If League of Legends pops up a window reading VAN 128, says an unexpected error with Vanguard has occurred, and then closes the client, the place to look is Riot Vanguard rather than League's own game files. Vanguard is Riot's anti-cheat and has been active in League since patch 14.9 in 2024.
It includes a kernel mode driver and starts when Windows boots, so your Windows security settings, the state of the vgc service and the health of the Vanguard install all decide whether League opens normally or closes with a code that starts with VAN.
This guide covers the codes League players search for most, VAN 128, 9007, 1067 and -83, plus the 9000 range that asks for TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, and walks through them in the order Riot's own support articles give.
If the client simply goes black without any code, that is a different problem, covered in our League client black screen fix. Everything here was checked on November 10, 2026, and applies to Windows PCs.
VAN codes League players see, with Riot's cause and first fix (as of November 10, 2026)
| Error code | What Riot says it means | Try this first |
|---|---|---|
| VAN -83 (often searched as VAN 83) | Vanguard is having trouble starting, staying connected or confirming it is ready. Riot's list has an article for -83 but none for a positive 83. | Restart the PC, check the Windows date, time and time zone, set vgc to Automatic, then reinstall Vanguard |
| VAN -81 and VAN 68 | -81 is the same start or connection trouble as -83. 68 means Vanguard lost the connection or session it needs while the game launches or runs. | Follow the -83 ladder. For 68, also turn off Killer Network Service and relaunch the game |
| VAN 128 | Vanguard could not finish one of its startup or system trust checks | Restore Windows security to its normal state, set Write debugging information to (none), install Windows updates |
| VAN 9007 | The Vanguard install is corrupted or not working correctly | Uninstall Vanguard manually, restart, launch League to reinstall it. If the code returns, delete vgkbootstatus.dat |
| VAN 1067 | Vanguard hit an unexpected issue while starting or checking in with your system. Riot's article shows the VALORANT wording, but the steps are generic Vanguard steps. | Update Windows, unplug controllers and extra USB devices, run the Riot Client as administrator |
| VAN 9001 | TPM 2.0 is not detected as enabled | Open tpm.msc and confirm Specification Version 2.0. If not, enable Intel PTT or AMD fTPM in the BIOS |
| VAN 9003 | Secure Boot is not enabled | In msinfo32, check that BIOS Mode is UEFI and Secure Boot State is On. If not, enable Secure Boot in the BIOS |
| VAN 9005 | Vanguard cannot find the TPM 2.0 and UEFI compatible firmware that virtualization based security needs | Turn on TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, confirm Memory integrity is running, then restart |
Read the code first: a startup failure, a broken install, or a missing PC security setting
Write the code down exactly as it appears, including the VAN prefix and any minus sign. Riot's Vanguard error list groups codes into named errors such as VAN: RESTRICTION, negative codes, 0 to 99, 100 to 8999, and 9000 and above, but for League players the fix falls into three buckets.
Startup and check-in failures such as VAN -83, -81, 68, 128 and 1067 mean Vanguard could not start, stay connected or finish its system checks, so you work down a ladder: restart, check the Windows clock, update Windows, set the vgc service to Automatic, reinstall Vanguard, clean boot, reinstall the game.
VAN 9007 says the Vanguard install itself is corrupted, so reinstalling Vanguard is the first move rather than the last. VAN 9001, 9003 and 9005 point at a specific PC requirement, namely TPM 2.0, Secure Boot or virtualization based security, and changing that one setting is the fix.
If your code starts with VAL instead of VAN, it is a VALORANT error, and our VALORANT crashing and not launching guide is the better starting point. One more thing worth knowing: on a PC that also has VALORANT, uninstalling League leaves Vanguard in place, so a Vanguard fault can show up in both games for the same reason.
Fix it in the order Riot's support articles use
- 1Restart and check the Windows clockThe first two steps in Riot's VAN -83, -81 and 68 articles are a full restart and a check of the Windows date, time and time zone. Vanguard starts with Windows, so a restart gives it a clean start before you change anything else. In Settings, open Time & language and confirm the time zone is right and the clock is set automatically. While you are there, look for the red Vanguard icon in the system tray at the right end of the taskbar: if it is there, Vanguard is running.
- 2Install Windows updates and set vgc to AutomaticInstall every available Windows update and restart. Then press Windows key + R, type services.msc and press Enter. Double click vgc, change Startup type to Automatic, click Start if the status shows Stopped, then Apply, OK, and restart the PC. Riot notes that PCs using Vanguard Pre-Check can skip this step, because Pre-Check starts Vanguard only when you launch a Riot game and shuts it down after you finish playing. Pre-Check itself is only available on Windows 11 version 25H2 or newer with Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, IOMMU, VBS and HVCI in place.
- 3Uninstall Vanguard and let League reinstall it (start here for VAN 9007)Close every Riot program and the Riot Client. Right click the Vanguard tray icon, choose Advanced, then Uninstall Vanguard, or remove Riot Vanguard from Add or remove programs. After a restart, a missing tray icon means it is gone. If the normal uninstall fails, open Command Prompt as administrator, run sc delete vgc and then sc delete vgk, restart, and delete whatever is left in the Riot Vanguard folder under Program Files. Launching League from the Riot Client reinstalls Vanguard automatically. If VAN 9007 survives a clean reinstall, Riot's next step is deleting vgkbootstatus.dat so Vanguard rebuilds the file on the next launch.
- 4For VAN 128, reset Windows security and debug dumpsRiot's first VAN 128 step is restoring Windows security to its normal state. Open Command Prompt as administrator and run bcdedit /set TESTSIGNING off and bcdedit /set nointegritychecks OFF. If Windows says the second value is protected by Secure Boot policy, skip it, then restart. Next, press Windows key + R, type sysdm.cpl, go to Advanced, then Startup and Recovery, Settings, set Write debugging information to (none), click OK and restart again. Both commands only switch test signing and the integrity check bypass back off, so they are safe to run even if you never changed those settings yourself.
- 5For the 9000 codes, check TPM 2.0 and Secure BootFor VAN 9001, open tpm.msc and look for 'The TPM is ready for use' with Specification Version 2.0. If Windows cannot find a compatible TPM, enter the BIOS (UEFI) and enable Intel PTT on Intel systems or AMD fTPM on AMD systems. For VAN 9003, open msinfo32 and check that BIOS Mode reads UEFI and Secure Boot State reads On. If not, switch the boot mode to UEFI, disable CSM and set Secure Boot to Enabled. A Legacy BIOS mode means the drive must be converted from MBR to GPT first, which cannot be undone, so back up before you start. Changing TPM settings or resetting Secure Boot keys can trigger BitLocker recovery, so have your recovery key ready. For VAN 9005, do both and then confirm Memory integrity under Windows Security, Device security, Core isolation.
- 6Clean boot, reinstall League, then contact support with logsOpen msconfig, tick Hide all Microsoft services on the Services tab first, click Disable all, then tick vgc again so Vanguard stays on. On the Startup tab, open Task Manager, note which startup apps are enabled, disable them and restart. If League launches, turn things back on one at a time to find the culprit. If nothing changes, uninstall and reinstall the game. As the last step, run the Riot Repair Tool as administrator, pick League of Legends, and attach the zip of logs it creates to a new or existing Player Support ticket.
Check these before you contact Player Support
- Did you copy the code exactly, including the VAN prefix and any minus sign? A VAL prefix means a VALORANT error.
- Is the red Vanguard icon in the system tray, and is vgc set to Automatic in services.msc (unless you use Vanguard Pre-Check)?
- Are all Windows updates installed, and does your PC meet the operating system line in the League of Legends system requirements?
- For a 9000 code, does tpm.msc show Specification Version 2.0 and does msinfo32 show Secure Boot State On?
- Before touching the BIOS, do you have your BitLocker recovery key and a backup of important files?
- Do you have the Riot Repair Tool zip and a note of when the error appears: at boot, when the client opens, or mid game?
Record the error window so your ticket is precise
VAN errors often flash up for a moment before the client closes, which makes it easy to miss the exact code, the minus sign or the moment it appeared. DOR is a free Windows game recorder, and anything that is not a game can be captured with screen recording (default hotkey F7).
Start a screen recording before you open the Riot Client and leave it running until the error appears. The recording lands in My Clips inside the app, where you can trim it down to the few seconds that matter.
Attach the Riot Repair Tool logs to your ticket, then use the recording to write down the code and what you did right before it showed up.
Once the error is fixed, launching League of Legends is all it takes: DOR records the whole match automatically and saves kills, multikills and objectives as automatic highlight clips. Your first game back can go straight to friends as a link, the way our guide on how to share League gameplay with friends shows.
