Are the Fortnite servers giving you trouble? Don't stress -- the developers at Epic Games are probably rolling out a major content update for Fortnite Chapter 5. But before the new patch goes live in-game, it's typical for the game servers to become unresponsive.
Still, many players might wonder, "Why are the Fortnite servers not responding?" or better still, "When will the Fortnite servers come back online?" Luckily, we've got you covered, detailing exactly when to expect Fortnite server downtime to end.
Update on 4 December 2023: The next Fortnite Season 5, Chapter 1 update is the v28.01 Winterfest content, which will release sometime in mid-December (presumably, the 12th or 19th).
When Will Fortnite Servers Come Back Online?
The Fortnite servers will experience downtime (with matchmaking becoming disabled) to make way for the Fortnite v28.01 Winterfest update on 12th or 19th December 2023 at 4 AM ET. There's no telling exactly how long Fortnite servers will remain offline.
However, you can expect servers to come back online a few hours later that same day. Matchmaking is typically disabled for up to about 4 hours, which means the Fortnite servers should be restored by 5 a.m. PT | 8 a.m. ET | 12 p.m. GMT at the latest.
Note: The previous Fortnite v28.00 server downtime lasted for a total of 9 hours (ending 8:30 AM ET). Typically, smaller updates take about 4 hours to roll out.
Upcoming Fortnite Server Maintenance Schedule
These are the estimated dates for all upcoming Fortnite updates that we know of. Please be advised that these dates may vary. We monitor when patches are loaded onto the staging servers to determine when their likely release dates are. Until confirmed by the developers, consider these dates pure speculation.
| Patch Version | Predicted Downtime |
| v28.01 (confirmed) | Mid-December |
| v28.10 (confirmed) | January 2024 (after the Epic Games holiday break) |
| v28.20 (confirmed) | TBD |
| v28.30 (confirmed) | TBD |
Fortnite News & Updates
Find real-time news and updates about the Fortnite server status right here, baby!
Update on 4 December 2023: Epic Games has already started playtesting the v28.10 update. However, you can expect this to drop in mid-January 2024. The v28.01 Winterfest update will come out in about 1-2 weeks.
Update on 3 December at 08:30 ET: Downtime for Chapter 5, Season 1 has ended. That means the servers were unavailable for 9 hours.
Update on 3 December 2023 at 07:18 ET: You can begin the download for v28.00 since about 3 hours ago. However, the Fortnite servers are still down. Epic Games said they'd let players know when server functionality is restored. It could be another hour or so.
Update on 3 December 2023: The Fortnite servers started going down on 2 December 2023 at 23:30 AM ET. Downtime is expected to last a little longer, possibly ending around 8 AM ET today.
Update on 21 November 2023: v28.00 is now confirmed for December 3rd.
Update on 16 November 2023 at 15:00 GMT+2: Fortnite server downtime has ended.
Update on 16 November 2023 at 10:10 GMT+2: Fortnite server downtime has started an hour early, which means that the new v27.10 patch should be fully rolled
out by around 7 AM ET.
Update on 16 November 2023 at 09:02 GMT+2: The Season 7 and 8 hotfix will begin at 4 AM ET today. The Fortnite server downtime is expected to conclude at 8 AM ET.
Update on 13 November 2023 at 09:02 GMT+2: The Season 7 and 8 hotfix should be released on Thursday.
Update on 9 November 2023 at 08:31 GMT+2: The Season 6 hotfix should be released today.
Update on 7 November at 15:47 GMT+2: Epic Games has begun to playtest a v28.01.
Update on 3 November at 15:11 AM GMT+2: Fortnite server downtime is over.
Update on 3 November at 14:58 AM GMT+2: Downtime is taking a little longer than expected. We've extended the timer by another hour. We'll continue to monitor for any new developments.
Update on 3 November at 09:08 AM GMT+2: Downtime for v27.00 Fortnite OG has begun. Matchmaking is now disabled.
Update on 2 November 2023 at 08:57 GMT+2: Fortnite OG will begin on 3 November 2023 at 4 AM ET.
Update on 22 October 2023 at 14:07 GMT+2: Epic Games have started playtesting Chapter 5 Season 1.
Update on 12 October 2023 at 08:17 GMT+2: Nothing yet. The patch should be loaded onto the Epic Games staging servers by next week Tuesday.
Please note: Epic Games typically releases minor updates every Tuesday (not including major patches or content releases). We will update this article weekly with any new information. As a result of the scheduled maintenance, Fortnite players will not be able to log in to the game, access game services or matchmaking, parties, friends and messaging services, voice chat, stats and leaderboards, the Fortnite Item Shop, or Fortnite Crew.
Only the Fortnite website will be operational during this period. Notably, all other Epic Games services should remain active, including the Epic Games Store, Rocket League, Sideswipe, and others. Once Epic Games has integrated the new Fortnite game patch, the servers will return to normal and become available for play. You can check the official Epic Games server status or the Fortnite Twitter page for updates.
If you're still struggling to log in or access the Fortnite game services, it is always a good rule of thumb to connect your PC or console directly to your router via a LAN cable, as Wi-Fi can, in some cases, be prone to network issues.
That's everything we know at this time. We advise players to remain patient, as it won't be long until the servers are returned online.
