Fix lag in Apex Legends
Lag in Apex Legends starts in one of three places: your home, your line or the route to Electronic Arts / Respawn'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 Apex Legends picks a server
Apex lets you pick a data centre by hand: open Data Center from the title screen (Accessibility or R3 on a controller) to see ping and packet loss to each.
Settings worth checking
- Title screen → Data Center: choose the one with the lowest ping and 0% loss.
- Settings → Gameplay → Performance Display: turn on to watch ping in matches.
The data centre can reset after an update; check it again if ping suddenly jumps.
Ping to nearby server regions
Electronic Arts / Respawn 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.
Apex Legends 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 | 1024–1124, 3216, 9960–9969, 18000, 18060, 18120, 27900, 28910, 29900 |
| UDP | 1024–1124, 18000, 29900, 37000–40000 |
As listed by Electronic Arts / Respawn; they can change, so check Electronic Arts / Respawn support if something doesn't work. Test a forward with the port checker.