Tutorial:Diagnosing performance issues - Revision history

Cardinal: Better image quality.

2025-04-17T19:06:52Z

Better image quality.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:06, 17 April 2025
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	== Accessing the "time usage" screen ==		== Accessing the "time usage" screen ==

	[[File:Debug settings for time usage diagnosis.~~jpg~~\|thumb\|right\|The "Debug settings" menu with the options we need to enable]]		[[File:Debug settings for time usage diagnosis.png\|thumb\|right\|The "Debug settings" menu with the options we need to enable]]

	Press {{keybinding\|F4}} to open the "Debug settings" menu. This will show you a variety of options. You need to enable 3 of them:		Press {{keybinding\|F4}} to open the "Debug settings" menu. This will show you a variety of options. You need to enable 3 of them:

Bilka: word

2024-03-01T11:41:17Z

word

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:41, 1 March 2024
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	{{Languages}}		{{Languages}}
	== ~~Too Long; Didn't Read~~ ==		== Summary ==

	'''Open the show-time-usage screen. If you're having consistent low UPS, look for big numbers in the ''first'' column. If you're having stutters and freezes, look for big numbers in the ''third'' column.'''		'''Open the show-time-usage screen. If you're having consistent low UPS, look for big numbers in the ''first'' column. If you're having stutters and freezes, look for big numbers in the ''third'' column.'''

Bilka: Updated flip description with verified info

2024-01-22T13:48:04Z

Updated flip description with verified info

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:48, 22 January 2024
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	\| Render (and sub-lines) \|\| This is GPU-based work related to the rendering of the frame on your screen, costing FPS. This will increase if you zoom out or if you're looking at a particularly busy part of your factory. \|\| -		\| Render (and sub-lines) \|\| This is GPU-based work related to the rendering of the frame on your screen, costing FPS. This will increase if you zoom out or if you're looking at a particularly busy part of your factory. \|\| -
	\|-		\|-
	\| Flip[On/Off] \|\| This is the time spent waiting for the graphics driver to ~~refresh~~ the screen. The "On" or "Off" in square brackets indicates if Vsync is enabled or not. \|\| Try toggling Vsync on or off.		\| Flip[On/Off] \|\| This is the time spent waiting for the graphics driver to finish rendering the frame into the back-buffer, swapping it with front-buffer and presenting it to the screen. The "On" or "Off" in square brackets indicates if Vsync is enabled or not. \|\| Try toggling Vsync on or off.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Sleep \|\| When it took less than 16.667ms to prepare a tick, the game sleeps. This is normal and good. If this is above 0, then congrats, you have 60 UPS. \|\| -		\| Sleep \|\| When it took less than 16.667ms to prepare a tick, the game sleeps. This is normal and good. If this is above 0, then congrats, you have 60 UPS. \|\| -

Wiwiweb at 22:41, 20 January 2024

2024-01-20T22:41:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:41, 20 January 2024
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	{{Languages}}		{{Languages}}
			== Too Long; Didn't Read ==

			'''Open the show-time-usage screen. If you're having consistent low UPS, look for big numbers in the ''first'' column. If you're having stutters and freezes, look for big numbers in the ''third'' column.'''

	== Accessing the "time usage" screen ==		== Accessing the "time usage" screen ==

SpeckledFleebeedoo: Explain flip

2023-12-15T19:26:13Z

Explain flip

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:26, 15 December 2023
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	\| Render (and sub-lines) \|\| This is GPU-based work related to the rendering of the frame on your screen, costing FPS. This will increase if you zoom out or if you're looking at a particularly busy part of your factory. \|\| -		\| Render (and sub-lines) \|\| This is GPU-based work related to the rendering of the frame on your screen, costing FPS. This will increase if you zoom out or if you're looking at a particularly busy part of your factory. \|\| -
	\|-		\|-
	\| Flip[on] \|\| ~~I'm not entirely sure what this~~ is~~, but it's related~~ to Vsync. \|\| Try toggling Vsync on or off.		\| Flip[On/Off] \|\| This is the time spent waiting for the graphics driver to refresh the screen. The "On" or "Off" in square brackets indicates if Vsync is enabled or not. \|\| Try toggling Vsync on or off.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Sleep \|\| When it took less than 16.667ms to prepare a tick, the game sleeps. This is normal and good. If this is above 0, then congrats, you have 60 UPS. \|\| -		\| Sleep \|\| When it took less than 16.667ms to prepare a tick, the game sleeps. This is normal and good. If this is above 0, then congrats, you have 60 UPS. \|\| -

Wiwiweb: /* Digging deeper with the "entity time usage" screen */

2023-11-26T18:59:34Z

Digging deeper with the "entity time usage" screen

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:59, 26 November 2023
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	* '''AssemblingMachine''': This isn't just assembling machines, but every building where you have to select a recipe (e.g. chemical plants, refineries, etc., but not furnaces). For this cost, the number of machines matters, not their speed. Fewer but faster machines (with beacons and modules) will cost less than many slow machines.		* '''AssemblingMachine''': This isn't just assembling machines, but every building where you have to select a recipe (e.g. chemical plants, refineries, etc., but not furnaces). For this cost, the number of machines matters, not their speed. Fewer but faster machines (with beacons and modules) will cost less than many slow machines.
	* '''Inserter''': Use ~~less~~ inserters and have them work less often, e.g. with "inserter clocking".		* '''Inserter''': Use fewer inserters and have them work less often, e.g. with "inserter clocking".
	* '''Unit''': This is biters and spitters. Removing biters and spitters will remove this cost.		* '''Unit''': This is biters and spitters. Removing biters and spitters will remove this cost.

	If you've ran out of things to optimize in this section, then you're just suffering from a factory that has grown bigger than your PC can handle. Congratulations!		If you've ran out of things to optimize in this section, then you're just suffering from a factory that has grown bigger than your PC can handle. Congratulations!

Bilka: There is a tutorial namespace and the tutorial page listing all of them, no need for a category that contains only a few of them and has a maintenance cost

2023-11-13T20:46:44Z

There is a tutorial namespace and the tutorial page listing all of them, no need for a category that contains only a few of them and has a maintenance cost

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:46, 13 November 2023
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	If you've ran out of things to optimize in this section, then you're just suffering from a factory that has grown bigger than your PC can handle. Congratulations!		If you've ran out of things to optimize in this section, then you're just suffering from a factory that has grown bigger than your PC can handle. Congratulations!

	~~{{Category\|Tutorials}}~~

Bilka: lang template

2023-11-07T18:01:05Z

lang template

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:01, 7 November 2023
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			{{Languages}}
	== Accessing the "time usage" screen ==		== Accessing the "time usage" screen ==

Bilka: Less casual style, removed references/links to specific mods, mention lua garbage debug open, render prepare affects UPS, don't link to community-only reddits

2023-11-07T17:59:52Z

Less casual style, removed references/links to specific mods, mention lua garbage debug open, render prepare affects UPS, don't link to community-only reddits

Wiwiweb at 23:27, 18 October 2023

2023-10-18T23:27:19Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:27, 18 October 2023
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	* '''Low FPS, High UPS''': Your problem is graphical. Go to Factorio's graphics settings and reduce some settings here, particularly the "Sprite resolution" setting. Upgrading your graphics card will help with this.		* '''Low FPS, High UPS''': Your problem is graphical. Go to Factorio's graphics settings and reduce some settings here, particularly the "Sprite resolution" setting. Upgrading your graphics card will help with this.
	* '''Low FPS, Low UPS''': This is the issue in ~~99%~~ of cases. Your problem is low UPS. Continue following this tutorial to figure out what could be the cause and where you can save some UPS.		* '''Low FPS, Low UPS''': This is the issue in the majority of cases. Your problem is low UPS. Continue following this tutorial to figure out what could be the cause and where you can save some UPS.

	= Decrypting the "time usage" screen =		= Decrypting the "time usage" screen =
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	Most lines are self explanatory, but a couple notes:		Most lines are self explanatory, but a couple notes:

	* '''AssemblingMachine''': This isn't just assembling machines, but every building where you have to select a recipe (e.g. chemical plants, refineries, etc., but not furnaces). For this cost, the number of ~~machine counts~~, not their speed. Fewer but faster machines (with beacons and modules) will cost less than many slow machines.		* '''AssemblingMachine''': This isn't just assembling machines, but every building where you have to select a recipe (e.g. chemical plants, refineries, etc., but not furnaces). For this cost, the number of machines matters, not their speed. Fewer but faster machines (with beacons and modules) will cost less than many slow machines.
	* '''Inserter''': Look into "inserter clocking" to reduce this. Using containers with a large amount of slots will also negatively impact this cost [https://www.reddit.com/r/Seablock/comments/14kllvp/warehouse_vs_chests_ups_testing/ (See this thread)].		* '''Inserter''': Look into "inserter clocking" to reduce this. Using containers with a large amount of slots will also negatively impact this cost [https://www.reddit.com/r/Seablock/comments/14kllvp/warehouse_vs_chests_ups_testing/ (See this thread)].
	* '''Unit''': This is biters. Removing biters will remove this cost.		* '''Unit''': This is biters. Removing biters will remove this cost.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:59, 7 November 2023
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	'''FPS can never be higher than UPS.''' Which leaves you with 2 cases:		'''FPS can never be higher than UPS.''' Which leaves you with 2 cases:

	* '''Low FPS, High UPS''': Your problem is graphical. Go to Factorio's graphics settings and ~~reduce~~ some settings here~~, particularly the "Sprite resolution" setting~~. Upgrading your graphics card will help with this.		* '''Low FPS, High UPS''': Your problem is graphical. Go to Factorio's graphics settings and adjust some settings here. Upgrading your graphics card will help with this.
	* '''Low FPS, Low UPS''': ~~This is the issue in the majority of cases.~~ Your problem is low UPS. Continue following this tutorial to figure out what could be the cause and where you can save some UPS.		* '''Low FPS, Low UPS''': Your problem is low UPS. Continue following this tutorial to figure out what could be the cause and where you can save some UPS.

	= Decrypting the "time usage" screen =		== Decrypting the "time usage" screen ==

	=== How it works ===		=== How it works ===
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	\| Wait For Update \|\| This is the time your GPU waited for the world update. This should be roughly equal to the "Update" line below. Don't worry about it. \|\| -		\| Wait For Update \|\| This is the time your GPU waited for the world update. This should be roughly equal to the "Update" line below. Don't worry about it. \|\| -
	\|-		\|-
	\| Render preparation (and sub-lines) \|\| This is related to the rendering of the frame on your screen, costing ~~FPS~~. This will increase if you zoom out or if you're looking at a particularly busy part of your factory. \|\| ~~Lower graphical settings.~~		\| Render preparation (and sub-lines) \|\| This is CPU-based work related to the rendering of the frame on your screen, costing UPS. This will increase if you zoom out or if you're looking at a particularly busy part of your factory. \|\| -
	\|-		\|-
	\| Render (and sub-lines) \|\| ~~Same as "Render preparation"~~. \|\| -		\| Render (and sub-lines) \|\| This is GPU-based work related to the rendering of the frame on your screen, costing FPS. This will increase if you zoom out or if you're looking at a particularly busy part of your factory. \|\| -
	\|-		\|-
	\| Flip[on] \|\| I'm not entirely sure what this is, but it's related to Vsync. \|\| Try toggling Vsync on or off.		\| Flip[on] \|\| I'm not entirely sure what this is, but it's related to Vsync. \|\| Try toggling Vsync on or off.
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	\| Game update \|\| The core systems of the game. \|\| Look at the sub-lines to get more details.		\| Game update \|\| The core systems of the game. \|\| Look at the sub-lines to get more details.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Circuit networks \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| Use fewer combinators ~~🙃. Realistically this shouldn't be a big performance hog unless you're building a ray-tracer~~.		\| Circuit networks \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| Use fewer combinators and other circuit connections.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Transport lines \|\| Related to belts. \|\| Optimizing belt UPS is a dark art that is out of scope of this guide~~. Check out [https://www.reddit.com/r/technicalfactorio/ /r/technicalfactorio]~~.		\| Transport lines \|\| Related to belts. \|\| Optimizing belt UPS is a dark art that is out of scope of this guide.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Fluid manager \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| Reduce your amount of pipes. Use underground pipes (2 fluid entities) wherever they could replace 3 or more pipes. Replace nuclear power with solar power.		\| Fluid manager \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| Reduce your amount of pipes. Use underground pipes (2 fluid entities) wherever they could replace 3 or more pipes. Replace nuclear power with solar power.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Heat manager \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| ~~Replace~~ nuclear power with solar power.		\| Heat manager \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| Use less heat entities, for example by replacing nuclear power with solar power.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Entity manager \|\| Related to "entities", which are a lot of things. This will usually be the largest number in your list. \|\| To dig deeper into this, [[#Digging deeper with the "entity time usage" screen\|continue to the next part of the tutorial.]]		\| Entity manager \|\| Related to "entities", which are a lot of things. This will usually be the largest number in your list. \|\| To dig deeper into this, [[#Digging deeper with the "entity time usage" screen\|continue to the next part of the tutorial.]]
	\|-		\|-
	\| Electric networks \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| This is particularly affected by the '''number of different electric networks''', not their size. A single electric pole connected to nothing else is an electric network and is a performance cost~~. A mod like [https://mods.factorio.com/mod/puppy-ups-tools Puppy's UPS Tools] can help you find all your small or isolated electric networks so you can connect them or remove them~~.		\| Electric networks \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| This is particularly affected by the '''number of different electric networks''', not their size. A single electric pole connected to nothing else is an electric network and is a performance cost.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Trains \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| Use fewer but bigger trains. Use a train network optimized for UPS, which is also a dark art, out of scope of this guide.		\| Trains \|\| Self-explanatory. \|\| Use fewer but bigger trains. Use a train network optimized for UPS, which is also a dark art, out of scope of this guide.
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	\| Chart update \|\| Related to refreshing chunks of your map, usually done by radars. \|\| Reduce your number of radars.		\| Chart update \|\| Related to refreshing chunks of your map, usually done by radars. \|\| Reduce your number of radars.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Lua garbage incremental \|\| This is related to mod scripts~~, but it's hard to find which is responsible~~. \|\| First, try and solve any issue in the "Script update" lines. If there is nothing there but you still have a high "Lua garbage incremental" cost, ~~you will have to remove mods 1~~-by-~~1 until you~~ find ~~the culprit~~.		\| Lua garbage incremental \|\| This is related to mod scripts. \|\| First, try and solve any issue in the "Script update" lines. If there is nothing there but you still have a high "Lua garbage incremental" cost, the show-lua-object-statistics [[debug mode\|debug option]] may help to find mods that create and destroy a lot of Lua objects.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Script update \|\| The time taken to run mods' Lua scripts. Each "mod-XXX" sub-line is the cost to run the scripts of a particular mod. \|\| Uninstall offending mods. If the performance is worse than expected, consider filing a bug with the mod's author.		\| Script update \|\| The time taken to run mods' Lua scripts. Each "mod-XXX" sub-line is the cost to run the scripts of a particular mod. \|\| Uninstall offending mods. If the performance is worse than expected, consider filing a bug with the mod's author.
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	=== Hidden mod costs ===		=== Hidden mod costs ===

	A mod's line on the "Script update" section is not always the entirety of its cost! Mods can indirectly affect the time of core systems. For example, a mod that makes trains repath a lot ~~(such as LTN, or SE's space elevator)~~ might increase the Trains cost, and a mod that creates a lot of different electric networks ~~(such as the Ruins mod)~~ would increase the Electric network cost.		A mod's line on the "Script update" section is not always the entirety of its cost! Mods can indirectly affect the time of core systems. For example, a mod that makes trains repath a lot might increase the Trains cost, and a mod that creates a lot of different electric networks would increase the Electric network cost.

	== Digging deeper with the "entity time usage" screen ==		== Digging deeper with the "entity time usage" screen ==
Line 109:		Line 109:

	* '''AssemblingMachine''': This isn't just assembling machines, but every building where you have to select a recipe (e.g. chemical plants, refineries, etc., but not furnaces). For this cost, the number of machines matters, not their speed. Fewer but faster machines (with beacons and modules) will cost less than many slow machines.		* '''AssemblingMachine''': This isn't just assembling machines, but every building where you have to select a recipe (e.g. chemical plants, refineries, etc., but not furnaces). For this cost, the number of machines matters, not their speed. Fewer but faster machines (with beacons and modules) will cost less than many slow machines.
	* '''Inserter''': ~~Look into~~ "inserter clocking" to reduce this. Using containers with a large amount of slots will also negatively impact this cost [https://www.reddit.com/r/Seablock/comments/14kllvp/warehouse_vs_chests_ups_testing/ (See this thread)].		* '''Inserter''': Use less inserters and have them work less often, e.g. with "inserter clocking".
	* '''Unit''': This is biters. Removing biters will remove this cost.		* '''Unit''': This is biters and spitters. Removing biters and spitters will remove this cost.

	If you've ran out of things to optimize in this section, then you're just suffering from a factory that has grown bigger than your PC can handle. Congratulations!		If you've ran out of things to optimize in this section, then you're just suffering from a factory that has grown bigger than your PC can handle. Congratulations!

	{{Category\|Tutorials}}		{{Category\|Tutorials}}