Fortnite Chapter 7 is finally here. It brought a brand-new map, fresh weapons, and a massive shift in how the battle royale plays. But while players were busy exploring these flashy updates, a quiet backend change was busy dismantling a cornerstone of the competitive community.
Epic Games has changed how player data is handled. In the latest update, the developer quietly turned off public stat sharing by default.
Suddenly, millions of player profiles went dark.
The Death of Public Analytics
For years, third-party sites like Fortnite Tracker have been the lifeblood of the game’s competitive scene. Run by the Tracker Network (TRN), these platforms let players look up their kill-death ratios, track win streaks, and see where they rank globally. It gave every match a sense of progression beyond the battle pass.
Now, those leaderboards are largely empty.
Because Epic flipped the default setting from public to private, Fortnite Tracker can no longer pull data for the vast majority of players. If you search for a random opponent after a match, you will likely see a blank screen. Only players who actively go into their settings and opt back in will show up on the databases.
This has caused a massive headache for TRN and its users. The site relies on a steady stream of public API data to generate global rankings, regional leaderboards, and matchmaking analytics. Without it, the data becomes skewed. Competitive matches look like they are filled with bot accounts or low-tier players because the high-level players’ stats are hidden.
Why Epic Flipped the Switch
Epic Games has not made a massive public fuss about the change, but the motivation is clear. Privacy has become a major talking point in gaming, especially for a title like Fortnite that attracts millions of minors. By hiding stats by default, Epic protects younger players from toxic behavior, stat-shaming, and unsolicited scouting.
But for the dedicated community, it feels like a step backward.
Many local tournament coordinators use Fortnite Tracker to verify player skill levels and prevent “smurfing”—where highly skilled players use alternative accounts to dominate lower-tier lobbies. Without reliable, default-public data, keeping tournaments fair becomes a logistical nightmare.
How to Turn Your Fortnite Stats Back On
If you want your stats to show up on Fortnite Tracker again, you have to do it yourself. The process is hidden deep in the game’s menus. Here is how to restore your profile:
- Open Fortnite and navigate to the main lobby screen.
- Open the main menu and click on the Settings gear icon.
- Navigate to the “Account and Privacy” tab on the far right.
- Scroll down to the “Gameplay Privacy” section.
- Find the option labeled “Show on Career Leaderboard” and toggle it to “On”.
TRN has already posted guides on their social media channels, urging players to turn the setting back on. They are hoping that word of mouth will save their databases. But they face an uphill battle. The average casual player rarely touches the deep privacy settings, meaning a huge chunk of Fortnite’s active player base may remain invisible forever.
