Minecraft "Failed to Verify Username" Fix (and Invalid Session)

Minecraft "Failed to verify username!" means the server asked Mojang's session servers to confirm your account and the check failed. For players, restarting the launcher or signing out and back in fixes it most of the time. For server owners, the usual causes are prevent-proxy-connections, a VPN, a blocked session server or a proxy set up wrong.

What does "Failed to verify username" mean?

When you join a server in online mode, your game and the server both talk to Mojang's session service. Your game says "this account is joining this server", and the server asks Mojang "did this player really just log in?". If Mojang cannot confirm it, the server disconnects you with:

Failed to verify username!

A related set of errors appears before you even reach the server, when the launcher's login has expired or Microsoft blocks multiplayer:

How do players fix "Failed to verify username"?

Work through these in order. The first two fix most cases.

1. Restart the Minecraft Launcher completely. Close the game and the launcher, including from the system tray, then open them again. This refreshes your session token.
2. Sign out and back in. In the launcher, sign out of your Microsoft account, sign back in, and launch again.
3. Turn off your VPN or proxy. If the server checks that your IP matches the one Mojang saw, a VPN makes the check fail.
4. Check your system clock. Set Windows or macOS to set the time automatically. A wrong clock also causes Expired profile public key errors.
5. Do not run the same account twice. Logging in from a second PC or a second instance replaces the first session.
6. Try another server. If every server fails, the problem is your account or network. If only one server fails, it is that server.
7. Check Mojang's status. If session servers are having an outage, everyone gets this error at once and the only fix is to wait.

If you play with a third party launcher, sign in through it again with your Microsoft account. Cracked or offline accounts always fail on servers in online mode, because there is no real login for Mojang to confirm.

How do server owners fix "Failed to verify username"?

If only some players get it, or everyone gets it on your server but not on others, the server side is the problem. Check these in server.properties and your setup.

prevent-proxy-connections

prevent-proxy-connections=false

When this is true, the server sends the player's IP to Mojang along with the check, and the login fails if the IP Mojang saw is different. Players on a VPN, a mobile connection that changes IP, or some corporate and school networks then get "Failed to verify username!". Leave it at false unless you have a reason not to, and restart after changing it.

The server cannot reach Mojang

The server itself must reach sessionserver.mojang.com over HTTPS. If you self host behind a strict firewall, DNS filter or network that blocks it, every player fails and the log shows a timeout or "Authentication servers are down". Allow outbound HTTPS from the server and check DNS works on the machine.

A proxy like Velocity or BungeeCord

On a network with a proxy, the proxy does the login check. The backend servers must run with online-mode=false and the proxy's player info forwarding turned on, or players fail verification or get forwarding errors. If you added a proxy recently, check its forwarding settings and the matching settings on each backend. Never leave a backend with online-mode=false reachable directly from the internet, since anyone could join as any name.

online-mode and cracked clients

online-mode=true is what makes the server check accounts. Turning it off makes the error go away, but it also lets anyone join with any username, including yours, and it breaks skins and UUIDs on existing worlds. We do not recommend it. If a friend gets the error because they do not own Minecraft: Java Edition, the fix is the game, not the setting.

Bedrock players through Geyser

Bedrock players joining a Java server through Geyser need the Floodgate plugin, or they need to link a Java account. Without Floodgate, Geyser cannot pass Java verification for a Bedrock only player. Our Geyser guide shows the setup.

Quick checklist by symptom

On a GamezServers server

Online mode works out of the box on our servers, with no firewall or DNS filter for you to manage. If players get this error:

1. Open the Files tab and check prevent-proxy-connections=false and online-mode=true in server.properties.
2. Restart the server after any change.
3. Read the Console at the moment a player fails. The disconnect line shows their name and the reason.

If the error started after you added plugins, see how to install plugins on a Minecraft server for checking versions, and our connection refused fix if players cannot reach the server at all. Starting fresh? Minecraft server hosting is online in about a minute.

FAQ

Why does Minecraft say failed to verify username?

The server could not confirm your login with Mojang's session service. Restarting the launcher fixes most cases. If it keeps happening on one server, turn off your VPN or ask the owner to set prevent-proxy-connections=false.

Does a VPN cause failed to verify username?

It can. When a server has prevent-proxy-connections=true, your VPN IP will not match what Mojang saw, so the login is rejected.

How do I fix Invalid session in Minecraft?

Close the game and the launcher fully, then reopen them. If that fails, sign out of your Microsoft account in the launcher and sign back in.

Should I turn off online mode to fix it?

No. online-mode=false stops the error but lets anyone join with any username, including an operator's. Fix the real cause instead.

Can Mojang outages cause this error?

Yes. When the session service is down, players everywhere get login and verification errors until it comes back.