NA Server Roadmap Update: NA Server Move on 8/25

TL;DR: On August 25, the NA game servers will move to a new, centralized location inChicago, Illinois. This move, along with other components of the NA Server Roadmap, should improve connection quality for the vast majority of NA players. West Coast players will see an uptick in raw ping numbers, but should also see that uptick mitigated by connection improvements in the form of better overall stability and reduced packet loss. We’ll follow up the server move with a weekend stress test (complete with Party IP) fromAugust 28 - 30. More details below.

Over the last couple weeks, we’ve shared a bunch of the details behind the upcoming move to new game servers in Chicago, Illinois, as well as our latest testing of the new infrastructure. Today, we’re ready to announce both a date - August 25 - and our plan for the day of the server move.

The Plan

Considering the level of activity handled by the NA game servers, our main priority is ensuring maximum safety and minimum disruption. To that end, on the 25th we’ll kick off a phased, zero-downtime transfer of server activity at off-peak hours, with game starts steadily re-allocated to Chicago in escalating fashion over the course of the transfer period. Keep in mind your game starts may hop back and forth between Chicago and Portland if you’re playing during this period. By the end of the day, all games will be supported out of Chicago, with Portland reverting to a disaster-recovery backup while we continue to gather data and make any required adjustments. Tentatively, we’re shooting for around 5 AM PDT to 12 PM (noon) PDT as the transfer window, during which ranked play will be disabled.

Given our extensive preparation and the lack of downtime, the most likely outcome is that you won’t notice any disruption on your end, but we’re also preparing for any and all contingencies. For example, we already know that we’ll very likely have to troubleshoot emergent local routing issues that crop up in the days following the server move. Worst case, we encounter significant issues and temporarily roll back to the current Portland servers so you all encounter minimal downtime or disrupted play as we fix any major problems.



On the 25th, we'll also offer free transfers directly to players located in the US and Canada who are currently playing on other servers - look for a transfer email from us and a free transfer option in the store on your account!

After the move itself has been successfully completed, we want to roll right into a stress test weekend from August 28 - 30 to observe how well the new game servers handle peak traffic. To help make sure we really put the new Chicago infrastructure through its paces, we’re enabling Party IP over the weekend - check out the details below in case you need a refresher.

Number of players in party --> Bonus IP awarded

• 2 --> 100% bonus
  
  
• 3 --> 150% bonus
  
  
• 4 --> 200% bonus
  
  
• 5 --> 300% bonus
  

You earn rewards win or lose, but only if you’re in a party with at least one other player. Make sure to log in, help us test, and earn extra IP from August 28th, 00:00 PDT through August 30th, 23:59 PDT!

Beyond the Switch

As I mentioned earlier, in the days following the move the Roadmap team will be working to make sure your connections are taking the most efficient possible paths on our dedicated network to the new game servers. As you might imagine, moving the server destination requires quite a bit of recalibration of preexisting network paths. Most will be well-aligned by the time Chicago is live, but internet infrastructure can get pretty complicated and there willlikely be some straggling connections that aren’t getting to Chicago as fast as they could be. Next week, look for a support megathread for troubleshooting potential network pathing problems by testing your connection to Chicago and sending us traceroute info from your machines.

While the Chicago move will complete our outlined milestones for the NA Server Roadmap, there will always be more to do on the service front. ISPs will change, routes will merge, and the landscape may shift, so multiple teams here at Riot will remain dedicated to making sure players across the US and Canada experience the best possible connection while playing League. One consistent task will be signing and maintaining peering agreements with ISPs across the US and Canada - check out our latest peering list in this thread.

We’ll be back with final details and reminders over the next week, but in the meantime we’re also happy to address any immediate questions you may have in the comments below!