Blocking Servers
Prerequisites.
Either a router with a firewall, Skynet or a static routing option.
Notes: I have not tested the static routing option, but a famous content maker for FIFA tweeted a couple of years ago how to implement it. @KrasiFIFA
The Goal.
What we are trying to achieve here is to block the servers you normally play on. Usually, these servers are your closest and are supposed to be the best ones to play on. But it is not always the best option.
For me, I usually play on the Spanish servers. Sometimes they are fair to play on. Other times the one-sided delay is crippling. When I get the crippling gameplay I block them and try the other ones EA put me on. Usually Paris. If Paris is not great for me I block them. And so on.
A problem.
The testing servers test to and from an IP address which isn’t always within the group of IPs the servers are in. EA’s testing servers are used for locating you. If you have tests running from Spain, France, the UK, Germany, etc you can still be placed on the location you block. Although in my experience, it won’t happen too often.
Because of this, I suggest you also block the subnet of IPs that the servers for that location run on.
An example is:
The France testing server IP (as I write this) is 52.47.70.141.
But the servers that fall under this testing IP are within the group 15.236.74.0-255.
So in a router firewall or script that allows IP ranges to be banned, in this case, you would enter the testing server IP 52.47.70.141 and the range of IPs the servers fall under as 15.236.74.0/24.
What will happen after YOU RESTART FIFA is the French testing server won’t be able to test. And if you do get a matchup on the French servers you won’t be able to connect and will get a message to say so.
The Firewall method.
The firewall method is easy enough to implement. But some firewalls word things in a way for the average user in a way which may be confusion.
In this picture of my firewall , I have entered the console IP in source IP and the 1st entry I have entered the Spanish testing server IP subnet. I did this because EA may change the IP. Witht he network they use , iD3 , they are likely to keep any new testing server within the same range. I do not enter ports as I want all UDP traffic to be blocked. The testing servers use UDP to test latency and and then use the most suitable servers for you. Although , as I have found out , they can not be using true packet loss to determine the most suitable servers. Sometimes the nearest ones will be the best. They should be as there is less chance of packet loss but this is certainly not always the case. The second entry is for me to block the French servers.
Once I have entered the IPs I click the add button and hit apply.
After restarting FIFA the testing servers from Spain and France can not communicate with my console. The other European ones will. Based on that they usually place me on the next nearest although sometimes they may still try to put me on the Spanish and French servers but I have found it is not often. This doesn’t apply to friendly modes though.
So for you you need to look at the list of testing servers and apply the same or similar rules on your firewall.
The Skynet method.
If you have Skynet and have read my guide on how to glitch out of games , you will be pleased to know you can also use Skynet to ban testing servers so you won’t get matched on specific locations.
It works almost exactly the same way except instead of banning an IP , you ban a range (option 2).
You can enter in the same format I have used in the firewall. To ban Spain’s testing server I enter 213.179.217.0/24 just like the destination address in the firewall.
You do have to put a comment in for the ban. I like to keep these bans separate from my glitching bans so use the name of the location I am banning. For example “spain” or “france”.
To unban , it is the same process as with the guide on Skynet. Option 1 for unban. Option 4 to unban by reason. Then the name.ie. “spain”.
The Static Route method.
The example below is from a TpLink router. Your router may have a similar option. Mine does but it does not allow a destination address so I could not test it.
Some routers may not have a firewall and most will not be able to run Skynet, only certain Asus routers (see Skynet ).
Some routers will have a function called “Static routing”. I won’t bore you with the details but we can use this option to divert traffic from an IP to a device on your network. In this case, the bad game server IPs to a dummy/fake device on your network.
So for instance, if you block the German servers what happens is the connection test tries to communicate with an IP on your network but can not reach it. So like Skynet and the firewall method, it can not give a latency figure and that location thinks you are unreachable.
In this picture I have circled relevant IPs. Rather than finding out the correct IP (under the “Destination Network” column) for the testing server, this person knew it fell under a certain range and blocked the range. To block so many IPs can cause other network users, who use Amazon, to have issues when using that site and other sites hosted by AWS. This is an extreme version of what we should do. EA and AWs have tidied up IP useage since this pic was first done. The IPs have also changed on some destinations so please don’t use these.
Ignore the subnet masks used also. we will be using 255.255.255.0 only.
Under default gateway you will need to use a DHCP address from your router within the useable range but NOT used by any devices.
In “Default Gateway” you will need to enter an unused network IP from within the DHCP range on your home router.
If your home router’s IP is 192.168.1.1 , then usually the DHCP range will start from 192.168.1.2 to anything up to 192.168.1.254. Check first otherwise this method may not work.
On this example the dummy address is 192.168.1.160.
Under “Status” you have to have the option enabled for it to be blocked. What this person did was to set all the then European server locations to be able to toggle to ban or to leave available. Saves a lot of messing around.
What you need to do is use the testing server IP from the list below (I will update this list frequently) and enter the 1st 3 sets of numbers followed by a .0 and /24 just like in Skynet and the firewall method.
For example Spain is 213.179.217.69 so you enter 213.179.217.0/24 into the £Destination Network.
Then enter the Subnet mask 255.255.255.0. Then the Ip for the dummy device. Then enable. Apply setting s and then start up FIFA.
Like Skynet and the firewall method, you will sometimes get put on the undesired server but it will be rare.
