If you’re new to Apex Legends, you’ve probably been crushed three matches in a row by sweat lords with 10k kills and wondered, can you play against bots in Apex Legends to get the hang of things first? Yeah, I’ve been there too. I still remember my first week playing, I couldn’t even pick up a weapon before someone wiped my entire squad from 200 meters away. Bot matches are way more than just a safe space for new players, too—even veteran players use them to test new weapons, practice movement tech, or warm up before ranked grinds. There’s no shame in taking time to practice against AI before jumping into the chaos of public lobbies, and Respawn has built in multiple official options to make that possible.
Can You Play Against Bots in Apex Legends? Official Mode Breakdown
Many new players reach out asking can you play against bots in Apex Legends because they’re overwhelmed by the skill gap in public lobbies, and the good news is Respawn has added multiple official options for bot play over the years. The only catch is there’s no dedicated public queue for bot-only matches, so you’ll have to use specific modes to access AI opponents. First, all new accounts get bot-heavy lobbies for their first 10 to 15 matches, to give new players time to learn basic controls, map layouts, and legend abilities without getting dominated immediately. Second, custom game lobbies support fully configurable bot rosters, so you can set up matches with as many or as few AI opponents as you want. Third, Mixtape modes (Control, Team Deathmatch, Gun Run) will sometimes fill empty slots with bots if there aren’t enough human players to start a match.
You might have seen videos online of people using glitches or third-party tools to force bot lobbies in regular public matchmaking, and I can’t stress enough how bad of an idea that is. Respawn explicitly bans any third-party tools or glitch exploits to force bot lobbies in public matchmaking, and you could lose your entire account, including all your skins and ranked progress, if you get caught. Stick to the official bot options we cover later in this guide, and you won’t run any risk of penalties.
How to Access Legitimate Bot Lobbies in Apex Legends
If you’re looking for a consistent way to play against bots in Apex Legends without waiting for new account onboarding, custom lobbies are your best bet. The process is super simple, and you don’t need any special permissions to create a custom lobby with bots anymore—Respawn rolled out the feature for all players a few seasons back. When setting up bot lobbies, you can choose how many players and how many bots you want, so if you just want to play against bots in Apex Legends alone to practice, you can fill all 29 remaining slots with bots of your chosen difficulty. Here’s the step-by-step process to set up your own custom bot lobby:
If you don’t want to mess with custom lobbies, the firing range also has programmable dummies that act like low-stakes bots if you activate the hidden Easter egg. To turn dummies hostile, you’ll need to go to the far back left corner of the firing range, interact with the small red button on the wall behind the weapon racks, and dummies will start moving and shooting back at you. Hostile firing range dummies have the same hitboxes as real players, so they're perfect for practicing recoil control and headshot accuracy without having to set up an entire custom match. You can also adjust the dummy difficulty if you want a bigger challenge.
Key Benefits of Playing Against Bots in Apex Legends
One of the biggest perks of being able to play against bots in Apex Legends is that you don’t have to worry about toxic teammates yelling at you for making mistakes while you learn. If you’re still getting the hang of sliding, wall bouncing, or zip line jumps, you can take as much time as you need to practice those skills without getting picked off every two seconds. Bot matches are the best low-stakes environment to test new legend abilities before you bring them to ranked play. For example, if you just unlocked Catalyst, you can practice placing her walls and spikes in different scenarios to see what works, without letting your squad down.
Bot matches aren’t just for new players, either. I usually run 2-3 bot matches with my squad before we start our ranked grind each session, and we’ve noticed way fewer messy early game missteps since we started doing that. They’re a great way to warm up your aim and get into the rhythm of the game without wasting your first two public matches shaking off rust. Custom bot lobbies also let you adjust circle speed and loot rarity, so you can simulate specific endgame scenarios to practice for ranked. If you struggle with small circle fights, you can set the circle to close immediately so you jump right into endgame combat over and over again, without having to sit through 15 minutes of looting each time.
Bot matches are also a great way to test weapon balance changes after a patch drops. If Respawn nerfs or buffs a weapon you use regularly, you can take it into a bot match to feel out the new recoil pattern or damage output, instead of guessing how it works in a real match and wasting a good loadout.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Playing Apex Legends Bot Matches
For all their benefits, bot matches have some big limitations, and there are a few common mistakes players make that stop them from getting the most out of their practice time. First, don’t get too comfortable playing against easy difficulty bots. If you only play against bots in Apex Legends, you’ll never learn how to react to unexpected plays from real human opponents. Bots don't use advanced movement tech or flank like real players, so you'll need to practice against real opponents to build those game sense skills. As you get better, bump the bot difficulty up to medium or hard, so you’re still challenging yourself every time you practice.
Second, don’t use bot lobbies to farm stats or badges. Respawn tracks match data to tell the difference between bot kills and real player kills, and you can get your account banned if you’re caught artificially inflating your kill count or damage stats with bot matches to unlock rare badges. It’s not worth risking your account for a badge that doesn’t even mean anything, since other players will be able to tell you earned it against bots anyway.
Third, don’t waste too much time in bot lobbies if your goal is to climb ranked or get better at public matches. I see a lot of new players get stuck in a loop of only playing bots because they’re scared of losing in public matches, but you can only learn so much from AI opponents. You’ll make mistakes when you play against real people, that’s part of the process, and those mistakes are how you’ll get better faster. Try to limit your bot play to 10 or 15 minutes of warm up per session, and spend the rest of your time in real public or ranked matches.
At the end of the day, if you’ve been wondering can you play against bots in Apex Legends, the answer is a resounding yes, as long as you stick to legitimate, Respawn-approved methods. Bot matches are an incredibly useful tool for players of all skill levels, from total newbies learning the basics to veteran players warming up for big ranked sessions. Just remember to balance your bot play with real public matches, avoid any exploit methods that could get your account banned, and you’ll be dominating the Outlands in no time.