Few things disrupt a match in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 more than a sudden freeze, rubber-band, or stutter the moment a gunfight starts. These short spikes—known as packet bursts—happen when the game struggles to send or receive data consistently. The warning icon appears, your movement gets choppy, and your time-to-kill becomes unpredictable.

A packet burst occurs when a large number of consecutive packets fail to reach the game server on time. Instead of a steady flow of data, everything arrives in an erratic surge, causing micro-freezes or delayed player movement. Black Ops 7 highlights this with an on-screen warning so you know your connection is struggling.
Even high-speed internet doesn’t guarantee stability—packet bursts can happen due to system overload, poor routing, or network congestion.
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1. Optimize Your System to Keep Data Flow Stable (PC)
Many Packet Burst complaints come from players whose hardware is being pushed too hard. A few adjustments can dramatically reduce micro-stutters.
Reduce VRAM Usage
Keep the VRAM Scale Target around 60–70%. When VRAM is maxed out, the GPU struggles to keep up with rapid asset loading, which can indirectly affect packet timing.
Disable Conflicting Overlays
Turn off overlays from Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience, AMD Software, or OBS. These eat GPU cycles and can delay packet processing.
Cap Your Framerate or Enable Nvidia Reflex
High GPU load directly increases the chance of packet timing conflicts. You can stabilize performance by:
- Enabling Nvidia Reflex
- Setting a reasonable FPS cap
- Closing heavy background tasks
These steps limit sudden GPU spikes during intense firefights.
2. Fine-Tune BO7’s Graphics Features
Some visual features demand extra bandwidth or extra rendering power. Minimizing them reduces both network and GPU congestion.
Set On-Demand Texture Streaming to Minimal
Leaving this on “Optimized” forces the game to download texture data mid-match. Switching it to Minimal reduces bandwidth strain while keeping environments sharp.
Turn Off Dismemberment & Gore Effects
These effects require extra calculations and animation data. Turning them off lightens the load on your system and can remove one common cause of bursts.
Restart Shader Pre-Loading
After big updates or driver changes, shader cache issues can mimic packet problems.
Do this:
- Open Graphics Settings
- Select Restart Shader Pre-Loading
- Restart the game and allow shaders to compile fully
3. Strengthen Your Network to Avoid Data Dropouts
Even a strong PC can suffer Packet Bursts if the network isn’t stable.
Switch to Ethernet
A wired connection is always more consistent than Wi-Fi.
If you cannot run a direct cable:
- Use Powerline adapters
- Move the router closer
Both significantly reduce jitter and packet collisions.
Optimize Your Router
A few small changes improve packet flow:
- Enable QoS (prioritize gaming traffic)
- Switch to 5 GHz Wi-Fi if wired isn’t possible
- Update firmware
- Restart your router weekly
These help maintain smooth routing during high traffic hours.
Close Background Bandwidth Hogs
Pause or close:
- Streaming apps
- Large downloads
- Cloud syncing services
- Game updates on other devices
Anything eating bandwidth increases the chance of packet spikes.
4. Adjust Platform Choices & Check Server Conditions
Try a Different Launcher (PC)
Players report different stability results between:
- Steam
- Battle.net
- Xbox app
Each launcher may use different routing paths, so switching can unexpectedly smooth out packet flow.
Monitor Server Status
When entire lobbies lag, it often means server congestion—not your setup. Switch regions or wait for off-peak times if every match stutters.
Why Some Packet Bursts Happen Even With a Perfect Setup
Even after optimizing everything, some triggers remain outside your control:
- Peak-time congestion
- Regional routing issues with your ISP
- Backend maintenance after new patches
- Temporary server instability
In those cases, rotating lobbies or returning later is the most reliable workaround. Play Now!
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