Riot Games plans on big penalties for AFK players in solo queue

William Davis Published 10/06/2020

Riot Games is planning on giving harsher punishment to AFK players, the developer revealed in a recent update on fighting against game-ruining behavior.

Back in May, Riot shared its plan to stop the game-ruining behavior in solo queue. After a month of research and the deploying of some small fixes to solo queue, Riot is starting to reconsider its penalty system.

“Our penalties for AFKing rely too much on queue penalties (like when a player dodges in champ select). We should be using other more significant penalties more often,” design director at Riot Games Andrei “Meddler” Van Roon wrote.

Riot ran a post-game survey and out of all game-ruining behaviors, going AFK and intentional feeding are the most commonly frustrating for players. AFKing in game is so common that Riot is focusing on its detection algorithm to better punish the players who do it appropriately. One of the possible punishments is temporary bans from the game.

Riot looks to fix toxic behavior in League of Legends solo queue

Fixing solo queue requires more than just punishments. Right now, Riot takes into consideration the behavior in a single game and doesn’t consider the history of offending players. It leads to players abusing the system, since they know how far can they go before facing any consequence.

An improved detection algorithm should be capable of detecting when a player disconnects or starts feeding intentionally. Discovering these patterns is the key to punishing players that are wreaking havoc in solo queue.

The next step is the implementation of a report button in the champion select screen. This button should be used when a player holds hostage a role, locks in a troll pick, or threatens to feed. Riot plans to implement it with patch 10.14 scheduled on July 8, though if it isn’t ready by that date, it’ll be delayed to patch 10.15 on July 22.

Read Also

Esports Betting

Top Esports beats Team WE in the LPL, qualifies for MSI 2026 Wasif Ahmed Against all odds, Top Esports faced Team WE in the LPL upper bracket final. Both teams fought over a spot for the Mid-Season Invitational that everyone expected Anyone’s Legend, Bilibili Gaming, or JD Gaming to claim. In the end, TES paused WE’s Cinderella story as they beat them 3-0. Before this series, World Elite had defeated two LPL powerhouses in BLG and AL. Against TES, though, they suddenly lost all ...

League of Legends

G2 Esports complete comeback against Karmine Corp to win LEC Spring 2026 Hannan Mundia After a fairly smooth split, G2 Esports emerged victorious in the 2026 LEC Spring split grand final by making a comeback against Karmine Corp. The 2026 LEC Spring split has finally concluded. With spots at MSI and the Esports World Cup on the line, every professional European team gave it their all to get as far as they could. While most teams fell quickly, Karmine Corp and G2 Esports managed ...

Esports Betting

G2 Esports vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Spring: Best odds, picks Hannan Mundia The 2026 LEC Spring split is about to conclude, with G2 Esports and Karmine Corp facing off one last time to see which team qualifies for the Esports World Cup. While both teams have done well to make it to this LEC split’s grand final, only one team can be crowned the victor. With a direct ticket to the EWC on the line, there’s a strong chance that G2’s dominating ...

Esports Betting

MKOI vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Spring betting preview: Best odds and picks Hannan Mundia Two LEC spots are open for this year’s Mid-Season Invitational, and MKOI will battle against Karmine Corp to determine which team grabs it. The ongoing LEC Spring split is almost done, and only three teams remain. While G2 Esports has already established itself as the strongest so far with a guaranteed spot in the grand final, Movistar KOI and Karmine Corp will battle it out on the big stage for ...

League of Legends

LCK 2026 Road to MSI: Teams, format, and schedule Hannan Mundia With the LCK 2026 Rounds 1-2 complete, the qualified teams will battle it out in Road to MSI. With two spots for the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational and one spot for the 2026 Esports World Cup on the line, here’s everything to know about the LCK 2026 Road to MSI. Six teams have qualified for Road to MSI, but only two MSI spots are available for this region. While powerhouse teams ...

Esports Betting

KT Rolster vs T1 2026 LCK Season Rounds 1-2: Best odds and picks Hannan Mundia KT Rolster and T1 will face off in the last week of 2026 LCK Rounds 1-2 to potentially improve their starting position at Road to MSI. KT Rolster and T1 have both had their moment to shine in the ongoing 2026 LCK split. With one week remaining, the two teams will battle against each other for a chance at acquiring second place and starting with a significant advantage in the ...

Esports Betting

EWC officially heads to Paris for 2026 as early reports confirmed Michael Hassall The Esports World Cup 2026 will take place in Paris, France from July later this year as per an new announcement by the EWC organizers, the Esports Foundation. Revealed in a post on their official social media, and an accompanying release and blog post, the announcement confirmed earlier speculation that the event would move location due to the “regional situation” around Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here’s the info: The Esports World ...