Apex Legend’s servers crashing or being DDOSED is a frequent occurrence on consoles. You can usually tell it’s a DDOS if the server freezes during the drop or if you experience several server crashes in a row. This is almost always during ranked games.
You will freeze mid-jump or wherever you are on the map and eventually the server will close, dumping you to the main menu, often with the code: net error code. Respawn have (hopefully) made it so you no longer lose RP, but you can still get a 10-minute abandon penalty.
However, there is a way around this.
Several content creators and streamers have tried this method, and it seems to work…most of the time. All you need to do is wait on the screen that follows the code: net error. The game will be on the “Continue” screen. Do not press A immediately.
I’ve played around with how long you need to wait, and generally the longer the better. Less than a minute and you run the risk of not getting back into the server. Around two minutes seems like a good number, and you just have to hope that whoever managed to get back into the server (or DDOSED the servers in the first place) hasn’t found you AFK in-game.
Count in your head, set a timer, whatever. Just don’t press A right away. While this method does work (seen in the Tweet above) it’s not guaranteed that you’ll get back into the server. Sometimes you will get code: leaf’d anyway.
If one of your squadmates manages to get back into the game, you can sometimes use the “Join Game” feature to get back into the lobby. This doesn’t work very often for DDOSED servers and is more likely to help you get into a game that kicks you out during the initial legend-select screen.
Respawn has said they will begin cracking down on people who tamper with the Apex Legends servers. Hopefully, those who take down the servers in order to gain RP game in game out will be banned.
With the rumors that infamous Apex Legends hacker “Tufi” may be facing legal charges and mounting costs, we could see more positive changes to the environment of Apex, starting with cleaning out the hackers and DDOSers.
