Since the hardware migration made in February 2011, all 28 Shards have been tied to new IP addresses. The “shard.owo.com” DNS names are now redundant, though still in existence. Any application using those will return false and irrelevant results.

Each Shard consists out of 5* IPs: 1 main IP which is the one being pingable/traceable, and 4 IPs you will be actually connected to. However, the latter are not pingable.

The old subserver scheme, which broke Britannia into different areas having different IPs, is no longer valid. You will now be randomly connected to one of the 4 nonpingable IPs each time you log in, regardless where your char is located within the game’s world.

To ping (ping x.x.x.x) or get a trace route displayed (tracert x.x.x.x), please use the following IP addresses to get a meaningful result:
(For shards with ICMP Ping disabled, tracert will show the route up to the second last hop; ping will result in no answer at all.)

These server addresses can be used with the program UO Trace to help identify connectivity problems causing lag. The following information has been adapted from the EA Support document . To use the program:

1. Create a file named SERVER.cfg in notepad (select ‘all files’, do not add .txt suffix), save it in the uotrace directory. Paste the following list into it and save the file:

   [GameServers]
   0=Arirang (54.249.14.9),0
   1=Asuka (54.249.13.107),0
   2=Atlantic (107.23.95.234),0
   3=Baja (54.241.139.41),0
   4=Balhae (54.249.15.215),0
   5=Catskills (107.23.155.43),0
   6=Chesapeake (107.23.147.156),0
   7=Drachenfels (54.246.163.22),0
   8=Europa (54.246.163.17),0
   9=Formosa (54.249.15.16),0
   10=Great Lakes (107.21.7.214),0
   11=Hokuto (54.249.55.225),0
   12=Izumo (54.249.59.202),0
   13=Lake Austin (54.241.143.226),0
   14=Lake Superior (107.23.150.177),0
   15=Legends (107.23.140.135),0
   16=Mizuho (54.249.15.59),0
   17=Mugen (54.249.13.83),0
   18=Napa Valley (54.241.138.28),0
   19=Oceania (54.252.137.6),0
   20=Origin (54.241.143.221),0
   21=Pacific (54.241.143.216),0
   22=Sakura (54.249.9.221),0
   23=Siege Perilous (107.23.152.7),0
   24=Sonoma (54.241.130.239),0
   25=Test Center 1 (107.23.116.88),0
   26=Wakoku (54.249.8.46),0
   27=Yamato (54.249.7.37),0

2. Double-click on the uotrace.exe to run it.
3. You will be asked if you wish to download the server list.
   Answer No to the question. (you have already created the list)
4. Click on the Options menu then select Advanced.
5. Select the server you wish to trace to from the drop down list
6. Click on the Trace Route button. A succession of host names will begin to appear in the main window. These are the computers your data passes through on its way to the UO Server. Once the function is complete, a message that says Traceroute successful will appear in the lower left corner of the window.
7. If you get a message saying Maximum number of hops exceeded:
   1. Click on Options
   2. Then click on Settings
   3. Change the max hops to a higher number and re-trace.
   4. N.B. This will always be the result for shards with ICMP Ping disabled, ip address shown in red.
8. To the left of each host name there is a shield icon. These should be green, indicating no problems.
9. Select the Poll button. This tells the program to send packets of data through the route to the final host. As the data is being sent, look at the “pkts r/s” column. Let it send about 40 packets then select Stop Poll.

How to interpret the results:

Host names/servers – These are the individual computers that make up the Internet. The connection you make to the UO server may travel through 15-25 individual hosts before reaching it. Problems suffered by these hosts can cause poor game performance. The shield icons next to the host names give a graphical display of quality. Green indicating a good connection and as it worsens, the colors pass through various shades of yellow, red, gray, and finally, black.

Ping Average – Ultima Online uses the TCP/IP protocol that sends data in the form of packets. A ping time is the amount of time it takes for a packet of data to be sent from your computer to a host server.
If you are getting pings that are higher than 200ms then you will notice a bit of latency in the game.
If the ping for a particular host is too high (above 225ms) it usually signifies that the host you are testing is either receiving more traffic than it can effectively handle, or is having some type of technical issue.

A high ping will cause your client to not be able to communicate fast enough with the server for the game to maintain fluid motion. This will result in your character’s movements appearing jerky and you will notice that the players and monsters around you seem to be able to move much faster than you can. This is due to the fact that the other players are most likely taking a different route to the server and are not being affected by the problem.

If you consistently notice high ping times, contact your ISP and discuss the problem with them. Be sure to have a list of the problem hosts or to actually be running UOtrace while you are speaking with them.

There will be some routers that your data will pass through that are independent companies and your ISP may not have any influence over them. In this case you can use the nifty Who is? feature of UOtrace.

Simply right-click on a host name
Select Who is?
You will be given information about that hop, usually including an email address and telephone numbers which you can use to contact them yourself.

% Loss – This is the percentage of packets that are being lost. In other words, you are sending information to or through that host and the host is either not receiving the data or is not able to return it to you. Any packet loss is a sign of some type of problem. These problems could be caused by hardware issues at the host server, bottlenecking (too many users communicating through that host), telephone line noise, and other causes.

Most packet loss issues are generally resolved quickly by the hosts (a matter of minutes), although some may take several days to resolve. If you consistently notice packet loss, you should contact your provider to discuss possible solutions. You may also consider trying a different ISP.

If you need to send the results of your UO Trace to EA’s Technical Support department, you’ll first want to save your results.

Click on the UO Trace Edit menu and choose Copy.
Open the NOTEPAD application.
Click on the NOTEPAD Edit menu and choose Paste.
Click on the NOTEPAD File menu and choose Save.
Click the Desktop icon on the left side, or choose another location to save the results.
Name your file appropriately, such as UOTrace-Results.txt.

You can submit a question to EA’sTechnical Support department by clicking the E-mail link. If you are not already logged in, you will need to log in with your valid EA.com log-in name and password. You will then be presented with a form. Be as descriptive as you can about the trouble you’re seeing.

To attach your UO Trace results, click the Browse button in the Attachment section of the form. Navigate your folders until you find the location you saved your results. Choose the text file and click Open. The results will be attached to your question.

Submit your question and a member of our Technical Support staff will be in touch with you as soon as possible.