Three problems that look alike

Open View → Stats in OBS. The three counters point to different parts of the signal path:

• Dropped frames (network) means OBS could not deliver data to the ingest server quickly enough.
• Skipped frames (encoding lag) means the encoder could not compress frames in time.
• Missed frames (rendering lag) means the GPU could not compose the scene in time.

Network drops

Lower the video bitrate, test a wired connection, or move to an ingest region with a better route. Dynamic bitrate can hide short changes, but it does not fix a connection with too little sustained upload.

Encoding lag

Use a faster encoder preset, reduce output resolution or frame rate, and close workloads competing for the encoder. If available, prefer a supported hardware encoder for a dedicated streaming machine.

Rendering lag

Cap game frame rate, simplify browser sources, and check GPU utilization. A scene that renders comfortably at rest can still overload the GPU during a transition.

Change one variable at a time and repeat the same test. Otherwise a temporary network improvement can look like proof that an unrelated encoder change worked.