Got an issue to report? Server lag is to blame - How to fix it!

[Turnarcades]

There have been tons of posts on here since the sweeper update about anomalous glitches and issues regarding failed connection. As a home coder, I can say after some testing that a great many are likely as a result of server lag; a delay or miscommunication of your device, the Internet (however you are currently connected) and Supercell's servers. A list of the problems I believe are caused by this include:

Failure to switch accounts
Ghost white areas on war bases
Zero time war display
Zero bonus war bases
Clans broken by going over the 50 limit
Lost troop donations
Lost war loot after war
Connection errors
Unable to log in
Game slowdown
Lack of troop upgrade for lv5 clans
Disconnection in edit or attack mode
Trap reveals without modz
League bonus and trophy anomalies
Lost overnight loot from storages

All of these problems will most likely be as a result of server lag, which has become a big issue since the latest update introduced far more server checks during gameplay. It happens on all devices, but is however far more prevalent on Android devices, slower Apple devices and weak, cheap devices. Allow me to explain:

From a coders point of view, Android is easy to code for, but as an OS it sucks. It's not entirely the publishers fault though; its a multi platform OS and as such cannot be optimised for every device in every release.

Generally speaking, Android has terrible wireless connection handling - be it Bluetooth, infra red, wi-fi or cellular data connectivity. Later builds of Android have built in battery saving features at the request of device manufacturers to reduce battery consumption. The biggest of these alters the wireless receiver usage to low power intermittently that causes brief signal dropouts. You wouldn't notice this in most situations as the software buffers the data and the send/receive doesn't contain as much data (ie. Web browsing or video buffers on streams). With the latest Clash update though there are far more server checks and not only are their servers struggling to cope with the extra traffic, the device signal dropouts and any momentary wifi pits or 3G flat spots are combining to make for awful connection reliability, and hence game function, on many Android devices. In short, data you download (enemy bases, loot rewards, clan data etc.) is getting delayed or missed completely coming to your device, as is uploaded data (raid and war wins, clan or base changes) to the servers on which the data needs to be updated asap.

Don't get me wrong I have had dropouts on every Apple device I have access to since the game began (ipod4, 4S, 5c, iPad3, 6Plus) and more so since the update, but never once one that kills my war attack or any of the major problems listed above. Speaking to my clan mates though in other countries than England, some of them report dropouts on old Apple devices but the Android users on cheap tablets or phones have had the same problems as you guys.

You can combat it somewhat by going into your device general settings and if it has any options for energy saving wireless or such like (not all systems do) then disable them all and it will help a little. There is code in every Android build now however to improve battery life, so on many devices even this may not help. If it does, expect big device heat-up and fast battery drain as a side effect. Having background apps running which slow the device and further delay the wireless send/receive instructions will exacerbate things too, so always fully kill all background apps when playing Clash.

Hope this helps at least some of you, at least for now. Until SC upgrade their servers to cope with the extra traffic in their repeated in game server checks and optimises the checking system to be faster, these issues will not go away anytime soon.