If you having problem with the game running slowly, or with "lost connections" or with "lag"
This problem is normally caused by either playing RuneScape from a slow computer, or by a poor quality internet connection between your computer and our server. Even if you're using a super-fast computer connected using an ultra fast cable link it's still possible that one of the machines on the route from us to you isn't up to the task, and so you might get poor performance sometimes.
To reduce the problem you can:
a) try playing on one of our servers in a different country, for instance even if you live in the US you might bizzarely get a better link to our UK servers.
b) make sure there aren't any other programs using your internet-connection. Close any unnecessary software. In particular don't try playing RuneScape at the same time as downloading files or swapping music, as this doesn't work very well!
c) try playing at a different time of day when the Internet is quieter and the various routers across the internet aren't overloaded.
d) whilst playing the game press the F1 key. This will cause the game to miss out some of the graphics and pixels which should hopefully make the screen update a bit faster
e) On the 'play-game' page (the one where you select between free and members), you will see a scroll at the bottom of the page. Try clicking on the drop down menu on this scroll and select "Signed Applet using SUN Java" and then proceed to load the game as normal.
f) ensure your Java Just-In-Time compiler for virtual machine is enabled. In Internet Explorer, under: tools->internet-options->advanced->Microsoft VM
g) try playing from a faster computer :-)
h) try using a different ISP (internet-server-provider)
Our servers have a very good internet link, (we have over 90mbps of dedicated bandwidth) so it's unlikely to be a problem at our end.
I'm trying to login but it says my username is already in use!
There are three things that can cause this:
- If you were playing a few minutes ago and didn't log out properly your user may still be connected to the server. After a short while you will be logged out automatically so wait a few minutes and then try again.
- You will occasionally see this message when we are upgrading the servers. Look on the RuneScape webpage, and if one or more of the servers is showing 0-players then its probably the reason. Just wait a few minutes for us to finish the upgrade and then login as normal.
- If the servers seem to be working normally for everyone else, and you cannot login after waiting a while then someone may have your password and is using your account.
All users are advised to read our security tips. If you haven't already done so then please do so immediately by clicking here.
After reading the security tips you should secure your account as detailed here.
I am a member but cannot hear the members' sounds
Runescape members using the SUN java plug-in will not be able to hear sounds from the game. Our development team is currently working hard to correct this, but in the short-term, consider using the Microsoft java plug-in.
I can't hear anyone talk, or the mouse/camera are behaving oddly
Check you haven't accidently changed the in-game config options. For information on how to check these, please refer to the RuneScape manual.
I turned on the SUN Java Plug-in, but now I want to turn it off again
In Internet Explorer, uncheck 'Use Java2' via 'Tools' > 'Internet Options'.