How to avoid queues in Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker

With Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker entering Early Access on Dec. 3, and releasing officially on Dec. 7, the game has been hit with record queues. Players have been stuck in queues of thousands, with wait times spiraling into hours. But luckily, there are some ways to dodge the queues and play the game ASAP.

The best way to dodge queues is simply by not playing during peak hours. In a post detailing the issues facing the game and its massive queues, Final Fantasy XIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida outlined the exact peak times of the game. 

For each Data Centre, these are the peak times:

• North American Data Centre: 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (PST) / 20:00 to 6:00 (GMT)
• European Data Centre: 3:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (PST) / 11:00 to 23:00 (GMT)
• Japan Data Centre: 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. (PST) / 9:00 to 15:00 (GMT)

Queues outside of these hours are set to be much shorter than usual. As you can see, early mornings and very late evenings are not peak times. So, unfortunately, the secret of short queues is getting up early and going to bed far too late! Alternatively, playing on a server that is not in your region may give you an advantage.

Related: How to Switch Worlds/Servers in Final Fantasy XIV

Another method would be to play on a lower population server. Low population servers will, by their nature, not have as many players, and queues will be shorters. However, due to the explosion of popularity of Final Fantasy XIV in 2021, there are few low-pop servers left. But it’s still possible to create new characters on these less populated servers. That way you can get into the game quicker.

Sadly, outside of avoiding peak times, and choosing your server carefully, avoiding queues will be difficult. But patience and perseverance will be the best thing you can have to overcome these queues.

If you're experiences issues in logging in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, check out What causes error 2002 in Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker? on Pro Game Guides.