How to fix the ‘Cannot queue for matchmaking at this time’ error in Dota 2

Dota 2 servers aren’t made of steel and they can go down on rare occasions, especially when the player count surges to new highs. When new and returning players flood into the servers after a major content release, the servers may struggle to keep up with the demand, causing players to experience various errors.

The “Cannot queue for matchmaking at this time” error generally appears whenever there’s a server outage. Players encounter the error when they try to find a match. This error is generally followed by the infamous “Searching for Dota 2 Game Coordinator” message that appears at the top or the bottom of players’ screens.

If you have just encountered the “Cannot queue for matchmaking at this time” error in Dota 2, there are a few troubleshooting methods that can be of use to get you right back into a match.

How do you fix the “Cannot queue for matchmaking at this time” error in Dota 2?

• Check Dota 2’s server status. If the servers are down, you’ll need to wait for them to come back online before you can queue for another match.
• Create a custom game or a practice lobby and leave it by using the Disconnect/Leave Game buttons on the main menu.
• Restart Dota 2.
• Restart Steam and Launch Dota 2 after re-logging into your account.

More often than not, the “Cannot queue for matchmaking at this time” error will appear when the servers go down. If you encounter this error, make sure to check Dota 2 and Steam server status since you’ll need to wait for a fix to roll out when the servers aren’t functional.

If the “Cannot queue for matchmaking at this time” error appears when the servers are operational, then it might be happening due to a bug. This bug happens when players leave an ending match too quickly. Creating a custom lobby and leaving it manually or restarting Dota 2 often fixes the error when this is the case.