What Is The Best Server?

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What is the best server?
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By Lunagoddess 2026-04-06 15:37:43
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What is the best server to move and migrate to other than Asura, Odin, and Bahamut?
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By Genoxd 2026-04-06 16:02:58
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Not Lakshmi. Please, stay away.
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By Lunagoddess 2026-04-06 16:14:00
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Why? You don't even know me or you just trolling?
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By Asura.Clintbeastwood 2026-04-06 16:18:10
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That depends, what exactly do you mean by, "best"?
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By GetHelpNerd 2026-04-06 16:22:44
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phoenix or shiva
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By khanetaru 2026-04-06 16:23:12
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Hades
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 Asura.Hya
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By Asura.Hya 2026-04-06 16:25:17
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Bahamut
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 Asura.Melliny
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By Asura.Melliny 2026-04-06 17:01:29
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Balmung!
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By Lunagoddess 2026-04-06 17:13:54
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Asura.Clintbeastwood said: »
That depends, what exactly do you mean by, "best"?
Sorry, I meant the best server for population. Maybe a server with some mercs. I realize there's no "best" server but one that has the most people in it so I can join a linkshell and do events.
 Cerberus.Kylos
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By Cerberus.Kylos 2026-04-06 17:14:25
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If you can find a group before moving, it doesn't really matter which. And if I am to be biased, I would say Cerberus.
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By Shichishito 2026-04-06 19:00:19
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Clearly Odin.
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By Draylo 2026-04-06 19:39:45
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asura server
 Carbuncle.Maletaru
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By Carbuncle.Maletaru 2026-04-06 20:15:06
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Lunagoddess said: »
Sorry, I meant the best server for population. Maybe a server with some mercs.

None of the servers that are currently available have mercs, AFAIK. I can say for sure that Carbuncle doesn't have any (thank ***)

Lunagoddess said: »
I realize there's no "best" server but one that has the most people in it so I can join a linkshell and do events.

Any of the smaller servers have linkshells and you can do events with people. Thus: you don't need mercs.

I've long been an advocate for Carbuncle. We don't have mercs and hardly any RMT, which I consider a benefit and not a downside. You do need to talk to people and make friends to do content which is challenging to some people, but I also think it's a good thing, because it's a fun way to play MMOs so don't really see that as a bad thing either.

Anyway...if this person or anyone else who's deciding on a server wants to know, that's my $0.02. If you end up on Carbuncle, I've got a linkpearl for ya. There are a couple of fledgling groups that are working on endgame content you can join (right now), we regularly do all the Dynamis runs, and you can get plenty of help with things like Omen, Vagary, etc.
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 Asura.Vellamorn
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By Asura.Vellamorn 2026-04-06 20:23:32
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I played a trial character for a week on Siren earlier this year while teaching a friend the ropes. It's crazy how much less laggy the game is when you aren't on Asura. No idea if Baha/Odin are as miserably laggy as Asura is, but god damn was the game so much smoother outside of Asura.
 Asura.Dexprozius
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By Asura.Dexprozius 2026-04-06 23:16:46
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Garuda
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By paladinepsot 2026-04-07 00:06:37
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Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
None of the servers that are currently available have mercs, AFAIK. I can say for sure that Carbuncle doesn't have any (thank ***)

I moved to Quetz from Asura a few months ago.

On Asura I used to blist bot shouters. Then I learned the blist caps at 300, so I found a lua to remove the shouts from specific people. That was such a pain to maintain I rewrote it to look for specific patterns. Even that needed frequent maintenance.

On Quetz my blist is *1* long.
 Shiva.Thorny
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By Shiva.Thorny 2026-04-07 06:14:59
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Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
I've long been an advocate for Carbuncle.
Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
If you end up on Carbuncle, I've got a linkpearl for ya.

Just to be clear to OP, this is an offer to join a group led by someone who truly understands the game in and out and they didn't even ask what sort of progress you have. That's the type of linkshell you will have a lot more trouble finding on a big server, because everyone is so progress-focused they want people on their own level or higher. If I was a single boxer trying to catch up, I'd already be there.

...of course, if you're one of those people and just need off Asura, maybe try Phoenix. It has the highest population and activity of the unlocked servers.
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By Dodik 2026-04-07 06:24:57
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XIAH has a database of population by server.

If by "best" you mean "biggest", next one on the list that is not locked is Phoenix.

That said, Phoenix is less than half the size of what Asura was at its peak and less than half the size of current Odin.

Most other servers are fairly close in population. Phoenix has 2k more active characters than the smallest server on the list. Odin has ~8k more than Phoenix.
 Carbuncle.Maletaru
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By Carbuncle.Maletaru 2026-04-07 07:55:11
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Shiva.Thorny said: »
Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
I've long been an advocate for Carbuncle.
Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
If you end up on Carbuncle, I've got a linkpearl for ya.

Just to be clear to OP, this is an offer to join a group led by someone who truly understands the game in and out and they didn't even ask what sort of progress you have. That's the type of linkshell you will have a lot more trouble finding on a big server, because everyone is so progress-focused they want people on their own level or higher. If I was a single boxer trying to catch up, I'd already be there.



Really though, the linkshell is, and always has been, open invite. Not just OP but anyone who finds themselves on Carbuncle, for one reason or another, is welcome.
 Phoenix.Gavroches
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By Phoenix.Gavroches 2026-04-07 08:31:19
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There’s no best, best is your player surrounding you. Phoenix is tight, lots of mouth to mouth, few shouts, and even if we do here and there, no one answer. At the same time, following dodik link, phoenix has an incredible amount of transaction per active character, so AH move.
 Phoenix.Enochroot
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By Phoenix.Enochroot 2026-04-07 09:43:22
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Phoenix.Gavroches said: »
Phoenix is tight

It's been hilarious watching the mercs try to set up shop on Phoenix, shouting to sell Valorous Mail for 10m or whatever. "Thanks for all your bids! Sold to highest!" Yeeeeeeah, lol.

Thing about Phoenix is that the population is fairly evenly split between JP/NA/EU and pretty much always has been (at least, that's my take - interested to hear from others if they get a diff vibe). Dunno if that's the case on other servers, but you'll see it reflected in transaction histories and timing. I think lately we've had 700-1000 characters online at any given time. Prior to the recent big changes it was around half that.
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By Genoxd 2026-04-07 13:14:04
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Lunagoddess said: »
Why? You don't even know me or you just trolling?

I like my small empty server with no queue times. I don't want to wait 45 minutes to enter ambuscade or sortie
 Asura.Hya
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By Asura.Hya 2026-04-07 13:16:55
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Phoenix.Gavroches said: »
lots of mouth to mouth
Is this a paid service or is this just the culture?
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By Dodik 2026-04-07 13:51:09
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Never knew Phoenix was The Human Centipede of XI servers.
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 Bismarck.Drakelth
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By Bismarck.Drakelth 2026-04-07 18:52:18
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Entirely subjective. /thread
 Bismarck.Drakelth
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By Bismarck.Drakelth 2026-04-07 18:52:20
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Entirely subjective. /thread
 Bahamut.Senaki
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By Bahamut.Senaki 2026-04-07 18:56:02
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Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
Lunagoddess said: »
Sorry, I meant the best server for population. Maybe a server with some mercs.

None of the servers that are currently available have mercs, AFAIK. I can say for sure that Carbuncle doesn't have any (thank ***)
You don’t even have RMT shouts at all times of day? That sounds like a dream.
 Carbuncle.Maletaru
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By Carbuncle.Maletaru 2026-04-07 19:30:17
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Bahamut.Senaki said: »
Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
Lunagoddess said: »
Sorry, I meant the best server for population. Maybe a server with some mercs.

None of the servers that are currently available have mercs, AFAIK. I can say for sure that Carbuncle doesn't have any (thank ***)
You don’t even have RMT shouts at all times of day? That sounds like a dream.

There's 1 guy who shouts to sell EP. I think the built in SE filters block him though? Idk, I don't see the yells very often.

That's it though, the only other yells are from JPs talking about grouping up for segs, Limbus, ody, etc.
 Asura.Otomis
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By Asura.Otomis 2026-04-08 08:11:56
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https://www.ffxiah.com/database

"Transactions" & "Active" gives a decent indication of player activity. Although Asura (my server) hovers between 2000-2500 logged in players; it appears that only about 10% of those players are actively playing with others in group content in any given hour of the day.
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By Lunagoddess 2026-04-08 12:35:27
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Thanks all, I really have to decide where I want to move and this is helping. I welcome all opinions and what you suggest.

Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »
Lunagoddess said: »
Sorry, I meant the best server for population. Maybe a server with some mercs.

None of the servers that are currently available have mercs, AFAIK. I can say for sure that Carbuncle doesn't have any (thank ***)

Lunagoddess said: »
I realize there's no "best" server but one that has the most people in it so I can join a linkshell and do events.

Any of the smaller servers have linkshells and you can do events with people. Thus: you don't need mercs.

I've long been an advocate for Carbuncle. We don't have mercs and hardly any RMT, which I consider a benefit and not a downside. You do need to talk to people and make friends to do content which is challenging to some people, but I also think it's a good thing, because it's a fun way to play MMOs so don't really see that as a bad thing either.

Anyway...if this person or anyone else who's deciding on a server wants to know, that's my $0.02. If you end up on Carbuncle, I've got a linkpearl for ya. There are a couple of fledgling groups that are working on endgame content you can join (right now), we regularly do all the Dynamis runs, and you can get plenty of help with things like Omen, Vagary, etc.

I appreciate the offer for a linkshell, that is very nice of you. I havent decided where exactly I want to be but at least the option is there if I ever move to Carbuncle. No mercs and RMT is really nice and actually playing the game with other people and doing content rather than buying everything from a merc which is what I usually do sounds like fun. Kinda like how FFXI used to be in the past, you know? Where there was a lot more people starting parties for stuff. Of course its changed a lot but I am still nostalgic and miss the old FFXI a little.

@Genoxd, I doubt your server is completely empty and you cant solo everything, so yeah. Sounds like you want this game to be an offline solo game. I understand to a degree as I play alone and solo a lot too and sometimes prefer it, but still solo can only go so far in this game and there's lots of limits. I mean can you get away with multiboxing all the content? Probably but thats a huge monthly fee so im just going to stick with my 2 characters, main, mules and 2nd alt character on a different account.
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