[Splatoon 3] The cause of a communication error that occurs frequently.

The following are causes and solutions for “A communication error has occurred” and “An error occurred while communicating with the server” errors that pop up in Splatoon 3.

Splatoon 3 went on sale on Friday, 9/9/2022. Many people have been waiting for it, with many players immediately posting their gameplay and experiences on Twitter and Youtube.

However, many players have reported communication errors, and there have been incidents where matches have dropped multiple times.

This section goes into some causes and solutions for communication errors.

Causes of communication errors

Communication errors can occur during any match including Regular Battle, Anarchy Battle and Salmon Run and some users even appear to experience them multiple times.

Sometimes a notification suddenly appears in the middle of a match that a communication error has occurred, or at the results screen after the match.

Official channels have announced the cause of the communication error

One cause of this is the server, the developers officially announced they are aware of the common error phenomenon early after the release.

This cause is likely to be resolved as soon as it is addressed in future updates.

It is common for many games to be prone to communication errors after a major update, so check for official information if you feel that communication errors have increased in frequency recently.

Communication errors due to player’s environment

A poor Internet connection on the player’s side is one cause of communication errors during matches. Particularly, when the communication speed is slow or when using a wireless connection the game is prone to becoming unstable.

In this case, investigate the following points.

Test the communication speed on the Switch.

Change from wireless to a wired connection

Change the DNS settings on the Switch console →Change the DNS temporarily

Check if the Switch’s available memory space is limited

Check to see if your Internet connection equipment (router or cables) are outdated

How to test the connection with the Switch itself

1.Select “System Settings” on the console’s Home screen.

2.Under “Internet,” select “Test Connection.” Check for any problems with speeds or other issues on this screen as well.

Check for any problems with speeds or other issues on this screen as well.

3.Confirm the status of the connection test.

You can check the communication status and speed by conducting the connection test, as well as check the NAT type and upload and download speeds.

NAT type A/B	No problem for a gaming environment
NAT type C/D	Not suitable for a gaming environment

The NAT type is a connection method that varies depending on the environment in which the router is installed, it is also described on the official Nintendo website.

“The results of a NAT test for the network you are connecting to. This will range from A (best for peer-to-peer communication) to F (unable to complete peer-to-peer communication).” →How to Use the Internet Connection Test

Also, check the communication speed (download/upload).

Download Speed	Comfort level
100 mbps~	Quite comfortable
30 mbps ~	Comfortable
20 mbps ~	Normal (May cause issues when communication is slow)
10 mbps ~	Slow (May be somewhat laggy)
Anything below	Will cause communication problems

Upload Speed	Comfort level
20mbps ~	Quite comfortable
10 mbps ~	Comfortable
5 mbps ~	Normal (May cause issues when communication is slow)
Below that	Slow (May be somewhat laggy)

Download and upload speeds also have their own guidelines for comfortable play. To get an idea of your current communication status, check the communication test if you feel you’re experiencing a lot of communication errors.

Errors from communication with other consoles

In addition to the usual communication error, you may also get an error message that says “Could not communicate with the other console.” This case often resolves itself when the game re-enters a matching status, it’s considered a temporary error.

What happens if you disconnect or get communication errors during a match?

In Splatoon 3, if a user disconnects immediately after the start of a match or a communication error occurs, the match won’t be counted. Further, if a player disconnects after halfway into the match, the winner is awarded and the loser is considered to have a nullified match.

This information is not officially confirmed and will be updated as soon as it is available.

However, in many cases, the communication error event is not judged as the player’s line going down, and the match is often ended for all players in it.

Penalty for too many disconnections

In Splatoon 3, you can be penalized if connection is lost multiple times. 1-2 communication errors do not seem to have much of a penalty, but multiple communication errors are reported to cause a 3, 5, 7 and 10 minute matchmaking suspension penalty.

As for the penalty time, it seems to be determined by the frequency and timing of the disconnections, and is most likely determined by the system.

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