“Failed to Verify Username” and “Invalid Session” in Minecraft: Causes and Fixes

What each message means

When you join a server that uses official accounts, two things happen: your game tells Mojang you're joining, and then the server asks Mojang whether that's true. Each message comes from one of those steps.

If the first step fails, your game says so: “Failed to log in: Invalid session (try restarting your game and the launcher)”. What has expired or stopped being valid is your session in the launcher.

If the second step fails, the server kicks you: “Failed to verify username!”. Mojang hasn't confirmed that you're you. If you run the server, the console shows something like Username 'Name' tried to join with an invalid session.

If it only happens to you: renew your session

First, try another server and ask whether your friends can join yours. If they can and you can't join any, it's your session: follow these steps in order.

1. Close the game and the launcher completely

   Leaving the world isn't enough: close the launcher too, including if it stays in the system tray, and open it again. It's what the message itself asks for and it fixes most cases.

2. Close anything using your account

   If the game is open on another PC or in another launcher with the same account, close it. Playing on several accounts at once or signing in many times in a row also causes this error.

3. Sign out and back in

   In the launcher, sign out and sign in again with your Microsoft account: that gets you a new session. With launchers like Prism or Modrinth App it's the same: remove the account and add it again.

4. Try again and check your network

   If it persists, turn off your VPN if you use one and try another connection, such as mobile data. Reinstalling the game doesn't normally help.

If nobody can join: check whether Mojang is down

If it happens to everyone at once, on several servers, the fault may not be yours: the servers that check accounts go down too. Is Minecraft down? checks them piece by piece right now.

In that case the messages are usually different: “Authentication servers are down. Please try again later. Sorry!” or “The authentication servers are currently not reachable. Please try again.”. There's nothing to change: when they're back, you can join.

If you haven't bought the game

A launcher with no Microsoft account has no session to show Mojang, so a server using official accounts rejects you with one of the two messages. It can't be fixed from your game or by changing your name: you need an account with the game bought, or for whoever runs the server to open it to unofficial accounts, with everything that involves (non-premium server).

If you run the server and it only affects a few players

The cause people check least is prevent-proxy-connections. With it on, the server passes Mojang the address the player is joining from, to compare with the one from their login. If they don't match, it kicks them with “Failed to verify username!”. To the game, any VPN counts as a proxy, and it can also kick people with no VPN at all. If it only fails for those players, set it to false.

On a network with Velocity or BungeeCord, the proxy is what checks accounts: online-mode=true on the proxy, online-mode=false on the servers behind it and player forwarding set up correctly on both sides. If the message appears on a network like that, start there.

Why you shouldn't turn off online-mode to fix it

It's the first thing many sites suggest and the message does go away, but it fixes nothing: it removes the whole check. With online-mode=false, anyone can join using someone else's name, including an operator's.

On top of that, players get a different identifier, so they appear with an empty inventory and you have to set up ops and the whitelist again. If you want a server for unofficial accounts, do it on purpose and with a password plugin (how to do it properly), not to get rid of an error that closing the launcher fixes.

Messages that look similar but aren't the same

“You logged in from another location”: someone has joined that server with your account, or your game got stuck inside. Wait a minute and try again.

“Multiplayer is disabled. Please check your Microsoft account settings.”: this isn't a server fault. It mostly happens on children's accounts: multiplayer has to be allowed in the settings of the Microsoft account or its family group.

“You are banned from playing online”: the account has a sanction from Mojang or Microsoft, not from that server. No server admin can lift it.

If your error is a different one, the rest are in can't connect to my Minecraft server, and if you get in but it kicks you later, in why I get kicked from the server.

On NapNodes

1. Check the “Console”

   Ask the player to join and read the line that appears with their name: it tells you whether it's an invalid session or the account couldn't be checked.

2. Check “Joining and players”

   In “Settings” → “Joining and players” you'll find “Official Minecraft accounts only” (online-mode) and “Kick players joining through a VPN or proxy” (prevent-proxy-connections). If it kicks players on a VPN, turn off the second one.

3. Restart

   Each setting saves itself and takes effect when you press “Restart”.

4. If you want to open it to unofficial accounts

   When you turn off “Official Minecraft accounts only”, the panel warns you and adds AuthMe, so that each player protects their name with a password.

Frequently asked questions