No other riders / RoboPacers visible after recent update (macOS, Windows, iOS tested) — network access issue?

Bugs and Support
1

Hi everyone,

I’m posting to see if other users in China are experiencing the same issue, and whether Zwift has any official solution.

Problem:
After updating to the latest version, I cannot see any other Zwifters in the world. RoboPacers are also completely missing. I’ve tested this on macOS, Windows, and iOS — all have the same result.

What I’ve observed:
The game launches and I can ride, but the world is completely empty. Based on similar past incidents, my guess is that the new update may have changed the server IPs or endpoints, and the China network can no longer reach them properly.

Context:
This exact problem happened a few years ago (around late 2023 and early 2024). At that time, a Zwift staff member acknowledged that the issue was due to national-level firewalls blocking specific server nodes, and they were able to refresh the IPs to fix it. Another user confirmed that a game accelerator (VPN) resolved the issue temporarily when it resurfaced.‌‌

My questions:

  1. Is this a known issue with the latest update?
  2. Is there any official solution or workaround planned for users in China?
  3. If the only workaround is a VPN, could Zwift at least confirm this so users don’t waste time troubleshooting on their end?
    Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
2

Seem the old issue of no ‘friends’ in China is back, with recent update. Unable to join events, or do anything other than ride solo.

As a follow up, it is workable if using a VPN, but without it’s ‘no mates’ only riding

Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 10.28.06
Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 10.28.061920×1076 451 KB

3

I moved Liam’s comment to this topic since it appears to confirm the same problem.

AlanZ (Alan) 4

Hi everyone,

Please note, if you are in a country or region that has a country or region-wide firewall, then access to some Zwift UDP and/or TCP IPs may be blocked, which can cause other riders to be missing. In these cases we recommend using a VPN while Zwifting as a workaround. We’ll be adding this to our support article shortly so that it’s more clear.

1 Like
5

I’m in Canada

6

That means you have an unrelated problem. Feel free to open another topic for it and share all the details about your network.