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On PC, when Ctrl-Shift-R is pressed, PNG, RTT and IND appear. I suppose PNG stands for ping. What do RTT and IND mean, and how do they translate to gameplay experiences?

Are the numbers related like for example PNG = RTT + IND?

By that I mean to ask, what happens when:

  • PNG > RTT > IND
  • PNG > IND > RTT
  • RTT > IND > PNG
  • Etc. (Provided they obey the math relationship between them)

Is there a meaningful reflection of these numbers in terms of gameplay experiences?

I.e. which combination(s) causes gameplay experiences such as:

  • Landing a hit on the opponent in my perspective, when the opponent is already behind cover in his.
  • The opponent landing a hit on me in his perspective, when I'm already behind cover in mine.
  • Etc.
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3 Answers 3

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PNG = Ping = how long it takes you to contact the server

IND = indication = how long it takes the server to tell you stuff

RTT = round trip time = both of the above together

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  • 2
    Do you have a source for this? As far as I know, ping usually measures the round trip time, not just the sending time.
    – Dr R Dizzle
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 14:03
  • Here is an explanation for RTT: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-trip_delay_time
    – Riley
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 14:44
  • 6
    From that link: "the RTT is also known as the ping time". Blizzard seems to be using "ping" in a non-standard way.
    – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 15:39
  • I read my own source wrong, whoops.
    – Riley
    Commented Jun 21, 2016 at 8:24
  • this is not correct; IND stands for interpolation delay. It's a stat specific for OW. Blizzard network engineers explain this in detail in a video in the OW official youtube channel.
    – andre_ss6
    Commented Mar 25, 2018 at 3:10
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https://eu.battle.net/support/en/article/7779 Check under performance information.

PNG: Ping -- the time it takes for packet to be sent to the server and back.

RTT: Round Trip (Delay) Time -- calculation-wise, this would be the same as ping, but from what I understand from the support site, my guess would be that this is number is measured with a weighted moving average while PNG is reported as instantaneous RTT.

IND: Interpolation Delay -- how long it takes for YOUR client to "smooth" the information it gets from the server. EG, the game smoothly transitions a change in a characters position and velocity so it doesn't appear jumpy.

To answer some of the relationship questions based on my assumption about RTT. I haven't paid much attention to how the numbers relate to Overwatch specific experiences, so this is more theoretical than empirical.

PNG>RTT: Your ping is higher than your "average ping". If it's much greater, you're probably having a ping spike.

RTT>PNG: Your ping is lower than your "average ping." You might be recovering from a ping spike. If RTT is higher than the ping you think you should have--especially on a consistent basis--there might be connection or network traffic issues ANYWHERE between your PC and the server (that means on your home network, between your network and ISP, from the ISP to the back-bone to Blizzard's server).

For IND, I'm not sure what actual number being reported is, but normally interpolation is affected by when you get an "update"--so Ping/RTT, the client-side tick-rate and your FPS. If IND is high, you're getting a less accurate view of the game--things are being shown to you later than they are actually happening. If your IND is abnormally high and your ping and rtt are normal, you might have a performance issue.

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Ping actually has an influence in both your examples (hitting / or being hit by someone who isn't there any more or you have already moved further etc). If it goes over 120 approx. the stuff you do has a clear delay. With a ping of 200 you really have to wait a short amount of time until you see the action you're executing on your screen.

If IND is too high you get constantly weird lags (feels like the framerate drops below 25 or worse) and the gameplay isn't fluent anymore, this can have a drastic influence and you possibly cannot play anymore for real if to high. I read that around 50 is normal. Mine (over my mobile phones wifi) is around 20 mostly.

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