D2R Season 16 Start Date and Time for Every Region
Diablo II: Resurrected Season 16 starts Friday, Nov 13, 2026 at 5 PM PST (8 PM EST). Europe gets it Saturday at 1 AM GMT and Asia Saturday morning. Here is every region's time, the four-day gap after Season 15, and why the Friday slot is now the pattern.
D2R Season 16 starts Friday, November 13, 2026 at 5 PM PST, which is 8 PM EST. In Europe that lands on Saturday, November 14 at 1 AM GMT (2 AM CET), and in Asia on Saturday at 9 AM CST (10 AM KST).
Those times come from Blizzard's Season 16 announcement. As of Nov 6 the season has not launched, so everything here is the published schedule. Four ladders open under it: Pre-Expansion Ladder, Pre-Expansion Hardcore Ladder, Ladder and Hardcore Ladder.
Season 16 Start Time by Region
| Region | Local start time |
|---|
| US West (PST) | Friday, Nov 13, 5 PM |
| US East (EST) | Friday, Nov 13, 8 PM |
| Europe (GMT) | Saturday, Nov 14, 1 AM |
| Europe (CET) | Saturday, Nov 14, 2 AM |
| China (CST) | Saturday, Nov 14, 9 AM |
| Korea (KST) | Saturday, Nov 14, 10 AM |
Anywhere else, count from 1 AM GMT on Saturday and add or subtract your own offset. Two labels trip people up. "CST" in the table is China Standard Time, not US Central. And Blizzard's "PST" is the correct label for this week, because US daylight saving time ended on Nov 1.
Why Nothing Runs Between Nov 9 and Nov 13
Season 15 ends Monday, Nov 9 at 11 AM PST, and Patch 3.4 starts rolling out the same day. Season 16 does not open until Friday at 5 PM PST. That leaves four days and six hours, 102 hours in all, with no ladder season in progress, and your Season 15 ladder characters sit in their matching non-ladder group while you wait.
Treat the gap as a prep window instead of dead time. Two hard dates sit around it: the Season 15 stash cutoff at 11 AM PST on that Monday, and the Nov 16 cutoff for converting Expansion (LoD) Online characters to Reign of the Warlock. The stash one can cost you items for good if you miss it. Use the middle of the week to read the patch notes, and our Patch 3.4 breakdown lays out every item change in one place.
The Friday 5 PM Pacific Slot Is the New Pattern
Starting with Season 15, Blizzard settled into a weekly shape: the ladder ends on a Monday, the patch rolls out early in the week, and the new season opens on Friday at 5 PM Pacific. Season 16 follows it exactly. If an older guide says seasons start around 8 AM Pacific, that describes the previous schedule and is out of date. For background on how launch hours have been handled, see our explainer on what time the ladder reset starts and our next-reset overview.
We like the new slot for North America and dislike it for Europe. A Friday evening start gives US players a whole weekend to push levels before work. A start at 1 or 2 AM forces a European player to choose between staying up through the opening hours and sleeping until breakfast. Asia gets the best of it, since 9 or 10 AM on a Saturday is a normal time to sit down for a long session.
Planning Around Your Own Clock
A few habits save you from timezone math at the worst moment:
- Put the launch in your calendar in your own timezone, not Pacific. Delete the PST entry once you have converted it.
- If you are in Europe, decide now if you are staying up. If you plan to sleep, the first eight hours of the season, 1 AM to 9 AM GMT, will happen without you, which is fine for a steady season and a real cost for a race.
- If you play on a team, quote times in one agreed zone. GMT works well because the offset to every other region is easy to hold in your head.
- Update the client before Friday. The patch starts rolling out on Monday, so launch night is a bad time to learn you are behind.
- Map your first day onto your own clock early. Our launch night plan lays out the first 24 hours for each region, including when a European or Asian player should sleep.
Our reset countdown runs to the same moment if you'd rather skip the time-zone math.
FAQ
What time does D2R Season 16 start in my time zone?
Take 5 PM PST on Friday, Nov 13, which is 1 AM GMT on Saturday, Nov 14, and apply your own offset. That is 8 PM Friday on the US East Coast, 2 AM Saturday in Central Europe and 10 AM Saturday in Korea. Set one alert in your own zone and ignore the rest.
How long is the break between Season 15 and Season 16?
From Monday, Nov 9 at 11 AM PST to Friday, Nov 13 at 5 PM PST, which is four days and six hours. When Season 15 ends, ladder characters move to their matching non-ladder group, so they are waiting there while the new ladder is not open yet.
Does Season 16 still start around 8 AM Pacific like older seasons?
No. Beginning with Season 15, Blizzard moved to a Monday ladder end, an early-week patch and a Friday 5 PM Pacific launch. Any source quoting 8 AM Pacific is describing the old pattern.
Count It Down and Line Up Your Crew
Launch night goes better with people to run it with. Create an account and fill in your Ladder Setup, look through the teams recruiting for a roster that fits your timezone, or ask around in the D2 Hustlers Discord. Our ladder is a community RotW-ruleset ladder built around 8-man teams, and it runs separately from Blizzard's official leaderboard.