Fortnite Tracker Updates API After Epic’s Big Privacy Shift
Epic Games’ new ‘Opt-In’ privacy features are hiding competitive player stats. Here is how Fortnite Tracker is adapting to keep leaderboards alive.
A New Era of Privacy in Chapter 7
Fortnite Chapter 7 is finally here, and it brought more than just map changes and sandbox overhauls. Behind the scenes, Epic Games quietly rolled out a major shift in how player data is handled. A new “Opt-In” privacy feature now hides competitive player statistics by default. This change has sent shockwaves through the competitive community, leaving third-party tracking sites scrambling to adjust.
For years, players relied on platforms like Fortnite Tracker to stalk their opponents, analyze their own growth, and check regional leaderboards. Now, those leaderboards are looking incredibly empty. If a player does not actively choose to share their data, their history simply vanishes from public APIs.
Why Epic Made the Switch
Epic Games has steadily increased player privacy protections over the last few years. The developer wants to curb toxicity and prevent in-game harassment, which often stems from stat-shaming. By making stats private by default, casual players get a shield. However, competitive players find themselves in a tough spot.
Without public data, third-party tournament organizers cannot easily verify player ranks or past performances. This makes seeding brackets a nightmare. It also makes spotting potential cheaters much harder for the community.
How Tracker Network is Fighting Back
The team at Tracker Network, the company behind Fortnite Tracker, did not sit idly by. They quickly went to work redesigning their API integrations to work within Epic’s new boundaries.
“We knew this day was coming, but the speed of the rollout caught everyone off guard,” says Damian Cole, a lead systems engineer at Tracker Network. “Our goal isn’t to bypass Epic’s privacy rules. We respect them. Instead, we are building a seamless bridge so players who want to be seen can do so with zero friction.”
To keep the competitive scene alive, Fortnite Tracker launched an upgraded authentication portal. This tool guides players through the quick process of verifying their Epic Games accounts and enabling the correct settings in-game.
What Players Need to Do
If you want your stats to keep showing up on Fortnite Tracker, you have to adjust your settings manually. The process is straightforward, but easily missed if you don’t know where to look:
- Launch Fortnite and open the main menu.
- Navigate to the settings cog and select the “Account and Privacy” tab.
- Scroll down to the “Gameplay Privacy” section.
- Find the option labeled “Show on Career Leaderboard” and toggle it to “On.”
- Link your Epic account directly to Fortnite Tracker to secure your profile.
The Future of Competitive Scrims
The update has forced community tournament hosts to adapt quickly. Many amateur leagues have already updated their rulebooks. They now require all registered participants to opt-in to public stat tracking before they can join a lobby.
It is a minor inconvenience that saves a vital part of the ecosystem. “Leaderboards are the lifeblood of the grind,” says veteran competitive player Marcus “Vortex” Vance. “If you can’t show off your PRs or look at your win streaks, half the fun of competitive play is gone. We’ll all just have to turn the settings back on.”
Fortunately, Fortnite Tracker’s new API updates are rolling out smoothly. The platform is already seeing a massive surge in manual account verifications as players realize their stats have gone dark. While the days of open, automatic tracking are gone, the competitive community is proving more than willing to opt back in to keep the spirit of competition alive.
