Server Game Loop

Implement deterministic game loops with fixed timestep for consistent gameplay.

Fixed Timestep Loop

class GameLoop {
  constructor(tickRate = 60) {
    this.tickRate = tickRate;
    this.tickMs = 1000 / tickRate;
    this.tick = 0;
    this.running = false;
  }

  start() {
    this.running = true;
    this.lastTime = process.hrtime.bigint();
    this.accumulator = 0n;
    this.loop();
  }

  loop() {
    if (!this.running) return;

    const now = process.hrtime.bigint();
    const deltaNs = now - this.lastTime;
    this.lastTime = now;
    this.accumulator += deltaNs;

    const tickNs = BigInt(Math.round(this.tickMs * 1_000_000));
    let ticksProcessed = 0;

    while (this.accumulator >= tickNs && ticksProcessed < 5) {
      this.update(this.tickMs);
      this.tick++;
      this.accumulator -= tickNs;
      ticksProcessed++;
    }

    // Prevent spiral of death
    if (ticksProcessed === 5) {
      this.accumulator = 0n;
      console.warn('Tick catchup limit reached');
    }

    const sleepMs = Math.max(1, this.tickMs - Number(this.accumulator) / 1_000_000);
    setTimeout(() => this.loop(), sleepMs);
  }

  update(dt) {
    this.processInputs();
    this.updatePhysics(dt);
    this.updateEntities(dt);
    this.checkGameState();
    this.broadcastState();
  }
}

Tick Rate Guide

Game Type	Rate	Budget	Rationale
FPS	60-128 Hz	8-16ms	Hit precision
MOBA	30-60 Hz	16-33ms	Balance
BR	20-30 Hz	33-50ms	Scale
MMO	10-20 Hz	50-100ms	Massive

Performance Monitoring

class TickMetrics {
  constructor(size = 100) {
    this.samples = [];
    this.size = size;
  }

  record(ms) {
    this.samples.push(ms);
    if (this.samples.length > this.size) this.samples.shift();
  }

  stats() {
    const sorted = [...this.samples].sort((a, b) => a - b);
    return {
      avg: this.samples.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) / this.samples.length,
      p50: sorted[Math.floor(sorted.length * 0.5)],
      p99: sorted[Math.floor(sorted.length * 0.99)]
    };
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Common Failure Modes

Error	Root Cause	Solution
Tick spikes	GC pauses	Object pooling
Drift	Float precision	Fixed-point math
Explosion	Large dt	Cap dt value
Stuttering	Variable tick	Fixed timestep

Debug Checklist

const stats = metrics.stats();
console.log(`Avg: ${stats.avg.toFixed(2)}ms`);
console.log(`P99: ${stats.p99.toFixed(2)}ms`);
console.log(`Budget: ${(stats.avg / tickBudget * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);

Unit Test Template

describe('GameLoop', () => {
  test('maintains tick rate', async () => {
    const loop = new GameLoop(60);
    const ticks = [];

    loop.update = () => ticks.push(Date.now());
    loop.start();

    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 100));
    loop.running = false;

    expect(ticks.length).toBeGreaterThan(4);
  });
});

Resources

• assets/ - Loop templates
• references/ - Optimization guides