This is not normal for SRCDS servers. When in game and viewing net graph, the IN FPS value goes up to and over 1000. I am pretty sure that this is causing lag issues. The normal range for this value is 100 - 300. I have yet to locate any CVARs to clamp this value back to normal ranges. The server FPS was at 64 the entire time. All the other rates were normal. Here is a screenshot of a net graph with the value highlighted and circled:
I often get 2-4k in gmod, but that's gmod.. I havent noticed any unusual high values in empires, but that might be because i don't pay attention, or because i don't play enough.
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/TF2_Network_Graph If "in" is high it means that you receive a lot of data. Post a screenshot with net_graph when lag happens. I'm pretty sure that you'll notice area 7 signaling that incoming packet rate is lower than tickrate. (if your rates are 33+, 33+)
It will happen if you jump around in the comm view on any server there should be some spikes like when minimap updates...... Do the spikes occur randomly?
Oh okay. My bad. My rates are set fine, but I rarely get 33 in. Usually I get < 300 in, so I figured something odd was going on. The server has plenty of CPU, RAM and BW available. I don't get it. If something was maxed out, it'd make perfect sense. Or if you move around in spec
or when you get a full update from the server try to track down locations or events that this happens