How to Run a Minecraft Server Ping Test

Gamers of all ages love Minecraft. What none of them love is slow server response time. Lag is especially frustrating for Minecraft’s younger players, their parents and their teachers. A player’s creativity can’t be sparked if they get frustrated by lag and go do something else. A ping test can help you minimize lag.

Why Ping Test?

At any given moment, some Minecraft servers respond more slowly than others. There’s nothing you can do yourself to speed up a specific server’s response time, aside from running your own game, which requires setting up Minecraft server hosting. But if you’re just playing multi-player and not self-hosting, you can run a ping test to find a server that’s responding quickly and connect to that one.

However, if you are hosting and notice a high ping, we recommend switching to Apex Hosting. They offer ultra low latency, with data centers strategically positioned around the world to provide a nearby location for every customer and great Minecraft ping for your players. If you want to ping for yourself, check out the sampling of their servers below. From our ping tests across a variety of Minecraft hosts, Apex has the lowest ping for players on java edition or bedrock, winning our official recommendation as the best Minecraft host.
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Apex Minecraft Server Hosting Global Server Locations

Signup for Apex Minecraft Hosting here.

Sure, you could log in and out of the game, connecting to different servers to see which one responds more quickly than the others. But that’s time consuming and let’s face it – boring.

A ping test lets you test a Minecraft server’s responsiveness. You can check several servers, select the one with the least amount of lag and get on with playing. During a ping test, your computer says hello to a server and then records how long it takes the server to say hello back to it.

You’ll probably get the best results from pinging servers in your geographical region. But it may be worth it to try a few servers a little farther afield.

So how do you run a Minecraft server ping test? There are a few methods. All of them require that you have the IP addresses of the servers you want to ping. These can change, so do an online search for the latest information.

Rock It Old School with Windows Command Prompt

This method takes a bit of time and effort, but younger gamers may find it charmingly retro. That’s right, we’re going straight to the Windows Command Prompt. (Select Start > Run, type “cmd” and hit “Enter” to get there.)

Take a moment to explain to the kids what a character-based user interface is. They’ll marvel at your knowledge of this ancient technology.

From the Command Prompt, you’ll run a ping test. Type “ping” and the IP address of the server. It’ll look like this:

Ping 456.456.456.4

Hit “Enter” and Windows will ping the server at that IP address.

You’ll get the results of the test almost immediately. The time is shown in milliseconds.

You’ll have to repeat this process for each server you want to ping. Keep the IP addresses in a text file (or whatever) for quick copying and pasting.

Let Someone Else Do It For You

A number of websites will ping Minecraft servers for you. You still need to enter the IP addresses one at a time. These sites are convenient but are less accurate then the old school method.

Have It Both Ways with Dotcom-Monitor’s Ping Test Solution

With Dotcom-Monitor’s Ping Test solution, you can set up a series of ping tests once and then run them with just a few clicks each time you want to check Minecraft server response time. Ping Test is intuitive enough for the most casual computer users. This method offers the accuracy of the first method combined with the ease of the second. This lets you run a ping test before each session of play with minimal time and effort.

You can see if Dotcom-Monitor’s Ping Test is for you by taking advantage of their 30-day free trial.

Updated for 2021 and beyond.