Epic is quietly running backend server tests across several continents, and the goal is straightforward. The company wants to cut high ping for players who sit far from existing data centers. These trials touch regions that have long struggled with lag, including South Africa, India, and parts of Southeast Asia.
Quick answer: Epic is testing new Fortnite servers in 10 cities to lower ping, but the rollout is unannounced and has no confirmed release date. You cannot opt in or switch to them yet. To check your current latency, set your Matchmaking Region to Auto and ping the closest Epic data center.
Every Fortnite server location being tested
The trials are spread across multiple continents and target both underserved regions and busy European hubs. Some locations point toward brand new local coverage, while others look like attempts to find faster network paths inside areas that already have servers.
| Country | City |
|---|---|
| South Africa | Cape Town |
| Spain | Zaragoza |
| India | Mumbai |
| France | Paris |
| Belgium | Brussels |
| Sweden | Stockholm |
| Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur |
| Chile | Santiago |
| Taiwan | Taipei |
| Singapore | Singapore |
No new physical data centers, just cloud capacity
These tests do not involve Epic building its own facilities from scratch. The servers run on existing cloud infrastructure from providers such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. That approach lets Epic spin up and test a server in a new city quickly, then keep it or shut it down based on how it performs.
The trials split into two likely outcomes. In places like Cape Town and Mumbai, Epic may be setting up new local sub-regions that physically shorten the distance your data travels. In European cities, the more probable goal is testing more efficient routing paths rather than adding entirely new coverage.
Note: Even if your nearest city does not get a dedicated server, better routing inside your region can still drop your ping. The improvement does not always require a server in your backyard.
Why this matters for Middle East and Indian players
The timing follows a rough stretch for players near the Gulf and South Asia. Fortnite’s Middle East region previously sat in Bahrain, which gave Gulf players very low latency. After infrastructure instability hit the regional cloud setup, traffic shifted to Mumbai, India, turning a short hop into a journey of roughly 2,500 km.
That move kept matches online but pushed ping up, with many players reporting 90 to 140 ms and spikes well past 200 ms. The deeper problem was inconsistent routing to Mumbai rather than distance alone. A dedicated Mumbai test and broader routing trials directly address that pain point.
When will the new servers go live?
There is no official launch date. Because these are backend tests, Epic has not tied them to a public announcement or a specific Fortnite update. If a trial proves stable, the matching region could become available, but nothing is confirmed for now. Treat the city list as experiments, not promises.
You also cannot manually select these test servers. Your match still routes through your standard Matchmaking Region until Epic flips one of these locations on for everyone.
How to check your current Fortnite ping
While you wait for the trials to land, you can measure your latency to Epic’s existing data centers and confirm which region serves you best. Ping is the round-trip time for data between your device and the server, measured in milliseconds. Lower is better, and anything under 50 ms is ideal for competitive play.
cmd, and pressing Enter. On macOS, open Network Utility and go to the Ping tab.ping ping-nae.ds.on.epicgames.com -n 50| Region | Ping address |
|---|---|
| NA-East | ping-nae.ds.on.epicgames.com |
| NA-Central | ping-nac.ds.on.epicgames.com |
| NA-West | ping-naw.ds.on.epicgames.com |
| Europe | ping-eu.ds.on.epicgames.com |
| Oceania | ping-oce.ds.on.epicgames.com |
| Brazil | ping-br.ds.on.epicgames.com |
| Asia | ping-asia.ds.on.epicgames.com |
| Middle East | ping-me.ds.on.epicgames.com |
Steps to cut ping right now
A sudden ping spike usually comes from how your internet provider routes traffic. If an internet exchange point is congested or down, your latency climbs. Some of that is out of your hands, but several fixes are within reach.
- Set your Matchmaking Region to Auto, or manually pick the region with the lowest measured ping.
- Use a wired ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi to avoid signal loss and interference.
- Restart your modem and router to clear temporary network issues.
- Close background apps that eat bandwidth, such as downloads, streams, or cloud backups.
- Update your router firmware and test both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands if you cannot go wired.
Keep in mind that a clean Speedtest does not guarantee low Fortnite ping. Speedtest connects to a nearby test server, while Fortnite routes to game servers in a specific region. Those two paths can be completely different, which is why you can browse and stream fine yet still see 80 ms or constant spikes in a match.
If the trials hold up, players from Cape Town to Singapore could finally see steadier connections without leaning on third-party workarounds. With Chapter 7 Season 3 drawing big crowds back to the island, smoother routing would make everyday tasks like collecting Sprites and chasing a Victory Royale far less frustrating. For now, the smart move is to measure your ping, lock in your best region, and watch for these test servers to go live.
