What to do if you have high world latency in WoW

High world latency in WoW can be an incredibly frustrating problem. There are a few potential causes for this, such as simply being far away from the server you’re playing on or having a slow internet speed. There are other causes as well, but we’re going to look at some solutions that may help you. It’s worth noting that this may not always work for everyone—there might be other situations at play, depending on what your situation is.

In my experience, I have a 26-30ms World Latency when on a server that’s on the East Coast. However, the primary WoW servers I play on—Bloodscalp and Moon Guard—are not on the East Coast, so my world latency is a bit higher.

At most, I see 60ms, which is still a perfectly reasonable speed to be playing at. If you’re having high world latency issues, here are some things you can try to solve the problem and enjoy the game’s various modes more.

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Options to consider if you have high world latency in WoW

If you're too far away from your server, you may have a slightly higher natural latency in WoW (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

While there is no set of solutions for every problem for high world latency in WoW, there are steps you can take. Clearing your Cache, Interface, and WTF folders is definitely a step you can go through to see if either of these is the issue. However, I recommend backing them up first, in case you don’t want to lose your UI setups, addons, etc. Copy and rename these just in case you need/want to reuse them.

There’s also a button you might not be using in your overall WoW experience that could reduce your high world latency. In Options -> Network, there’s an option called “Optimize Network for Speed.” This does increase your bandwidth usage, but if that’s not an issue on your internet connection, I recommend it.

This might be a silly thing to consider for high world latency in WoW but hear me out. Some in-game addons can increase your memory usage on your PC. One that’s often listed as an example is Raider.IO Mythic Plus, Raid Progress, and Recruitment.

Make sure to check your addons - while they don't directly impact your internet, they can choke out your PC's memory and contribute to the problem (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Make sure all of your addons are up to date, but if that doesn’t fix the problem, you can also try disabling all of them. Go through the list, and see if any of them in particular are choking out your internet connection.

It could also be your VPN, Firewall, or internet connection. If you use a VPN, I’d try disabling it and then resetting your Modem and Router. If you’re on a wireless connection, I also recommend connecting to a hardline and see if that helps. It could also simply be your internet connection slowing down your latency in WoW.

If you fear that’s the case, run a speedtest on whichever site you trust the most. It may simply be that your internet connection isn’t up to snuff and requires an upgrade. Before making any decisions like that, I recommend consulting a professional first. Another hardware option is to Power Cycle your PC - turn your PC off, unplug it, and wait a few moments before hooking it back up.

Blizzard will often recommend someone Pathping, or use another tool to help them find the problem (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

If all else fails, contact Blizzard support. They will most likely ask you to perform a pathping or run a program called WinMTR to help determine the issues you’re having with your internet connection. They have a page on their website about what it is, and how to use it.

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Latency issues in WoW slow down your gameplay and make completing the most challenging content in the game like raids and mythics much harder, by adding a ton of lag to the experience. The above fixes may not work for everyone, or solve your particular case, but are solutions we’ve researched and used in the past.