In League of Legends, the so-called queue dodging is widespread. Players leave the queue to gain an advantage. However, Riot Games is now taking action against this, banning players for up to 12 hours and deducting league points.
What is queue dodging? This method involves simply leaving the game before it even starts, for example by closing the client or disconnecting the internet.
This usually happens in champion selection, and players leave because they didn’t get their desired position or champion. Some players also leave when their team seems weaker than the opponents.
Queue dodging is especially common in ranked and ARAM (All Random All Mid) modes. In the latter, champions are assigned randomly, and not everyone is satisfied with their champion. However, the developers are addressing this in the upcoming update.
Severe penalties of up to 12 hours and 10 LP
What is Riot Games doing against queue dodging? With the upcoming patch 11.15 expected to be released on July 21, tougher penalties will be imposed on players who repeatedly leave a queue within 12 hours.
The following penalties will apply in normal and ranked matches:
| Level | Queue Lock | LP Deduction (Ranked only) |
| 1 | 6 minutes | -3 LP |
| 2 | 30 minutes | -10 LP |
| 3 (new) | 720 minutes (12 hours) | -10 LP |
The penalties for ARAM will also be adjusted:
| Level | Queue Lock |
| 1 | 15 minutes |
| 2 | 30 minutes |
| 3 (new) | 720 minutes (12 hours) |
The developer BarackProbama explains in a blog post that queue dodging fundamentally worsens the player experience. Queues become longer and the selected radius of teammates and opponents increases, which affects the quality of matches.
The changes are primarily aimed at players who regularly exit a queue. While there are not many of them, they disproportionately ruin many matches (via LoL).
In Diamond+, 33% of all games are interrupted by queue dodging
How common is this method? According to Riot Games, only 42% of all ranked matches in the highest leagues – from Diamond 1 and above – start without issues. 1% of all players are interrupted by a login error with the champions, 24% end during the ready-check, and in a full 33% of matches, there is an intentional queue dodge.
However, only about 1.6% of all players who are ranked from Diamond 1 and above leave the queue 3 times or more per day. This 1.6% of players are the target of the new change.
Are further changes planned? Yes, but they will be implemented later in the game:
- On the one hand, champion selection will receive a reporting function to report players who intentionally attempt to ruin the game.
- On the other hand, work is being done to ensure better distribution when filling roles. Each player can specify a primary and secondary role. So far, matchmaking has only considered the number of players who need to play their secondary role on both teams. In the future, the exact same positions must be filled by the players in their secondary role.
What do you think about the changes to queue dodging? Are they just right, going too far, or maybe not far enough?
In LoL, there is currently also discussion about the new champion Akshan alongside queue dodging. Many especially consider one ability to be far too strong:
LoL introduces new champion Akshan, players fear: “Will be 100% picked or banned”
