We've been seeing reports regarding performance issues within the Virtual Tabletop across a variety of configurations. After investigation we have found a few common factors we believe are related which include: NordVPN, Grammarly, and some ad blockers and password managers.
Tools such as NordVPN's "Threat Protection" feature use algorithms to try and determine if particular network behavior is "normal" and they seek to block anything that seems odd. While this works great for a normal web application, the Roll20 VTT works more like a game with constant back and forth with our servers to update character data or token positions.
NordVPN and similar tools try to monitor this activity, and in doing so, add just enough latency to cause performance to slip, and if too many requests get backed up behind each other it can even cause the VTT to freeze.
We are actively working with NordVPN and other tool providers to understand their algorithms and figure out how we can keep our service running without disabling their functionality. For now we ask that you add "app.roll20.net" to your whitelists or ignore lists within these tools or follow the steps outlined below to keep things running smoothly.
Ensure Hardware Acceleration is Enabled
Enabling Hardware acceleration within the browser is one of the best ways to improve performance, especially while using Dynamic Lighting.
Enable within Chrome:
- Navigate to "chrome://settings/system"
- Ensure the setting "Use hardware acceleration when available" is enabled
Enable within Firefox
- Navigate to "about:preferences#general"
- Scroll to the "Performance" section
- Ensure the setting "Use hardware acceleration when available" is enabled
- To check this, you may need to check/uncheck the "Use recommended performance settings" option.
NordVPN's "Threat Protection"
If you are using NordVPN or another VPN service with similar functionality we recommend trying the following steps:
- Whitelist Roll20 within your VPN and restart the VPN
- If applicable, switch "Threat Protection" to "Lite mode" or "Off" and restart your VPN
- Toggle any other settings that may be scanning files or sites and restart your VPN
- Completely close the VPN and all associated processes that might run in the background
Ad Blockers (Privacy Possum, uBlock Origin, etc.)
If you are using Ad Blockers we recommend trying the following:
- Whitelist Roll20 within the Ad Blocker
- Disable the Ad Blocker while using Roll20
- Disable the browser addon/extension
- Load the VTT while in incognito/private browsing
- Try loading the VTT in a different browser
- Uninstall the browser addon/extension
Password Manager Addons/Extensions (LastPass, etc.)
If you are using a Password Manager with an addon/extension on your browser, we recommend trying the following:
- Whitelist Roll20 within the Ad Blocker
- Disable the Ad Blocker while using Roll20
- Disable the browser addon/extension
- Load the VTT while in incognito/private browsing
- Try loading the VTT in a different browser
- Uninstall the browser addon/extension
Grammarly Desktop App
If you are using the Grammarly desktop app we recommend trying the following:
- Completely close the Grammarly desktop app and any related processes
Still having issues?
If you are still having trouble after trying the above we recommend checking our troubleshooting articles provided below:
- Graphics Performance Troubleshooting -- If you are encountering framerate issues, slow movement/panning, etc.
- Network Connection Troubleshooting -- If you are disconnecting, timing out, needing to re-sign-in frequently, etc.
- Troubleshooting Upload Issues -- If you are having trouble uploading images, music, animations, etc.
- Integrated Voice and Video Troubleshooting -- If you are not connecting, can't hear/see, seeing others disconnect frequently, etc.