Square Enix pauses Final Fantasy 14 estate demolition timer for NA servers in consideration of LA wildfires

Square Enix, the developers of Final Fantasy 14 (FFXIV), has temporarily paused the automatic housing demolition timers on all North American data centers due to the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires. The developers have shared that they will be closely monitoring the updates from LA and pick an appropriate time for restarting it.

In this article, we have shared everything we know so far about the estate demolition timer pause in Final Fantasy 14.

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What is the housing demolition system pause in Final Fantasy 14?

Once the situation gets under control, FFVIX will lift the pause (Image via Square Enix)

In Final Fantasy 14, housing is a coveted feature due to the limited availability of plots. To manage inactive estates and free up housing for active players, the game employs an automatic demolition timer:

• Timer duration: Players lose their housing after 45 days of inactivity.
• Reset mechanism: The timer resets to its full duration if the owner enters the property during the 45-day window.

Due to the massive natural disasters currently going on in Los Angeles, USA, Square Enix has implemented temporary suspensions in the NA servers to ensure affected players do not lose their virtual homes.

Square Enix expressed its sympathies to the affected players and committed to monitoring the situation before resuming the demolition timers.

Effective date and time

• Start of suspension: January 9, 2025, at 8:20 pm PT (11:20 pm ET).
• The decision was made just one day after the resumption of auto-demolition following a three-month hiatus due to Hurricane Helene.

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Applicable servers

The houses will be paused until the players can effectively return to the game (Image via Square Enix)

The suspension applies to all North American servers, including:

• Aether
• Primal
• Crystal
• Dynamis

Square Enix has a history of pausing housing demolition timers in response to significant real-world events, including:

• 2018 Japanese floods
• Hurricane Michael
• COVID-19 pandemic
• 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquakes
• 2024 Noto earthquake
• Hurricane Helene (2024)

During the current pause:

1. Housing timer reset: Players can reset their demolition timer to the full 45-day duration by entering their estate at any time.
2. No demolition risk: Estates are protected from demolition for the suspension’s duration.

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The company will continue assessing the conditions in Southern California before reactivating the housing demolition system. Players will receive updates on when the timers will resume, ensuring sufficient preparation time.