Overwatch, formerly Overwatch 2, is undergoing a major rebrand in 2026 that brings a whole new narrative arc and 10 new heroes. Whether you're a a long-time fan, or thinking about returning to the game after the update, one thing is for sure - a great connection will give you the best experience.
We've tested the new Overwatch Season 1 update to find the location of the game servers. Later on in this blog we'll show you how to force connection to the best ones for a low ping connection.
Why Do Servers Matter in Overwatch?
Whatever role you main in Overwatch, you need fluid movement, good mechanics and responsive aim to succeed - all of which are easier to do whilst playing on a low ping connection.
The biggest determining factor of your ping is the game server you play on. This is because the distance between your gaming device and the game server equals what your in-game ping will be. The greater the distance between them, the higher your ping will be.
Overwatch uses a range of factors in its matchmaking systems to allocate you to a server. But because of these matchmaking factors, the game may connect to a higher ping server to better match your skill level, for example.
With no official way to control what servers you can connect to in the games settings, you're at the mercy of these matchmaking systems to decide your connection quality.
How to Choose Your Server in Overwatch
If you are finding yourself playing on high ping, or your just want to make every game feel consistent with the same ping - the Netduma R3 gaming router allows you to control what servers you connect to in Overwatch.
The Geo-Filter feature on the R3 allows you to force connection to the best Overwatch servers, whilst blocking connection to the high ping ones. By creating a customisable filter around your location, you can use the map graphic in this blog or another R3 feature (Ping Heatmap) to find the best servers to include in your filter.
Once the Geo-Filter is set up, you'll be able to enjoy consistent low ping gameplay in every Overwatch match. If you want to learn more about the setup process and functionality of the Geo-Filter, check out our Ultimate Geo-Filter Guide video below.
Overwatch Server Status
Even if you're playing on the best low ping servers in Overwatch, if the servers are experiencing issues or they're overloaded - your connection quality may suffer.
Due to the increase in popularity and returning players from Season 1's launch, it may cause the server to underperform during peak times. This can lead to problems logging into to online services, higher ping base and a more unstable connection quality.
Here are some useful links to check the server status for Overwatch: