Lower ping in WARDOGS
In WARDOGS, one hundred players split across three teams fight over the control zone, and since Season 2 its official servers hold every player to a maximum ping. That makes your ping more than a number: stay over a server's limit for too long and the server kicks you. This page covers how those limits work and what lowers your ping, using the developers' Season 2 patch notes and the game's Steam page.
Where WARDOGS's servers are
WARDOGS has official servers and community servers. The Season 2 patch notes (October 2026) introduced region-based ping limits: official servers enforce a different maximum ping depending on their region. As of those notes, the developers said the first values would be quite lenient while they work out appropriate ones.
The same notes say community server admins will be able to configure their own ping limits, which can allow cross-regional play, or stricter rules than the official servers.
WARDOGS is in Early Access. Steam's Early Access note on its store page says such games are not complete and may or may not change further, and the developers describe the first ping limits as values they are still working out. Their patch notes are the place to check for changes.
How to see your ping in WARDOGS
The Season 2 patch notes cover ping through the server browser and the official servers' limits; they do not describe an on-screen ping display.
- Open the server browser. Season 2 added maximum ping tags and filters to it, to make it easier to find servers with suitable connections.
- Before you join an official server, check its maximum ping tag, which shows the server's maximum ping. Official limits depend on the server's region.
- On a community server, the admin may have set a different limit, looser or stricter than an official server's.
- If you are kicked for high ping, you cannot rejoin the same server until the next map transition.
What makes WARDOGS lag
Sustained high ping, not one spike. The developers say players who consistently exceed a server's ping limit over a sustained period are kicked automatically, and that this helps protect against temporary spikes.
Server lag spikes do not count. Server-side lag spikes are excluded from the ping measurement, which the developers say is there to prevent unfair kicks.
A server set for another region. Official limits depend on the server's region, so the server you pick decides which limit your connection has to meet. Community server admins will be able to set their own limits, which the developers say can allow cross-regional play.
Fixes worth trying first
- Play on a cable instead of Wi-Fi if you can. Wi-Fi adds delay and drops packets when the signal is busy or weak.
- Pause downloads, game updates, streams and cloud backups on your network while you play.
- Restart your router if your ping was fine before and suddenly is not.
Changing your DNS server does not lower your in-game ping: DNS only looks up addresses before the game connects.
How NitroPing helps
Your ping depends on the path your internet provider sends WARDOGS's traffic along, not only on the distance. NitroPing sends only WARDOGS's traffic through one of our relay servers over an encrypted tunnel, which can be a shorter, steadier path than your provider's default route. Everything else on your PC stays on your normal connection.
Pick Auto and NitroPing measures the relays from your PC and uses the one with the lowest latency, or pick a city and it stays there.
What it cannot do: shorten the physical distance to WARDOGS's servers, or fix Wi-Fi trouble or a connection that is already full. If your provider's route to the game is already good, the difference will be small.
WARDOGS ping questions
Why was I kicked for high ping in WARDOGS?
Since Season 2, official servers enforce a maximum ping that depends on their region. If your ping stays above a server's limit over a sustained period, the server kicks you automatically, and you cannot rejoin that server until the next map transition.
Do lag spikes on the server count against my ping?
No. The developers say server-side lag spikes are excluded from ping measurements to prevent unfair kicks.
Can I play on a WARDOGS server in another region?
Each official server enforces a maximum ping that depends on its region, so staying on one depends on meeting its limit. The patch notes say community server admins will be able to set their own limits, which can allow cross-regional play.
Does NitroPing work with WARDOGS?
WARDOGS is in NitroPing's game list: the app knows the WARDOGS game program and routes only its traffic through the relay, while everything else stays on your normal connection.