To get out of Low Priority Queue (LPQ) in League of Legends, finish 5 full matchmade PvP games without leaving or going AFK. Each of those games starts with a queue delay of 5 to 15 minutes depending on your tier. Once you complete the requirement, the delay disappears and your queue returns to normal.
That is the whole exit path. There is no support ticket that clears it, no Honor reward that skips it, and no $5 booster Riot will sell you. The only thing that gets you out is finishing real games.
How Long Is Low Priority Queue?
LPQ has 8 tiers. The first one most players hit is Tier 1, which adds a 5-minute wait to each of your next 5 queues. Repeat offenders climb the tiers and the punishment escalates fast.
| Tier | Queue delay | Games to clear | Lockout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 min | 1 | None |
| 1 (first offense) | 5 min | 5 | None |
| 2 | 10 min | 5 | None |
| 3 | 15 min | 5 | None |
| 4 | 15 min | 5 | 24 hours |
| 5 | 15 min | 5 | 3 days |
| 6 | 15 min | 5 | 7 days |
| 7 | 15 min | 5 | 2 weeks |
The "20-minute LPQ" you've seen quoted on older guides is wrong. The maximum delay is 15 minutes, and that's only at Tier 3 and above. After a Tier 4-7 lockout expires, you're dropped back to Tier 3 and still owe the 5-game requirement.
What Counts as a Game That Clears LPQ
Not every game you finish counts. The match must:
- Be a matchmade PvP queue: Normal Draft, Normal Blind, Solo/Duo, Flex, ARAM, or Quickplay all qualify.
- Last at least 10 minutes. Anything shorter, including remakes triggered by a teammate's AFK, does not count.
- Finish without you being flagged as AFK or as a leaver. If you DC and don't reconnect, the game does not count toward clearing the penalty.
Co-op vs. AI applies the LPQ delay to your queue but the wiki notes it does not reliably count toward the requirement. Custom games and Practice Tool count for nothing. ARAM does count, which is the fastest practical path because games are short and you don't risk a 30-minute Solo Queue grind.
The Champion Select Dodge Trap
If you queue while in LPQ and then dodge in champion select, two bad things happen at once: you eat a normal dodge penalty on top of the LPQ wait, and the queue delay timer for your next game restarts from zero. The dodge does not count toward your 5-game requirement either way.
Lock in your champion. Even a clean dodge is worse than playing out a bad lobby while the LPQ clock is running.
What Triggers Low Priority Queue
LPQ is the LeaverBuster system. It only fires when you fail to finish a match you've already started. The two ways to trigger it:
- Leaving an in-progress game: closing the client, force-quitting, or otherwise abandoning the match.
- Going AFK: Riot warns you at 3 minutes of inactivity and the system flags you at 5 minutes.
Champion select dodges do not put you in LPQ. They have their own separate penalty (a queue lockout plus −5 to −15 LP if it was a ranked lobby). LPQ is reserved for players who left after the loading screen.
Does LPQ Hurt Your Ranked LP or MMR?
LPQ itself doesn't touch your MMR. It only adds queue time. The damage is downstream.
- Direct LP loss for AFK in ranked. When you AFK or leave a ranked game, that match is recorded as a loss with an additional LP reduction applied to the next several ranked games in that queue. This is separate from LPQ and stacks with it.
- Honor falls to the chat-restricted floor. Repeat offenders drop below Honor 3, which makes them ineligible for end-of-season Victorious skins (which require 15 ranked wins and Honor 3+).
- You can still queue ranked while in LPQ. The system delays the queue, it doesn't block the mode.
Is Low Priority Queue Permanent?
No. There is no permanent LPQ. The system caps at Tier 7 (15-minute delay plus a 2-week lockout), after which the lockout expires and you go back to a 5-game clearing requirement at Tier 3.
What is permanent is the next escalation: continued AFK and leaving behavior past the LPQ ceiling moves accounts onto temporary suspensions, and from there to permanent suspension. By that point you've stopped seeing the LPQ message and started seeing a ban screen instead.
Fastest Way to Clear It
Queue 5 ARAM games back-to-back. ARAM is matchmade PvP, the average game is 16-18 minutes, and there's no champion select dodge risk because picks are randomized. With a Tier 1 delay you can clear in roughly 90 minutes of wall-clock time. Solo Queue games at 30+ minutes each turn the same penalty into a 4-hour evening.
Don't queue and step away. The 3-minute AFK warning still fires in champ select if you're idle, and an AFK flag during a clearing game restarts the count.
FAQ
Does Low Priority Queue stack across queues? The delay applies to whichever queue you join next. You can serve out the 5 games in any matchmade PvP mode you want; the 5-game tally is account-wide, not per-queue.
Will a friend's AFK put me in LPQ? No. LeaverBuster flags the player who left, not their team. If a teammate goes AFK and you finish the game, that match counts toward clearing your own LPQ if you have one.
Can I appeal LPQ? Riot Support won't lift LPQ even with a confirmed power outage or hardware failure. The system is automated and the only documented path out is to finish 5 games. Save the support ticket for actual ban appeals.
Does LPQ reset over time? No. Skipping the game requirement and waiting it out doesn't work. The 5-game counter only ticks when you finish qualifying games.
