Experiencing lag on your Enshrouded server can make multiplayer frustrating, especially when players are exploring, building, or fighting bosses together. Rubberbanding, delayed attacks, and high ping can all affect gameplay, but these problems don't necessarily have the same cause.
Enshrouded server lag can result from insufficient CPU or RAM resources, network instability, high player activity, or even problems with individual players' connections.
Fortunately, there are several ways to identify and fix these issues. This guide explains how to troubleshoot Enshrouded server lag for both self-hosted and dedicated hosting setups.
What Causes Lag On An Enshrouded Server?
Before trying to fix your server, it's important to understand what's causing the performance issues.
Some of the most common causes of Enshrouded server lag include:
- Insufficient RAM or CPU resources.
- High ping between players and the server.
- Too many players exploring different areas simultaneously.
- Large, complex bases increasing server workload.
- Unstable internet connections or insufficient upload bandwidth.
- Outdated server files or temporary performance problems.
Lag can appear in several ways, including players teleporting backward while moving, enemies responding slowly to attacks, and delayed interactions with objects.
However, not every performance problem comes from your server. Low FPS and graphical stuttering can also be caused by a player's computer.
1. Check If The Lag Is Server-Side Or Client-Side
The first step is determining whether the issue affects everyone or only certain players.
If multiple players experience rubberbanding or delayed interactions simultaneously, the problem may be related to server resources or networking.
However, if only one player experiences lag while everyone else can play normally, their individual connection is more likely to be responsible.
You can narrow down the problem by testing a few scenarios:
- Ask multiple players whether they experience lag at the same time.
- Check whether lag occurs everywhere or only near large bases.
- Test the server with fewer players online.
- Compare performance during quiet and busy periods.
If someone experiences low FPS but other players aren't affected, reducing graphics settings or checking their computer's hardware may help.
It's worth distinguishing between server lag and graphical performance before making unnecessary changes to your hosting setup.
2. Check Your Enshrouded Server's RAM And CPU Usage
One of the most common causes of dedicated server lag is insufficient hardware resources.
Enshrouded supports up to 16 players, but the workload increases as more people explore, build, and interact with the world simultaneously.
RAM is important for keeping active world data available, while the CPU processes gameplay activity such as enemy behavior, player movement, and world interactions.
For smaller groups, the Enshrouded server requirements are generally less demanding than those of a busy 16-player community with several established bases.
Checking Resource Usage On A Self-Hosted Server
If you're running your dedicated server on Windows:
- Open Task Manager.
- Navigate to the Processes or Details tab.
- Locate
enshrouded_server.exe. - Check its CPU and memory usage while players are connected.
- Compare resource usage during normal gameplay and lag spikes.
Consistently high CPU usage or memory consumption approaching your available limit could indicate a hardware bottleneck.
Remember that adding more RAM won't necessarily solve CPU-related performance problems.
If you're hosting and playing Enshrouded on the same computer, both applications are also competing for system resources.
3. Fix High Ping And Network Problems
High ping occurs when communication between your computer and the server takes longer than expected.
This can cause delayed combat interactions, rubberbanding, and movement synchronization problems.
One of the biggest factors affecting latency is the physical distance between players and the server.
For example, American players connecting to a server hosted in the United Kingdom may experience higher latency than they would on a North American server.
To reduce Enshrouded high ping, consider the following:
- Choose a server location close to most of your players.
- Use an Ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi when possible.
- Avoid large downloads or uploads while playing.
- Disable VPN connections temporarily to test whether routing improves.
- Check for packet loss or unstable internet connections.
For self-hosted servers, upload bandwidth is particularly important. If other devices are consuming most of your connection's available upload speed, remote players may experience noticeable lag.
4. Reduce Server Load From Players And Large Bases
As your Enshrouded world develops, the amount of activity your server needs to process can increase.
Several players exploring different parts of Embervale simultaneously can create a greater workload than a group travelling together.
Large settlements and big constructions may also affect performance, particularly when combined with other active areas.
If your server starts lagging during busy sessions, try reducing the number of simultaneous players temporarily to see whether performance improves, so you can narrow down the cause.
Your Enshrouded server settings include the slotCount option, which determines how many players can connect simultaneously.
Reducing the player limit might fix the performance problem, but it isn't recommended as a fix unless you are fine with preventing more players from joining than your hardware can comfortably support.
5. Restart And Update Your Enshrouded Dedicated Server
If your Enshrouded server has been running continuously for an extended period, restarting it is the first thing you should do.
A restart gives the server a fresh start and may resolve temporary performance issues.
Before restarting, make sure players have disconnected and the server has saved properly.
Keeping your dedicated server updated is equally important.
Enshrouded 1.0 introduced several performance optimizations, including improvements to CPU efficiency and reduced memory usage for server-client communication.
If you're self-hosting, updating your Enshrouded dedicated server through SteamCMD or Steam ensures that your installation has the latest available server files.
With Pine Hosting, available updates are installed automatically when you restart your server through our game panel.
However, if lag immediately returns after restarting, you should investigate the underlying resource or networking problem rather than relying on repeated restarts.
6. Troubleshoot Enshrouded Server Lag With Pine Hosting
If you're using Pine Hosting, you can investigate server performance directly through our game panel without accessing your server's operating system manually.
Start by logging into your game panel and selecting your Enshrouded server.
From there, you can:
- Check your server's CPU and RAM usage to identify possible resource limitations.
- Open the Console tab and look for server errors or performance warnings.
- Restart your server after ensuring everyone has disconnected.
- Review your server configuration and player limits.
- Configure scheduled restarts if regular maintenance is necessary.
If your server consistently approaches its available CPU or RAM limits, upgrading your hosting plan may provide additional performance headroom.
For example, a server that originally hosted four friends may require more resources after growing into a larger multiplayer community.
If resource usage appears normal but your players continue experiencing significant lag, our support team can help investigate potential server-side issues.
Keep Your Enshrouded Server Running Smoothly
Fixing Enshrouded server lag starts with identifying whether the problem comes from hardware limitations, server activity, or network latency.
Checking resource usage, choosing an appropriate server location, managing player limits, and keeping your dedicated server updated can all help improve multiplayer stability.
With Enshrouded server hosting from Pine Hosting, you can run your world on high-performance hardware without depending on your personal computer or home internet connection.
Our hosting plans provide different RAM and CPU allocations, alongside a custom game panel with resource monitoring, backups, scheduled restarts, and server management tools.
Whether you're playing with a few friends or managing a full 16-player community, Pine Hosting makes it easier to maintain your Enshrouded server and increase resources as your world grows.
