Difference between revisions of "How many avatars can I have on my region at once without causing serious problems with lag?"
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Are you looking to host a large event on a private region? This article provides some general recommendations on the maximum number of avatars you can have in such a region at once and still have a reasonable Second Life experience, as well as some background on the factors that go into determining this number. | Are you looking to host a large event on a private region? This article provides some general recommendations on the maximum number of avatars you can have in such a region at once and still have a reasonable Second Life experience, as well as some background on the factors that go into determining this number. | ||
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* Every time you move around or see something new in Second Life, data is being passed from a Second Life server to your computer at home. | * Every time you move around or see something new in Second Life, data is being passed from a Second Life server to your computer at home. | ||
* When an object is scripted, emits particles, or moves around, the server has to do some work (running the scripts, calculating particle vectors, figuring out where the object is). | * When an object is scripted, emits particles, or moves around, the server has to do some work (running the scripts, calculating particle vectors, figuring out where the object is). | ||
Therefore: | Therefore: | ||
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* The Residents aren't standing still, but running around looking at everything else on the region. | * The Residents aren't standing still, but running around looking at everything else on the region. | ||
* Three-quarters of the Residents are wearing blinking jewelry and other attachments on every part of their bodies. | * Three-quarters of the Residents are wearing blinking jewelry and other attachments on every part of their bodies. | ||
That's a lot of data for the server to send to everybody! | That's a lot of data for the server to send to everybody! | ||
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* Number of scripted objects. Every time a script runs, it runs on the server. This includes particle effects, which include body attachments that emit particles, like "bling". | * Number of scripted objects. Every time a script runs, it runs on the server. This includes particle effects, which include body attachments that emit particles, like "bling". | ||
* Number of moving objects. Every time an object moves, the server has to calculate where it is relative to everyone looking at it. This includes scripted texture changes -- if a texture changes, it has to change for everyone looking at it. | * Number of moving objects. Every time an object moves, the server has to calculate where it is relative to everyone looking at it. This includes scripted texture changes -- if a texture changes, it has to change for everyone looking at it. | ||
Some lesser causes of server-side lag include: | Some lesser causes of server-side lag include: | ||
* Physical objects. When objects that obey physical laws collide with each other, the server has to calculate what happens. | * Physical objects. When objects that obey physical laws collide with each other, the server has to calculate what happens. | ||
* Total number of objects. An enormous number of objects may have an effect on server load. | * Total number of objects. An enormous number of objects may have an effect on server load. | ||
If you and your friends are careful about not having too many of the above factors active in your region, you can probably get away with having up to 50 avatars on it and be reasonably certain everyone's having a comfortable time. | If you and your friends are careful about not having too many of the above factors active in your region, you can probably get away with having up to 50 avatars on it and be reasonably certain everyone's having a comfortable time. | ||
What's interesting about the texture problem is this: It's only an issue for people who are new to the region, because the server has to download all of those textures into their cache. If you've been hanging around for a while, all the textures are already in your cache and you don't need to worry. This means that if you have a gathering that's been optimized as described above, and everyone's had some time to settle in and look around, you might be able to have up to something like 60 or 70 avatars on your region, provided you restrict access after 70 or so. | What's interesting about the texture problem is this: It's only an issue for people who are new to the region, because the server has to download all of those textures into their cache. If you've been hanging around for a while, all the textures are already in your cache and you don't need to worry. This means that if you have a gathering that's been optimized as described above, and everyone's had some time to settle in and look around, you might be able to have up to something like 60 or 70 avatars on your region, provided you restrict access after 70 or so. | ||
{{KBhint| | {{KBhint|''' Starting with Second Life viewer version 1.21, you can only see about 35 to 40 avatars at a time. The rest fade in and out of visibility as you move your viewpoint. | ||
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[[Category:Inworld Issues]] | [[Category:Inworld Issues]] | ||
Revision as of 16:11, 6 October 2009
Are you looking to host a large event on a private region? This article provides some general recommendations on the maximum number of avatars you can have in such a region at once and still have a reasonable Second Life experience, as well as some background on the factors that go into determining this number.
The Short Answer
For a typical region, about 40.
If you're careful about the number of textures, scripted objects, and moving objects that are on the region, around 50.
If you take out as many of these as you can, make sure everyone's had time to settle in and get a look at everything, and then try to limit the number of new visitors, you might be able to push it as high as 60 or 70.
The Long Answer
Here are the basic facts:
- Every time you move around or see something new in Second Life, data is being passed from a Second Life server to your computer at home.
- When an object is scripted, emits particles, or moves around, the server has to do some work (running the scripts, calculating particle vectors, figuring out where the object is).
Therefore:
The more Residents there are in a particular area moving around and looking at things, the more work the server has to do, especially when the things themselves move, or have lots of fancy textures, or run a lot of scripts.
Consider these two Residents who are both looking at the same object:
The server is sending data to these two Residents' computers about the object and its particles.
Now imagine what happens if:
- The object is running a script that swaps its textures every .5 seconds.
- There are ten thousand of these objects in the same region.
- Half of those objects are moving around.
- There are 40 more Residents in there.
- The Residents aren't standing still, but running around looking at everything else on the region.
- Three-quarters of the Residents are wearing blinking jewelry and other attachments on every part of their bodies.
That's a lot of data for the server to send to everybody!
In no particular order, here are the top causes of server-side lag for a given region:
- Number of textures. Every time someone new shows up to a region, the textures for that region are download into their cache. That's work that the server has to do.
- Number of scripted objects. Every time a script runs, it runs on the server. This includes particle effects, which include body attachments that emit particles, like "bling".
- Number of moving objects. Every time an object moves, the server has to calculate where it is relative to everyone looking at it. This includes scripted texture changes -- if a texture changes, it has to change for everyone looking at it.
Some lesser causes of server-side lag include:
- Physical objects. When objects that obey physical laws collide with each other, the server has to calculate what happens.
- Total number of objects. An enormous number of objects may have an effect on server load.
If you and your friends are careful about not having too many of the above factors active in your region, you can probably get away with having up to 50 avatars on it and be reasonably certain everyone's having a comfortable time.
What's interesting about the texture problem is this: It's only an issue for people who are new to the region, because the server has to download all of those textures into their cache. If you've been hanging around for a while, all the textures are already in your cache and you don't need to worry. This means that if you have a gathering that's been optimized as described above, and everyone's had some time to settle in and look around, you might be able to have up to something like 60 or 70 avatars on your region, provided you restrict access after 70 or so.
 |
Tip: Starting with Second Life viewer version 1.21, you can only see about 35 to 40 avatars at a time. The rest fade in and out of visibility as you move your viewpoint. |