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Arma Reforger Server Tick Rate and Performance Tuning: FPS, Streaming and AI

Arma Reforger documents server FPS caps and per-tick streaming controls, not a separate simulation tick-rate setting. Measure with -logStats, then tune budgets against frame-time spikes and client pop-in.
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Arma Reforger’s published server documentation does not define a separate, configurable simulation tick-rate setting. It documents the server frame rate, a maximum-FPS launch cap, per-tick entity-streaming controls and diagnostics. In practice, stable performance comes from measuring frame time, choosing a deliberate -maxFPS ceiling, and balancing streaming work against how quickly entities must appear for clients.

The most defensible starting point is a documented -maxFPS value between 60 and 120, measured with -logStats 10000. Then adjust streaming and staggering budgets only when the logs and player symptoms show that spawning, teleporting or large entity updates are the problem.

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Does Arma Reforger have a server tick-rate setting?

The official server configuration, hosting and startup-parameter pages discuss server FPS and work processed during each tick, but they do not establish a distinct configuration field that sets the simulation tick rate.

That distinction matters. -maxFPS is a ceiling on the server’s frame rate. It is not proof that the simulation runs at a fixed 60, 90 or 120 Hz, and raising the ceiling does not guarantee a higher achieved rate. Actual FPS depends on the scenario, terrain, mods, connected players and the work the server must complete in each frame.

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Use “server FPS” when discussing the observed loop rate or its cap. Use “per-tick processing” when discussing streaming budgets. Avoid presenting either setting as a separately configurable simulation tick rate because the cited documentation does not support that claim.

Measure the real workload before tuning

Start with the workload that produces the complaint: the actual terrain, scenario, mod set and a representative player count. A quiet test at the lobby can hide the frame-time spikes that occur when a group spawns, teleports or enters a densely populated area.

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Enable periodic statistics

  1. Add -logStats 10000 to the dedicated-server launch parameters. The documented example uses 10,000 milliseconds, which produces a ten-second interval.
  2. Run the scenario long enough to capture normal play and the specific event that causes the slowdown.
  3. Record sustained FPS and the average, minimum and maximum frame times. Pay particular attention to spikes rather than only the average.
  4. At the same timestamps, note player and AI counts, vehicles, projectiles and replication-stream counts. These fields help identify whether a spike coincides with a larger simulation or networking workload.
  5. Repeat the observation after each single-setting change using the same scenario and comparable player activity.

The statistics also include an internal approximate-memory figure. It is useful for spotting a trend, but it may differ from the operating system’s process-memory measurement. Corroborate memory pressure with your operating-system monitoring rather than treating the internal number as an exact allocation total.

What the log can and cannot prove

A log showing low FPS during a teleport identifies a timing problem, not its cause by itself. High entity or replication counts may point toward streaming work; a high AI count may indicate simulation load; a memory trend may justify examining navmesh behavior. The documentation describes the fields but does not prescribe a universal benchmark workload or a hardware-capacity formula, so interpret the numbers against your own scenario.

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Choose a deliberate maximum server FPS

Bohemia Interactive Community’s hosting guidance recommends setting -maxFPS in the 60–120 range and warns that an uncapped server can attempt to use all available resources. The configuration guidance likewise recommends limiting maximum FPS to save performance. This is a ceiling, not a promise that every workload will sustain the selected value.

Setting Documented value or behavior How to use it
-maxFPS Hosting guidance recommends 60–120 FPS. Set a ceiling appropriate to the workload, then verify achieved FPS and frame-time stability in the logs. Do not equate the cap with a simulation tick-rate setting.
-logStats [milliseconds] The documented example is -logStats 10000. Use the ten-second interval to observe sustained FPS, frame-time extremes, approximate internal memory, entity counts and replication streams.

A lower cap can leave more headroom for other server work and avoid an uncapped process consuming every available resource. A higher cap may be useful only if the server can sustain it without unstable frame times. Do not infer that moving from 60 toward 120 automatically improves responsiveness; let the measured workload decide whether the server reaches the ceiling consistently.

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Tune entity streaming when spawning or teleporting hurts FPS

Streaming controls are trade-offs. Reducing work per tick can soften a frame-time spike, but it also delays delivery of entities to clients. If the value is too low, players may see entities appear late or pop into view.

-streamingBudget: shared work across connections

-streamingBudget is a global entity-streaming budget shared across connections. The startup-parameter documentation specifies that it cannot be set below 100. A lower budget limits the amount of streaming work handled in a tick, which can help protect frame time during heavy updates, but entities take longer to reach clients.

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Because the budget is shared, adding players changes the competition for that work. Evaluate both server logs and client reports: a setting that reduces a server spike but causes conspicuous delayed entities is not an overall improvement.

-staggeringBudget: stationary spatial map cells per tick

-staggeringBudget limits the stationary spatial map cells processed in a tick. The documented range is 1–10,201. Lower values spread processing over more ticks, potentially reducing a sharp spawn or teleport cost while increasing the time needed to finish streaming.

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There is no universal best value in the documentation. Start from your current value, change it in a controlled direction, and compare the same event. If players report pop-in or entities arriving noticeably late, the budget may have been reduced too far. If frame-time spikes remain during a teleport and streaming counts rise at the same moment, a carefully lower value is a candidate experiment.

How to judge the trade-off

  • Server symptom: frame-time spikes or an FPS drop that aligns with a spawn, teleport or large area transition.
  • Client symptom: entities, vehicles or other replicated objects appear late or pop into view.
  • Decision: lower a budget only when the server-side relief is worth the additional streaming delay; restore some budget if visual pop-in becomes operationally worse.

Understand navmesh streaming before disabling it

The server configuration documentation describes disableNavmeshStreaming as a memory/performance choice. When navmesh streaming is disabled, the full navmesh is loaded into memory. That can improve server performance and AI reaction times, but the terrain-dependent increase can reach hundreds of megabytes.

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This option is therefore not a free FPS switch. Compare the responsiveness benefit with available memory and the terrain you actually run. A large memory increase may be acceptable on a server with sufficient headroom but risky when the process is already close to system limits.

The configuration format changed in version 1.2.0. Check the current syntax on the Arma Reforger Server Config page for the release installed on your server instead of copying an older example unchanged.

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Do not use gameplay switches as generic optimizations

Keep fastValidation: true for public hosting

The official server-configuration guidance recommends fastValidation: true for a public server. Do not present disabling validation as a routine performance shortcut when the documented hosting guidance says to keep it enabled.

Treat disableAI as a scenario decision

disableAI prevents AIWorld and its components from initializing and ticking, which disables server AI functionality. That can remove AI workload, but it also changes the game. Use it only when the chosen scenario intentionally does not require server AI; it is not a neutral replacement for streaming or FPS tuning.

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Symptom-based troubleshooting

The server has low FPS all the time

  1. Enable -logStats 10000 and establish whether the minimum and maximum frame times are consistently poor or only spike during events.
  2. Check whether the server is uncapped. Apply a deliberate -maxFPS ceiling within the documented 60–120 range.
  3. Compare AI, vehicle, projectile and replication counts during the worst intervals.
  4. Change one setting at a time and rerun the same workload. The available documentation does not provide a hardware requirement or capacity table, so avoid assuming that a particular CPU or memory size guarantees a target FPS.

FPS drops when players spawn or teleport

Use the logs to confirm that the event coincides with frame-time and streaming activity. Then test -streamingBudget and -staggeringBudget separately. A lower value can reduce work in the affected tick, but it extends time-to-stream. Keep the change only if the server gains stability without unacceptable client delay or pop-in.

Entities pop into view

Pop-in is a likely sign that streaming work is being spread too aggressively for the scenario. Revisit the most recent budget reduction, raise it incrementally, and observe whether frame-time spikes remain acceptable. Also compare the symptom at the same player count, because the global streaming budget is shared across connections.

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AI reacts slowly or memory use rises

Review navmesh behavior. Disabling navmesh streaming may improve AI reaction time and server performance, but it loads the complete navmesh and can add hundreds of megabytes depending on terrain. Verify the configuration syntax for your installed version and watch operating-system memory as well as the internal approximate figure.

A repeatable tuning workflow

  1. Freeze the test conditions. Use the same terrain, scenario, mod set and approximate player activity for each comparison.
  2. Capture a baseline. Run -logStats 10000 and record sustained FPS, frame-time average/minimum/maximum, memory approximation, entity counts and replication streams.
  3. Cap the server deliberately. Set -maxFPS between 60 and 120, then verify whether the server reaches that ceiling and whether frame-time variation improves.
  4. Isolate streaming symptoms. If spawning or teleporting causes the drop, test -streamingBudget and -staggeringBudget one at a time. Use the documented minimum of 100 for the former and stay within 1–10,201 for the latter.
  5. Check client quality. Ask whether entities arrive later or pop in after a reduction. Restore budget when the streaming delay outweighs the server-side gain.
  6. Evaluate navmesh separately. If AI responsiveness is the issue, compare navmesh streaming enabled and disabled while monitoring memory and confirming the release-specific configuration syntax.
  7. Protect gameplay and public-server defaults. Keep fastValidation: true for public hosting, and use disableAI only for scenarios designed without AI.
  8. Keep the winning change. Record the setting, workload and observed result so a later mod, terrain or player-count change can be compared against a known baseline.

What the documentation does not establish

The cited pages provide configuration ranges, diagnostic fields and qualitative trade-offs. They do not provide controlled server-capacity statistics, a workload-specific CPU or RAM recommendation, or a single ideal cap for every host. They also do not establish that a particular provider, hardware configuration or player count will sustain a target FPS.

If you self-host, size and monitor the machine against your measured workload. If you use a dedicated game-server provider, verify current Arma Reforger support, configuration access, service terms and pricing directly; provider performance and costs are not established by the configuration documentation.

Bottom line

Think of Arma Reforger performance tuning as frame-rate governance plus workload budgeting, not as selecting a hidden tick-rate number. Measure with -logStats 10000, cap FPS deliberately in the documented 60–120 range, and adjust streaming budgets only while watching both frame-time spikes and client pop-in. Treat navmesh and AI switches as explicit memory or gameplay decisions, not as risk-free optimization toggles.

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