Dark and Darker
In Dark and Darker, rubberbanding costs you your gear. PingAim routes DungeonCrawler.exe through your best available connection — Ethernet, 5G tethering, or whichever interface gives you the lowest ping to Ironmace's servers. No game modification, no anti-cheat conflict, no added latency.
Does PingAim Help in Dark and Darker?
More about Ironshieldhow it works · what it blocks · known conflicts
IronShield is Ironmace's proprietary in-house anti-cheat system, distinct from EasyAntiCheat or BattlEye. It runs as two Windows processes: Tavern.exe (launcher/supervisor) and TavernWorker.exe (kernel-level scanning component). IronShield installs a kernel driver on every game launch. The system performs disk sector scanning — it reads random sectors of all connected drives — which has caused controversy regarding both privacy (data sent to Ironmace) and performance (disk I/O during gameplay contributes to stutters and potentially rubberbanding). Kaspersky initially flagged TavernWorker.exe as a trojan (PDM:Trojan.Win32.General) until Ironmace submitted it for whitelisting in 2024.
VPN and network optimizers
IronShield does not ban VPN or network optimization tool usage. Network tools like LagoFast, GearUP Booster, and Mudfish are widely used in the Dark and Darker community without ban incidents. VPNs are also commonly used to access different server regions (e.g., connecting to Korean servers from outside Korea). Ironmace does not publish an explicit policy on network optimizers, but no bans have been reported for network-level tools.
Known software conflicts
- Kaspersky antivirus initially flagged TavernWorker.exe as malicious (resolved in 2024)
- Some antivirus software may quarantine TavernWorker.exe — add game directory to exclusions
- IronShield disk scanning during dungeon runs may contribute to stutters and client-side lag
- IronShield may persist after game uninstallation depending on version
- Anti-cheatIRONSHIELD
- ProtocolUDP
- ConnectionDedicated
- HostingIronmace (self-operated)
- EngineUnreal Engine 5
- NATModerate
- LauncherBlacksmith launcher (Ironmace) or Steam or Epic Games Store
- Install size30 GB
Why ping matters in Dark and Darker
Latency sensitivity HighPing noticeably shapes the experience.
Dark and Darker uses a permadeath loot system: all gear carried into a dungeon is forfeit on death. In a game where a single encounter can erase a full loadout of hard-won equipment, rubberbanding and desync are not cosmetic annoyances — they're gear destroyers. Community reports document characters snapping backward during fights, attacks failing to register, and enemies teleporting. These issues are amplified by high or unstable ping. Korean developer Ironmace operates servers globally but players outside primary coverage regions (particularly Southeast Asia, South America, and Oceania) frequently report 100-200ms baseline latency.
About Dark and Darkerbackground, studio, esports scene
Dark and Darker is a PvPvE extraction dungeon crawler developed by Korean studio Ironmace. Players descend into medieval fantasy dungeons as solo adventurers or in groups of up to three, fighting AI monsters and rival players while looting gear and attempting to escape alive. The game features a permadeath loot system — all gear carried into a dungeon is lost on death — creating high-stakes tension similar to Escape from Tarkov but in a dark fantasy setting. Classes include Fighter, Barbarian, Rogue, Ranger, Wizard, Cleric, Bard, Druid, and Warlock.
Dark and Darker had a turbulent launch history: originally removed from Steam in 2023 due to legal action from Nexon (who alleged stolen proprietary code), the game was distributed exclusively through the Blacksmith launcher before returning to Steam and Epic Games Store in June 2024. The basic Normal difficulty dungeons are free-to-play; a one-time $30 purchase unlocks all content. The game uses Ironmace's proprietary IronShield anti-cheat.
As a Korean-developed title, the game has a particularly strong player base in Korea and East Asia, with Ironmace operating dedicated servers globally. Network quality is highly relevant: in a permadeath extraction game, rubberbanding or desync during combat directly costs players their dungeon loot and hard-earned gear.
- Studio
- Ironmace
- Released
- 2024
- Platforms
- Windows
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
Explore the Dark and Darker Guide
PingAim detects Dark and Darker automatically
No manual config. PingAim identifies Dark and Darker by process name and routes it through your fastest connection using a kernel-level WFP driver.
When does PingAim help — and when doesn't it?
PingAim helps when...
- You have a phone with 5G/LTE — tether via USB for a dedicated dungeon connection
- You have both WiFi and Ethernet — route Dark and Darker through the faster one
- You live in Southeast Asia, Oceania, or South America with high baseline latency to your region's server
- You stream or download while playing — separate game traffic from bandwidth-heavy background tasks
- Windows picks a WiFi interface when you have Ethernet available
- You want to play on a specific region (e.g., Korean servers) for lower latency with friends
Won't help when...
- You only have one network connection with no way to add a second
- Your single connection is already fast and stable (sub-40ms, no jitter)
- Server-side dungeon lag from Ironmace infrastructure issues
- Performance stutters caused by TavernWorker.exe disk scanning (not network-related)
- FPS drops or game crashes unrelated to networking
Related Games
Other games sharing technical traits with Dark and Darker — anti-cheat, hosting, engine, or genre.
Recent Updates
Community & Official Resources
Where players talk and where the publisher posts updates.
Glossary12 terms used on this page
- AWS
- Amazon Web Services — cloud platform hosting Dark and Darker's confirmed North American game servers.
- Blacksmith
- Ironmace's own game launcher, used during the period when Dark and Darker was absent from Steam (2023-2024).
- Desync
- Mismatch between the client's view of the world and the server's authoritative state. Can cause hits to not register or enemies to teleport.
- DungeonCrawler.exe
- The game's executable name (internal development name — the game is publicly known as Dark and Darker).
- Extraction
- The act of escaping the dungeon alive with your loot through a portal. Dying before extraction means losing all carried gear.
- IronShield
- Ironmace's proprietary kernel-level anti-cheat system. Runs as Tavern.exe and TavernWorker.exe.
- ms
- Milliseconds — 1/1000 of a second. Lower = better for gaming.
- PvPvE
- Player vs. Player vs. Environment — you fight both AI monsters and other player groups simultaneously.
- Rubberbanding
- When your character snaps back to a previous position due to server-client desync. Especially common during PvP encounters in Dark and Darker.
- TavernWorker.exe
- IronShield's kernel-level component that performs disk scanning and process monitoring.
- UDP
- User Datagram Protocol — fast network protocol used for in-dungeon game traffic.
- WFP
- Windows Filtering Platform — Windows kernel API used by PingAim to route game traffic without touching the game process.