What is Decay in League of Legends?
You hit Diamond in March, life gets busy, you take three weeks off. You come back and the client shows Emerald. Nothing was hacked and nothing broke. That is decay doing exactly what it was built to do.
Decay is the LP League of Legends removes from inactive high ranked accounts to keep the top of the ladder occupied by players who are actually competing.
Which ranks it touches
Rank | Decays? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Iron to Emerald | No | Take as long a break as you want |
Diamond | Yes | Generous banked days, moderate LP loss |
Master, Grandmaster, Challenger | Yes | Shorter bank, heavier penalty |
Flex queue | At the top end | Runs on its own separate timer |
Riot adjusts the exact day counts and LP amounts between seasons, and the 2026 Apex Tier reset shook up the top of the ladder again, so check the live patch notes before planning a long break.
How the timer works
Entering a decaying rank credits you with a pool of inactivity days. Each ranked game you play adds one back, up to the cap. When the pool empties, LP starts draining at fixed intervals and keeps draining for as long as you stay away.
It does not stop at zero LP either. Sustained decay pushes you out of the tier entirely, which is how Diamond accounts end up sitting in Emerald.
The two things that catch people out
The first is that decay does not care about your reasons. Exams, a work deadline, a holiday, a dead GPU. The timer runs regardless.
The second is partial activity. Normals do not count. ARAM does not count. Arena does not count. Only ranked games in the affected queue refill your banked days, which means a player can log in daily and still decay.
Protecting the rank while you are away
This is the exact problem anti decay boosting exists to solve. We keep the account active in the right queue so the rank holds while you deal with everything else. For accounts sitting in Master and above, where the penalties bite hardest, there is dedicated high tier boosting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Emerald decay in League of Legends?
No. Solo/Duo decay begins at Diamond.
Do normal games stop decay?
No. Only ranked games in the affected queue refill your banked days.
Can decay drop you out of a tier?
Yes. Continued decay at 0 LP eventually demotes you entirely.
Improve your knowledge with these related League of Legends definitions:
League of Legends definitions