Signing in to Microsoft account is a complex task for the launchers, and there are a lot of things can go wrong. Here are some of the most common issues and possible ways to solve them.
🚧 Outdated information
This article currently contains information for Modrinth App 0.6.3. With the recent 0.7.1 update, we've completely overhauled the sign in method we use to provide a better sign in experience. This means that this article is outdated and not as helpful. We'll update it soon.
💻 Instructions in this article will be for Windows 10 and 11. If you are using Linux or macOS, please search for a similar solution on Google.
Signing in to Modrinth instead of Minecraft
To add your Minecraft accounts, use the Steve button in the upper left corner of the window. The sign in option in Settings is for your Modrinth account, which will allow you to follow and report projects in the future without leaving the app. We know this is confusing, and this is something we definitely plan on fixing in a future update.
Nothing is happening after I authorize the app
When you initiate a sign-in process, Modrinth App creates an authorization session with Microsoft and waits for it to complete. If successful, you will be logged in. If not, the app will always display the error message.
However, if you repeatedly restart the process by closing the window that displays the code, and then starting it again, the app may get confused and lose track of the authorization sessions. This leads to a situation where you can successfully authorize the app in the browser, but nothing would happen in the app itself, and the code window would remain visible until the authorization session expires after about 5 minutes.
This is a known issue and will be fixed in the next update to Modrinth App. For now, if you experience this, restart the app completely. After restarting, click the →] Sign in button once and complete the sign in without closing the code window. This should allow you to sign in or see the error message.
“Hydra errors”
Hydra is the codename of our Minecraft authorization implementation, not an error code, so it is not helpful on its own. Most of the time, Hydra's errors are accompanied by a message for the actual error that occurred during the sign-in process, so pay attention to what it says and see if this article covers that error.
Invalid grant errors
In order to authorize a third-party application to access your Microsoft account, your account must have a password set. If you only use passwordless login methods, you will receive an “invalid grant” error when you try to authorize Modrinth App.
To set a password, open the sign in page in an incognito / private window, enter your email, but instead of signing in, use the “Forgot password?” option. Alternatively, you can try using the Microsoft Account Settings page, but many users have reported that it keeps refreshing indefinitely.
Underage account
Only Microsoft accounts that are owned by an adult or added to a family group can authorize third-party applications. To resolve this issue, have your parents add you to a Family group on the Microsoft Family Safety page. Alternatively, change your account age in Microsoft Account Settings, we won't tell anyone 😼
No Minecraft account for profile
This error occurs when Modrinth App tries to retrieve your Minecraft account, but Minecraft services respond with an error. This means that Minecraft is not yet set up for the account. To resolve this, try the following:
If you are coming from the Bedrock Edition world and have never played Java before, or if you just subscribed to PC Game Pass, you would need to start the game at least once using the official Minecraft Launcher.
Check that you are signing in with the correct account. The easiest way to do that is to open your Xbox profile in the browser and see if the gamertag and icon match those you see in Minecraft Launcher:
“No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it” (os error 10061)
An error like this means that Modrinth App tried to connect to Microsoft / Xbox / Minecraft services, but the remote server rejected the connection. This may indicate that these services are blocked by the hosts file.
This can happen if you have used a no-no launcher or installed a “super mega omega debloated Windows edition” that added Xbox domains to the hosts file. Or you did it yourself (but why?).
What is the hosts file anyway? (Very nerdy stuff!)
What is the hosts file anyway? (Very nerdy stuff!)
The hosts file, located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (or /etc/hosts on Linux), allows you to override DNS resolution.
Basically, when you slap your keyboard and type in google.com, your browser or system goes to a Domain Name System (DNS) server and asks, “what is the address where I can find google.com?”, to which that server replies “google.com. is 176.11.128.182.”.
Your browser then connects to that address and says “hey, um, I'm looking for google.com”, and the server at address says “yeah, I am google.com, what do you need?”. Obviously, this is an oversimplification, but you get the idea.
Before asking a DNS server, however, your browser or system checks the hosts file for an override. If there is an override, it will be contacted instead. So if you want to block a site, you can add a line like 0.0.0.0 twitter.com, and now your requests will go straight to the black hole, and no responses will ever come back.
To check and resolve this, do the following:
Right-click the Start menu button or press
Win+X.In the menu, select PowerShell (Admin) / Command Prompt (Admin) / Terminal (Admin).
When command line opens, type
notepad C:\Users\Windows\drivers\etc\hosts.In the open file look for and remove the lines that mention Xbox or domain that you got an error for.
Save and close the file.
In the command line again type
ipconfig /flushdns.Try signing in again.
If this didn't help, try the solutions for other network issues below too.
“An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host” (os error 10054)
This error means that the connection was closed before it was fully established. This can happen for many of reasons:
You, or users who share the IP address with you (NAT), are sending too many requests to Microsoft, and their firewall is now temporarily blocking your IP address.
You are on a managed network that blocks connections to Microsoft or game-related domains.
You have an antivirus or other software that monitors the network traffic and blocks the connection.
You have rolled the dice and got the lowest chance of your connection going through, causing your network to go down temporarily. Unlucky 🎲
As you can see, it's almost impossible to predict why this error will occur. However, if it's not due to blocking on your end, this problem often resolves by itself, and all you have to do is wait and try again.
Alternatively, you can try suggestions from the Network connection issues section below.
Other network issues
Bad DNS server
If you have never changed your DNS server, you are probably using the one provided by your ISP. Most of the time that's fine, but some providers may provide outdated or incorrect DNS responses. To rule this out, try changing your DNS server.
We recommend trying out Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 or Google DNS.
How you configure DNS varies slightly depending on the operating system you are using:
Windows 10
Windows 10
Open your Windows Settings.
Navigate to Network & Internet page.
Click on the Ethernet or Wi-Fi tab.
Select your active network connection.
Under the IP assignment, click on Edit.
You will see a dropdown, change it to Manual.
Change Preferred DNS and Alternate DNS accordingly:
Google DNS:
• IPv4:8.8.8.8and8.8.4.4.
• IPv6:2001:4860:4860::8888and2001:4860:4860::8844.
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1:
• IPv4:1.1.1.1and1.0.0.1.• IPv6:
2606:4700:4700::1111and2606:4700:4700::1001.
Click Save.
Right click Start menu button or press
Win+X.Choose PowerShell (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu.
In command line type
ipconfig /flushdns.Restart Modrinth App and try signing in again.
Windows 11
Windows 11
Open your Windows Settings.
Go to Network & Internet tab.
Click on the Ethernet or Wi-Fi.
Pick your Network connection.
Click Edit next to DNS server assignment.
You will see a dropdown, change it to Manual.
Change Preferred DNS and Alternate DNS accordingly:
Google DNS:
• IPv4:8.8.8.8and8.8.4.4.
• IPv6:2001:4860:4860::8888and2001:4860:4860::8844.
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1:
• IPv4:1.1.1.1and1.0.0.1.• IPv6:
2606:4700:4700::1111and2606:4700:4700::1001.
Click Save.
Right click Start menu button or press
Win+X.Choose Terminal (Admin) from the menu.
In command line type
ipconfig /flushdns.Restart Modrinth App and try signing in again.
Antivirus software or firewalls
✅ Neither Windows Defender nor Windows Firewall cause this issue.
Some antivirus software includes network protection features that may interfere with Modrinth App's ability to connect to Microsoft, Xbox, and Minecraft services. Try temporarily disabling your antivirus and see if this resolves the issue. If it does, add Modrinth App to the list of exceptions.
Firewalls can also be an issue. If you are on a school network, most game-related servers are probably blocked, so you will not be able to sign in. If you are in a country that filters Internet traffic, this may also cause problems.
Network connection issues
Sometimes other network connection issues (such as network congestion or DDoS protection at Microsoft) can affect the availability of the Microsoft, Xbox, and Minecraft services.
We recommend that you try installing and enabling Cloudflare Warp. Then try signing in again. Please note that Cloudflare Warp is not compatible with other VPNs.
You can also try commercial VPNs and see if they help. We will not be able to share them here, but we are sure you already know many of them from watching too much YouTube.
Other issues
If none of the suggestions here apply to you, or you have tried everything and nothing worked so far, please contact us using the green chat button at the bottom left of the page. Ask our bot Perseus to transfer you to a human. We will be happy to help! 🙂
