FFXIV Most Popular EU Servers: Which To Choose

Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG that's showing no signs of slowing down. While it's had a rollercoaster of a journey since its launch back in 2013, its continuous updates and flow of content has built it into one of most popular MMOs around. During the launch of its latest expansion, Endwalker, the game saw such an influx of players that restrictions had to be put for incoming new players just to cope with demands — not the worst problem a game could have.

These days, things have quietened down a little and new players are free to sign up and jump into the world of Eorzea. But whether you're a completely new player looking to expand their Final Fantasy journey, or a veteran player returning after a break with a brand new character, you'll need to choose a server (or World) to join. If you're looking for a lively, energetic server then you'll want to pick a popular one. 

All Final Fantasy XIV EU Servers Explained

Final Fantasy XIV servers are separated into four Physical Data Centers: European Data Center, Oceanic Data Center, North American Data Center, and Japanese Data Centers. Players are highly encouraged to select a Physical Data Center as close to their own location as possible. So, if you're playing in Europe, you're likely going to want to select the European Data Center.

Within the European Data Center are two Logical Data Centers, each containing eight servers, or Worlds: Chaos and Light. 

Chaos contains the following servers:

• Cerberus
• Louisoix
• Moogle
• Omega
• Phantom
• Ragnarok
• Sagittarius
• Spriggan

Light contains the following servers:

• Alpha
• Lich
• Odin
• Phoenix
• Raiden
• Shiva
• Twintania
• Zodiark

What Are The Most Popular EU Servers In Final Fantasy XIV?

Update 5 October: We've updated this article with the most recent figures for EU server populations.

With 16 total servers to choose from in Final Fantasy XIV, it can be daunting trying to pick a suitable one. Fortunately, there's a way to get a quick idea of the status of each server, which ones are allowing new characters to be created, and which ones are at capacity. 

Final Fantasy XIV's official Lodestone website continuously updates the status of each world, dividing them into their respective Physical Data Centers. For the European Data Center, players can see the World status for each of the 16 servers. Each World will have a status next to it, which could be Standard, Preferred, or Congested. New characters cannot be created on Congested worlds, though it's a good indication of which ones are popular. Occassionally, some Standard Worlds will prevent players from creating new characters at certain times. These tend to be Worlds that are prone to congestion. Don't be surprised if you see Cerberus in Standard status, but with a red marker preventing any new character creations. 

In EU Data Center — Chaos, the most popular servers are usually the following:

• Louisoix — Population: 700,000 est.
• Moogle — Population: 690,000 est.
• Cerberus — Population: 620,000 est.
• Omega — Population: 560,000 est.

In EU Date Center — Light, the most popular servers are usually the following:

• Lich — Population: 870,000 est.
• Zodiark — Population: 850,000 est.
• Twintania — Population: 690,000 est.
• Phoenix — Population: 640,000 est.

Which EU Server Should I Choose In Final Fantasy XIV?

The Final Fantasy XIV server you choose should take into consideration a number of factors:

• What are you looking for from a server? 
• Do you have friends playing on a particular server?
• Are you looking to take advantage of special server bonuses?

If you're looking for a server that will always have a healthy player count, regardless of the time of day, then heading to the most popular server will be your best bet. However, if you're keen to spend a lot of time playing FFXIV with friends then it'll be better, and less hassle, to ensure you're all on the same server. You can always travel to different servers later on, but this won't be without restrictions, such as being unable to join a Free Company in the visiting server. 

Often Square Enix initiates certain bonuses on less populated servers targeted at new players, such as a significant boost in XP gain up to Level 80. If you're looking to boost through as fast as possible, without utilizing any level skips, than servers with these bonuses applied are a good bet. These can be identified as having the label "Preferred" when choosing a server.