VAN 152: this PC has a hardware ID ban

Connection Error: A review detected that action of an account playing on this device violated the User Rules (Section 7) of our Terms of Service. […] Error Code: VAN 152

What VAN 152 actually is

Most Vanguard codes mean something on your PC has gone wrong. VAN 152 is how Riot tells you the physical components of the computer have been banned, so it doesn't matter which Riot account you log in with. Riot's own article for the code is short and says as much: it's a hardware ID (HWID) ban, and none of the usual Vanguard troubleshooting touches it.

That's why this page has no fix list. Reinstalling Vanguard, reinstalling League, restarting the PC or changing your connection won't lift it. Riot adds that deleting the account that earned the ban doesn't remove it either.

Why Riot hands out hardware bans

Riot treats an HWID ban as heavier than an ordinary account ban. It's meant for players Riot doesn't want on any of its games at all for the length of the ban, and it also bars that person from playing publicly, streams included. Riot's Understanding Hardware ID (HWID) Bans article says they generally follow one of these:

• extreme chat aggression or deliberate feeding repeated across many accounts that were already permanently banned
• a verifiable threat of harm against players or Riot staff
• getting flagged for scripts, cheats or other third-party tools

While the ban is active, Riot says it keeps looking for accounts the banned player uses and bans them by hand when it finds them, however well they're behaved.

Don't log a second account in on this PC

This is the part that catches families and roommates. If someone signs in to a Riot game on a hardware-banned computer with a different account (a sibling's, say), Riot says two things happen. That account can't play on the banned PC, and it also picks up a timed ban of its own, because the system reads the login as an attempt to dodge the original ban. Riot's advice is blunt: if you suspect a computer is hardware banned, don't log in on it with any account.

Getting it reviewed

Riot says a ban given for in-game behavior or suspected cheating can sometimes be lifted, though it never promises that. You ask through a Player Support ticket for a re-evaluation, and if more than one of your accounts is caught up in it, Riot wants a separate ticket for each. They review whether the penalty holds and then either lift it or extend it.

A few limits apply. A ban that came from a verifiable threat of harm won't be reconsidered outside unusual cases Riot decides on itself. If an HWID ban is lifted, Riot stops banning your accounts on sight, but the accounts it already banned stay banned until the original period ends. Riot also won't talk about an HWID ban's status with anyone except the banned player (so the ticket has to come from you).

Related errors

• VAN: RESTRICTION
• VAN 57

Source: Riot Games Player Support, Error VAN 152, updated July 16, 2026. Riot's steps are paraphrased here, not copied; checked September 25, 2026.