How to fix the ‘Rockstar games services are unavailable right now’ error

Sometimes while playing online games your connection might get lost unexpectedly and you’ll get hit with various types of error messages stating the reasons why. In the case of Rockstar Games’ titles, when connections are lost the most common error that shows up says the Rockstar games services are unavailable right now. This is a pretty frustrating error to face when you’re deep into a gaming session and all your progress is disrupted or at worst, lost forever. But, luckily there are a few fixes to solve this error. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Related: How to fix the “A Ubisoft Service Is Currently Unavailable” error

‘Rockstar games services are unavailable right now’ error fixes

Restart your router

This might be a common suggestion, but it really does work. Sometimes restarting your router is all it takes to fix the connection error in Rockstar titles.

Change DNS settings

Sometimes the default DNS servers might also be unreachable which in turn causes the error. So, it is better to change it to see if the problem is solved. Rockstar Games recommends using the following DNS settings for GTA Online and Red Dead Online:

Primary DNS: 8.8.8.8

Secondary DNS: 8.8.4.4

Disable Antivirus software (only for PC)

In the case of PC users, the antivirus software you’re using might also be disrupting the connection to the Rockstar games services. Disable the antivirus software temporarily and launch you’re preferred game if that’s the case.

Port Forwarding

This is generally the most common cause of the error. Your internet connection might not have the specific ports forwarded to connect to the game servers. These ports need to be opened if you want to play any Rockstar game on a specific platform. So, you might want to check whether they are open or not. If not, you can ask your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to check if they are forwarded. Following are the ports that need to be forwarded for Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online.

For GTA Online

PC:

• Port 6672 (UDP)
• Port 61455 (UDP)
• Port 61457 (UDP)
• Port 61456 (UDP)
• Port 61458 (UDP)

PlayStation:

• Port 80 (TCP)
• Port 443 (TCP)
• Port 3478 (UDP and TCP)
• Port 3479 (UDP and TCP)
• Port 3480 (TCP)
• Port 6672 (UDP)
• Port 61455 (UDP)
• Port 61457 (UDP)
• Port 61456 (UDP)
• Port 61458 (UDP)

Xbox:

• Port 88 (UDP)  
• Port 53 (UDP and TCP)  
• Port 3544 (UDP)
• Port 80 (TCP)
• Port 500 (UDP)
• Port 4500 (UDP)
• Port 6672 (UDP)
• Port 61455 (UDP)
• Port 61457 (UDP)
• Port 61456 (UDP)
• Port 61458 (UDP)

For Red Dead Online

PC:

• Port 6672 (UDP)
• Port 61455 (UDP)
• Port 61457 (UDP)
• Port 61456 (UDP)
• Port 61458 (UDP)

PlayStation:

• Port 465 (TCP)
• Port 983 (TCP)
• Port 1935 (TCP)
• 3478 (TCP)
• 3479 (TCP)
• 3480 (TCP)
• Port 3478 (UDP)
• Port 3479 (UDP)
• 10070 – 10080 (TCP)
• Port 6672 (UDP)
• Port 61455 (UDP)
• Port 61456 (UDP)
• Port 61457 (UDP)
• Port 61458 (UDP)
• Ports 30211-30217 (TCP)

Xbox:

• Port 88 (UDP)  
• Port 53 (UDP and TCP)  
• Port 3544 (UDP)
• Port 4500 (UDP)
• Port 500 (UDP)
• Port 3047 (UDP)
• Port 6672 (UDP)
• Port 61455 (UDP)
• Port 61456 (UDP)
• Port 61457 (UDP)
• Port 61458 (UDP)
• Ports 30211-30217 (TCP)

Check the Rockstar Servers Status

There’s also a possibility that the Rockstar servers are indeed down. The best way to check their status is through the official service status page where it is properly detailed. Also, keep an eye on Rockstar Games’ Twitter as well as the specific online game you’re playing to get updated on server outages and maintenance.