Quick answer: Unreal Iris bandwidth budget exceeded even at low player count? Budget enforces peak; low-load may overshoot per-actor - audit per-actor budget allocation.
5 players online; bandwidth peaks at 200KB/s per client; expected 100KB/s.
Configure per-actor budget
Per-actor max bytes/tick. Aggregate respects budget.
Or scope by interest
Distant actors low budget; close actors high. Per-relevance.
Profile per-actor
NetProfile per actor type. Outliers diagnose.
“Network budget needs per-actor distribution. Aggregate alone isn't enough.”
If your bandwidth is over budget despite low player count, the per-actor allocation is the bug.