Valorant Error Code VAN 138: How to Fix It

Bugs are one essential part of each and every game in today’s day and age. The issue that bugs represent can either require an easy fix, or hard maintenance. The Riot game Valorant isn’t any different, showing the player base bugs and errors in error codes.

One of these error codes is the Valorant Error Code VAN 138. If you have encountered this error code, no worries because here you will learn why you are getting it and how to fix Error Code VAN 138 Valorant, Sova approved!

The Reason behind Valorant Error Code VAN 138

Valorant Error Code VAN 138 is a weird connection error code aside from the others. On the official support site banner for error codes, it is stated that this error code appears if you are running the game on a virtual machine. In this case, you should just disable the virtualization. Although this may be the case, some players have found themselves with this issue even without a virtual machine.

One reason for this Valorant Error Code VAN 138 can be due to the bad start of the Riot Client. The Riot Client is an entry point inside the Valorant game, so if that doesn’t start properly, you can simply be hit with Valorant Error Code VAN 138.

Another reason for Valorant Error Code VAN 138 may be due to interferences with the Riot Vanguard and its VGC service. The anti-cheat system may be one of the best out there, but it comes at a cost. It has tons of issues causing lots of error codes, including Valorant Error Code VAN 138.

This third reason has to do with your PC and your Windows. Now, there is one solution you can try, but from the looks of this Reddit thread post, Valorant Error Code VAN 138 can either be fixed through a Windows downgrade or a new CPU installment.

Knowing why you have this issue with the connection error code in the game is key, so next up you’ll learn how you can fix Error Code VAN 138!

How to Fix Valorant Error Code VAN 138

Restart the Riot Client

The first solution that you can try out to fix the connection Error Code VAN 138 is to restart the Riot Client. Sometimes closing it off by pressing the X buttonwon’t do it, so here’s how you can fully restart it:

Open up Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc. Select the Processes tab above and locate the Riot Client. Once you find it, right-click it and click on End Task to close the Riot Client process. You can also close off other game-related Valorant processes, which increases the chances of fixing Valorant Error Code VAN 138.

You can also restart your PC, which should give the game a fresh start of the game client and Vanguard overall.

After this, you should be safe to hop in a game with the best skins! Though if your error code still persists, then the issue may be more serious.

Run Valorant as an Administrator

This connection error code can sometimes be caused by how Valorant functions. Some apps and games need to have special privileges to run on your Windows PC. That can be the case with Valorant, and in this situation, you should run the game as an Administrator.

To do this, in the Search Bar below search for VALORANT, right-click the game, and click on Open file location. This will open up a new folder, where you will have to right-click the VALORANT game and select Properties. Select the Compatibility option above, and tick the Run this game as an administrator box. Click on Apply and select OK.

This should have resolved your issue with the connection Error Code VAN 138. You should be safe to play the game with your Vandal. But if the error code still persists, then the problem is really serious.

Windows Downgrade or New CPU

As seen from this Reddit thread, lots of players have reported that the only way they could fix their Error Code VAN 138 was either through a new CPU upgrade or a Windows Downgrade. Now you can fake this downgrade by going into the Compatibility options, as shown above, tick the “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and try out older versions of Windows to see if you can fix the Error Code VAN 138.

If you are in need of a CPU upgrade, then there’s nothing you can do from online solutions. You could try doing a BCEDIT Configuration, which can be seen in the normal Error Code 138. But there is no guarantee it will fix your VAN 138, so watch out!

Reinstall Riot Vanguard

The last solution that you can try out is to reinstall Riot Vanguard. This anti-cheat may contain some corrupted files, which will recognize Valorant as being run on a Virtual Machine. Here’s how you can reinstall Riot Vanguard:

• Close off the Riot Client, Riot Vanguard, or other Valorant processes in the background from the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc). You can also open the System Tray (arrow pointing upwards below on Windows Taskbar), and if you notice the Vanguard tray notification or the game client, right-click them and close them off
• In the Search Bar below, search for Command Prompt, right-click it, and run it as an Administrator
• Type in the following commands one by one:

• “sc delete vgc”, press Enter and
• “sc delete vgk”, press Enter

• You must restart your PC
• When your PC starts again, go to the Search Bar below, search for This PC and open the first option
• Find the Riot Vanguard folder, which can be in the Program Files folder on the C Partition (“C:\Program Files\Riot Vanguard”)
• Once you find it, right-click it and select Delete
• Open up the Riot Client, this should start to reinstall Riot Vanguard automatically
• Once the reinstallation is finished, restart your PC

If this didn’t fix your error code either, then you should

Contact Riot Support

The Riot Support team’s purpose is to help out the gamers of Valorant with any error codes they have. If your Error Code VAN 138 still persists, you can submit a ticket to the support team here.

Riot ID problems, connectivity issues, or even tweaking options in the Control Panel, error codes are truly the biggest annoyance out there. That’s why you should keep in touch with error codes solutions and catch up on some related articles on the Valorant Error Code Hub. Though if you have encountered Valorant Error Code VAN 152, you can check it out here.