Server Load Levels Explained
Summary
What the green, amber, and red load meters on the status page mean, why load changes through the day, and how it affects your VPN speed.
On this page
What load measures
Load is how much of a server's capacity is in use right now: bandwidth, CPU, and active connections combined. We publish it for every location on the server status page so you can pick wisely. The figure is aggregate only; it contains nothing about individual users, as explained on the transparency page.
The three levels
- Low (green): under about 40 percent capacity. Expect full speeds. Always a safe pick.
- Medium (amber): roughly 40 to 75 percent. Fine for browsing and streaming. Large downloads may be a bit slower at peak hours.
- High (red): above 75 percent. Connections still work, but speeds vary. Pick a different server if speed matters to you right now.
Why load changes through the day
Load follows people's evenings. A server fills up between roughly 7 pm and 11 pm local time and empties overnight. If your usual server runs hot every evening, a neighboring city is often the fix. Distance and load trade off against each other, as covered in how to pick a server.
Load is not the only speed factor
Your own connection, Wi-Fi quality, and protocol choice all matter as much as server load. If switching to a green server does not help, run through fixing slow VPN speeds to find the real bottleneck.