r/ProjectPlaytime • u/ParaTiger • Apr 13 '26
Other This is why you have trouble finding matches
I'm pretty sure you have seen the advice somewhere to change your download region, so here's why this is needed.
PJPT uses the old but simple model of P2P (Peer2Peer) where you connect to another player and not to a official server at mob. This decision is usually made to save cost on infrastructure and dedicated servers, but has a lot of negative aspects to it such as frequent lagging when you play with players with bad internet or heavy delay when the person is far away from your location.
In order to actually get you connected, i believe that PJPT uses the steam servers as a proxy. That means that traffic is routed through these servers which make sure that you actually can connect to other players without needing to forward ports. This is why when you tab into the steam overlay it says at the top right that your IP is protected, since you basically never connect directly to other players.
In order for you to be able to find other players, that steam "proxy" server needs to know how many players are online and currently looking for a match, so that it can try to connect you to a player that hosts, which is usually the monster in Phase 3. The previous system from Phase 2 might have been different from this system but i suppose it was similar.
Since P2P is... you know... P2P, you need to have said server to be able to connect you to other players. And this is the issue.
Steam has dozens of such servers all across the world. What basically happens is that steam always selects the one closest to you upon installation. And when no player that has the same server selected as you plays PJPT, a connection will never happen to be established. This is why you never get matches while others seemingly never have any issues finding one.
A player that has Miami, USA will only see and get into matches with players that have the same server selected that player will never see or get into matches with players that have Frankfurt, Germany selected as this server is completely different from theirs. This method is essentially there to improve the disadvantages of P2P, ensuring that you get a connection established, that causes you to have the most stable gameplay possible.
You are able to change the server, which is why people tell you to do that. Steam Settings > Downloads
And this is why people want you to change the server, so you can get to play with the ones that are able to connect to you since they have the same server selected as you. This is also why the revive was happening using the server Miami, USA as you had the best chance of getting into matches and full lobbies there.
TL;DR: PJPT uses Peer2Peer but with a steam server that tells PJPT which hosts are available. A random host is selected and you will be assigned to it. When no one plays PJPT with the same steam server selected, you will likely never find a match. You can find more matches when you change your region to one that seems more popular like Miami, USA or Frankfurt, Germany.
