The Surprising Origin of Ping: From 1983 Code to Modern Gaming Lag

From a 1983 Thousand-Line Code

The ping tool was originally created in 1983 by Michael John Muuss, a researcher at the Aberdeen Test Center after graduating from Johns Hopkins University. While working on ballistic research, he encountered network anomalies and, recalling a DARPA talk about ICMP echo requests, wrote a program in one night and released it into the public domain.

Muuss’s original source, named ping.shar , was a 41 KB archive containing roughly 1,600 lines of code. Although the original version is no longer directly downloadable, the first‑generation source is preserved in the Web Archive.

How Ping Became Ubiquitous

Initially a simple network‑testing tool for laboratory use, ping quickly spread. Berkeley’s Erick Engelke rewrote it for BSD 4.3 under the GPL, and Tim Crawford created a ReactOS version under the MIT license. Subsequent adaptations added features and integrated ping into macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Basic Principles of Ping

Ping is an application‑layer network utility that uses the Internet Control Message Protocol ( ICMP ) to send echo‑request packets to a target IP address. The round‑trip time of the reply indicates network latency, while packet loss or error messages reveal connectivity issues.

Note: a low ping value reflects a fast, unobstructed network path, not the bandwidth of the connection.

Using Ping on macOS (Example)

Open the Terminal app, then type ping baidu.com. macOS sends 64‑byte IP packets by default; the displayed time for each reply is the ping value. The same command works with any IP address or hostname.

Impact on Online Gaming

High ping values cause noticeable lag in games like League of Legends or Honor of Kings, where delayed actions can lead to defeat. Players can monitor ping via in‑game displays or system tools.

Artificial Delay Tools

Riot Games introduced a “lock‑ping” tool for tournament settings, adding artificial latency to ensure fairness. Open‑source simulators like clumsy can also emulate delay, packet loss, and other network conditions.

One More Thing: Ping in Children’s Literature

In 1933, author Marjorie Flack published a picture book titled “The Story of Ping,” featuring a duck named Ping. Readers later noted the uncanny parallel between the duck’s adventures and the behavior of ICMP ping packets traversing networks.

References: Paessler Blog , Muuss Archive , Linux ping.c , etc.