FFXIV’s Most Popular Data Center is Finally Open to New Players Again

After months of constant congestion, the Aether Data Center and all of its associated Worlds are open to new characters in Final Fantasy XIV. Aether has always been the most popular FFXIV Data Center, even before the mass influx of new players last summer when every Twitch streamer and YouTube personality under the sun was migrating to Eorzea to catch up before Endwalker, and now it’s finally accepting new residents again.

Aether is Back Open in FFXIV

Final Fantasy XIV went offline for a maintenance period so the development team could implement server infrastructure improvements among other things, and when the servers came back online, the statuses of multiple Worlds across multiple Data Centers were changed, including some Aether servers. The following Worlds have been set to Standard as of the most recent update:

• Adamantoise (NA Aether)
• Balmung (NA Crystal)
• Behemoth (NA Primal)
• Cactuar (NA Aether)
• Faerie (NA Aether)
• Gilgamesh (NA Aether)
• Jenova (NA Aether)
• Leviathan (NA Primal)
• Midgardsormr (NA Aether)
• Sargatanas (NA Aether)
• Siren (NA Aether)
• Asura (JP)
• Bahamut (JP)
• Chocobo (JP)
• Gungnir (JP)
• Titan (JP)
• Tonberry (JP)
• Typhon (JP)
• Cerberus (EU)
• Moogle (EU)
• Odin (EU)
• Phoenix (EU)
• Ragnarok (EU)
• Shiva (EU)

As you can see from the list above, Adamantoise, Cactuar, Faerie, Gilgamesh, Jenova, Midgardsormr, Sargatanas, and Siren have all been set to Standard, meaning they’re open to new players and existing character transfers. That’s all 8 Worlds on the Aether DC. They’re still a little full since they haven’t been set to Preferred status, but this is still a huge milestone considering Aether has basically been on lockdown for months with no new characters allowed.

Since the game doesn’t have Data Center Travel implemented yet, that new character blockade left several FFXIV veterans unable to play with their newcomer friends when everyone was trying out the critically-acclaimed free trial (which includes Heavensward and features no restrictions on playtime up to level 60, you know). Thankfully, that feature is coming in Patch 6.18 later this year.

In addition to the entirety of Aether opening back up, a few Worlds on the Primal and Crystal Data Centers have moved back to Standard status as well. On Primal, Leviathan and Midgardsormr are back open, and Balmung is back to Standard on Crystal. These are some of the most popular Worlds on these two Data Centers, so they’re about to get even more packed now that new players can enter the fray once more.

While plenty of new players will be creating characters on these Worlds, there’s a ton of upcoming content in the pipeline for veteran players who have finished the Endwalker MSQ and are waiting for their next adventure. Patch 6.1 is set to release in April, containing the next chapter of the main story, a new Alliance Raid, and much more. In the meantime, the Moogle Treasure Trove event has returned with a great roster of rewards to earn.

Final Fantasy XIV is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.