Harry Potter Wizards Unite: How to Fix ‘Server Error on Encounter Start’ Issue

Chances are if you’re a Harry Potter fan, Wizards Unite has been on your radar for a while. The wizard’s equivalent of Pokemon GO, Wizards Unite sees players returning “Foundables” back to the wizarding world before they’re seen by muggle eyes. Problem is, a ‘Server Error on Encounter Start’ issue seems to be plaguing some players at the very beginning of their journey.

What Is the Server Error on Encounter Start Issue Looks in Wizards Unite?

As the error itself suggests, it appears that this only ever appears to crop up when beginning an encounter with a “Foundable.” For us, we repeatedly hit the ‘Server Error on Encounter Start’ error when trying to investigate the first Trace of the Foundable in the tutorial.

Sometimes we were able to progress a little bit further through the Foundable encounter, other times it wouldn’t even slightly load up before brandishing us with the screen above.

From what we can gather, it looks like an issue on Niantic’s side of things. Perhaps the servers are under too much stress, or simply aren’t able to handle the traffic in your region just yet.

The ‘Server Error on Encounter Start’ error is pretty problematic if you hit it during the tutorial stage with Harry Potter himself talking you through it, as, without completing this, you’ll find the world around you to be completely empty and devoid of things to do.

Similarly, your menus won’t load, you’re basically just stuck with an empty map until you can get past this error.

How to Fix ‘Server Error on Encounter Start’ Issue in Wizards Unite

With Harry Potter Wizards Unite having only just released in the US and UK, chances are there could be a serious surge in traffic, causing Niantic’s servers to overload.

If you keep coming across this error, we suggest you sit back and hold tight. If it is an error on Niantic’s side, nothing you do is going to enable you to bypass it. You’ll just have to wait until they sort it.

If you want to try again and avoid the empty map issue we showed in the screenshot above, completely close the app from your phone, rather than just letting it run in the background, and then try reopening.

Once you’re back in, try whichever Foundable encounter you were having issues with again. With a bit of luck, it’ll load up and you’ll be free to dive into the wizarding action.

Unfortunately, we can’t be much more help at this moment in time. However, with a bit of luck, the servers will settle down and you’ll be able to enjoy Wizards Unite without being plagued by this issue.

For more tips, tricks, and guides on the game be sure to search for Twinfinite or check out our Harry Potter Wizards Unite guide wiki.