Viewing a file over a network: meaning of ~@k

Question

I have showcmd set, and often when viewing (NOT editing) a file over a network, I observe the characters ~@k appearing in the showcmd position. This only happens when I move the cursor, and the cursor movement is visibly slow. I can overcome this using set eventignore=CursorMoved, so I assume the network file is being read while updating the foldtext, statusline or matching parentheses.

I am not sure why the file needs to be accessed so often (if indeed that is the case). Is there any way of disabling this behaviour without losing the CursorMoved actions?

It's a shame that a web search for ~@k is not possible!

Answer 1

Are you using your arrow keys to move the cursor? From Vim's repeat.txt documentation:

The first character of a key code is 0x80 or 128, shown on the screen as "~@". The second one can be found in the list |key-notation|.

I'm guessing the 'k' is for key/keypad? If I scroll using my arrow keys, I see "~@k" in the showcmd field. If I scroll using hjkl, I see hjkl.