In Final Fantasy XIV, your server is your foundation. That’s where you’ll face off against the forces of evil as the Warrior of Light, make new friends, and even perhaps find yourself a home away from home. Your initial choice of server is very important. It’s also key if you want to move servers, as it could cost you depending on your choice.

There are currently four North American Data Centers—Primal, Aether, Crystal, and Dynamis—each with a cadre of Worlds to their names. The first three Data Centers have been around for a while and have a collection of eight Worlds each, while Dynamis is brand-new and only has four Worlds at the moment.

Certain Worlds are also marked as “Congested”. These Worlds have a heavy population count, meaning they won’t allow the creation of new characters. Until the “Congested” tag is removed, you won’t be able to join those Worlds.

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How to choose a World and Data Center in FFXIV

If you’re faced with this choice, you may find that many of the decisions are already made for you. For example, if you live in Japan, a North American Data Center will result in higher ping should you choose it. You’ll also likely want to be in a World where your friends have already established a home. Newer Worlds have newer communities and economies, if that’s an important factor for you.

FFXIV Data Center Travel and World Visit

You can easily travel between Worlds on the same Data Center with the World Visit system. This lets you visit another World from the aetherytes in Limsa Lominsa, Ul’dah, or Gridania. These transfers are relatively quick, outside of general server congestion. If you transfer Worlds, you won’t be able to use your retainers, sell items on the market board, use Cross-World Linkshells, or deliver mail via the Moogle Delivery Service.

You can also now travel between Data Centers thanks to the new Data Center Travel System. That means, North American players can travel to any other Data Center in the region; this means a player on the Primal Data Center can jump over to the Dynamis Data Center since they’re both in North America. You aren’t able to jump from the European Data Center over to the Japanese one, however. Many of the restrictions from the World Visit system also apply here.

What are the different World statuses in FFXIV?

There are four different available World statuses in Final Fantasy XIV. These statuses determine if you can create characters on a server, if server transfers cost money, or if you receive any special bonuses for a transfer. Here are the different World types:

New World: A recently added World. Players who transfer to or create new characters on designated new Worlds will receive special bonuses.
Congested World: A crowded, highly populated World. Cannot be selected for new character creation or Home World Transfer destinations.
Standard World: Inhabited by a manageable number of player characters.
Preferred World: Relatively sparsely populated World with room to spare. Players who transfer to or create new characters on these Worlds will receive special bonuses.

What are the current World populations and statuses in Final Fantasy XIV (Updated April 2, 2024)

Below you’ll find the server populations for every World in FFXIV, and their current status. Currently, there are no preferred Worlds on the North American Data Center. This knowledge comes from FFXIV Census, which currently lacks information for the new Dynamis Data Center. Server status comes from the official Lodestone World Status page.

North American Data Center

Aether

World	World Status	Server Population
Adamantoise	Standard	572,210
Cactuar	Congested	482,416
Faerie	Congested	514,493
Gilgamesh	Congested	433,336
Jenova	Congested	520,495
Midgardsormr	Standard	601,615
Sargatanas	Congested	552,285
Siren	Standard	625,332

Crystal

World	World Status	Server Population
Balmung	Congested	306,824
Byrnhildr	Standard	706,353
Coeurl	Standard	632,223
Diabolos	Standard	696,324
Goblin	Standard	681,941
Malboro	Standard	735,733
Mateus	Congested	541,588
Zalera	Standard	691,844

Primal

World	World Status	Server Population
Behemoth	Standard	566,440
Excalibur	Standard	498,980
Exodus	Standard	689,547
Famfrit	Standard	714,938
Hyperion	Standard	516,879
Lamia	Standard	670,115
Leviathan	Standard	507,789
Ultros	Standard	649,911

Dynamis

World	World Status	Server Population
Halicarnassus	New	No Data
Maduin	New	No Data
Marilith	New	No Data
Serpah	New	No Data

Japanese Data Center

Elemental

World	World Status	Server Population
Aegis	Preferred	195864
Atomos	Standard	217710
Carbuncle	Preferred	191281
Garuda	Standard	186544
Gungnir	Standard	183212
Kujata	Preferred	260594
Tonberry	Standard	235449
Typhon	Standard	235147

Gaia

World	World Status	Server Population
Alexander	Standard	166,970
Bahamut	Standard	165,229
Durandal	Standard	180,195
Fenrir	Standard	155,469
Ifrit	Standard	179,401
Ridill	Standard	175,847
Tiamat	Standard	167,954
Ultima	Standard	193,856

Mana

World	World Status	Server Population
Anima	Congested	162,308
Asura	Congested	195,035
Chocobo	Congested	156,838
Hades	Congested	178,628
Ixion	Congested	165,462
Masamune	Congested	187,146
Pandaemonium	Congested	197,808
Titan	Congested	180,825

Meteor

World	World Status	Server Population
Belias	Preferred	221,455
Mandragora	Standard	168,570
Ramuh	Standard	217,827
Shinryu	Standard	164022
Unicorn	Preferred	210,080
Valefor	Standard	201,536
Yojimbo	Standard	209,824
Zeromus	Standard	202,525

European Data Center

Chaos

World	World Status	Server Population
Cerberus	Standard	599,848
Louisoix	Preferred	653,650
Moogle	Standard	651,306
Omega	Standard	535,675
Phantom	Preferred	244,508
Ragnarok	Standard	555,159
Sagittarius	Preferred	261,613
Spriggan	Standard	473,761

Light

World	World Status	Server Population
Alpha	Standard	221,010
Lich	Standard	840,281
Odin	Standard	609,122
Phoenix	Standard	627,168
Raiden	Standard	269,311
Shiva	Standard	614,429
Twintania	Standard	540,366
Zodiark	Standard	833,284

Oceanian Data Center

Materia

World	World Status	Server Population
Bismarck	New	65,641
Ravana	New	75,280
Sephirot	New	84,548
Sophia	New	92,776
Zurvan	New	64,441

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