Valorant VAN 57 and other VAN errors: what they mean and how to fix them

Valorant error VAN 57 means Riot Vanguard, Riot Games’ anti-cheat, isn’t running or failed to start properly. In most cases, setting the vgc service to start automatically and restarting your PC fixes it. Below you’ll find the full fix in the order Riot Support gives it, a table of other common VAN errors with the first step for each, and what to do when nothing works. Everything here follows Riot Support articles as of 20 October 2026.

VAN or VAL: which error do you actually have

Errors prefixed VAN come from Vanguard, not from the game itself. Codes starting with VAL (for example VAL 59) are Valorant game errors with their own support articles, and the fixes in this guide don’t apply to them. Riot’s advice is to note the exact code, search for it in the VAN error list with Ctrl+F and follow the article for that code. If your code isn’t on the list, go straight to a support ticket with your logs attached.

What Vanguard is, why it needs a kernel driver and why it starts with Windows is covered in our separate guide to Riot Vanguard.

Error VAN 57: step-by-step fix

The message reads “An unexpected error with Vanguard has occurred and the client will now close”, or the game simply tells you “Vanguard is not running”. Riot recommends these steps in this order, launching the game after each one:

1. Set the vgc service to Automatic (unless you use Vanguard Pre-Check) and restart your PC.
2. Restart your PC if the service was already set to Automatic. That gives Vanguard a fresh start.
3. Uninstall Vanguard, restart, then launch the game. Vanguard reinstalls itself with default settings.
4. Perform a clean boot to see whether a background app or service is interfering with Vanguard.
5. Reinstall the game in case game files are corrupted or missing.

If the error is still there, submit a support ticket and attach your logs. The full wording is in Riot’s article on error VAN 57.

How to set the vgc service to Automatic

vgc is Vanguard’s Windows service. The Services window is the Windows service manager, and Startup type controls when a service launches. Riot’s vgc guide goes like this:

1. Press Win + R.
2. Type services.msc and press Enter.
3. In the Services window, find vgc and double-click it to open its properties.
4. Under Startup type, select Automatic.
5. If Service status says Stopped, click Start.
6. Click Apply, then OK.
7. Restart your PC and launch the game through the Riot Client.

The exception is Vanguard Pre-Check. With it, Vanguard doesn’t start with Windows but with the game, so the Automatic step doesn’t apply to you. Pre-Check has its own requirements, including Windows 11 version 25H2 or newer, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0.

Other common VAN errors and where to start

The table covers the codes that have their own Riot Support article. The last column shows the step Riot starts with. If it doesn’t help, continue with the article for that code.

Code	What it means	Start with
VAN 0, VAN 84	Vanguard couldn’t confirm your PC is ready, or initialisation failed	update Windows, then set vgc to Automatic
VAN 59	problem starting up or talking to the Riot Client, can kick you out mid-game	restart the Riot Client
VAN 68	Vanguard lost its connection during launch or gameplay	restart your PC and check the time, date and time zone in Windows
VAN -81	trouble starting, staying connected or confirming readiness	same as VAN 68
VAN 185	connection problem between the game, the Riot Client and Vanguard	check minimum specs, unplug controllers and unneeded USB devices
VAN 1067	unexpected problem during startup or system checks	update Windows, unplug your controller and unneeded USB devices
VAN 152	hardware ban on the device (HWID ban)	no fix, see below
VAN 9001	Vanguard requires TPM 2.0 but can’t detect it	enable TPM 2.0
VAN 9002	Windows Exploit Protection (Control Flow Guard) is turned off	reset Exploit Protection to defaults
VAN 9003	Secure Boot isn’t enabled	enable Secure Boot
VAN 9005	Vanguard needs TPM 2.0 and UEFI for Virtualization-based Security	check TPM 2.0, Secure Boot and Memory Integrity, restart
VAN 9090	TPM 2.0 failed to initialise, for example after being cleared	re-enable TPM 2.0 and restart
VAN: RESTRICTION	Vanguard needs a Windows update or a security feature, the message says which	fix what the message names, then restart
VAN: Incompatible Software	Vanguard found an incompatible program or driver and shows its file path	note the path and uninstall the related software

Riot tracks plenty of other codes too, such as further negative codes, VAN 6, VAN 128 or VAN 9004. Each has its own article, all listed in the VAN error list on Riot Support.

Full fixes for connection and startup errors

• VAN 59: restart the Riot Client, uninstall and reinstall Vanguard, reinstall the game.
• VAN 68: restart your PC, check time, date and time zone in Windows, set vgc to Automatic, reinstall Vanguard, clean boot, reinstall the game, disable Killer Network Service and finally follow Riot’s connection guide.
• VAN -81: the same steps as VAN 68, minus Killer Network Service.
• VAN 0 and VAN 84: update Windows, set vgc to Automatic, reinstall Vanguard, clean boot, reinstall the game, check your connection.
• VAN 1067: update Windows, unplug your controller and unneeded USB devices, run the Riot Client as administrator, set vgc to Automatic, clean boot, scan for malware, reinstall Vanguard, check your connection, reinstall the game.
• VAN 185: check minimum specs, unplug controllers and USB devices, restart the Riot Client, sign out of the Riot Client on any other PC, restart your PC, reinstall Vanguard, clean boot, check your connection, reinstall the game.

VAN 152: a device ban, not a bug

VAN 152 means your device has a hardware ban (HWID ban). It isn’t an install or connection error, so reinstalling, restarting or changing your connection won’t remove it. Details are in Riot’s article on error VAN 152.

TPM 2.0, Secure Boot and an up-to-date Windows

VAN 9001, VAN 9003, VAN 9005 and VAN 9090 tell you Windows is missing a security feature Vanguard requires: TPM 2.0, Secure Boot or Memory Integrity. How to check and enable them is covered in our system requirements guide.

VAN: RESTRICTION without a number states in the message what’s missing. Riot lists these requirements: Windows build 19045 or newer (install all available updates), build 26100 or newer (only possible on Windows 11, so Windows 10 users need to upgrade), plus TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, Memory Integrity (HVCI/VBS) and IOMMU. Restart after every change. RESTRICTION 1, 3, 4 and 5 each have their own support article.

VAN 9002: turn Exploit Protection back on

Exploit Protection is a Windows defence against programs being abused through bugs, and Vanguard won’t launch the game without it. Steps from Riot’s article:

1. Open Start and type “exploit protection”.
2. On the System settings tab, set these to Use default: Control flow guard (CFG), Data Execution Prevention (DEP), Mandatory ASLR, Bottom-up ASLR, High-entropy ASLR, SEHOP and Validate heap integrity. Don’t restart yet.
3. On the Program settings tab, find every entry for Riot Games, Riot Vanguard or any Riot game and delete it with Remove.
4. Restart your PC.

VAN: Incompatible Software

Here Vanguard shows the path to the file it objects to, usually a driver ending in.sys. Riot recommends:

1. Write down the file path from the message.
2. Uninstall the related program (Settings → Apps → Installed apps) and restart.
3. If that fails, delete the flagged.sys file and restart.
4. Configure your DNS using Riot’s guide.
5. Turn off any VPN or proxy.
6. Reinstall Vanguard.

Clean boot the Riot way

A clean boot starts Windows with Microsoft services only, so you can see whether another program is getting in Vanguard’s way. Steps from Riot’s clean boot guide:

1. Press Win + R, type msconfig and confirm.
2. On the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services.
3. Click Disable All.
4. Tick vgc again. Games that use Vanguard won’t run without it.
5. Click Apply.
6. On the Startup tab, click Open Task Manager, note which apps are enabled and disable them.
7. Click OK and restart.

If the game runs after a clean boot, switch your programs back on one by one until you find the one causing the error.

Manual Vanguard uninstall as a last resort

The regular way to uninstall Vanguard and Valorant is in our download and uninstall guide. If a normal uninstall won’t work, Riot gives a manual route:

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator.
2. Enter sc delete vgc.
3. Enter sc delete vgk.
4. Restart your PC.
5. Delete the Riot Vanguard folder in C:Program Files.

Vanguard reinstalls as soon as you launch the Riot Client or a game.

Test in the Practice Tool, and when to contact support

For VAN 59 and VAN 68, Riot suggests testing after each step in the Practice Tool or a custom game. If the error kicks you out there, you won’t be penalised the way you would for leaving a real match.

If you’ve gone through every step for your code and the error remains, or your code isn’t on Riot’s list, submit a ticket with your logs. Everything above applies to Windows. How Valorant works on PS5 and Xbox is explained in our console guide.

Join our Discord and ask other players what fixed their VAN error: GamersTogether Discord.

FAQ

Information verified on 20 October 2026. More guides are in our Valorant section.