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Like a Terminid emerging from its subterranean burrow, Arrowhead Studio’s Helldivers 2 has taken audiences (and its developers) by surprise with how explosively popular it’s been. But one casualty of that success has been the game’s servers, which are struggling to contain so many players and forcing many to wait in long log-in queues before they can begin spreading managed democracy. If you’re one of those players stuck waiting to get into the game, then here are some tips on how to deal with the Helldivers 2 servers being at C=capacity.
Avoid peak Helldivers 2 hours
The simplest and most obvious way to deal with the servers being at capacity is to play when there’s less of a queue. If we take a look at the player activity charts over on SteamDB, we can see that the Helldivers 2 player count tends to peak around 8pm to 4am UTC. In US timezones, that equates to 12-8pm PT or 3-11pm ET, with the very tip of the peak coming at the end of that timeframe. That’s a long period of about 8 hours, but if you can avoid at least the tail end of it, it will make getting in much easier.
Of course, it’s not always that easy if your availability for games revolves around your work or family schedule, to say nothing of aligning with your friends. Luckily, there are some other options.
Join a friend’s lobbies to bypass the Helldivers 2 queue
While coordinating with friends is often a challenge in it’s own right, there’s a handy trick if several of you are intending to play together. If at least one of your comrades-in-arms is able to get in to the game, you should be able to join their game lobby directly (or even a mission in progress) through the Steam or Playstation friends list, even if the Helldivers 2 servers are at capacity.
This has the added benefit of giving you a way back into the game if your connection hiccups or the game itself crashes. It’s unknown if it’s an intentional feature, and doesn’t always work perfectly, but it’s absolutely worth trying if you have any pals also playing.
If all else fails, wait out the Helldivers 2 servers when they are at capacity
It’s not ideal, but waiting may well be your best option if the servers just won’t play ball. Developers Arrowhead Game Studios have been rapidly releasing updates and tweaking servers to get as many people playing as possible, which also means that when you do get to play the game should be in a better state.
It’s never fun to have to wait even longer to play a game you’re excited for, but Helldivers 2‘s popularity means it’s unlikely to be going anywhere any time soon, and any battle passes and the items within will be available permanently too.
Helldivers 2 is immediately available on PS5 and PC via Steam.
