How to Find Out the Server Status for MTG Arena

Last updated on August 10, 2022

Merfolk Observer | Illustration by Anthony Francisco

Have you ever been in a game, experienced some kind of interruption, and wondered, “well my internet seems to be fine, maybe WotC servers are having issues?” If the answer is yes but you don’t know if that’s true, you’ve come to the right place!

I’ve got you covered and will try to explain in-depth how to check whether or not the problem is on your end, or with Arena’s servers. Let’s find out!

MTG Arena, Servers, and You

Do-It-Yourself Seraph | Illustration by David Sladek

This is a very common question, and most players don’t know how to tell the difference. There are a lot of symptoms that are identical whether the problem is your own connection vs. MTGA's. Let’s quickly cover some common troubleshooting steps you can do to make sure the issue isn't on your end:

• Make sure you’re using a broadband connection (25 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed or better).
• Temporarily close as many other programs that use the internet as possible, particularly things like streaming video as they can prevent reaching bandwidth constraints.
• Try using a wired connection instead of wireless to avoid network quality problems.
• If you have a laptop, try taking it to a different network and playing from there to see if you notice improvements with a different network or ISP.
• Make sure Windows and graphics card drivers are up to date, as updates may contain performance improvements or related bug fixes.
• Try lowering the quality to “Low” in Arena.

You can also try playing the game on another machine if you have access to one. If you see better performance on another machine on the same network, it indicates a problem with the original device. Similarly, if you try playing MTGA on another network and you see better performance there, it points to a problem on the original network.

Great, now we've got some guidelines we can use, but what If you already tried all the steps above and are still experiencing issues? It’s time to check on WotC servers.

Check the MTGA Server Status

Checkpoint Officer | Illustration by Manuel Castañón

There’s currently only one way to check the MTGA server status, which is via the official website for the game. It’s divided into two different sections, the current operational information of the servers and the historical incidents report.

Real-Time Info

You can check the current status for each sub-area of the game. What I mean by this is that you may be experiencing some lag or connectivity issues but logins, store, and socials could be working fine.

This is great for troubleshooting because you can quickly narrow where the problem is. Maybe you’re having issues with the store, but that won’t impact how you play the game. You can just wait until the store issue is solved.

When there’s an active, ongoing issue, the screen updates with outage information and it will remain like that until the issue is resolved. Updates are made every couple of hours, so you can go back to check the progress on the current incident.

From the looks of it, it seems like servers for different operating systems run separately. Basically, players on Windows may experience issues while players on mobile don’t.

Past Incidents

Here is where you can check previous incidents, which are mostly just status updates of when the server is in maintenance and how long it lasted. If you’re curious to see if you were experiencing lag on a certain date, you can refer to this to see previous incidents or outages.

Getting Further Status Updates

Advice from the Fae | Illustration by Chippy

There are few other sites where you can refer in case you want to follow up on incidents you may be experiencing and see if more people are being affected.

MTG Arena on Twitter

There are two accounts on Twitter you should follow to get updates on your games. The first is  MTG_Arena, where you can get general info about upcoming products, updates, and incident status.

The second one is geared towards specific customer support requests and information. You can check their ongoing issues or general information whenever you need to submit a request or have questions about any incidents you may have in the future.

Keep in mind that they usually rely on us playing the game and telling them about any issues by reaching out. If you happen to run into any problems, a good way to make them aware is by tagging them on either of their accounts.

MTG Arena Community Message Boards

Another way to communicate with the Arena devs and talk with other people about a specific topic is by reaching out through their Forums. You’ll need to log in with your Wizards account and authorize it so you can post on forums. This is not only helpful when looking for updates on incidents, but it’s also a nice space where you can discuss any other topics you may have in mind and you want to share with everyone else. You also get to see news, discussions, and updates from their main section.

(Semi-)Official MTG Arena Discord

Another way to get updates or general info about the game is by joining the Discord server. Here you can find anything related to MTGA but, more importantly, it gives you a real-time chat where you can discuss any topics you may be interested in with people that are currently active on the server.

The information is spread out on different channels which makes it easier to find info about specific topics. If you’re in doubt, you can always submit your questions in the general chat and someone will point you in the right direction to get what you’re looking for.

Another advantage of this server is the inclusion of bots. They trigger posts based on keywords and are set up to send messages from time to time whenever there are any issues with MTGA so that people are aware.

MTG Arena Reddit

If you’re familiar with Reddit, MTGA has its Reddit page where you can find anything related to MTG Arena. You can create discussions within the community and ask for help you may not get elsewhere as Reddit has a larger user pool.

Or, at least get rewarded karma points for your memes:

Also, if you’re looking for any specific issues, you can search for them on the platform and share your thoughts with other people. One cool thing that Reddit has is you can find additional resources for MTGA that are publicly open to anyone who joins the community.

Draftsim Discord

On our official Discord server, you can find info about MTGA issues but also find a great, helpful community where you can discuss decks and find friends to direct challenge.

In talking with the community, particularly on the topic of outage and lag, the general feeling is that while WotC does well on addressing current issues, they do it on a reactive level rather than a proactive one. This means that they don’t address issues until they have a lot of users complaining rather than checking their servers daily to prevent issues or expanding server memory if they’re struggling.

Wrap Up

End Hostilities | Illustration by Jason Rainville

Before closing, let’s recap what we’ve covered about experiencing lag or issues during your play session:

• Do some basic troubleshooting yourself to discard the issue is on your end.
• Check MTGA’s Twitter and Forum to look if anything is going on currently with the game.
• Check their MTGA server-status web page.
• Always reach out to them, most of their work is reactive and you’ll need to let them know any inconvenience you may be experiencing.
• Look for more info on real-time servers like Discord.

With this, I hope I got you covered on providing the vastest list of places where you can reach out whenever you’re experiencing any lag or just looking to discuss anything MTG-related.

As always take care! Don’t forget to check our blog for the latest news and content, and more importantly since you're an Arena player — you absolutely need to try our free app Arena Tutor if you haven't yet.