Where to check ARC Raiders server status
As of October 20, 2026, the Embark Help Center for ARC Raiders has sixteen technical articles and none of them is a status page. The arcraiders.com site links to news, X, Discord, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. So "server status" for this game means reading what Embark itself says in these places:
| Official channel | What it is good for |
|---|---|
| ARC Raiders on X (@ARCRaidersGame) | The fastest place for "we are aware" posts during a live problem. |
| Official ARC Raiders Discord (linked from arcraiders.com) | Announcements, plus a support inbox that Embark pointed players to for exploit reports in its October 16 hotfix post. |
| arcraiders.com/news | Patch notes, hotfixes and scheduled events such as free weekends and beta tests. |
| Steam announcements for ARC Raiders | The same patch notes, time-stamped to the minute. Useful for matching an error to an update. |
| Embark Help Center (id.embark.games) | Troubleshooting guides and support tickets. Not a live status feed. |
Outage tracker websites collect reports from players. They can show that many people are failing at the same moment, which is useful, but they are not Embark data and they cannot tell you why.
One pattern worth knowing: Embark ships routine store updates on Tuesdays, published at about 09:00 UTC (for example August 25, September 1, 15, 22 and 29, and October 13, 2026). Bigger updates and hotfixes land on other days: Frozen Trail went live on Thursday, October 8 at 09:00 UTC. If errors start right after one of these posts, read the post first. Some updates need a restart to download, and Embark says so in the post.
Is it the servers or you? A two-minute test
- Read the error word for word. "Online services" errors appear before you reach the menu. Matchmaking errors appear when you queue. Game server errors appear at load-in or during a raid. Each points at a different layer.
- Check the official channels above. An Embark post about an outage or an update ends the diagnosis: nothing on your side will fix their side.
- Ask a friend on the same platform to try. If they get in and you do not, the problem is local or on your route to Embark's servers.
- Try a standard map before a map condition. If standard maps work but Night Raids or other conditions fail, it is almost certainly the clock problem described below.
- Change one thing at a time from the fix list, and retry after each one, so you know what actually helped.
What each error message points to
Embark's Help Center does not publish a list of ARC Raiders error codes (it has no error-code article as of October 2026). The meanings below come from where each message appears, what Embark's guides say about that symptom, and what fixed it for players on the game's Steam forums. Treat them as patterns, not official definitions.
| What you see | When | What it usually points to | Try first |
|---|---|---|---|
| "The connection to online services failed, please try again later. SID: ..." | At launch | The game cannot reach Embark's online services, either because they are down or because your connection to them is failing. | Check official channels. Several Steam players fixed it by setting the Steam client to offline mode and back to online. |
| "Online services are currently unavailable" with an ARAU code (ARAU0297 and ARAU0287 have been reported) | At launch | Same layer as above: Embark's backend is unreachable from your connection. | Official channels, then clock sync, DNS and a router restart. |
| "Login failed due to a service interruption" | At login | The wording names a service interruption, which points to Embark's side. | Wait for an official post. Avoid repeated reinstalls. |
| ARMR0002 | When matchmaking, often only for Night Raids or other map conditions | Matchmaking failed. The map-condition-only pattern matches Embark's description of a device clock that is out of sync. | Sync your device clock, then restart the device and the game. |
| "Connection to game server lost" or AREX0001 | At load-in or mid-raid | Your connection to the raid server dropped. Either the server failed or something on your network interfered. | If only you are affected: turn off DNS filters, ad blockers that filter games, VPNs and proxies. |
"Connection to online services failed" and ARAU codes
This is the error people mean when they search "ARC Raiders servers down". It shows before the main menu and includes an SID string, a session identifier. Copy the whole message, SID included, if you contact support. Reports of it on Steam go back to the game's launch window in late 2025. When many players post it on the same day, that points to backend trouble, not your setup. When it is only you, the most repeated player fix is to switch Steam to offline mode and back. A November 2025 thread was titled after this exact message and suggested that fix, and players in a later thread said in January 2026 that it still worked for them.
The ARAU variants say "Online services are currently unavailable". One player quoted ARAU0297 in November 2025, and another reported ARAU0287 on October 9, 2026, during the Frozen Trail free-play window. That second report came from a player in Russia, which is a reminder that your provider or country can stand between you and the backend. Embark's PC guide asks players to avoid VPNs and proxies unless they need them, so a VPN is not the fix it is often sold as.
ARMR0002: matchmaking that fails on map conditions
Steam threads about ARMR0002 share a clear pattern. A player can join normal raids but the queue fails for Night Raids. Embark's Matchmaking Troubleshooting guide describes the same symptom, being able to join standard maps but not map conditions, and lists clock sync as step one. A player in a November 2025 thread gave the same fix: set the computer's time to automatic. If the code appears for every map at the same moment for many players, it is matchmaking on Embark's side instead.
AREX0001: the raid server connection dropped
AREX0001 arrives with the game server connection lost message. In threads from September 10 and October 8, 2026, players who could not load into any raid found that AdGuard filtering ARC Raiders was the cause, and turning that filter off fixed it. After Frozen Trail, players on October 15 and 18 reported repeated AREX0001 drops while loading in. One of them was playing through a VPN with over 200 ms of ping. Players who lost the connection mid-raid and could not rejoin report losing the gear they brought in, which is why this error hurts more than a login error.
Choosing a server region
ARC Raiders has a server setting, and Embark's guides say to leave it on Automatic:
- PC: click the gear icon at the bottom right, then Gameplay, then Server, and set it to Automatic.
- Console: open the Social menu, select the gear icon on the left, then Gameplay, then Server, and set it to Automatic.
If you once picked a region by hand, for example to play with friends abroad, check it first when queues get long or ping climbs. A fixed region far from you costs latency on every raid.
Crossplay matters as much as region. Embark's matchmaking guide names crossplay being off as the most common cause of slow matchmaking. In a party, the most restrictive player's setting applies to everyone, so one friend with crossplay off slows the whole group.
The fixes that work, in order
Everything in this list is either from Embark's Help Center (PC and console connection guides, matchmaking guide, loading guide; all last updated in late February 2026) or a player fix that repeated across several threads. Do them in this order and test after each one.
- Sync your device clock. Windows: Settings, Time & Language, Date & Time, turn on Set Time Automatically, then Sync Now. PS5: Settings, System, Date and Time, Set Using Internet. Xbox: Settings, System, Time, Set Time Automatically. Embark then says to fully restart the device before relaunching.
- Set the server to Automatic and turn crossplay on, as above.
- Use a wired connection. Both connection guides recommend Ethernet over Wi-Fi.
- Turn off VPNs, proxies and game-filtering tools. Embark's PC guide covers VPNs and proxies; players add AdGuard and similar DNS filters.
- Refresh your network. On PC, Embark lists
ipconfig /release,ipconfig /renewandipconfig /flushdnsin Command Prompt, then a restart. The same guide also suggests switching to a public DNS server. - On console, check NAT. Embark asks for NAT Type 1 or 2 on PlayStation or Open NAT on Xbox, and suggests enabling UPnP on the router if NAT is Moderate or Strict. Restart the console and the modem, unplugged for at least 60 seconds.
- Clear the launcher or console cache, using Embark's cache guide.
- If you are stuck on a loading screen on PC, Embark's loading guide lists allowing EasyAntiCheat.exe and ARC Raiders in your antivirus or Windows Defender, running the game as administrator, and a clean reinstall. Try the first two before you reinstall.
One small extra from the same PC guide: Windows Delivery Optimization ("Allow downloads from other PCs") can use your upload bandwidth in the background, and Embark suggests turning it off.
What Frozen Trail changed
Frozen Trail is out. It went live as update 2.0 on October 8, 2026, and it is the largest update since the game's launch, per Embark's own patch notes. The parts that matter for connection problems:
- A traffic spike. ARC Raiders was free to play on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox from October 8 (11:00 CEST) to October 12 (10:00 CEST), so the first days of Frozen Trail had the extra load of new players.
- Server crash fixes the next day. Hotfix 2.0.2 on October 9 lists "Fixed several instances causing server crashes", along with a stuck-in-a-grate bug on the new Pendola Pass map.
- A matchmaking option removed. The 2.0 notes say "Solo vs. Squads" is no longer available in the matchmaking options. If you are looking for it, it is gone, not hidden.
- A known lobby bug. Very rarely, players spawn into a lobby where they cannot loot or interact. Embark says that returning to Speranza should leave your loadout as it was before that match.
- A PvE matchmaking test. Update 2.1.0 on October 13 started a PvE toggle beta that ran from October 13 to October 20 (11:00 CEST on both days). Embark warned that matchmaking could take longer in low-population regions and quiet hours, and said player feedback, along with in-game data, will help it decide whether the toggle becomes permanent.
- Exploit fixes. Hotfix 2.1.1 on October 16 closed ways into locked rooms and item duplication. Embark's September 30 anti-cheat post also said cheating accounts are now permanently banned with no warnings. A ban is not a connection error, so it will not look like one.
The new content itself is the Pendola Pass map, the Frigate and Redirection map conditions, three new enemy types (Bully, Skulker and Hydra), the Outpost, a reworked skill tree and a new Reward Pass system. Our Shrouded Sky guide covers the update that came before it.
When to open a ticket
Open a ticket through the Embark Help Center when Embark has posted nothing about an outage, other players are getting in, and you have done the clock, region, crossplay and network steps. Include:
- The full error text, including any code and the SID string.
- Your platform and store (Steam, Epic, PS5, Xbox).
- The time it started, in UTC, and whether it follows an update.
- Your Server setting, whether crossplay is on, and whether you use a VPN, proxy or DNS filter.
- Whether it happens on every map or only on map conditions.
Never post account passwords or recovery codes in Discord or on forums, whoever asks for them.
ARC Raiders runs only on Embark's servers. It needs an internet connection and an Embark ID to play, and Steam lists no server application for it that players could run, so a server-side outage has no workaround except waiting. For how that compares with games where players can run their own servers, see our list of multiplayer games with dedicated servers.
FAQ
- Does ARC Raiders have an official server status page?
- Not one we could find as of October 2026. The Embark Help Center has no status article, and arcraiders.com points to news and social channels. Outages and maintenance are announced on the ARC Raiders account on X, the official Discord, and the news and patch notes on arcraiders.com and Steam.
- What does ARMR0002 mean in ARC Raiders?
- Players report ARMR0002 when matchmaking fails, often only for map conditions such as Night Raids while standard maps still work. Embark's matchmaking guide says that exact pattern can be fixed by syncing your device clock, then checking crossplay and setting the server region to Automatic.
- What does AREX0001 mean in ARC Raiders?
- AREX0001 comes with a lost connection to the raid server, at load-in or mid-raid. Embark does not document the code. Players have fixed local cases by stopping AdGuard from filtering the game; if many players hit it at once, it is server side and only Embark can fix it.
- Which server region should I pick in ARC Raiders?
- Embark's troubleshooting guides tell players to set Gameplay, Server to Automatic. On PC the setting is behind the gear icon at the bottom right; on console open the Social menu, then the gear icon on the left.
- Did the Frozen Trail update change ARC Raiders servers?
- Frozen Trail (update 2.0, October 8, 2026) added Pendola Pass and removed the Solo vs. Squads matchmaking option. Hotfix 2.0.2 on October 9 fixed several causes of server crashes. Update 2.1.0 on October 13 started a PvE matchmaking toggle beta that ran until October 20.
Community reading note: Player fixes in this piece come from ARC Raiders Steam discussion threads titled "AREX0001 adguard" (October 8, 2026), "Arex0001" (September 10, 2026), "ARMR0002 Error code fix" (November 2025), "The connection to online services failed, please try again later." (November 2025), "Login failed due to a service interruption" (October 19, 2026) and "ARAU0287" (October 9, 2026). They are player reports, not Embark policy.