Final Fantasy 14: Common Error Message Meanings and Solutions

Final Fantasy 14's servers are a nightmare at the moment, but here's what you can do about some of the game's most common error messages.

Final Fantasy 14
Photo: Square Enix

While I’d love to be able to talk more about Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker‘s story, characters, best moments, and mechanics, the fact of the matter is that most of the conversations about this game so far have been focused on the MMO’s ridiculously long queues and various error messages.

I hope that Square Enix’s recent decision to suspend sales of Final Fantasy 14 will help fix the game’s worst server issues, but it’s likely that you will continue to encounter the most common problems until the hype surrounding the latest expansion dies down a little bit and Final Fantasy 14‘s concurrent player count returns to a more reasonable number.

That being the case, here’s a look at what the most common Final Fantasy 14 error messages mean and what (if anything) you can do about them.

Final Fantasy 14: ERROR 2002 Meaning and Solution

The dreaded Error 2002 has become a bit of a meme since Final Fantasy 14‘s Endwalker expansion launched. In fact, director Naoki Yoshida himself recently took to the FF 14 blog to explain what this error message means.

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“In order to prevent a major login server outage, [Final Fantasy 14] has a limit of “no more than 17,000 total players waiting to log in per logical data center,” Yoshida says. “If the total number of players waiting in the logical data center exceeds 17,000, Error 2002 will be displayed and you will not be able to queue up for login.”

Since Error 2002 essentially means that there are too many people in a given queue at a particular time, the only thing you can really do is wait for the congestion to clear or try accessing another server (if that’s an option for you).

Final Fantasy 14: ERROR 3001 Meaning and Solution

Error 3001 is an odd error message that appears whenever the login cap is exceeded. It’s a little strange that the cap (which would seemingly be implemented to prevent too many concurrent login attempts from occurring) can be exceeded, but given the number of people trying to play this game at the moment, maybe it shouldn’t be that surprising that these kinds of things are happening.

While this error doesn’t seem to be quite as common as it once was, the only real “solution” to it is to back out, re-enter the queue, and hope that the game managed to save your spot in line.

Final Fantasy 14: ERROR 4004 Meaning and Solution

Error 4004 is an especially frustrating error that occurs whenever you have been waiting in a queue for too long. It’s not entirely clear how long you have to wait in the queue before this happens (player reports regarding this error vary, and we’re waiting for more official information), but it’s obviously frustrating to be kicked out of the queue for waiting in the queue for too long.

I’ve also heard it can occur when it’s your turn to log in and you wait too long to actually do so, so you’ll certainly want to keep an eye on things if you are within about 100 spots of joining (even though it’s possible to get “kicked” from that spot through no fault of your own).

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It does seem like you can “prevent” this error by quitting and rejoining the queue (which should save your spot in line and “reset” the error timer), but I understand if you’re hesitant to quit and risk something else going wrong. As such, I only recommend trying the “quit and re-enter” method if you’ve been in a queue for hours and are worried about running into the 4004 error.

Final Fantasy 14: ERROR 90000, 90001, 90002, and 90007 Meaning and Solution

These errors are closely related, so we’re going to lump them together to (hopefully) help simplify things a bit.

Error 90000 occurs when you have been disconnected from the server due to a server-side error. Error 90001 often occurs due to a communication issue between your computer and the server. Error 90002 is a disconnect that typically happens when there is an issue on the client-side of the connection, and Error 90007 typically happens when there has been a time sync issue.

Errors 90000, 90001, and 90002 are essentially your basic server disconnect error messages. The best thing you can do to prevent these errors from happening is to ensure that your internet connection is stable and strong, but it should be noted that those errors can sometimes “just happen” due to the numerous things that can go wrong when you’re trying to stay connected to a congested server.

To help prevent Error 90007 from occurring, make sure that the internal clock on your PC or console is properly set.

Final Fantasy 14:  Unable to Complete Version Check Meaning and Solution

This particular error message typically occurs whenever your launcher hasn’t properly processed a recent update to the game. While it’s possible that the update was blocked by your firewall, this error is more commonly caused by slow connection speeds, outdated cache, or the simple fact that an update has just been pushed and your launcher hasn’t had the chance to properly process it yet.

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You can usually fix this issue by closing and reopening your launcher, but it’s possible that you will need to manually update the game (if a pending update is the source of this problem). As noted above, you’ll also want to make sure that your firewall isn’t causing any issues.

Finally, this is another one of those errors that can be caused by a weak internet connection. If that’s the case, then you’ll either need to reset your internet connection or wait out any connection issues you may be experiencing before trying to update the game.

Final Fantasy 14:  A Technical Issue Has Occurred Meaning and Solution

This pretty generic error message seemingly occurs most often when a player is trying to access Mog Station via the game or launcher. I’ve seen some players report that this message (and variations of it) can pop up in other circumstances, but that seems to be the most likely way to encounter it.

It certainly seems like this error is actually caused by a browser/internet problem, and I’ve heard many players report that they’re able to solve it by waiting out/fixing their connection problems or disabling their ad blocker (or any similar pieces of software that could affect browser performance). Interestingly, I’ve also heard players report that Google Chrome is the most common cause of this particular problem, so try using a different browser if you keep encountering it while using Chrome.

Final Fantasy 14:  Authentication Error Meaning and Solution

While it seems like this particular issue may be related to the “Technical Issue” message we’ve covered above, Square Enix has previously stated that you may see this message if there is a problem with your account or if your current subscription has expired.

If everything about your account/subscription appears to be fine, then you might want to simply try logging out and logging back in. That seems to resolve most of the “false positive” instances of this error.

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Final Fantasy 14:  The Lobby Server Connection Has Encountered an Error/Error 5006 Meaning and Solution

While this particular issue is sometimes related to Error 2002, it can also pop up as Error 5006. When you get the 5006 version of this message, it usually means that you failed to connect to the data center or retain your connection to the data center.

It’s entirely possible that you’ll simply be able to restart the game after encountering this error message and log back in without any further issues. However, if you keep encountering this error message, it most likely means that there is something wrong with your internet connection. If that’s the case, you’ll want to reset your connection or do whatever else you can to resolve any issues you may be experiencing.

It also seems possible for this error to appear if there’s a problem with the game’s servers, though that particular problem is usually accompanied by a different message. Regardless, you’ll obviously have to wait for the server issue to be resolved before you’re able to log back in.