VAN 84: Vanguard couldn't confirm your PC is ready

Connection Error: VALORANT has encountered a connection error. Please relaunch the client to reconnect. Error Code: VAN 84

What VAN 84 is telling you

Before a match can start, Vanguard checks that your PC is in a state it can trust. VAN 84 is Riot's code for that check failing, or for Vanguard tripping over something while it was still getting itself going. Riot doesn't narrow it down further.

You'll see the same number in VALORANT, since both games run on one copy of Vanguard. Riot keeps a single article for it, and the error line printed there is VALORANT's ("VALORANT has encountered a connection error"). If League showed you VAN 84, the fix is the same.

Why Windows Update goes first

Plenty of Vanguard articles open with a restart. This one opens with Windows Update, because Riot says the security components and system services Vanguard depends on arrive through those updates. A PC that's been putting updates off for weeks is the first place to look. VAN 1067 opens the same way, though its list then heads off toward admin rights and a malware scan.

The error calls itself a connection error, so resetting your router feels like the obvious move. Riot's order says otherwise: the connection checklist is the last step, after Vanguard's own setup and a full game reinstall.

Riot's fix, in Riot's order

1. Install every pending Windows update

   Open Settings, then Windows Update, and keep installing and restarting until it says you're up to date. Vanguard's checks lean on security components that ship in those updates, and optional driver updates are worth a look while you're there.

2. Set the vgc service to Automatic

   Vanguard has two parts: a driver that loads at boot and a Windows service called vgc. If the service isn't running when you press Play, the game closes.

   1. Press Win+R, type services.msc and press Enter.
   2. Find vgc in the list and double-click it.
   3. Set Startup type to Automatic. If the status says Stopped, click Start.
   4. Apply, OK, then restart the PC.

   The exception is Vanguard Pre-Check, Riot's opt-in mode where Vanguard only runs while a game is open. It needs Windows 11 25H2 or newer plus Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, IOMMU, VBS and HVCI, and if you're on it you shouldn't force the service to Automatic.

   Riot's guide: Set the vgc service to Automatic

3. Uninstall Vanguard, restart, and let the game reinstall it

   1. Close the game and exit the Riot Client from the system tray.
   2. Right-click the red Vanguard icon in the tray, choose Advanced, then Uninstall Vanguard. If the icon isn't there, search Windows for Add or remove programs and uninstall Riot Vanguard from the list.
   3. Restart the PC. Vanguard is gone if its tray icon doesn't come back.
   4. Open the Riot Client and launch the game. It reinstalls Vanguard and will ask for one more restart before Play unlocks.

   Riot's guide: Uninstall Vanguard, restart, and let the game reinstall it

4. Do a clean boot

   This switches off every non-Microsoft service for one boot, so you can tell whether something in the background is the problem.

   1. Press Win+R, type msconfig and press Enter.
   2. On the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services first (skip it and you'll switch off parts of Windows).
   3. Click Disable all, then tick vgc again so Vanguard still starts.
   4. Apply, OK, restart, and test.

   Some programs ignore a clean boot anyway, third-party antivirus and networking tools most of all. If the error goes away, turn services back on a few at a time until it returns, and you've found it.

   Riot's guide: Do a clean boot

5. Reinstall the game

   Uninstall from Windows' Installed apps list with the Riot Client closed. For a clean reinstall of League, Riot also has you delete the Riot Client folder under C:\Riot Games, the Riot Games folders under %localappdata% and %programdata%, and the League of Legends folder in Documents. That last one holds your replays, so copy them out first if you want them.

   Riot's guide: Reinstall the game

6. Work through Riot's connection checklist

   Last on Riot's list for a reason: only get here once the Vanguard steps above have failed. Riot's PC connection guide covers the usual suspects: a wired connection instead of Wi-Fi, restarting the router, switching to a public DNS, firewall exceptions for the Riot Client and game, and turning off VPNs.

   Riot's guide: Work through Riot's connection checklist

What players found

Every report we could find came from VALORANT players, which fits an anti-cheat both games share. Two patterns keep showing up.

Sometimes a whole lobby drops at once. One squad on a Singapore server in mid-2024 lost players one by one to VAN 84 until a single teammate was left, and a Malaysian player in 2021 got kicked straight after a match and was back in shortly afterwards. If your teammates vanish at the same moment you do, check the server status box before you touch your own PC.

The harder case is one player, over and over. Someone on a wired connection, with a public DNS already set and drivers up to date, did a clean boot and reinstalled their graphics drivers, then got VAN 84 again half an hour later. In VALORANT that counts as leaving the match; support lifted their first penalty as an exception and wouldn't lift the next one. A reply suggested switching to a different public DNS, and a player came back two months later to say it had worked better for them.

Player reports paraphrased from various Reddit threads, read September 25, 2026.

Related errors

• VAN 1067
• VAN 185
• VAN -81
• VAN 57

Source: Riot Games Player Support, Error VAN 84, updated July 17, 2026. Riot's steps are paraphrased here, not copied; checked September 25, 2026.