LatencyChanger
LatencyChanger is a BWL4 plugin that allows the reduction of the built-in latency in StarCraft. The built-in latency is generally high compared to modern games due to the low quality of consumer-grade internet connections in the late 1990s, and the latency is hardcoded to be higher when playing on a server than when playing on single-player or LAN mode. In StarCraft: Brood War, the term LAN latency refers to the built-in latency that is used for LAN games. LAN latency has been the de-facto standard for melee games on ICCup and all games on Fish, and has been implemented by Blizzard in patch 1.17.0.
The following formula can be used to approximately calculate the latency:
| (NetworkModeDelay × UserDelay + 1) × 42ms |
| Latency | UserDelay |
|---|---|
| Low | 2 |
| High | 3 |
| Extra high | 4 |
Until 1.16.1[edit]
| Game Mode | NetworkModeDelay |
|---|---|
| Single player | 1 |
| LAN | 2 |
| Server | 5 |
Since 1.17.0[edit]
| Game Mode | NetworkModeDelay |
|---|---|
| Single player | 1 |
| LAN | 2 |
| Server | 2 |
The UserDelay is modifiable by players in-game by navigating to Menu -> Options -> Network.
Features[edit]
LatencyChanger on Servers[edit]
In server games, the host can specify the NetworkModeDelay by appending #L1, #L2 (or #LL), #L3, #L4, or #L5 to the game name as long as LatencyChanger is loaded. All players in the game must load LatencyChanger or else those who have LatencyChanger loaded will desynchronize with all players who don't have LatencyChanger loaded.
LatencyChanger on LAN[edit]
For LAN games, there are two different settings:
- Reduce latency to 1 on LAN is equivalent to #L1 on server games.
- Reduce userlatency on LAN subtracts all UserDelay values by 1. Low becomes 1, high becomes 2, and extra high becomes 3.
These settings are only relevant when actually playing on LAN mode.