LoL Level Borders: Every Border from Level 1 to 500
LoL level borders are the frames around your summoner icon that show your account level. There are 21 of them: one at Level 1, then at 30, 50 and 75, and after that one every 25 levels up to Level 500. You earn them only by gaining summoner XP from games, and you can display any border you’ve already unlocked.
What is a level border in League of Legends?
A level border (Riot’s client also calls it a prestige crest) is a cosmetic ring that wraps your summoner icon on your profile, in the friends list and in the lobby. It says one thing about you: how much you’ve played. That’s all. It isn’t a rank, it doesn’t touch matchmaking, and nobody can buy it in the store.
The system is younger than many players think. Until patch 7.22 in November 2017, accounts stopped at Level 30, and the only frames anyone cared about were ranked ones. Riot then removed the level cap, and level borders arrived as a way to give long-time players something visible for thousands of games. In April 2022 Riot redrew the whole set with thinner, cleaner frames to match the updated client (and yes, part of the community still prefers the chunkier originals).
Funny enough, the client files don’t give the borders names at all. The ring art sits in a folder called themed-level-ring, numbered theme 1 to theme 21, so the region names you see on fan sites are nicknames, not official titles.
How many level borders are in League?
There are 21 level borders. The count matches the 21 numbered themes in the League client’s game files, and the milestones follow a simple pattern:
| Border | Unlock level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Level 1 | Every new account starts with it |
| 2 | Level 30 | Same level that opens ranked queues |
| 3 | Level 50 | First border after the old level cap |
| 4 | Level 75 | Start of the 25-level rhythm |
| 5 to 8 | Levels 100, 125, 150, 175 | One new border every 25 levels |
| 9 to 12 | Levels 200, 225, 250, 275 | XP per level keeps climbing |
| 13 to 16 | Levels 300, 325, 350, 375 | Rare in casual lobbies |
| 17 to 20 | Levels 400, 425, 450, 475 | Very long-term accounts |
| 21 | Level 500 | The last level border; nothing new after it |
Past Level 500 the number keeps going up, but the frame stays the same. So when someone at Level 640 shows the same ring as someone at 510, that’s working as intended.
How do you unlock LoL level borders?
You unlock each border automatically the moment your account reaches its level. No crafting, no loot, no store page. Thing is, the only real lever you have is summoner XP, and that comes from playing matches.
Most PvP modes on the live client give XP: normal and ranked games on Summoner’s Rift, ARAM, Arena and whatever rotating mode is up that week. Custom games give nothing. Very short games give nothing either, because rewards only count for matches that last at least 7 minutes, so a remake never moves your level. Ranked and normal games pay on the same XP scale, so there’s no hidden bonus for picking one queue over the other.
What about Teamfight Tactics? TFT runs its own progression and pass, so a weekend of TFT leaves your League level exactly where it was (people ask us this more often than you’d expect).
How much XP does a game give?
Riot doesn’t print an XP formula in the client, but the numbers players have measured over the years are consistent. XP scales with game length, and wins pay more than losses. A 30-minute win on Summoner’s Rift is worth roughly 205 XP, and a 30-minute loss about 167. ARAM uses the same per-minute scale. Shorter games, smaller payout.
| Factor | Effect on summoner XP |
|---|---|
| Game length | Longer games give more XP |
| Result | A win pays more than a loss of the same length |
| Under 7 minutes | No XP or other rewards |
| Custom games | No XP |
| Co-op vs AI at Level 30+ | 75% of normal XP, 55% after 180 minutes of bot games in a day |
| Win boost | Flat +216 XP per win while active |
| Duration boost | Doubles the base XP of each game while active |
The two store boosts stack, which is the fastest legal way to climb levels. Even so, the curve gets steep. Each level past 30 needs more XP than the early ones, and the gap between two late borders is far longer than the gap between Level 1 and Level 50, which is why a Level 400 frame in your lobby usually means years of regular play rather than one busy summer.
Want a shortcut? There isn’t one inside the rules. Bot farming got its XP cut for exactly that reason, and accounts levelled by third-party programs are what Riot’s systems hunt for.
How to change your level border in LoL
You can switch to any border you’ve earned, not just the newest one. Plenty of high-level players keep an older ring because it suits their icon better. In the client:
- Click your summoner icon in the top right corner of the client.
- Open the BORDERS tab in the identity menu.
- Pick any unlocked border and confirm.
The change shows up right away on your profile, in friends lists and in lobbies. Borders you haven’t reached stay locked and greyed out.
One detail trips up people with more than one account. Levels and borders belong to a single account, so a Level 250 main on EUW does nothing for a fresh account on NA, and a region transfer keeps the level you already had rather than adding anything. Long story short, every account climbs from its own Level 1, and its border collection starts empty apart from that first frame.
Level borders vs ranked borders vs skin borders
Three different systems put frames around your name, and they get mixed up constantly. Put simply, level borders measure time, ranked borders measure your tier, and skin borders come with specific skins.
| Type | How you get it | Where it shows | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level border | Reach a level milestone | Profile, friends list, lobby | Permanent once unlocked |
| Ranked border | Your ranked tier, Iron to Challenger | Profile and loading screen | Changes with your rank and the season |
| Skin border | Owning a particular skin or event reward | Loading screen, only with that skin equipped | Permanent, but only on that skin |
Ranked frames follow the ten tiers from Iron to Challenger, explained in our guide to League ranks. Skin borders are more niche. The game data lists 93 of them right now, for example the Victorious Draven and Victorious Fiora borders from 2025 (one for each tier from Iron to Challenger, depending on the rank that earned the skin), the Hall of Legends borders for Faker in 2024 and Uzi in 2025, and an Arcane Fractured Jinx border.
Why does your level ring sometimes “disappear” in a loading screen? Because a skin border or ranked frame is drawn over it, while the level border itself stays on your profile untouched.
Does a high summoner level mean anything?
Not much, honestly. A high border proves someone has played a lot of games. It says nothing about skill, because summoner XP comes from normals, ARAM and Arena just as much as from ranked, and Level 300 accounts sitting in Silver are completely normal.
There is one level that matters in practice, though. Level 30 is the requirement for ranked queues, together with owning at least 20 champions, so the Level 30 border is the one most new players actually chase. Everything after it is cosmetic.
That’s also the level our accounts start at. Every League account we sell is Level 30 or higher and hand-leveled by our team in normal games, without bots, so a new owner sees the Level 30 border from the first login; ranked ready accounts already have their 10 normal games played. Details and current regions are on the League of Legends accounts page.
What else comes with leveling up?
Borders aren’t the only thing levels give you. Level-up rewards have included champion capsules, Blue Essence and, at the milestone levels, prestige emotes, which makes the early climb noticeably faster for building a champion pool. If BE is your main goal, our guide on how to farm Blue Essence covers which sources pay best right now.
Behaviour matters more than level for how other players see you, though. Your Honor level shows next to your name in some places and gates certain rewards, which we cover in the Honor system explainer. For the LoL level borders themselves, the practical advice is simple: play the modes you enjoy, stack a boost if you’re impatient, and pick the ring you like best in the BORDERS tab.
FAQ
How many level borders are there in League of Legends?
There are 21 level borders: at Level 1, 30, 50 and 75, and then every 25 levels up to Level 500.
What is the highest level border in LoL?
The Level 500 border is the last one. Accounts above Level 500 keep that frame, and no new level borders unlock after it.
Can you change your level border in League of Legends?
Yes. Click your summoner icon, open the BORDERS tab and choose any border you have already unlocked.
Does TFT give XP toward your League level?
No. Teamfight Tactics has its own progression, so TFT games do not raise your League summoner level.
Do custom games give summoner XP?
No. Custom games give no XP, and games shorter than 7 minutes give no rewards at all.
Do level borders show your rank?
No. Level borders only reflect account level. Your ranked tier is shown by a separate ranked border.
