All Final Fantasy XIV server populations (January 2024)

When you first load into Final Fantasy XIV, you’ll need to find your character a World and Data Center to play on. The options may seem limitless when it comes to picking one, but you’ll still want to pick one that suits your playstyle and personal requirements.

Depending on the server, players might not even be able to make a character on some Data Centers. For example, at the time of writing, all of the Crystal Data Center is considered congested, meaning players currently cannot make any characters on Crystal at all. They will have to choose one of the other three North American Data Centers.

Each Data Center has a vibe to it, but no matter which one you choose, you’ll find players who fit your playstyle. For example, in the North American Data Centers, Aether is considered to be a place where more hardcore players gather and Crystal is for more casual players who like to roleplay or enjoy the social scene.

Which Data Center and World to choose in Final Fantasy XIV

Now that Data Center travel is a thing, players don’t need to weigh their options quite as heavily as they used to. As long as it is within the same region, players can hop Data Centers if the World they’re going to isn’t maxed out with players online. That likely won’t be an issue except for when patches drop, where more players come back to complete the story and Data Center travel almost comes to a screeching halt. Wait times are typically anywhere from a minute to three minutes, but when new updates and expansions come around, the wait can be 10 minutes or more.

Choosing a World really depends on a number of factors. Players who want to play with friends can do so on any Data Center within their region. For example, players on North American Data Centers cannot travel to Data Centers in the EU region. But for the sake of ease, players should choose a World that their friends are on so that having to travel to different Worlds or Data Centers is less common.

Players can only do certain things when they are visiting other Worlds or Data Centers. For example, players don’t have access to their Retainers when visiting other servers, which can be a pain if they’re doing events like Treasure Hunt where only a certain number of maps can be held in their inventories. So when choosing a World and Data Center, these must be considered.

What does each status mean for Worlds in Final Fantasy XIV?

For those who don’t have everything leveled to 90, knowing which Worlds have a server status of preferred is important. Preferred and new Worlds give a bonus to players who create characters there or move over a character from a congested or standard World. Here is an explanation of what the Worlds statuses mean:

• New World: These Worlds are new and players who transfer or create new characters there will receive bonuses.
• Congested World: These Worlds are crowded, and the game will not allow any new characters to be made or transfer there.
• Standard World: There are no bonuses on these Worlds and new players can be created or transferred to them.
• Preferred World: Worlds that are underpopulated. They get special bonuses for creating a new character there or transferring one.

Players can see the different bonuses they are awarded for joining new or preferred Worlds on the Lodestone.

Here are all the server populations in Final Fantasy XIV and their statuses. The information for the server populations was obtained from ffxivcensus. A World marked with an asterisk means the world is considered standard, but new characters can’t be created or transferred there.

North American Final Fantasy XIV Data Center – Updated Jan. 16, 2024

Japanese Final Fantasy XIV Data Center

European Final Fantasy XIV Data Center

Oceana Final Fantasy XIV Data Center