Known Lag Problems
These problems are reported by real players. If your region or ISP is listed, a network optimizer is likely to help.
North America (matched with Asia)
20-60ms in NA sessions; 200-350ms in cross-continental P2P- No regional matchmaking sub-division — NA players queue with all non-Japan players globally
- Frequent matches with Chinese players causing 200-350ms P2P sessions
- Cross-Region toggle does not help — only removes Japan, not Asia broadly
- P2P host latency compounds with ISP routing issues to Steam relay nodes
Europe (matched with Asia and Americas)
15-50ms for EU-EU sessions; 150-300ms for cross-continental- Same single global pool as NA — European players regularly get Asian hosts
- No way to restrict matchmaking to EU-only players
- Russian players in EU pool with highly variable routing quality
- Eastern Europe players may route through congested transit to Steam relays
Southeast Asia (outside Japan)
30-80ms within SEA; 150-300ms cross-continental- SEA players share pool with NA and EU — cross-continental sessions common
- Philippines, Indonesia players often connect via congested submarine cable routes
- No dedicated SEA matchmaking zone (only Japan vs Rest-of-World)
- Lag with Chinese-hosted sessions due to regional internet infrastructure
What players commonly report
- Cross-region matchmaking despite disabling the setting — China/Asia players in NA/EU queues
- No in-game ping display — cannot see who is lagging before a run starts
- Host-lag causing rubber-banding enemies and missed item pickups
- Kernel-level EAC — concerns about invasiveness and Linux/Steam Deck compatibility
- Only two matchmaking regions (Japan / Rest of World) — no intra-continental filtering
- Desync during boss fights at 150ms+ — attacks that visually miss still land
- No server browser or manual host selection
How to Fix It
Try these first — they're free and solve the problem for most people.
01 Disable Cross-Region matchmaking
1. From the main menu, go to Settings 2. Navigate to Network settings 3. Disable 'Cross-Region Play' 4. This separates Japan-region players from your matchmaking pool 5. Note: this does NOT separate North America, Europe, and Asia — they all remain in one pool
Removes Japan-based sessions (often very high ping for non-Japan players). Does not fix cross-regional matching within NA/EU/Asia.
02 Use Ethernet and disable WiFi
1. Connect PC directly to router with Ethernet cable 2. In Windows Settings > Network, disable WiFi adapter 3. Ethernet eliminates the 2-10ms WiFi overhead and removes wireless jitter 4. In a P2P game, jitter (variable ping) causes more perceptible lag than consistent latency
Reduces jitter and eliminates wireless-induced packet loss — especially important in P2P where lost packets aren't retransmitted with priority.
General network tips (not Elden Ring: Nightreign-specific)
03 Check per-player ping before starting a run
1. Download SteamP2PInfo from GitHub (https://github.com/tremwil/SteamP2PInfo) — community tool, not affiliated with FromSoftware 2. Run it alongside Nightreign during character select 3. It shows the ping between you and each matched player in real time 4. If a player has 200ms+ ping, leave the session before the run starts 5. Re-queue for a new session with better-connected players
Most impactful free action — lets you avoid high-latency sessions before committing to a 20-minute run.
04 Open your NAT type
1. Open router admin panel (typically 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1) 2. Enable UPnP, OR manually port-forward: UDP 3478, 3479, 8571, 49152-65535; TCP 80, 443, 3478, 3479, 3480, 10901 3. Open NAT (Type 1/Open) allows direct P2P connections without relay, reducing round-trip time 4. Moderate NAT (Type 2) usually works but forces relay in some situations 5. Strict NAT (Type 3) causes frequent connection failures and relay with high latency
Open NAT enables direct P2P connection instead of relay routing — eliminates relay overhead and often reduces ping by 20-60ms.
05 Play in a premade group with friends
1. Invite specific friends from your Steam friends list 2. This bypasses random matchmaking entirely — you control who hosts 3. Choose the friend with the best connection and lowest geographic distance to host 4. Host typically has the smoothest experience; guests adapt to host latency
Eliminates cross-continental matchmaking completely. Most reliable solution to lag issues if friends are available.
06 Flush DNS and reset network stack
1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator 2. Run: ipconfig /flushdns 3. Run: netsh winsock reset 4. Run: netsh int ip reset 5. Restart your PC 6. This clears stale routing cache that can cause unnecessary hops
Fixes routing regressions caused by stale DNS or corrupted network state. Quick fix for sudden unexplained ping increases.
Regions with good connectivity
Players in these regions likely won't benefit much from a network optimizer.
- Japan — Separate matchmaking zone. Largest Nightreign playerbase. Japan players stay within the Japan pool when Cross-Region is disabled. Excellent domestic infrastructure for P2P sessions.
- Western Europe (pre-made groups) — Players who form premade friend groups bypass matchmaking entirely, getting clean intra-regional P2P sessions with 10-30ms ping.
Still lagging? The problem is likely your ISP's routing to the game servers.
PingAim detects Elden Ring: Nightreign automatically
No manual config. PingAim identifies Elden Ring: Nightreign by process name and routes it through your fastest connection using a kernel-level WFP driver.