Multiplayer games may look like well-oiled machines that look like they may continue to work forever, but even the most carefully designed ones can require some downtime once in a while.
When Apex’s servers are down, players are likely to run into errors that will prevent them from logging into the game. Not Connecting to Server error is one of them, and it mostly appears when there’s server maintenance or a widespread issue that’s affecting a decent part of the player base.
If you’re running into this error, there are a few solution methods you can try, but you’ll first need to check if the servers are down or not to save yourself the trouble of going through multiple troubleshooting steps.
Check Apex’s server status
There are multiple ways to check if Apex’s servers are down. If you navigate to the official help page of Apex, you’ll notice a small server-status tracker that will be toward the right corner of your screen. If the status bar is red, the servers are down and you’ll have no choice but to wait for Respawn to roll out a fix.
Alternatively, you can also check out the Down Detector page for Apex, where you may find other players reporting bugs. In some cases, the server tracker on the official website may be slow to pick up server outages, while players will be the first ones to report if there’s something wrong with Apex.
Community hubs like Apex’s Reddit page can also be decent places to visit to see if other players are reporting similar errors. If too many other players are getting the Not Connecting to Server error, you may want to keep an eye on Apex’s Twitter account since the developers keep the fans updated there.
Players, who play Apex on their console, should check the server status of PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. If PSN or Xbox Live goes down, the outage will also affect other online games like Apex.
Restart your router and gaming device
If the servers are fine, but you still can’t log into Apex, you should try resetting your router and gaming device.
Resetting your router will allow you to troubleshoot your home network. If the problem was being caused due to your internet service provider (ISP,) resetting your router will assign you a new route of connection between you and your ISP, which will do the same for your connection to Apex’s servers.
Resetting your gaming device at the same time will allow you to troubleshoot your system since the error can also appear due to software bugs in rare cases. Doing the two at the same time will be time-efficient, and you should wait a few seconds before turning on both of them.
Try out a different DNS
Like game servers, DNS servers can also go down from time to time and cause players to have connectivity issues. When that’s the case, you may realize that your internet is getting slower and you may not even be able to load web pages.
Most players use the default DNS address, which tends to be assigned by their ISP, and switching over to a commercially available one will allow you to check if your DNS is acting up.
While changing your DNS can be simple if you’re on PC, it can be a rather complicated process on other platforms if you haven’t done it before. PS5 users can follow the steps here to change their DNS, or here if you’re on Xbox Series X/S.
Nintendo Switch users can refer to this guide to manually enter DNS settings. Once you change DNS settings, restart your device and try logging into Apex again.
Submit a support ticket
If the servers are up and you weren’t able to fix the error by trying the methods above, your last option will be contacting Apex’s support team. Head over to Apex’s official help page and navigate to the bottom. Click on the Contact Us button to submit a ticket.
Explain all the troubleshooting steps you’ve tried in your ticket and provide screenshots, or even a video. The more details you provide for the support team, the faster they’ll be able to pin the problem down for you. You should get a reply within a couple of days, including more troubleshooting methods to try out, or the support associate may ask you to provide more details. When you’re running into the Not Connecting to Server error due to something on Apex’s end, you won’t have to do anything since the support team will fix the error for you.
If you’re receiving the Not Connecting to Server error due to a server issue, it may take a few hours for Respawn to roll out a fix in some cases. Players who’d still like to get their daily dose of Apex during this time can use the downtime to improve their gameplay.
Learning how to efficiently improve your aim in Apex can be a decent start to give yourself an edge when you return to the game, and you can also watch old tournament replays on YouTube to observe how professional players rotate around the map and see if you can pick anything up from them.
Studying the game alongside playing it will be the key to improving more and rack up more kills the next time you log into Apex.
