While many Dota 2 players only get to play one or two games a day, a substantial portion of the game population can be considered serial-queuers, meaning they queue up for another match before they finish the previous one. However, their plans might quickly be ruined if servers go down.
Dota 2 has dedicated servers using Valves, and the game may have server issues due to Steam-related issues or other external issues. If any of Valves services go down, Dota 2 is likely to do the same, and players may receive the infamous Dota 2 Game Coordinator error in the process.
Issues with the game coordinator may indicate the issue being specifically Dota 2 related, meaning other Valve servers may remain up and running while Dota servers are down. Connection issues on your end may also cause these issues.
It's essential to know how to check Dota 2s' server status since it's so simple to perform a number of troubleshooting steps. That includes knowing when the servers are down, which means there's no need to wait for them to be fixed.
How can you check the status of your Dota 2s server?
Check the server status of all Steam services
steamstat.us, developed by xPaw, is an excellent tool that monitors everything in the Steam database. From game servers to game coordinators, steamstat.us is the complete package for diagnosing whether or not the servers are down.
When the first one is down, youll be unable to queue up for a match. Whenever Steam Community is down, however, you may not even be able to chat with your friends, let alone play Dota 2.
If the Dota 2 Game Coordinator and Steam Community are up and running, it might be useful to check the servers in your region by the city names. If a few cities in your region are currently down or under maintenance, youll be able to queue for a game by selecting a different region. It should be better than not playing Dota 2 at all.
Everything you need to do to get the servers back up if the servers are down is to wait for them to restart, since nothing will help you overcome the issue. Steam services generally go down every Tuesday at 3-5pm CT. for maintenance. The downtime usually lasts around 10 minutes, and the majority of the servers come back online with community features.
Check out Downdetector
Downdetector relies on user input. While the above technique requires servers to stop responding to their pings to label them as down, those experiencing issues may update the games status on Downdetector with their feedback as soon as they receive any errors.
Downdetector can be useful in more niche situations where youre having server-related issues while the servers are still up. For instance, if only players from your region are reporting problems, you might discover that your ISP is causing the regional outage.
Visit community hubs
When it comes to resolving server-related issues, the community will be much quicker than any other tool. Communities like Reddit and Steams will be filled with new threads as soon as players discover an error.
If there is a quick fix, you may be able to find it in one of the threads. You may also be one of the first responders to report ongoing server or coordinator issues.
Valve has never been very active on social media. Dota 2s Twitter page only updates important updates and updates, making it a last resort for server updates.
If the Dota 2 servers are up, but you can't play, here's what you should do.
If the servers are up, but you're still unable to go to a Dota 2 match or log into the game, there may be a connection issue on your end. Before proceeding with any troubleshooting methods, check whether there are any planned updates for Dota 2 and Steam.
After ensuring youre up to date, you can try restarting your router and computer. Resetting your router will allow you to reestablish the connection between your end and the Valves servers, potentially resolving any issues that may have arisen over time.
Restarting your computer simultaneously is a quick and easy way to resolve any software-related issues while waiting for your router to restart.
Change your DNS if your router and computer aren't enough to resolve your connectivity issues, then this is the next step. DNS servers can also go down, causing your internet connection to suffer. By default, you'll be using your ISP's standard DNS servers, but switching to a more commercially available one can help you troubleshoot your previous DNS configuration.
If you are unfamiliar with changing your DNS settings, please see this video on Windows 10 and this guide on using it on a Mac.
Try connecting your computer to your router via an Ethernet cable, or turn on your phones mobile hotspot feature to check whether there is something wrong with your Wi-Fi connection. The second method will help you troubleshoot the entire connection.
If using an Ethernet cable works, you may continue playing with a cable until Wi-Fi resolves itself. However, if you were only able to access Dota 2 via your mobile connection, you may need to contact your ISP to see if they can correct anything amiss with your home connection.
As a last resort, you may want to contact your ISP and Valve to let them know about your situation. ISP operators have additional tools they can use on their end to check the current status of your network. Issues detected by ISP operators can be resolved with a single reset on their end, or they can instruct you with additional troubleshooting techniques.
If any of the above fails, your last option will be to send a support ticket to Valve. When it comes to contacting Valve, youll need to be as thorough as possible with all the troubleshooting methods youve tried so far. The last thing you want is a support agent replying to you with something youve already tried, and Valve likes to take its time.