Why does Fortnite say servers not responding? Reasons explored

Many users have reported Fortnite saying servers are not responding. Given the influx of players during The Big Bang Live Event, things got out of hand. This led to players getting this message and other similar errors. Epic Games was not expecting the concurrent player count to cross 11 million. As such, things all but came to a standstill.

The official accounts on X (formerly Twitter) update players about all known technical issues. Eventually, the servers were taken offline temporarily, and those left in-game were being booted out. This is the likely reason behind the "Fortnite server not responding" error.

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How long will Fortnite servers be offline?

As of 11:30 pm Eastern Time on December 2, 2023, downtime for Chapter 5 Season 1 (v28.00) officially began. Epic Games has now turned off the servers completely. The game is not accessible in any way, and forcefully trying to launch it will result in the client crashing.

Given that the transition from Chapter 4 Season 5 to Chapter 5 Season 1 will be massive, the servers could remain offline until 8 am Eastern Time. This is taking into account that Epic Games would need eight to nine hours to implement the update.

Unlike earlier times, this update consists of files not only related to the Battle Royale mode but also those belonging to the new modes - LEGO, Rocket Racing, and Festival. Thus, the update is massive.

Epic Games even rented out the Las Vegas Sphere to promote Chapter 5. The "Find it in Fortnite" teaser is being played on it.

That being said, there is no way to bypass the "servers not responding" error. Players will have to wait until the official downtime ends.

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Can I watch a rerun of The Big Bang Live Event in Fortnite?

While the complete rerun of The Big Bang Live Event in Fortnite cannot be viewed, as the last show was at 11 pm Eastern Time, one can watch it on Twitch and YouTube, with Epic Games uploading no commentary versions of the event.

To compensate players for the loss, Epic Games is awarding the The Clawz Retro Back Bling and autocompleting Spectra Knight quests.

Additionally, those who own the OG Battle Pass will get cosmetics related to Spectra Knight, and everyone will be awarded 750,000 XP. Also, those who were a few levels shy of 70 and owned the OG Battle Pass will get all remaining rewards once they log into Chapter 5 Season 1.