New World connection issues: How to fix unable to connect to server error

As the genre of New World (MMO) suggests, it is an online-only experience. With everyone online game, there's bound to be some connection and server issues, and Amazon's New World is no different. It's simply the nature of the internet. Some players might experience the dreaded "lag" or high latency while trying to level up on the island of Aeternum, while others could run into an infuriating "unable to connect to server" error. If you are looking for a solution to connection issues while playing New World, we've got you covered.

New World connection issues: How to fix

Generally speaking, a lot of connection issues in online games, including New World, can be attributed to user-side issues and ISPs.

As per the direction of the developers, New World players should first perform the troubleshooting steps below:

• Restart your PC and disconnect the power to your Modem and/or Router for 60 seconds.
• Reconnect the power and wait for the internet connection to be restored before powering your PC back on and attempting to access the game.
• Try switching from a Wireless connection to a Wired one (if possible).

If this does not help with your New World connection issues, including high latency and lag, you can also completely reset and refresh your PCs connection to the internet:

From the Start menu, begin typing ‘cmd’.
In the results that populate, right-click the Command Prompt result and select Run as administrator.

• Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter. Wait a few seconds and when the command prompt appears, proceed to the next step.
• Type ipconfig /registerdns and press Enter.
• Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.
• Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter.
• Type netsh winsock reset and press Enter.
• Restart your computer.

Hopefully, lag and latency in New World will be a distant memory after you've followed the steps in this section. 

How to fix the "unable to connect to server" error for New World

If you are receiving the "unable to connect to server" error, and you've checked the official New World Server Status page, then you might need to allow the newworld.exe file through your firewall.

While those with a third-party firewall will have to figure it out for themselves, as there's simply no way to provide steps for every single firewall program out there, those with standard Windows Defender can follow the simple steps below.

• Select the Start/Windows button > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security and then Firewall & network protection.
• Select Allow an app through firewall.
• Look for and select ‘newworld.exe’ in the list of installed apps.
• Select OK.

After launching the game, you should now be able to connect to the New World servers without issue.

If everything fails and you are still experiencing New World connection issues, we suggest that you contact Customer Support.

Please note that we are just reporting on the developer's solutions to New World connection issues. We are not responsible for any issues resulting in attempting these fixes.

• Read more: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 cards reportedly getting fried while playing New World

Don't forget to check out our dedicated New World section, filled with guides, news, and much more for the inhabitants of Aeternum.