Why is the Dragon Rune Lance disabled in Fortnite

Fortnite Dragon Rune Lance
(Image credit: Epic Games)

The Fortnite Dragon Rune Lance is a harvesting tool available through the Season 3 Battle Pass, and is part of the Dragon Rider Set built around the Adira character. Depending on how much progress you've made in Fortnite this season you might not have seen it yet, as it's on Page 3 of the Battle Pass which unlocks at Level 20, but it's currently causing a bit of a commotion as the Fortnite Dragon Rune Lance has been disabled.

Clearly this will be a much bigger issue for players who have already unlocked this pickaxe and are actively using it, but naturally if there's a problem with it then everyone wants to know what that is, especially if it was giving an unfair advantage to those who were equipping it. We're here to answer those questions, so here's an explanation of why the Dragon Rune Lance has been disabled in Fortnite and when we expect it to come back.

Fortnite Dragon Rune Lance

(Image credit: Epic Games)

Why is the Fortnite Dragon Rune Lance disabled?

The Fortnite Dragon Rune Lance has been disabled since June 13, when it was discovered that equipping this harvesting tool would completely cut out the audio of the player's footsteps, causing them to be silent. Not only that, but it even omitted the on-screen footstep icons for players who have the Visualize Sound Effects option enabled, so anyone using the Dragon Rune Lance would have a clearly unfair stealth advantage over opponents. This is why the Dragon Rune Lance has been disabled in Fortnite, while Epic try to resolve the issue.

When is the Fortnite Dragon Rune Lance coming back?

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So when will the Fortnite Dragon Rune Lance be back? Clearly the muted footsteps effect is a glitch rather than intended behavior for this item, and as it was giving players an unfair competitive edge it's only right to take it down until it can be fixed. As the Dragon Rune Lance is part of the Battle Pass and plenty of players will already have spent their Battle Stars to unlock it, Epic will want to get a correctly functioning harvesting tool back into the system as soon as possible. This may be resolved by a quick hotfix, or included in an upcoming set of Fortnite patch notes, but you can rest assured that it shouldn't be long before you can use the Dragon Rune Lance again – just without the unintended benefit from this pickaxe.

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Iain Wilson
Guides Editor

Iain originally joined Future in 2012 to write guides for CVG, PSM3, and Xbox World, before moving on to join GamesRadar in 2013 as Guides Editor. His words have also appeared in OPM, OXM, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, and SFX. He is better known to many as ‘Mr Trophy’, due to his slightly unhealthy obsession with amassing intangible PlayStation silverware, and he now has over 500 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.