Why is my ping high in VALORANT?
Riot Games lists 25 VALORANT server locations. Our test times 15 of the 18 areas they sit in from your browser.
Updated
VALORANT at a glance
- Publisher
- Riot Games
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox
- Servers
- Client and server: the publisher runs the game servers
- Server choice
- The game picks one, and you can change it
- Server list
- 25 locations, Riot Games' full current list
- Measured by our test
- 15 of 18 areas
- Status page
- Riot Games' status page
- Checked
- October 18, 2026
How to see your ping in VALORANT
Turn on the performance stats or graphs under Settings > Video > Stats. The game can also show instability icons (including a high average ping warning) in the top right corner, switched on under Settings > General > Other.
How to change server in VALORANT
Your shard is fixed by your Region of Residence. Inside that shard, the party leader or a solo player can pick any server the shard offers with Server Select. Moving to another shard needs a Region of Residence change, which Riot only allows to match where you physically live, with a 90 day wait between transfers.
Where the VALORANT servers are
VALORANT splits players into six shards (North America, Latin America, Brazil, Europe, Korea, Asia Pacific). Riot sets your shard from where you were when you created the account, and you can only play with friends on the same shard. The game picks a server for you but lets you switch to another server inside your shard. Console players (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S) play against each other, not against PC.
Riot's status feed for the Europe shard listed the Bahrain server location as unavailable from March 23, 2026, and still did at our check on October 15, 2026. Source: VALORANT service status feed, Europe shard (Riot status data).
| Location | City | Country | Our test point |
|---|---|---|---|
| US West (Oregon) | Not published | United States | North America West: N. California and Oregon |
| US West (N. California) | Not published | United States | North America West: N. California and Oregon |
| US East (N. Virginia) | Not published | United States | North America East: N. Virginia |
| US Central (Texas) | Not published | United States | North America Central: Ohio |
| US Central (Illinois) | Not published | United States | North America Central: Ohio |
| US Central (Georgia) | Not published | United States | North America Central: Ohio |
| Santiago | Santiago | Chile | No test point yet (Latin America South) |
| Mexico City | Mexico City | Mexico | Latin America North: Mexico |
| Miami | Miami | United States | Latin America North: Mexico |
| Sao Paulo | Sao Paulo | Brazil | Brazil (Sao Paulo): Sao Paulo |
| Frankfurt | Frankfurt | Germany | Europe Central: Frankfurt |
| Paris | Paris | France | Europe West: Ireland, London and Paris |
| Stockholm | Stockholm | Sweden | Europe North: Stockholm |
| Istanbul | Istanbul | Turkey | No test point yet (Turkey (Istanbul)) |
| London | London | United Kingdom | Europe West: Ireland, London and Paris |
| Warsaw | Warsaw | Poland | Europe Central: Frankfurt |
| Madrid | Madrid | Spain | Europe West: Ireland, London and Paris |
| Bahrain | Not published | Bahrain | Middle East (Gulf): UAE |
| Seoul | Seoul | South Korea | Korea (Seoul): Seoul |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Hong Kong: Hong Kong |
| Tokyo | Tokyo | Japan | Japan (Tokyo): Tokyo |
| Singapore | Singapore | Singapore | Southeast Asia (Singapore): Singapore |
| Sydney | Sydney | Australia | Oceania (Sydney): Sydney |
| Mumbai | Mumbai | India | India (Mumbai): Mumbai |
| Manila | Manila | Philippines | No test point yet |
Where Riot Games gives no city, the table says not published. An area folded onto a test point never borrows that test point's city.
What Riot Games says about ping
Riot says it adds servers around the world with the aim of giving 70 percent of players a ping of 35 ms. Its high average ping indicator has a warning and a critical level, and Riot says the exact thresholds vary by region and patch.
Our test reads its own bands next to that: Excellent under 40 ms, Good 40 to under 80 ms, Playable 80 to under 130 ms, Poor 130 ms and above. These are our lines, not Riot Games'.
What our test reads for VALORANT
- The result reads VALORANT's own 15 measured areas. Pick the region you play on, or the test takes the best one by steadiness, then by time.
- Your account's region decides which servers you can use. Pick it under Region you play on, or the result assumes you can play on the best area.
- Santiago, Istanbul and Manila have no test point yet, so the test cannot read them.
- The North America Central test point is in Ohio. Riot Games gives no city for US Central (Texas), US Central (Illinois) and US Central (Georgia).
- The Middle East (Gulf) test point is in UAE. Riot Games gives no city for Bahrain.
- AWS reports its UAE region as damaged, so treat Gulf figures with care.
Fixes that fit your VALORANT result
- Ethernet or Wi-Fi, when the spread is high or requests go missing.
- 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, when you play on Wi-Fi.
- Background downloads, when the spread jumps while others use the line.
- Router QoS, when the home line is full.
- When the route is the problem, when the result reads far from the servers.
- Console ping, when you play on a console.
VALORANT ping questions
Where are the VALORANT servers?
Can you pick your server in VALORANT?
What is a good ping in VALORANT?
Does the test measure the VALORANT servers themselves?
Which VALORANT regions can the test not measure?
Where can you see if the VALORANT servers are down?
Sources
The VALORANT facts on this page come from Riot Games' own pages, read on the dates shown.
- Server Select - VALORANT Support, support article, read October 18, 2026
- Account Transfer FAQ - VALORANT Support, support article, read October 18, 2026
- Peeking into VALORANT's Netcode | Riot Games, official page, read October 15, 2026
- VALORANT Game and Network Instability Basics, news post, read October 18, 2026
- VALORANT Console Guide - VALORANT Support, support article, read October 15, 2026
- VALORANT service status feed, Europe shard (Riot status data), status page, read October 15, 2026
- Riot Games Service Status, status page, read October 15, 2026