/u/Xesyliad on Understanding Destiny networking & why packet loss, not latency is the games biggest killer.

There's almost no information about it, except that it exists. However, from what little information there is, it's an algorithm in game that evaluates kills and tracks connections and attempts to normalise outcomes.

This often results in either yourself, or your opponent dying if the algorithm determines that network connectivity was a factor in the outcome (packet loss led to a player avoiding a death, instead of dying, then damage arbitration would kill that player a few seconds later instead of letting them live).

Edit:This is an example of damage arbitration in play that I personally experienced, the hunter was was most likely lag switching, it's clear he should have been dead ... and eventually, after I died he went "down" ... that's a sign of the damage arbitration kicking in, nobody killed him he just went "down".