How much mobile data does RuneScape use?
Playing a massively multiplayer game like RuneScape on mobile data or fixed mobile data connection seems like it could eat through your data quickly. It doesn’t. Let’s take a closer look at just how much data it takes to download, update, and play RuneScape. Of course, the easiest way to game on a mobile data connection is to switch to an unlimited plan without a monthly limit or bandwidth throttling.
RuneScape file size
| Platform | Download size |
| Microsoft Windows (Old School) | 23 MB |
| Mac OS (Old School) | 2.5 MB |
| Linux (Old School, RuneLite client) | 43.3 MB |
| Android (Old School) | 6.7 MB |
| iOS (Old School) | File size of 118.3 MB |
It usually takes much more mobile data to download the game than what it takes to update and play it. As you can see from its download sizes on desktop and mobile, RuneScape has minimal download and file (the unpacked download) sizes. Keep in mind that both download and file size tends to increase over time as developers release patches and updates.
RuneScape updates and patches
Jagex continues to release updates and patches for RuneScape, which you can keep track of in the developers’ patch notes. If these updates and patches will push you over your monthly data limit, turn off auto-updates and only manually install the updates when you have data available.
How much mobile data does RuneScape use?
Old School RuneScape uses between 500 KB and 2 MB of data per hour for gameplay, which is really low for an online game. The exact amount of data you’ll end up using depends on the number of players in your game mode, your frame rate, the tick rate of your server, and whether or not you simultaneously use a voice chat application:
- The more players in the game, the more online data (e.g., chats, location, and stats) your local network must share with these other players’ networks. While you don’t have much control over how many people are playing RuneScape at any given time, if you play when the game has less traffic, you’ll use less data.
- A higher frame rate refreshes the game more often, making it run faster. A lower frame rate saves you data but makes it harder for you to react quickly in the game. To use less data,
lower your frame rate (measured in FPS) in your game settings. You’ll first need to disable vertical synch (V-Synch) to change this setting. - A 128-tick server, which refreshes the game 128 times every second, uses about twice as much data as a 64-tick server, which refreshes the game 64 times every second. To use less data, play on a 64-tick server when possible.
- Voice chat uses a lot of data. For example, PUBG uses around 30 MB of data per hour without voice chat. With voice chat, it uses 50 MB of data per hour. While there’s no native voice chat in RuneScape, you’ll use more data if you simultaneously use a voice chat application like Skype or Facetime Audio.
Upgrade to unlimited 4G LTE
Want to stop thinking about your data use while you game? Switch to an unlimited 5G or 4G LTE connection with no monthly data limit or bandwidth throttling.
