Few things are more frustrating than lining up a perfect Yasuo ult only to rubberband mid-cast and feed the enemy ADC a double kill. I’ve lost more ranked promos to unplanned lag than I care to admit, and 9 times out of 10, the issue started with me not keeping an eye on my connection mid-game. If you’ve ever wondered why your skill shots keep missing even when your aim is on point, learning how to check ping for League of Legends is the first step to fixing frustrating latency issues before they cost you the game. This guide walks you through every method, what ping numbers actually mean, and how to fix common issues fast.
How to Check Ping for League of Legends In-Game and Pre-Match
The fastest way to check your ping during a live match uses a built-in Riot shortcut that most new players don’t know exists. Press Ctrl+F at any point during a match to display your ping in the top-right corner of your screen, right next to your frame rate counter. The number shows in milliseconds, and it will fluctuate slightly as you play, which is totally normal. You can press Ctrl+F again to hide the counter if you don’t want it cluttering your screen during team fights.
If you want to test your ping before joining a live match so you don’t risk losing LP for a connection issue, you have two easy options. You don’t need to be in a live ranked or casual match to test your ping. First, you can load into a practice tool match, wait 10 seconds for the connection to stabilize, and use the same Ctrl+F shortcut to get an accurate reading. Second, you can enable a permanent ping display in your game settings so you never have to use the shortcut again. Just head to the Interface tab in settings, scroll down to the Performance section, and toggle “Show Network Statistics” on. It will stay visible for every match you play until you turn it off.
You can also check average ping for different regions in the LoL client before you swap servers to play with friends. Head to the server selection screen when you log in, and each region will show its average ping for your connection right next to the server name. That way you don’t waste 10 minutes loading into a match on the EUW server only to find your ping is 200ms unplayable.
What Is a Good Ping for League of Legends, Anyway?
Now that you know how to pull up your ping number, you need to know what counts as good, bad, or average. Ping measures how long it takes for your input to send to the Riot server and send a response back, so lower numbers are always better. Any ping below 50ms will give you a competitive edge with no noticeable input delay, and you’ll be able to pull off fast plays like flash dodges or perfectly timed combos without issue. Most players who live close to their region’s main server will sit in the 15 to 40ms range on a wired connection.
Ping between 50 and 100ms is completely playable for most casual players, though you might notice a tiny delay on very fast inputs if you’re used to lower numbers. I normally sit at 22ms on my home connection, and when I visited family on the other side of the country last year, my ping jumped to 75ms. It took a few matches to adjust, but I still won three out of four ranked games once I got used to the slightly slower response time.
Ping over 150ms will cause clear rubberbanding, missed skill shots, and delayed ability casts, and any ping over 200ms is basically unplayable for competitive matches. If your ping hits that range, you’ll see your character teleport across the screen, abilities will cast a full second after you press the button, and you’ll probably feed even if you’re playing against much lower skilled opponents. It’s not worth playing ranked in that state, no matter how desperate you are to climb.
Common Reasons Your LoL Ping Is Higher Than Normal
If you tested your ping and it’s way higher than it usually is, don’t immediately assume you need to buy a new router or switch internet providers. Most high ping issues are temporary and easy to fix once you find the root cause. From years of troubleshooting my own connection and helping friends fix theirs, these are the most common culprits:
- Background downloads or streaming services running on the same network, even on other devices like your phone, smart TV, or gaming console in another room
- Playing on a Wi-Fi connection instead of a wired ethernet connection, especially if you’re far from your router or there are thick walls between you and the device
- Connecting to a server outside of your local region for premade games with cross-region friends, which will always raise your ping even with a perfect connection
- Outdated network drivers or a router that hasn’t been restarted in several months, which can cause performance slowdowns that don’t affect regular web browsing
- Temporary Riot server outages or maintenance during peak play hours, which usually affect large groups of players at once instead of just you
I once spent 45 minutes messing with my game settings and restarting my computer before I realized my roommate was downloading a 4K movie on the living room TV, and that was the entire reason my ping jumped from 22ms to 190ms. So before you do anything complicated, check if anyone else is using the internet for high-bandwidth activities first. It will save you a ton of time.
If no one else is using the network and your ping is still high, you can check Riot’s server status page to see if there are reported outages in your region. If the servers are having issues, there’s nothing you can do but wait it out, so take that as a sign to take a break or play some casual ARAM instead of grinding ranked.
Quick Fixes to Lower Your Ping If Your Test Shows High Latency
Most high ping issues don’t require fancy tech knowledge to fix. These simple fixes work for 90% of temporary latency problems I’ve run into, and they take less than 10 minutes to try. First, Restarting your router takes 2 minutes and fixes roughly 70% of temporary high ping issues for LoL players. Unplug the power cord, wait 30 seconds, plug it back in, and wait 2 minutes for it to fully reboot. That clears out cached data and minor connection glitches that cause ping spikes.
Next, if you’re playing on Wi-Fi, switch to a wired ethernet connection if you can. Wi-Fi is convenient, but it’s way more prone to interference from other devices, walls, and even nearby bluetooth gadgets. I cut my ping in half and eliminated random spikes entirely when I switched from Wi-Fi to a $10 ethernet cable for my desktop. If you can’t use a wired connection, move your router as close to your gaming setup as possible, and keep it off the floor and away from large metal appliances that can block the signal.
Close any background programs that use bandwidth before you launch LoL. That includes Steam downloads, streaming services, cloud backup tools, and even browser tabs with live streams or video calls open. You can use your task manager on Windows or activity monitor on Mac to see what programs are using network resources and close the ones you don’t need.
If none of those fixes work, try updating your network adapter drivers. Outdated drivers can cause all sorts of weird connection issues that only show up when you’re playing online games. You can find the latest drivers on your computer manufacturer’s website, or use the built-in driver update tool on Windows. Never play ranked matches if your ping is consistently over 100ms unless you have no other option. You’ll just end up frustrated, and your teammates will thank you for sitting out until your connection is stable.
At the end of the day, small checks like monitoring your connection can make a huge difference in how you perform on the rift. Taking 10 seconds to learn how to check ping for League of Legends might not turn you into a Challenger player overnight, but it will eliminate one of the most avoidable causes of lost matches and frustrating gameplay. You’ll be able to tell if a missed play was your fault or a connection issue, and you’ll know when to sit out ranked to avoid wasting LP. Next time you load into a match, hit that Ctrl+F shortcut first, and you’ll never be caught off guard by unexpected lag again.