Early Access Bug Reports - Gateway selection ignored, always connected to Dallas server regardless of selected EU gateway - Forum

Summary
When selecting any European gateway (Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam, London), the game consistently connects to a US-based game server located in Dallas, Texas (ColocateUSA / Servers.com). This results in 130–150ms latency with periodic spikes to 250ms, causing noticeable micro-freezes due to lockstep networking.
The gateway preference is correctly saved in the config file but has no effect on actual server assignment.
System Information

OS: Ubuntu (GNOME desktop)
Kernel: Linux (latest stable)
CPU: Intel Core i7-14700KF
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
Driver: NVIDIA 580.142 / CUDA 13.0
Proton: Proton Experimental (latest)
Renderer: Vulkan
Connection: Fibre, France
Location: France (confirmed French IP via curl -4 ifconfig.me)

Reproduction Steps

Set gateway to "Frankfurt" on the login screen.
Log in and enter any area.
Check active TCP connections from a terminal.

Evidence
1. Config file confirms Frankfurt selection
[LOGIN]
gateway_auto_select=false
gateway_id=Frankfurt

2. Active connection goes to Dallas, TX
$ ss -tun state established | grep 64.87
tcp 0 7 [local_ip]:54514 64.87.51.212:21360

3. Whois confirms US server
$ whois 64.87.51.212
NetName: COLOCATEUSA-BLK-5
Organization: ColocateUSA (TSL-46)
Country: US

NetName: SERVERS-COM-DFW1
Organization: Servers.com, Inc.
Country: US

4. MTR trace confirms transatlantic routing (~130ms)
$ mtr --report -c 20 64.87.51.212
HOST: Loss% Snt Last Avg Best Wrst StDev
1. _gateway 0.0% 20 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.0
2. [isp_hop_1] 85.0% 20 9.7 10.1 9.7 10.4 0.4
3. [isp_hop_2] 75.0% 20 10.6 10.7 10.4 10.9 0.2
4. [isp_hop_3] 50.0% 20 11.4 11.4 11.0 11.7 0.3
5. ??? 100.0% 20 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
6. lag-125.ear5.Paris1.Level 90.0% 20 11.8 11.6 11.4 11.8 0.3
7. 213.19.217.66 0.0% 20 13.1 15.0 11.9 29.3 4.4
8. 141.101.67.79 0.0% 20 13.4 15.0 12.0 32.4 5.2
9. 172.71.125.164 0.0% 20 12.0 12.4 11.8 12.8 0.3
...
14. 38.142.84.82 0.0% 20 136.4 135.8 131.2 146.4 4.2
15. se-us01-l46-r2.servers.co 0.0% 20 130.1 131.8 126.8 147.9 5.4
16. 64.87.51.212 0.0% 20 134.8 138.5 131.8 151.9 6.7

Routing is clean up to Paris (~12ms), then crosses the Atlantic to Dallas (~130ms).

5. Same behavior across all EU gateways
Tested Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam, and London. All result in a connection to the same US IP 64.87.51.212:21360.

6. Same behavior in IPv4 and IPv6
Tested with IPv6 disabled (net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1).o change. The game still connects to the US server.

7. Blocking the US IP prevents login entirely
$ sudo iptables -A OUTPUT -d 64.87.51.212 -j REJECT
With this rule active, the game fails to connect at all, confirming there is no fallback to an EU server.

8. Gateway ping mechanism completely broken
On the gateway selection screen, all gateways display "?" instead of a ping value. The game is unable to ping any server. This is likely the root cause: the gateway ping mechanism (probably ICMP or a specific UDP probe) does not work under Proton, so the game cannot determine the closest server and falls back to a default (Texas, the first US entry in the list). Manual gateway selection is then also ignored, possibly because the same broken network probe is used for server assignment.
Screenshot attached showing all gateways displaying "?" for ping.

Expected Behavior
Selecting "Frankfurt" as gateway should connect to an EU-based game server with ~10–30ms latency from Western Europe.

Actual Behavior
The game always connects to a US server (Dallas, TX) with ~130ms latency regardless of gateway selection. The gateway setting in the config file is ignored.

Impact
With lockstep networking, 130ms base latency causes frequent micro-freezes during gameplay. Spikes to 200–250ms make combat noticeably choppy despite stable FPS (95–104) and low GPU/CPU utilization.
Notes

Running on Linux via Proton Experimental. This issue may be Proton-specific.
Other Linux/Proton players: please confirm if you experience the same gateway behavior.
The in-game latency display shows 130–150ms consistently, which matches the MTR findings.
All other network connections from the machine (Steam, web) route correctly through European servers.
The gateway ping failure strongly suggests a Proton/Wine networking limitation (likely raw socket / ICMP permissions) that prevents proper server selection.

Last bumped on May 9, 2026, 9:30:26 AM