tech question

[Dono]

Question: Why does the server ping skyrocket past 80 players?
 

this seriously impacts the community as when the server gets closer to max pop. events become unplayable as lag turns everything unenjoyable. Is there a problem with the server host that makes the server eat shit? Is the total bandwith for the server box not enough to support over 90 players? The perfect time to conduct events would be at 90 players but because of the immense stuttering and shitty lag, nothing is entertaining anymore. People disconnect when we reach higher numbers because of the lag. I genuinely dont understand because I have been on other SWRP communities that dont have lag this bad and I want to know why Synergy seems to be so shit with higher population.


If possible i would like a more technical explanation then just ooooo more ppl = more lag. I have seen other gmod servers perform better than our server does statistically.

 

This is I guess more directed at the founders. 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Dono

[Naffen]

follow this format for the correct people to assist you 

[Maverick]

@DonoWas your question ever answered?

[Jayarr]

Probably not the person you want to respond, but I feel the need to elaborate.
Server lag may rely heavily on the host, but in this instance there are multiple other factors. There's no real short term answer for this, but to narrow it down for you:

1. This server utilizes a lot of active scripts at one moments notice, and the more that piles up, the more the server has to process all the inward and outward information of that factor. This cannot be easily contained, and often results to chopping off a lot of useful addons when it, in my opinion, isn't necessary. The other servers you mention that seem to work fine more then likely have an active team making sure each script is optimized in a way that it can easily flow from one function to the next. As much praise as that deserves, by no means should it mean the dev team here should dump loads of hours of dedication into that fact, as making sure scripts function flawlessly with how many addons are currently present would be a nightmare. So on that end, you just gotta live with it.

2. An unfortunately common trend now-a-days on gmod is having, and utilizing, higher end models and materials. Source engine is old and unstable, and the more we push it, the more it's gonna fight. The version of source the gmod utilizes was never really intended for super high quality things, and as it's become more apparent, 4k, 6k, and even 8k texture models offer more and more strain the more they're added up. Take the current 501st models for example. Beautiful, beautiful models and textures. But put 10+ people on the job and shove them in a room, you'll notice a drastic decrease in FPS due to how demanding these high quality models are. This isn't purely the fault of the models nor the textures, as there are other factors such as how you the player are receiving this visual in response to how the server has read it, but you get the point. Generally, just as mentioned with the lua problem, it's something you gotta live with if you want a quality experience. I, for one, hope the old playdough CGI models never get picked up again

3. Communication on a case to case instance from the server to the player can often get strained and otherwise convoluted the more you pile things onto it. There are things to factor in like what specific specs the server host is using, and more often then not, the better specs are absurdly price. This roots back to what you mentioned about the server host. I personally don't know what host synergy utilizes, but I will mention how hard it is to find a single affordable host who can maintain an active population above 50 players without any strain. Ultimately, with the how much money the server may or may not make in a day, it likely can't afford to pay a monthly fee for an insanely monstrous host that can handle these things. As always, high quality = more money. This said, the current host is more then fair for being able to handle the player base at it's current rate. It certainly isn't the best, or even that good, but the bigger picture shows how well it truly does.

4. Last but not least, as mentioned in #2, source is old. Older then we realize sometimes. The active development team for gmod tries to push out what updates they can to ensure it keeps up with modern standards, but as we all know from our time playing servers, it can't really ever catch up. I personally can't name any server that doesn't lag past the 80+ threshold, especially during events or heavy simulations, and there's plenty good reasons for this. I've only just scratched the surface of some of the faults gmod has, and how that can pair with running a server. As servers vary on a case to case basis, you can only expect them to be able to do so much about it. The amount of resources, time, and effort required to hold such things up is certainly a crazy concept to ask of anyone.

So in short: Source bad, gmod bad, server hosts and developers die inside.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Jayarr

[Dono]

14 hours ago, Maverick said:

@DonoWas your question ever answered?

This is probably the most straight forward answer I’ll get to this kind of question. Good to lock it away in answered whenever. 

[Maverick]

Question Answered