Fix lag in Valorant
Lag in Valorant starts in one of three places: your home, your line or the route to Riot Games's servers. Find out which before you change anything or pay for a "ping reducer".
In your home
Wi-Fi far from the router, other devices downloading, a busy PC or console, and strict NAT on the router. Test with the spike finder, then try a cable.
Find lag spikesOn your line
When someone uploads or streams, a queue builds in the router and your game waits behind it (bufferbloat). Smart Queue fixes it.
Fix bufferbloatBeyond your line
Distance to the server and your provider's route. Pick the closest region, and check the route for detours below.
Test server regionsHow Valorant picks a server
Your account's region decides the data centres you can play on. In custom games and some queues you can see the ping to each data centre and pick one.
Settings worth checking
- Settings → General → Network Buffering: Minimum, unless your connection has packet loss.
- Settings → Video → Stats: turn on Network RTT and Packet Loss to see lag as it happens.
- Close Discord's hardware acceleration and browser tabs that stream video while you play.
Riot's own network is short, so most Valorant lag starts in the home (Wi-Fi, downloads) or on the line (bufferbloat) rather than on the route.
Ping to nearby server regions
Riot Games doesn't publish test addresses for its game servers, so this measures the cloud regions where most online games and voice chat run. It shows the lowest ping your connection can reach in each area and whether your provider takes a detour.
Ping to game and call servers
Round trips to the cloud regions where most game, voice and video servers run. Distance sets a floor on your ping that no setting at home can lower, so pick the closest region when a game lets you.
Valorant ports
Forwarding these fixes connection problems such as strict NAT or voice chat that won't connect. It doesn't lower lag on its own. Most routers with UPnP turned on open them automatically.
| Protocol | Ports |
|---|---|
| TCP | 2099, 5222–5223, 8088, 8393–8400, 8443 |
| UDP | 7000–8000, 8180–8181 |
As listed by Riot Games; they can change, so check Riot Games support if something doesn't work. Test a forward with the port checker.