Lost Ark is an expansive and ever-growing MMO, with stand-alone systems and moving parts that keep the virtual world and its mechanics afloat. It is for this reason that whenever bugs, changes need to be made, or content updates are introduced to the game, the developer Smilegate is required to take the game servers offline for routine maintenance. While these maintenance periods occur regularly, they can and will put dedicated players out of action for long periods of time.

How to Judge the Length of Lost Ark Upkeep Times

Under normal circumstances, Smilegate is most comfortable performing server maintenance around 7am UTC. Players are notified a lot before maintenance begins, with in-game announcements and ticker text notifications warning players to plan a logout in the hour before the Lost Ark servers go offline.

Related: Lost Ark players wait hours to log into the game

When it comes to substance, not all Lost Ark updates are created equal. The amount of work contributed during a maintenance period often correlates with the amount of time the game servers spend offline. For example, simple cleanup can take as little as 30 minutes to complete and submit, while adding new classes, continents, or raids can consume up to four hours of real time.

Fortunately, Smilegate talks a lot to its audience about its intentions with each passing update. On the game’s social media platforms, such as the official Lost Ark Twitter account, each in-game maintenance alert is accompanied by a tweet estimating the length of the upcoming downtime. While this estimate may not be entirely accurate in all situations, it comes directly from the development team and therefore serves as the most accurate estimate of the duration of an update.

Looking for other methods to track Lost Ark server uptime? Try these strategies.