6 Quick Fixes for Fortnite Lag

Why having low lag is important

Fortnite is a battle royal game, last man standing wins, and killing players while staying alive can be especially difficult if the game starts lagging. It can make you miss attacks, make you freeze while running, and can most likely get you killed at the most inconvenient times like right before winning a match.

Fortunately, the things that cause lag are relatively easy and quick to fix, usually. All in all, there are about half a dozen different things that can fix and prevent future lagging for the game.

Check if you have the system requirements

When running Fortnite on pc, there are two different system requirements: the minimum and the recommended. The minimum system requirements are the bare minimums of what the computer should have in order to run the game, and the recommended requirements are what would be best to prevent lag.

Here are both:

Minimum system requirements

Operating System: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, or Mac OSX Sierra
CPU: Core i3 2.4 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Video Card: Intel HD 4000 or higher

Recommended system requirements

Operating System: Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10
CPU: Core i5 2.8 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Video Card: Nvidia GTX 660 or AMD Radeon 7870, or any equivalent DirectX 11 GPU
Video Memory: 2 GB VRAM

If you are using the minimum requirements and trying the other tricks to reduce the lag does no work, consider upgrading your computer if possible.
Also, make sure the game is actually lagging and the frame rate did not just drop.

It may be the router

Having an unstable or poor internet connection is actually one of the most common causes of lag and can either be a quick and cheap fix or a slow and costly one. The fast fix is to try unplugging the router and replug it in after 20 seconds to a minute.

If you still experience some lag after that, try prioritizing the wireless connection using a feature the router has called QoS (Quality of Service). Doing this can prioritize Instructions for this setting can be found in the router's manual or online.

Possibly the bandwidth

Check the bandwidth to make sure that there are no other programs that are taking the bandwidth. Game running programs like Battle.net, GOG, Origin, and Steam may be open and sometimes updating other games while you are playing.

Also, if you are live streaming, try turning off the feed and seeing if the game lags less or not. Start the stream back up and if the fortnite lag spikes again, the stream could be taking up the internet's speed.

Try a different region

Fortnite runs off of many regional servers, and these servers are separated between continents, countries, or sections of a country. The game automatically places you in a region that gives the lowest ping, but the ping usually grows when you jump into the game.

However, if your location is far from the game's auto region, the fortnite lag spikes.

This can be a simple fix by simply changing 'matchmaking servers' in the games settings. This may help to reduce lag in fortnite if that is what is causing the issue.

There is always a possibility that your location will never have a strong connection to the server. Sometimes it may just be a busy time and an abundance of players are causing the servers to become strained.

A common issue for people who travel is that they are not in the correct region. Sometimes people who travel and try to play the game while in a different country or region notice that they are still logged into the region they came from, usually where they live.

If you have traveled recently, go to the 'matchmaking servers' section in the game settings and make sure you are connected to the correct region.

Double check the installation

It happens, games do not always install the correct way and it is one of the first things that should be checked if you know your internet is working fine. First, make sure your files are all intact.

To do this, go through Epic Games Launcher tab and click on 'Launch'. Then, click on 'Verify', and wait while the program checks to make sure the files were not damaged or corrupted while they were downloading.

If everything was fine, you may have to uninstall and reinstall the game. Before you do this, quit the game and restart it.

Sometimes turning it off for a few minutes to a few hours can reduce lag in Fortnite. While it is off, also unplug the router, wait a minute, and replug it in to help repair the performance of the game.

If after all of these steps the game still has lag, then try uninstalling and reinstalling it.

Conclusion

That is how easy it can be to reduce lag in fortnite and the things that cause lag in the first place. The very least you will have to do it change your region.

The very most you may have to do is check the game files, uninstall and reinstall the game, and/or restarting the game and router.