The best servers to join in Final Fantasy XIV

Joining Final Fantasy XIV as a new player, it can be tough to know which server to jump into. If you’re not playing with friends already on a particular server, then it’s up to you to figure out which one to join. The game doesn’t tell you much about the servers when creating a character, aside from which regions they’re located in — Japan, North America, or Europe.

There are a number of servers, or “Worlds,” to choose from, each divided into their own “Data Centers,” or groups of servers, separated by region. Players on the same data center are matched together for instanced content, even if they’re in different worlds. Each server has its own unique personality, special reputation, and atmosphere that may suit one type of player over another.

Data Center	Region
Aether	North America
Primal	North America
Crystal	North America
Chaos	Europe
Light	Europe
Elemental	Japan
Gaia	Japan
Mana	Japan

To reduce ping, it helps to play on a server nearest to you in whichever part of the globe you reside. If you live outside these regions, you’ll have to make do with the next best thing and find a server on a data center somewhat close by. If you’re also looking for a specific server for another language, we have you covered.

There are populated servers, hardcore raiding servers, more casual servers, role-playing servers, and more. Final Fantasy XIV has a wide variety of worlds for players of all walks of life. No matter what you’re looking for, you’re likely to find a server that fits your needs.

Aether – North America

Worlds	What they’re known for
Adamantoise	Laid-back with a friendly vibe. Great for new players.
Cactuar	Mainly endgame-focused. Large Spanish-speaking community.
Faerie	Welcoming and helpful to new players. Highly social and talkative community. Very LGBTQ-friendly. Plenty of glamour items for sale on the market board. Fashionable players.
Gilgamesh	Hardcore raiding community. Unofficial Reddit server. Large, congested population.
Jenova	Friendly atmosphere, with a decent raiding community.
Midgardsormr	Casual to semi-casual players.
Sargatanas	Active raiding community. Home to a number of FFXIV streamers and YouTubers.
Siren	Welcoming, social, and LGBTQ-friendly. Large crafting community.

Primal – North America

Worlds	What they’re known for
Behemoth	Hardcore endgame community. Sizeable Brazilian population.
Excalibur	Another hardcore raiding server.
Exodus	Casual raiding community.
Famfrit	Laid-back and friendly to new players, like Adamantoise.
Hyperion	Good mix of casual and hardcore players. Active role-playing community, as the unofficial RP server on Primal. Largest Spanish-speaking community.
Lamia	Tight-knit, cozy community. Friendly to new players. Casual to semi-hardcore raiders. Decent Spanish-speaking population. Some popular YouTubers, content creators, and raid teams.
Leviathan	Primal’s premier hardcore raiding server, like Gilgamesh on Aether. Congested population.
Ultros	Polarizing reputation. Usually quiet, and helpful to new players. Notorious for some trollish players, but they aren’t numerous enough to define the server.

Crystal – North America

Worlds	What they’re known for
Balmung	Largest role-playing community in the game. Unofficial RP server on Crystal; primary RP server in general. Extremely congested population. Cheap market board prices due to high supply.
Brynhildr	Small, quiet community.
Coeurl	Excellent community for organizing and killing hunts (strong open world monsters).
Diabolos	Quiet, disparate community. Players tend to mind their own business. But still friendly enough when it counts.
Goblin	Also quiet, but players usually stick to their own groups and communities.
Malboro	A mix of Goblin and Ultros. Quiet, with a certain reputation for toxicity.
Mateus	Another role-playing server on Crystal. Heavy role-playing bias, as non-RP players are generally frowned upon by those active in the community.
Zalera	Casual community with a decent raiding population.

Chaos – Europe

World	What they’re known for
Cerberus	Quiet community with many Russian-speaking players.
Louisoix	Casual playerbase of all languages.
Moogle	Large French-speaking population.
Omega	Unofficial role-playing server on Chaos.
Ragnarok	Hardcore raiding server for Chaos, similar to Gilgamesh and Leviathan. Large Italian-speaking population. Also some Arabic and French players.

Light – Europe

Worlds	What they’re known for
Lich	Used to be a ghost-town with very few players. Now much more active and lively.
Odin	Hardcore raiding community on Light. Many Scandinavian players.
Phoenix	Laid-back server with a balance of casual and hardcore players.
Shiva	Large German-speaking population, with some role-playing communities.
Zodiark	Strong Italian-speaking population.

Notable Japanese servers

Due to the sheer number of Japanese servers, we had to pick and choose which ones to cover. We picked the ones that are more notable than others, mainly for overseas players. For a full list of all servers, including Japanese ones, check out the official list.

Elemental, Gaia, and Mana – Japan

Worlds	What they’re known for
Kujata (Elemental)	A decent number of English-speaking players, usually from Australia and New Zealand. When the primary English-Japanese server (Tonberry) is too crowded, new players will often come here.
Ramuh (Elemental)	Good amount of players from South Korea.
Tonberry (Elemental)	Primary server for English-speaking players outside of North America and Europe. Many players from Australia and New Zealand. Japanese players are accepting of the English-speaking community, but their culture is still dominant. Some culture shock expected for anyone not used to Japanese customs in FFXIV.
Typhon (Elemental)	Taiwanese players mixed with some Australian and New Zealand players, after Tonberry and Kujata.
Durandal (Gaia)	Some English-speaking players, but not many.
Ifrit (Gaia)	Also has relatively few English-speaking players.
Asura (Mana)	Some English-speaking players.
Chocobo (Mana)	Hardcore raiding community in Japan. Usually congested.
Ixion (Mana)	Several fun community events open to all players.
Masamune (Mana)	Primary English-speaking server for Mana. Also home to Indonesian players.
Pandemonium (Mana)	Main role-playing community for Japanese players.
Shinryu (Mana)	Very Japanese-centric community with little-to-no English-speaking players. Casual atmosphere.

For anyone looking to really socialize on their server, be sure to check out Limsa Lominsa, the city-state situated by the sea. Limsa Lominsa is usually packed with many players hanging out together at all times of the day. If you’d rather keep to yourself, you can stick to the other cities instead, avoiding Limsa altogether.

No matter which server you join, you’ll typically find a warm, welcoming community. Final Fantasy XIV has a positive reputation for its community, with many nice players who are often willing to lend a helping hand. There are some obvious exceptions, but overall, it’s a friendly space, open to new players of all skill levels. Pick the server that sounds best for you.