Traffic Stats

Stats

Every PhotonPeer counts what it sends and receives while connected. In Realtime, that peer is RealtimeClient.RealtimePeer, so the counters are at:

C#

TrafficStats stats = client.RealtimePeer.Stats;   // Photon.Client.TrafficStats

Nothing has to be enabled: the stats always run (v4's TrafficStatsEnabled is obsolete and without function). Stats is replaced with a fresh instance on every Connect(), so all values are per-connection and only meaningful while connected.

Before digging into numbers, raise the log level — most connection and matchmaking problems are already spelled out in the text log (see Logging). The client also logs a stats one-liner for you: with LogLevel.Info, RealtimeClient.LogStatsInterval (default 5000 ms) logs RealtimePeer.VitalStatsToString(false) in that interval.

C#

client.RealtimePeer.VitalStatsToString(false);
// Stats duration: 12.00 sec. rtt(var): 34(3)ms.  120 kB -> 10 kB/sec.

client.RealtimePeer.VitalStatsToString(true);   // same line + the full TrafficStats breakdown

Two related values are on the peer itself, not in Stats: QueuedIncomingCommands and QueuedOutgoingCommands. Growing queues point at a dispatch/send loop that is not called often enough.

Traffic Stats

TrafficStats counters accumulate for the lifetime of the connection, so a single reading tells you little. The useful pattern is snapshot → delta:

• TrafficStats.ToSnapshot() returns a TrafficStatsSnapshot: all counters plus SnapshotTimestamp (ms since Connect()).
• TrafficStats.ToDelta(reference) returns a TrafficStatsDelta — now - reference, including DeltaTime in milliseconds.

C#

private TrafficStatsSnapshot reference;

void LogTraffic()   // call in some interval
{
    if (!client.IsConnected)
    {
        this.reference = null;      // drop stale reference; Stats is new per connection
        return;
    }

    TrafficStats stats = client.RealtimePeer.Stats;
    if (this.reference == null)
    {
        this.reference = stats.ToSnapshot();
        return;
    }

    TrafficStatsDelta delta = stats.ToDelta(this.reference);
    this.reference = stats.ToSnapshot();     // this "now" is the next interval's reference

    float seconds = delta.DeltaTime / 1000f;
    int inPerSec = seconds > 0f ? (int)(delta.BytesIn / seconds) : 0;
    int outPerSec = seconds > 0f ? (int)(delta.BytesOut / seconds) : 0;
    Log.Info($"in {inPerSec} B/s, out {outPerSec} B/s, rtt {stats.RoundtripTime} ms");
}

TrafficStatsDelta.ToString(udpValues, rttValues, callValues) already formats bytes, rates, UDP commands, RTT and call counts, if you just want a log line. TrafficStats.ToString(extended) does the same for the absolute values. demo-realtime-console/GameLogic.cs (LogTrafficStats()) shows the whole loop.

Reading the values

Volume (TrafficStatsBase, so present in stats, snapshots and deltas):

Timings (only on TrafficStats, the live instance):

ResetMaximumCounters() clears the two Longest… values (and the internal last-call timestamps), e.g. to measure one level or match at a time.

Notes:

• UDP-specific values stay 0 on TCP / WebSocket connections.
• The delta's RoundtripTime, RoundtripTimeVariance and LastRoundtripTime are differences between the two snapshots, not absolute values. For absolutes, use ReferenceRoundtripTime / LaterRoundtripTime on the delta, or read Stats.RoundtripTime directly.
• Migrating from v4: the split TrafficStatsGameLevel / incoming / outgoing instances, TrafficStatsEnabled and TrafficStatsReset() are gone. Everything is in PhotonPeer.Stats, and resetting is replaced by keeping a snapshot.

Round-Trip Time

Stats.RoundtripTime is the time until a reliable command is acknowledged by the server, in milliseconds — a running estimate, not a single measurement. Every acknowledged reliable command contributes a fraction (Jacobson/Karels smoothing, starting at 200 ms on connect). On UDP it includes the server's configured ACK-delay; on TCP and WebSocket there is none, so values are slightly lower.

• Stats.RoundtripTimeVariance is the jitter of that estimate. It also feeds the SDK's resend timing, so a high variance delays resends.
• Stats.LastRoundtripTime is the single last measurement — spiky, useful for debugging, not for display.

Updates come from any reliable command on UDP; on TCP and WebSocket, from the automatic ping. PhotonPeer.PingInterval (default 1000 ms) controls how often pings are sent — on UDP, pings are skipped when a reliable command was sent in that interval anyway.

Practically: RoundtripTime is also the approximate time until a raised event reaches another client or an operation result comes back. Add half of it as expected one-way delay when tuning interpolation or input delay. Watch RoundtripTimeVariance and UdpReliableCommandsResent together — a stable 120 ms connection plays better than one averaging 60 ms with heavy jitter and resends.

The obsolete PhotonPeer.RoundTripTime, RoundTripTimeVariance and LastRoundTripTime properties still work but forward to Stats; use Stats in new code.