Why does ping ::1 -n 3 only wait 2 seconds?

Question

I am creating a wait program using batch, but when I try to insert the 3 seconds delay using ping :

ping ::1 -n 3 >nul 2>nul

Only waits 2 seconds. Why does this happen?

Keep in mind, ping is not a timer. `-n` is number of replies required. Your first ping is on execution, 1 second to the second ping, 1 second to the last ping. making it two seconds. Why not instead use `timeout 3 /nobreak >nul 2>&1` — Gerhard, Oct 22 '19 at 06:40
note that ping is not a good way for delaying. There are many better tools [How to sleep for five seconds in a batch file/cmd](https://stackoverflow.com/q/1672338/995714) — phuclv, Oct 22 '19 at 08:11
@phuclv Yes, I know, but I was just experimenting. Doesn't hurt to find out new things :) — KyLeCoOl, Dec 28 '19 at 10:35

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 22 '19 at 10:12

2

Because it makes its first ping without a delay (on execution). three pings means 2 delays. If you like to have a delay of 3 seconds, you need to ping 4 times.

edited Oct 22 '19 at 10:12

Gerhard

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answered Oct 22 '19 at 06:35

Gerrit

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Or use something that actually causes a delay by design, instead of a networking test program. – Federico klez Culloca Oct 22 '19 at 10:24

Why does ping ::1 -n 3 only wait 2 seconds?

1 Answers1