# Audio problems

> Fix eara when you hear nothing, or when the music cuts out or stutters.

Category: Troubleshooting · Updated: 2026-09-14 · Source: https://eara.io/help-center/audio-troubleshooting

## Choose your problem

Pick the problem you're having and work through the steps in order.

### No sound

eara is in the voice channel, but you can't hear anything.

### Start with /debug

Run `/debug` to see the player's state. It often points straight at the problem:

- **Status** — playing, paused, loading, or idle. If it's paused, run
  `/resume`.
- **Current Track** — the song that's playing. If it says *Nothing is playing*,
  that may be why you hear nothing; play a song with `/play`.
- **Voice** — the connection **Status** (connected, joining, reconnecting, or
  disconnected) and the voice channel's **Region**.
- **Server muted** — whether someone server-muted eara. If it says yes, eara
  can't make any sound until someone unmutes it.

![eara's /debug reply: Status Idle, Current Track says Nothing is playing, then a Voice section with Status Connected, Region newark/ewr, Server muted No, and the RTC latency, loss and jitter values](https://eara.io/help/debug.png)

### Can other people hear the music?

If everyone else hears the music and you don't, the problem is on your device.

**Turn off your VPN or proxy.** This is the most common cause, especially
[1.1.1.1](https://one.one.one.one/).

### Check your volume

Three separate volume settings can make eara silent:

- **Your device's volume.** Make sure it isn't at 0%.
- **eara's user volume in Discord.** Right-click eara in the voice channel (tap
  it on mobile). Check that it isn't muted and that **User Volume** isn't at 0%.

  [Video: Right-clicking eara in the voice channel and moving the User Volume slider](https://eara.io/help/user-volume.mp4)
- **Discord's output device and volume.** Click the small arrow next to the
  headphones icon at the bottom left of Discord. Make sure **Output Device** is
  your headphones or speakers and **Output Volume** isn't too low.

  [Video: Opening Discord's audio menu from the arrow next to the headphones icon, then choosing an Output Device](https://eara.io/help/output-device.mp4)

### The song may be broken

Sometimes a song fails to play and the player gets stuck on it. Run
`/skip` to move on to the next song.

If that doesn't help, disconnect eara with `/leave` or the disconnect
button, then play the song again.

### Why is eara deafened?

eara deafens itself on purpose, so it doesn't hear anyone in the voice channel.
Deafened has no effect on the music; only *muted* stops eara's sound.

### Lag or stuttering

The music plays but keeps cutting out, skipping or stuttering.

### What helps

- **Change the voice channel's region** to **Automatic**, or to one close to
  most people (see the steps below).
- **Reconnect the bot.** Run `/leave`, then `/play` again. eara often gets
  a better connection.
- **Ask others in the channel** whether they hear it too. If it's only you, the
  problem is on your side.

### It is usually not the bot

Check your own internet connection first, then the voice channel's region. If
the region is far from you, the music will sound bad with any bot.

Changing the region needs the **Manage Channels** permission:

1. Hover over the voice channel and click the gear icon (**Edit Channel**).
2. In **Overview**, scroll down to **Region Override**.
3. Choose **Automatic** so Discord picks the best region.
4. Click **Save Changes**.

[Video: Opening the voice channel's settings, scrolling to Region Override, choosing Automatic, and saving](https://eara.io/help/voice-region.mp4)

### Look at the numbers

Run `/debug` and check these values:

- **RTC latency** — how long data takes to travel.
- **RTC % loss** and **RTC # lost** — packet loss, the usual cause of broken
  audio.
- **RTC jitter** — how unevenly the data arrives.

High loss or jitter here means eara's connection to Discord's voice server is
bad. Changing the region usually helps.

### Check the bot

Run `/ping`. It shows eara's heartbeat to Discord and, while eara is in a voice
channel, its voice latency. If those look good but the `/debug` numbers are bad,
eara is fine and the connection is the problem.

![eara's /ping reply: Heartbeat 23ms, and Voice wss 9ms, rtc 3ms](https://eara.io/help/ping.png)

### Check your own connection

The `/debug` numbers cover eara's connection. Discord can also show how well
eara's audio reaches **you**:

1. On desktop, click **Voice Connected** at the bottom left of Discord.
2. Click **Debug**.
3. Under **Inbound**, click **eara**.
4. Check **Packets Lost** and **Jitter**.

[Video: Clicking Voice Connected, then Debug, then eara under Inbound, which shows Jitter and Packets Lost](https://eara.io/help/rtc-debug.mp4)

What the numbers mean:

- **Packets Lost** — audio that never reached you. If it keeps climbing, the
  music breaks up.
- **Jitter** — how unevenly the audio arrives. High jitter adds delay.
- **Expand Frames** and **Preemptive Expand Frames** — Discord stretched the
  audio to fill a gap. High numbers mean stuttering.
- **Accelerated Frames** — Discord sped the audio up to catch up. A high number
  means the music sometimes sounds too fast.

![Discord's debug graphs for eara: Packets Lost climbs to 99 while the music plays](https://eara.io/help/rtc-packet-loss.png)

![Discord's debug values for eara: Accelerated Frames 460, Expand Frames 256, Preemptive Expand Frames 83](https://eara.io/help/rtc-frames.png)

If these numbers are high but the `/debug` numbers look fine, the problem is
your own connection.

## Still not working?

Run `/debug`, copy the output and send it in our
[Discord server](/support). It's the first thing we'll ask for.