which server to start playing on?

[Kel]

which server has the largest population to start a new character?

[PlayerNumber03]

https://nwdb.info/server-status

I can't guarantee that these populations include console players.

[ingosupercute]

There are no exact numbers given on either the official website nor the biggest server tracking site. But the overall regional player number is EU > US East > US West > SA > AP. They peak at different times of the day depending on when is primetime in their time zone so you might want to pick the region that you share a primetime with.

As far as servers go you need to chose one that has the sun symbol for fresh start and have crossplay activated to see the best ones. But there are still differences between them, the best way to see it is if the server has a small queue during primetime. And then the player numbers will decline over the next couple of weeks and months so servers get merged, this happened in the past a lot already.

You basically don't have to worry too much about which servers, as long as you select a fresh start one, since they will be together in the future.

[Foxglovez]

One where your ping isn't in the toilet...