get a costly disconnection penalty.
3. Unfair penalties for absence (AFK) or disconnection
Games like Valorant and CS2 use harsh disconnection penalties to discourage players from abandoning matches and ruining the game for everyone else. This is great, except when the game server disconnects you and you get punished.
Harsh punishments or disconnections keep toxic players out of most competitive titles as abandoning a match can ruin the game for other players. However, applying them randomly to everyone who disconnects from the server leaves a bad taste and makes it less likely that new players will return.
This is one of the biggest reasons I haven't become a regular Valorant player. The game is interesting enough, but my connection keeps dropping despite having a decent internet connection and a decent spec computer, and I'm constantly getting penalized for leaving matches that I haven't left on my own.
4. Unfair matchmaking
Official matchmaking is broken in some games. I wish there was a better way to say this, but there isn’t. Multiplayer in most games is skill-based, which means that unless you’re paired with players who are roughly at your skill level, you’re not going to have a good time. It’s straightforward, but it’s something that games consistently get wrong.
In-game matchmaking also has to take into account hackers and even bots. A famous example is CS2. The matchmaking process in the game is so random that you can’t know how skill levels will vary from game to game.
It matches on-screen parameters, like rank and elo, that players can see. But the elements the matchmaking system uses to pair people behind the screen seem to vary widely. Since you don’t have access to these numbers or how the system ranks players, it’s hard to control where you end up in matchmaking. For most players, myself included, the best bet is to just play and pray for a good match.
Again, this problem extends to multiple games. Rocket League, FC24, and sometimes iRacing can put you in a lobby where everyone is doing their own thing instead of practicing in the game, you know.
As with most server issues, there's not much you can do here. The problem can be somewhat countered by playing with friends or a group you know so that you can at least have a good time, regardless of the opposition.
5. Bugs, glitches, and everything else
Random bugs and glitches are almost inevitable in online gaming. You are bound to encounter issues like hits not registering, characters moving in-game, walls that can be passed or shot through, a certain gun or item being overpowered, and many more. The list is endless.
Most multiplayer games are constantly getting updates as developers fix one thing and break another. Game servers don’t last forever, but no matter how long they last, it’s a cat-and-mouse game between developers and bugs.
Ubisoft’s games, particularly Rainbow Six Siege, are prime examples of games that are prone to a lot of online bugs that can ruin a player’s experience. The company’s latest release, XDefiant, is also following in the same footsteps. EA’s FIFA franchise, now FC, is also known for random bugs and glitches that can be hard to explain unless you log them.
Another example of this is iRacing’s netcode. While this bug isn’t very common, in a game where every inch counts and cars are often racing in close proximity to each other, suffering from netcode means you’ll end up crashing without ever knowing whether or not it was your fault. You’ll also end up getting penalized for unsafe driving, not to mention ruining the race for you and anyone else you hit.
Perhaps even more frustrating is the fact that there’s a good chance that the issues you’re experiencing aren’t very common, which means the developer won’t have enough data available to fix the problem. This means that sometimes, you’ll just have to work your way through the problem. Here’s everything you need to create your own dedicated game server on Linux.
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