Fortnite esports are divided into a few key regions, the Fortnite servers. Unlike some games, the regions aren’t really decided by spreading out competitors. Or by where it makes sense to group tournament, instead, it’s around the Fortnite server locations. The Fortnite competitive servers and regions are essentially just the same as how Epic divides up the player base in the first place.
Since competitive Fortnite involves a ton of online play, it makes sense to group players by their closest server. It’s the best way to try and ensure a lower latency experience in events. Even if this means most of the major players end up concentrated in a handful of regions. While we do get international events, it’s the Fortnite servers and regional divides that sort most events like the FNCS for each season.
It’s these Fortnite competitive servers that decide where you’ll compete in Fortnite events. You could be up against the very best players in all of esports, or competing for a smaller prize pool in a smaller region. If you want to get to know local Fortnite esports or see why your ping is the rate it is, knowing the Fortnite servers and how they work is a great start.
All Fortnite Servers
Fortnite competitive is divided up into the different servers that Epic runs. Rather than routing the entire Fortnite player base through a single server, players are divided by region. Meaning, in theory, they should always be close enough to a server to get a decent ping. Although, since the servers cover a varying region, players can still get an annoying ping in some locations.
There are currently 8 Fortnite server locations, with one not being in use for competitive. The most recent was re-introduced with the start of the current competitive season. These are the Fortnite servers:
- NA-East
- NA-Central
- NA-West
- Europe
- Oceania
- Brazil
- Asia
- Middle East
However, the Fortnite competitive servers have one difference. NA-East isn’t a competitive server at the moment. Epic likes to move around the North American servers for some reason, annoying for players who moved to be closer to one. These servers are home to some of the best Fortnite Trios too, so every advantage helps.
That’s the official name for each server. However, their exact locations are a bit more mysterious. Players tend to concentrate on getting closer to them, since distance from the servers decides ping. While their exact location is secretive, those are the regions that they cover.
Fortnite Tournaments and Competitive Servers
That’s where each of the Fortnite servers are, but for tournaments there’s some extra details. Players are sorted into their closest server normally. For the FNCS, you’re tied to that server too. Once you compete in one server, it’s your home server and it can’t be changed during that competitive season. Ensuring players don’t jump around to try and maximize their chances.
Outside of the FNCS though, things are looser. Players are free to pick and choose which of the Fortnite servers they want to compete in. By changing your matchmaking region, you’ll be able to switch over to other Fortnite competitive servers. Then compete in the same cash cup multiple times since they’re held at a different interval to fit time zones.
Some players do this for most of the smaller tournaments. Marathoning them in hopes of getting some earnings. Although, the ping factor will limit most players. Taking part in Fortnite esports on different servers will mean your ping is considerably higher. That’s kind of a disadvantage. Especially in competitive games where taking walls is important. Which means most players don’t really have a shot at major wins in anything but their home server.
