Fanfiction is one of the biggest sources of creativity on the whole internet, and A03 is one of the biggest places to find it. However, there has been some recent trouble with the site, and we know how to keep track of it. Here’s how to check the Archive of Our Own server status to see if AO3 is down.
How to check AO3 Server Status
As AO3 is one of the biggest fanfiction repositories on the whole internet, it’s to be expected that not everything can work perfectly all the time. However, there are certainly easy places to check if you are having problems connecting to the site.
The best source to go to is the AO3 Status Twitter account, which will be a real-time reporting of site-related issues. This is also the best way to get a read on when things might be fixed.
If you’re having trouble, but the Twitter account lacks information, the next place to look is Downdetector. This tool relies completely on user reporting, so it’s great for figuring out whether a problem is happening to only you.
Is AO3 Down?
As of about 2 PM ET on March 28, AO3 is down due to server issues. The site developers first acknowledged slow loading issues around 2 PM, but then took the database server offline completely in order to alleviate some of the stress on it.
AO3 503 Error Explained
If you are seeing the 503 error page while trying to view anything on the AO3 site, it is a symptom of their current issues. This error isn’t anything that users or site visitors can fix, as it is all server-side. This issue is entirely because the site’s server is unavailable. Once the AO3 administrators clear up their current issues, users should be able to access the site without seeing this error.
This is everything we know about how to check the Archive of Our Own server status to see if AO3 is down.
