Everything You Need to Know About Dota 2 Servers: Tips, Regions, and Common Issues
Author: Hawk Live LLC
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Dota 2, as per the gaming domain, is one of the most popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game and is quite server-dependent as it has various regions for its audience around the world to select a server region or even fix some connection errors. Understanding how regional servers of Dota 2 operate can indeed improve your gaming experience.
What are matchmaking regions in Dota 2?
Matchmaking regions in Dota 2’s context refers to the region servers that the players can choose to connect with during their games. Such regions are important because they determine how fast the game can be played, also known as latency or the ping. Players can pick at most three regions to allow the matchmaking to cover a broader space of servers in search for a suitable match.
To choose a specific region for a Steam game please click on the region selection link marked as “Matchmaking Squads” under “Find The Match”. As more regions are selected, the waiting time to find a game becomes shorter however playing on distant servers can result in high latency which compromises the amusement of the game.
A graphical inconsistency may sometimes result in ‘Region Selection’ not showing, this however is common in competitions or special game plays such as the Battle Cups. Such options can be made visible again by toggling to other game modes.
What servers are available in Dota 2?
Credit: Valve Corporation
Dota 2 has international servers that are placed in the respective countries based on the comparison of the player’s and the server’s locations. If you are wondering what countries have central dota 2 serers, here’s a list of some main dota 2 servers:
US West: Washington State
US East: Virginia
Europe West: United Kingdom
Europe East: Poland
Russia: Russia
Southeast Asia: Kuala Lumpur
Australia: Brisbane
South America: Rio De Janeiro
United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Chile: Santiago, Chile
Peru: Lima, Peru
South Africa: Johannesburg
India: New Delhi
China UC: China ( it has multiple sites spanning across various geographies)
The servers listed above enable players to be able to slightly reduce their ping due to proximity allowing for faster matchmaking speeds to enhance the experience of the game.
How to choose a server in Dota 2?
Credit: Valve Corporation
While selecting a server in Dota 2, there are three aspects that one needs to consider: the ping, the latency, and the language. Playing a game with a high ping is something you can’t fully enjoy as this would induce lag into the gameplay which quite honestly would ruin the experience. As for ping, the smaller it is, the better which is why you want to route yourself through servers that allow for such ping.
Moreover, aside from ping, you would also want to select the regions in which they speak a language you would be able to communicate in. This is done as you would be able to prevent any form of language issues or even a block for using a language that is not allowed as can sometimes be the case within Dota 2.
The steps to select a server:
Search for the options available right after the “Find Match” button if it’s present and look for the term Region.
Depending on the Ping and Language look for up to 3 other regions.
If that’s available you may choose to let Dota 2 choose for you on Automatic Selection.
Credit: Valve Corporation
Strongest and weakest regions in Dota 2?
When it comes to fighting ability, dota 2 servers are diverse depending on the region. The top regions are generally known to be Europe and China as they have the most number of elite teams that have won The International tournaments several times. As a result, regions such as Team Secret, OG and Vici Gaming are among the most prominent in Dota 2 e-sports.
Other regions such as North America do not have a strong cut-throat rivalry however, there are still teams such as Evil Geniuses who do not disappoint in the international stage. North America, South East Asia and South America have relatively improved in the past years courtesy of teams like Fnatic and Beastcoast who have done well in the DPC (Dota Pro Circuit).
Some players would rather play professionally in a less competitive environment , this allows slackers to increase their MMR without going through struggles. What this means is queuing up in less populated servers, beating few opponents, and then switching to a populated server where rivals are tougher. Valve understands this mechanics and there are players that end up being blacklisted for life as punishment for cheating.
Server-related errors in Dota 2?
Credit: Valve Corporation
Dota 2 is a high dimensional multiplayer game and its servers Never Sleep.High latency, connectivity problems and server outages are some of the common issues. Typical windy problems include finding the right Dota 2 Network or Connection Disruption. Players go through limited options available and because of a short timeframe, queues and other in-game features borders on restrictions.
Players can check the current status of Dota 2 by referring to steamstat.us or DownDetector where there is real time visibility of when servers are available as well as issues reported.
Dota 2 server bugs and exploits
Just like in every other competitive video game the Dota 2 servers experienced some lags and glitches. One major problem that Dota 2 faced was server crashes, this has however become a problem of the past. Players would modify the heros constantly to increase the strength of enemy fountains but in the end managed to break the entire game and thus not lose recording their loss and in turn not changing MMR of a player.
In addition, these players purposely go for less competitive regions with a lower population and spam queue in order to use the Dota 2 servers' matchmaking unrightfully. Everyone does this so they get easier matches and get more wins which bumps their MMR do these. Such behavior is considered as exploiting the game policies, and players abusing this can receive bans of 1 year.
Conclusion
To really enjoy dota 2, you’ll have to take the time to learn about the various Dota 2 servers. This could be relating to your region or your matchmaking preferences, dealing with various servers within the region, or even dealing with certain malicious software. Players can experience more thrilling matches and improved competition by knowing which server to connect to according to their location and language, and the server conditions. As for Dota 2 servers, they ensure stability and fairness within the game and understanding how they work gives a player an edge over his opponents.
