How to Fix Marvel Rivals Lag Spikes: A Measure-First Guide

Run NetEase's Network Analysis Tool

The PC game ships with a network diagnostic program, and NetEase's Guide to Network Analysis Tool Usage explains it. Open your game installation directory (in Steam: right-click Marvel Rivals, Manage, Browse Local Files), find CapturePro.exe, and launch it. It offers two tests.

Network Adaptability Test: use this if you can't log in or can't enter a match. It checks whether your network can reach the game's services at all.

Network Delay Test: use this for severe in-match latency. You can choose the nodes you usually connect to, or the regions closest to you. NetEase says to wait about 20 seconds and then click Stop manually. You can also run the test while you play and click Stop at the moment the lag appears, which is the most useful way to catch an intermittent spike.

When you finish, the tool writes a file named tr_results_xxxxxxxx_xxxxxx.zip to its folder. NetEase asks players to send it through the official Discord, where support can read what your connection was doing. A result file captured during a spike is far more useful to support than a general complaint about lag.

For a second view that doesn't depend on the game, Windows' own ping command works. Microsoft's documentation says the /t option keeps sending echo requests until you stop it: press CTRL+BREAK to see statistics so far, or CTRL+C to stop. Run ping with /t against your router's address, play a match, and check the output. If the ping to your own router spikes, the problem is inside your home, not on the route to the servers.

Clear leftover proxy, VPN and accelerator settings

NetEase has a guide titled Detection and Resolution of Game Login Failures Caused by Proxy Settings. It describes a case where the browser works normally but the game can't log in, and it says previous use of network proxies, VPNs or game accelerators can leave settings behind that cause this. The guide gives two checks.

Method 1: search Windows for Proxy settings and make sure Use a proxy server is turned off.

Method 2: open Command Prompt as administrator and run netsh winhttp show proxy. If the result says Direct access (no proxy server), no proxy is active. If a proxy is listed, run netsh winhttp reset proxy, wait for the confirmation, restart the computer and try again.

NetEase's guide is about login failures, but the cause it names applies to lag as well: anything that routes the game's traffic through an extra hop adds a link that can fail. If you run a VPN or accelerator, test a few matches with it fully off before deciding it helps.

Check the firewall and antivirus too

NetEase's Common Technical Issues FAQ lists failing to reconnect to a match after a disconnection among the problems antivirus software or a firewall can cause by misidentifying the game process. If spikes tend to end with you stuck outside a match you were in, allow the game through.

The FAQ gives the Windows steps. In Windows Defender Firewall, choose Allow an app through the firewall and allow Marvel-Win64-Shipping.exe on private and public networks. In Windows Security, go to Virus & Threat Protection, then Manage Settings, then Controlled Folder Access, and add the same file. The executable is at ~\Marvel\Binaries\Marvel-Win64-Shipping.exe inside the install folder. With a third-party security suite, add the file and the game folder to its exception list.

Reconnecting quickly matters in ranked. If you drop after the first 70 seconds and get back into the match within 90 seconds, the August 8, 2025 rules give a normal result with no penalty, so a firewall that blocks the reconnect turns a short spike into a penalty.

Fix the link you control: cable, Wi-Fi and the rest of the house

If the router ping test showed spikes, the problem is local, and the usual suspects are the wireless link and other traffic on the same connection.

Use a cable if you can. A wired Ethernet connection removes interference and the brief wireless dropouts that show up as spikes. If a cable won't reach, test the game on a cable once anyway, even temporarily, so you know whether Wi-Fi is the cause.

If you stay on Wi-Fi, move closer to the router or remove obstructions between you and it. On a dual-band router, try the 5 GHz network for a short-range connection. If neighbouring networks are crowded, try a different channel in the router's settings. Your router's manual has the exact menu names.

Watch the other devices. A connection that is fine at rest can spike when something else saturates the upload or download: a console downloading an update, cloud backup, a video call or streaming. Pause those for a test match. Many routers have a Quality of Service setting that can prioritise one device; whether it helps depends on the router, so test it rather than assuming.

Restart the hardware. Turning the modem and router off and on clears temporary faults. If your router has a firmware update in its admin page, install it.

DNS: what flushing and Cloudflare actually do

Almost every lag guide says to change your DNS, so it's worth being precise. DNS turns a name into an address. It happens when the game client looks up a server, not on every packet during a match. A slow or failing resolver can delay logging in or finding a match. It does not change the route your match traffic takes, so it is unlikely to fix rubber-banding in the middle of a fight.

If you want to rule it out, both steps are documented. Microsoft's reference for ipconfig /flushdns says the command "flushes and resets the contents of the DNS client resolver cache", and that discarding cached entries is a DNS troubleshooting step; run it from a Command Prompt. To use Cloudflare's public resolver, its setup page lists the IPv4 addresses 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 and the IPv6 addresses 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001. Enter them in your network adapter's DNS settings, or in your router so every device uses them.

Treat this as a cleanup step. If your spikes happen mid-match, the Network Delay Test and the local checks above are where the fix usually is.

When a spike becomes a disconnect

A long enough spike ends as a disconnect, and in Competitive that has rules. Under the August 8, 2025 rules recorded on the wiki, a disconnect during loading, hero bans or picks, hero select, or the first 70 seconds makes the match invalid and gives the disconnected player a T1 penalty. After 70 seconds, if the match ends within 90 seconds of your disconnect you get a normal result; if it ends later and you have not returned, you get a point penalty and a Competitive matchmaking ban that grows with repeat offences. Reconnecting before the match ends removes the matchmaking ban even if your team loses. The full tables are at marvel rivals restricted from competitive matches.

Quick Match is not exempt. The same update lengthened Quick Match bans for players who disconnect and leave: a warning for the first offence, then 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 8 hours from the fifth offence on. And a drop hurts your team in another way: if a player disconnects in the first round and does not reconnect within 90 seconds, the team may vote to surrender, with one vote fewer than the number of remaining players needed (three votes when four remain). If spikes keep turning into drops, fix the connection before you queue ranked, because each repeat offence moves you up the ladder of penalties.

The developers also use latency balancing in organised play. The same August 2025 update brought latency equalization to the S3 Marvel Rivals Championship, and the wiki's Custom Game page lists a Balance Latency option in Tournament Rooms. Neither applies to everyday matchmaking. If the game shows an error when you drop, see marvel rivals error code 10, and for other fixes, the guides hub.