3 Ways To Tell If Nintendo Switch Servers Are Down

Connectivity issues are nobody's favorite thing to deal with, especially when you're trying to squeeze in a nice gaming session with friends on your Nintendo Switch. There's nothing worse than having a group of buddies sitting in a lobby, waiting to play a round of "Mario Kart" or Splatoon," only for you to have to send them all a text letting them know that your Switch won't let you log in.

Trying to figure out the source of this problem can be incredibly frustrating. Is it your internet provider? Your router? Your Switch? There are so many things that can go wrong that it might take some time to identify the place where the connection is failing. One potential cause for connectivity failure could even be Nintendo's own servers. This is a particularly irritating problem to have since there isn't much you can do when it happens except wait for Nintendo to fix it.

Server issues can be tricky to pinpoint, however, since there are so many other things that could be responsible for the drop in connection. Still, it's worth knowing how to check, since you don't want to be pulling apart your router, and rooting through complex WiFi settings if you don't have to. Here are three different steps you can take to check whether or not the servers are down.

Nintendo's servers occasionally go down, but it's usually worth checking to make sure that the problem isn't on your end first. To do this, you're going to want to make sure that your internet is working and that your Switch is properly connected to it. You can easily check that the internet is functioning properly by going on another device connected to the same network and ensuring that it is able to access the internet normally. If you're connected to your Wi-Fi and still not able to access the web, then your internet is probably the culprit. You will most likely need to reset your router or contact your internet provider for steps on how to get it back up and running.

Assuming the internet is working fine, however, navigate to the System Settings in your Nintendo Switch and then scroll down to Internet and then select Internet Settings. Here, you should see your connection listed at the top. There will be a blue checkmark next to it if it is connected properly. If not, run through the steps on the screen to connect the Switch to the internet. Even if you see this checkmark though, it still might be a good idea to scroll down and select 'Test Connection.' This is a good way to make sure that your Switch is interfacing with your internet network properly. You should also make sure that your router is placed in a location where your Switch can get a strong connection.

Once you've verified that your internet is working and that your Switch is properly connected, it's time to check Nintendo's server status. To do that, you should check Nintendo's official Network Maintenance Information and Operational Status page. This page lets gamers know if there are any current issues that Nintendo has identified with their servers. These issues are usually reported on the page with time-stamps and Nintendo does its best to provide its players with information about when they should be able to expect a resolution. The page also has information about times when the servers might be down for scheduled maintenance while Nintendo repairs or upgrades certain features. There are separate categories listed on the page for current maintenance the system is undergoing and scheduled maintenance that Nintendo will be performing in the future. If there are any current reports for the server that you're currently using, then you will most likely have to wait for Nintendo to finish their updates or repairs before you will be able to use them again.

This is likely the most reliable source since the information comes directly from Nintendo itself, but there are plenty of other sites out there that report on server outages. Some of them even manage to beat Nintendo to the punch when it comes to posting about them.

There are a couple of alternative methods for figuring out what's going on with Nintendo's servers. The first is to simply check X (formerly known as Twitter). The Nintendo of America X profile doesn't usually post about outages, but there are other pages that do. The most notable of these is @NinStatusBot. The entire purpose of this page is to find and report Nintendo's server outages. This page reports everything that the NintendoOperational Status page posts, usually providing links to the page. It might be worth following them if the games you play suffer from frequent outages.

Another site that has information like this is DownDetector. It tracks outages that have been reported by users over the previous 24-hour period. This is also worth checking since it gets many of its reports directly from users instead of relying on Nintendo's information. These user reports for server issues will sometimes show up on DownDetector before Nintendo even knows about them. It might be a good idea to report the issue to Nintendo if other users are having the same problem and there isn't already a fix-report on the Network Maintenance Information and Operational Status page. That way the company's engineers will know to get to work repairing the problem.