Server: Maintenance Windows
To keep your servers secure, we regularly install security updates on the machines they run on. Every region has a fixed daily 30-minute maintenance window at its quietest time of day, which is when we do this work.
Most updates don't affect your server: it keeps running, players stay connected, and we don't notify you. Updates that need a restart are much rarer, usually no more than a few times a year. Each server is then down for around 10 minutes, servers that were running start again by themselves, and we email you ahead of time.
In this article
Maintenance windows
Every window lasts 30 minutes from its start time. Times are in UTC and stay the same all year, without moving for daylight saving time.
| Region | Window (UTC) | Locations |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 06:00 to 06:30 | Amsterdam, Bratislava, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Kyiv, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Marseille, Milan, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Sofia, Stockholm, Warsaw |
| Middle East & Africa | 05:00 to 05:30 | Bahrain, Dubai, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv |
| North America East | 11:00 to 11:30 | Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, Toronto |
| North America West | 13:00 to 13:30 | Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle |
| Latin America | 10:00 to 10:30 | Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Querétaro, Santiago, São Paulo |
| Asia | 22:00 to 22:30 | Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo |
| Oceania | 20:00 to 20:30 | Auckland, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney |
Updates without a restart
Most updates don't need a restart. We install them during the same windows while your server keeps running and players stay connected, so there is no email, in-game message or badge.
While these updates run, connections to your server's database, FTP, FastDL or the console in the Control Panel can drop and reconnect after a few seconds. If an update ever stops a server that was running, we start it again.
Updates with a restart
When an update needs a restart, this is what happens:
- 1
- Usually at least 12 hours before the window, we email you which of your servers are affected and when, in each location's local time and in UTC.
- 2
- 5 minutes before the window opens, players on your server get an in-game message saying a restart may come during the window (in the games listed below).
- 3
- When maintenance reaches the machine your server runs on, the server shows a Server maintenance badge in the Control Panel, and you can't start, stop or change it until the badge is gone.
- 4
- At the same time, players get a second message saying the server restarts in 1 minute. Then the server is stopped the same way as when you press Stop, so games that save on shutdown save as usual.
- 5
- After around 10 minutes the server starts again by itself and the badge disappears. Servers that were off stay off.
Urgent security updates
We don't expect this to happen, and it has never been needed so far. But if a security issue puts our machines at high risk of being compromised, we reserve the right to install an update outside the regular windows. We would then restart servers with as much warning as the situation allows, usually around 30 minutes, and email you as soon as the maintenance is scheduled. The steps are otherwise the same as above.
In-game warnings
Before a restart, players on your server get two messages in the game chat:
| When | Message |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes before the window | Scheduled maintenance starts in 5 minutes. This server may restart once in the next 35 minutes. |
| 1 minute before the restart | This server restarts in 1 minute for scheduled maintenance. Back in about 10 minutes. |
For urgent maintenance, the messages say "urgent" instead of "scheduled".
We send the warnings to players on servers of these games:
- Counter-Strike 2
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Team Fortress 2
- Minecraft
- Hytale
- Palworld
- ARK: Survival Evolved
- Project Zomboid
- 7 Days to Die
Other games have no reliable way for us to message every player, so their servers restart without an in-game warning. The email still tells you when.
Choosing which notifications you get
Scheduled maintenance emails, urgent maintenance emails and in-game warnings are all on by default. You can turn each one off under Notifications on the Account page in your Control Panel. We recommend keeping urgent maintenance emails on.
For API users
If you start servers through our API, for example for matches, you can check for maintenance before starting one:
GET /api/0.1/maintenance-windowslists every upcoming and in-progress window that restarts servers, with its location, start and end time.- Every game server includes
scheduled_maintenance, with the start and end time of the next window that restarts it, ornull.
Updates without a restart aren't listed, since your servers keep running. All times are in UTC (ISO 8601). See the API documentation for details.
Common questions:
Q: Can I skip maintenance for my server?
A: No. The updates protect every server on the machine, so all of them are updated together. You can turn off the emails and in-game warnings, but not the restart itself.
Q: Can I choose a different time?
A: The windows are fixed per region, so everyone in a location knows when to expect them. They are set at the time of day with the fewest players in each region.
Q: Will my server restart every day?
A: No. The window is reserved every day, but your server only restarts when an update needs it, usually no more than a few times a year, and we email you ahead of time.
Q: I got an email about a restart, but my server didn't restart.
A: We sometimes postpone or cancel planned maintenance. If it's moved to a new time, we email you again.
Q: My server didn't come back after maintenance.
A: Start it from the Control Panel, and contact us here if it doesn't start. We'll look into it right away.