FFXIV temporarily suspends NA automatic housing demolition in light of Hurricane Helene damage

In light of the devastation caused to the south-eastern states of the United States by Hurricane Helene, FFXIVs automatic housing demolition function has been temporarily suspended on all North American Data Centers. 

Hurricane Helene first hit Florida on September 26 and then made its way through multiple states, destroying homes and taking lives. Many homes within the affected states are still without electricity or connection to the online world, and as such, FFXIV has made the decision to suspend the automatic demolition of player housing. 

All Worlds on the following Data Centers will be affected by this demolition hiatus: 

• Crystal
• Aether
• Dynamis
• Primal

In a post on the Lodestone, it was stated that automatic demolition has been put on pause from October 2 at 1:08 a.m. PDT, and will continue indefinitely while the situation is monitored. Developers stated that it is their “sincere hope that recovery is swift, and those of you who were affected will be able to rejoin us in FFXIV soon.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen automatic demolition be put on hold after the devastating effects of a natural disaster. Back in January 2024, FFXIV did the same thing after a massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake rocked the Noto Peninsula in Japan. Before that, housing demolition was also suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and after a previous Japanese earthquake in 2016. 

Housing estates in FFXIV enter the automatic demolition status after a month of not being entered by the owner, in the case of personal housing, or a member of an FC in the case of Free Company housing.