League of Legends: Riot Finally Slams AFK Players in Patch 13.5

By Benjamin Paraggua Published 03/09/23 EST

Competitive multiplayer games like League of Legends require the full participation of the team to increase one’s chances of winning. The dev team knows that a game where only four players actively fight against a complete team is no fun for anybody. That is why they activated a system that will finally penalize those who go AFK called the LeaverBuster in Patch 13.5.

What Is LeaverBuster?

The LeaverBuster is a system in League of Legends that will temporarily take repeat offenders out of the match so that they will no longer impact the enjoyment of other players.

If the system determines that a player has been idling during a match, the offender will be subject to the following penalties:

Tier 0
- Penalty: 1-minute queue delay
- Duration: 1 game
Tier 1
- Penalty: 5-minute queue delay
- Duration: 5 games
Tier 2
- Penalty: 10-minute queue delay
- Duration: 5 games
Tier 3
- Penalty: 15-minute queue delay
- Duration: 5 games
Tier 4
- Penalty: 24-hour queue lockout (followed by Tier 3 penalty)
- Duration: 1 game
Tier 5
- Penalty: 3-day queue lockout (followed by Tier 3 penalty)
- Duration: 1 game
Tier 6
- Penalty: 7-day queue lockout (followed by Tier 3 penalty)
- Duration: 1 game
Tier 7
- Penalty: 2-week queue lockout (followed by Tier 3 penalty)
- Duration: 1 game

Now, some may experience connection issues from time to time. This is why players will be issued a warning first before they face an actual punishment.

Aside from lockout penalties, games in which a player is considered a leaver will always count as a loss even if their team was victorious.

The LeaverBuster penalties apply to all matchmade modes in League of Legends, including Blind Pick, Draft Pick, Ranked Solo/Duo, Ranked Flex, ARAM, and any time-limited modes like One-For-All and Nexus Blitz.

32-Bit Client Deprecation

Those who are still using 32-bit operating systems can no longer play League of Legends starting April 4, 2023. According to the team, the decision to give up support for 32-bit systems was made because creating content while maintaining older hardware requires significant investment from a development and testing standpoint. They went on to say that removing some of these barriers will allow them to deliver new and engaging player experiences.