"Near Real-Time" Settings for Jackbox Gaming (Currently 8s Latency)

[Daemonicus73]

Hi everyone,

I’m using Owncast to host Jackbox Party Pack games for friends and family. My setup involves streaming from a Windows PC via OBS to a dedicated Ubuntu Owncast server. Viewers watch on TVs/Tablets and use their phones as controllers.

The Problem: I cannot get latency below 8 seconds. In Jackbox, where timers are often only 10–15 seconds, an 8-second delay makes the game nearly unplayable for remote guests. I am aiming for sub-3-second latency if possible.

My Hardware:
Gaming PC (Source): Windows 11, i7-13700K, 64GB DDR5, RTX 4070 Ti.
Owncast Server: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS, i7-6700K, 32GB DDR4, GTX 980 Ti.

Current OBS Settings:
Encoder: NVENC H.264 (CBR 3000Kbps)
Resolution/FPS: 720p @ 24fps
Keyframe Interval: 2s
Tuning: Ultra Low Latency / P4 Medium
B-Frames: 0

Current Owncast Settings:
Video Bitrate: 3000Kbps
Hardware Usage: Medium (Hardware accelerated)

Questions:

• Keyframe Interval: Would dropping OBS to a 1s interval significantly help Owncast's HLS segmenting, or will that cause stability issues?

• Owncast Latency Buffer: Are there specific FFmpeg flags or internal latency configurations I should adjust on the Ubuntu side to favor speed over playback smoothness?

• HLS Segments: Does anyone have recommendations for segment length settings to achieve "Low Latency HLS" results?

Any advice from others who have optimized for interactive gaming would be greatly appreciated!

[gabek]

You mentioned "Low Latency HLS". Owncast does not support that protocol. So if you're looking to get anything lower than 5 seconds, Owncast is probably not the right tool for your job. But for the lowest latency on Owncast's side, you'd turn down Owncast's latency buffer to the lowest. https://owncast.online/troubleshoot/latency/

You might want to read this article, however: https://logal.dev/blog/3-tips-improving-owncast-viewers-experience/ under Use BBR Congestion Control.

[Daemonicus73]

Hi @gabek

Thank you very much for the insight and the suggestions.

I wasn't aware that the specific "Low Latency HLS" protocol wasn't supported, so that is very helpful to know for managing expectations.

However, I have implemented the changes you suggested:

• I enabled TCP BBR on my Ubuntu server.
• I set the Latency Buffer to the lowest possible setting in the Owncast admin.
• I properly installed the Nvidia drivers on my server and confirmed via the logs that my GTX 980 Ti (NVENC) is now handling the transcoding.
• I also dropped my OBS Keyframe Interval to 1s and reduced the bitrate to 1200Kbps.

With these tweaks combined, I’ve managed to get the latency down to a consistent 3 seconds, which is fantastic and well within the playable range for Jackbox!

I really appreciate the help in getting this optimised.

Now I just need to stress test with a number of friends once I have fathomed where to download them from.