The Destiny 2 servers are down at the moment as the game reaches the final hours of its scheduled maintenance prior to the launch of Lightfall. The latest expansion is a big one, adding in a new campaign, a city destination on Neptune called Neomuna, and lots of extra content for Season of Defiance, so 24 hours of maintenance is necessary to ensure the launch is as smooth as possible. However, based on previous Destiny 2 expansion launches, countless players will be piling into the MMO, causing server queue issues and error codes, so be prepared for the worst. Here’s what you need to know about the current Destiny 2 server status.
Is Destiny 2 down?
Currently, yes. Destiny 2 is down for scheduled maintenance before the launch of the next expansion, Destiny 2 Lightfall. The maintenance of began at 5pm UTC yesterday and will end with the Destiny 2 Lightfall release time of 5pm UTC, today. If the maintenance has gone according to plan, Bungie will put the servers back online at that time, allowing players to hop into Destiny 2 and get started with Lightfall.
Issues to expect after the Destiny 2 Lightfall launch
While maintenance no doubt helps alleviate some issues, it should not be a surprise to anyone if there are quite horrific server queues, instability, and error codes. Expansion day – or as I like to call it, Destiny Christmas – comes once a year and is always rough going for at least a few hours after launch. This is far from a Destiny-exclusive problem; big online games always always seem to break at launch because it's virtually impossible to avoid day-one issues, as innumerable game developers have explained.
Inevitable launch issues preventing you from getting into Destiny 2 doesn't make them any less frustrating, but unfortunately, there's not much to be done apart from being patient. Destiny 2 servers usually stabilize two to four hours after the launch of an expansion – based on our past experience anyway – but lucky players may be able to get in and start playing within an hour or less. Here’s what you should do to minimize your Destiny 2 server woes as you try to log in for Lightfall:
- Hold your place in the queue: Once you’ve reached a server queue, we advise that you simply leave the game to do it’s thing. Don’t screw with anything else and obviously don’t close the game or turn your PC or console off.
- Be patient!: There’s no point getting angry about these issues as they’re impossible to fix on your end, and extremely difficult to deal with on Bungie’s end. Keep checking the Bungie Help and other Destiny accounts on Twitter for up-to-date information about technical issues.
- Minimize loading screens and multiplayer: Once you’re into the game, we recommend sticking to the campaign and avoiding any multiplayer activities. Previous experience has taught us that every trip to orbit or to the Tower risks some kind of error code
- API down: Due to maintenance and potential server issues bringing down the Destiny API, you may find that the Destiny 2 app and other third-party services, such as Destiny Item Manager, are down too. This means you won’t be able to pull gear from your fault or collect bounties using a mobile device.
As Lightfall comes online, let's remember the genuinely great seasonal content that we'll never see again.
