LoL AFK & Leaver Penalties Explained: Queue Delays, LP Loss, Remakes & Refunds (2026)

Leaving a League of Legends game — or going AFK for long enough that the game decides you left — sets off a chain of penalties: a loss, an LP cut, queue delays and eventually lockouts of up to two weeks. Riot reworked a lot of this in 2026: Ranked Restrictions are gone, teammates of a verified leaver now get their LP back in full, remakes start by themselves and a new vote can end games ruined by a disruptive player. This guide covers the whole system as Riot's support pages describe it, checked on 2026-10-15.

The leaver penalty tiers

The penalties apply to every matchmade mode — Swift Play, Co-op vs AI, Draft Pick, Ranked Solo/Duo, Ranked Flex, ARAM, Arena and rotating modes. Custom games and Training never count.

How League decides you left

Riot doesn't publish how LeaverBuster detects leavers; its FAQ only says the system acts when it determines you've been leaving matches or idling, and that you're warned before the first penalty. Riot's wiki adds the numbers you see in-game: an idle warning after about 3 minutes without input and an automatic disconnect at 5. A game where you're flagged as AFK or a leaver always counts as a loss for you, even if your team goes on to win.

How a penalty clears

• Queue delays (tiers 0–3) are served game by game: each game must last at least 10 minutes to count. A match that ends in a remake doesn't count, and neither does a game where you were flagged again.
• Lockouts (tiers 4–7) can only be waited out; afterwards you continue at tier 3.
• Lost LP and MMR are not restored — Riot's FAQ says so in plain words.

Riot doesn't publish how fast the tier itself falls back with clean play, so the honest advice is the boring one: a clean run of finished games is the only way down.

LP: what the leaver loses, what the team gets back

The leaver. When you're flagged as AFK or a leaver at the end of a ranked game, the game is a loss and Riot reduces your LP over your next several games in the same ranked queue — on wins and losses. Leaving a Flex game only affects Flex. That makes leaving a promotion-critical game the most expensive thing you can do in ranked.

The team. Patch 26.7 replaced the old partial refunds: players negatively affected by a verified leaver now receive full LP refunds. In Solo/Duo and Flex, Riot's compensation for a verified offence is full consolation LP plus autofill protection; rewards may not stack, and some have cooldowns.

Ranked Restrictions are gone

For years, serious leaving also triggered a Ranked Restriction — a set of normal games you had to play before ranked unlocked again. Riot's support page now says that since patch 26.4 Ranked Restrictions are no longer applied. The queue delays, lockouts and LP penalties above remain.

Remakes: the first minutes

• When: between 0:55 and 2:25 of game time (since patch 26.1; it used to be 1:30–3:00), once a player has been disconnected or inactive for at least 55 seconds.
• Not if your team gave up first blood before the player went AFK.
• Votes: 2 yes votes in a 4v5, 1 in a 3v5 — and since patch 26.14 the vote starts automatically as soon as it's allowed.
• Result: no LP, Blue Essence or XP and no win or loss for everyone else; the leaver takes a loss, an LP loss and an AFK flag.
• Premades: from Diamond IV up, the leaver's premade partners share the penalty.

Early surrender and the normal vote

Miss the remake window and the game goes on. A team with an AFK teammate can surrender early from 2:55 (moved from 3:30 in patch 26.1) if every remaining player agrees. The normal surrender opens at 15:00 and needs 4 of 5 votes; AFK players aren't counted, and with three or fewer active players it must be unanimous. A surrender counts as a loss for your team, so if a teammate is missing early, the remake is the cleaner way out.

Disruptive Game Termination

Patch 26.10 added a vote for a different problem: a teammate who is there but ruining the game on purpose. When the system confirms a disruptive player, the rest of the team can vote to end the match. The disruptive player is banned, and teammates lose no LP or MMR — Riot says that holds even if the vote fails and they go on to lose. Riot's examples are bulk-selling items and chain-feeding; plain AFKs are handled by the leaver and remake systems above.

How to avoid leaver penalties

1. Queue only when you have the full game.

   Ranked games average around half an hour and can run much longer. Leaving early is the one penalty you fully control.

2. Reconnect immediately.

   A crash turns into a leave the longer you stay gone — get back in fast; the client offers a reconnect button.

3. Don't sit idle in fountain.

   Tilted or not, inactivity triggers the same flag as leaving.

4. Use the remake, not the exit.

   If a teammate is gone in the first minutes, the automatic remake vote costs you nothing.