There are a number of reasons why a login to Second Life might fail, including technical issues and account problems that must be resolved in order to continue. This article may help you identify your problem and choose an appropriate solution.
Important | Please check the Second Life grid status blog to make sure there are currently no known issues that prevent login -- any ongoing outages or system problems with Second Life as a whole are reported on the status blog as soon as they're discovered. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Error messages
If you can't log in to Second Life, the error message may indicate the source of the issue.
Technical Issues |
DNS could not resolve the host name
This error may also appear as:
- Host http not found
- Login failed. Unable to connect to a simulator.
These messages indicate that your computer has a general networking issue with the domain name service (DNS) that translates numerical IP addresses into human-readable ones.
Confirm that you can reach internet sites such as secondlife.com, Google, or others. If you have no trouble reaching other websites, it may be a specific routing issue between your system and Second Life's login servers, not unlike a highway being closed between your home and your destination. Refreshing your DNS listings by restarting your system and router can often help by giving your system a new route to the Second Life servers, diverting around the outage.
You can also force a reset of your DNS listings in Windows with the ipconfig /flushdns command used at the command line, as follows:
|
| Using a Mac? Flushing the DNS cache is a bit more complicated, but still possible. To flush the DNS cache on a Mac (macOS Catalina and newer):
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache;sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder Terminal won't give a confirmation that this command has worked, but you can attempt to reconnect to see if the problems have resolved. |
It's also a good idea to check whether there is a wider issue with Second Life, as described below.
Usually, restarting your computer and your router will resolve this issue. If not, you may wish to contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP). You may also wish to try using a different DNS server, like Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 service, to see if that will resolve the issue.
- Want to change your DNS provider but aren't sure how? This PCMag article may help: How (and Why) to Change Your DNS Server
Waiting for region handshake
The "Waiting for Region Handshake" message occurs when the Second Life Viewer does not receive an acknowledgement from the server. The usual cause of this error is a firewall blocking UDP packets, though some Internet providers also opt to block UDP packets from time to time, particularly mobile or mobile hotspot providers. Generally, though, you'll most likely need to reconfigure your firewall to resolve this problem.
For information on how to configure firewalls, see: Using Second Life with a firewall.
Account Issues |
Your account is not accessible until (date/time)
There are two possible causes for the 'not accessible until...' error message:
- If the error states that you are already logging in (or out), then Second Life is still attempting to log out your avatar. Close Second Life, wait fifteen minutes, then attempt to log in again.
- If you see this error message: Login failed; Your account is not accessible until (date/time)
- This usually means that your Second Life account has been administratively blocked. Short-term blocks (less than an hour) may be the result of inappropriate behavior inworld. Longer blocks are typically the result of abuse.
- You will be unable to use Second Life until the indicated time; if that is more than an hour away, you will receive an email from the abuse team on the matter. Be sure to check your spam filters.
- Linden Lab is unable to remove administrative blocks for abuse.
You cannot log into Second Life from this location
This error message may also appear as:
- Login failed.
- Second Life cannot be accessed from this computer.
These messages generally indicate you have been blocked from the Second Life servers by Linden Lab as the result of:
- Documented cases of fraud
- Use of Second Life by a minor
- Exceptionally flagrant abuse activity
Note that someone else in your household may be responsible for this activity, not necessarily with your account.
If you believe that this is an error, submit a support ticket via the support portal. To help customer support determine what block has been placed and why, include in the ticket your Second Life account name and any Second Life accounts that log in from your location.
What might cause login failure?
Wrong password
Incorrect passwords are a common cause of login failure. Passwords are case-sensitive, so remember to check Caps Lock if you know you entered your password correctly. It may help to type your password in a visible location like Notepad or TextEdit, then copy and paste it into the viewer. You can also use a Password Manager software for a convenient and secure way to store a unique and complex password for Second Life; there are a number of excellent password manager options, including some that are open source and multi-platform.
If you've forgotten your user name or password, please follow the instructions in Account credentials to retrieve it.
The system is still logging you out
Your previous session must be logged out before you can get back into Second Life. Sometimes, usually after a recent logout or crash, Second Life mistakenly thinks you are still logged in. If you receive a login failure message stating that "The system is logging you out...," try waiting a few minutes before logging in again. If you continue to receive this message, you may be a victim of "stuck presence," which can be fixed by restarting the region in which your avatar is stuck.
Residents with Premium, Premium Plus, or Concierge level accounts may request a region restart via live chat, ticket submission, or phone support. Basic accounts do not have access to avatar-level support at this time.
Linden Lab may have temporarily restricted all logins
Linden Lab might sometime restrict access to Second Life when its servers experience severe technical difficulties or require major maintenance. These outages affect all Residents and are not limited to your computer or account.
Check the status of the Second Life at http://status.secondlifegrid.net. This page lists any known issues.
Account disabled due to delinquency
If you have an overdue account balance due to membership or land fees that exceeds the grace period allowed by the delinquency policy, your account and your alternate accounts may be disabled for delinquency. While your account cannot login to Second Life while there is a past due balance, you can login at secondlife.com to view your Account Dashboard to see any charges on your account and update your payment information, if necessary. For more information, please see our Delinquency Policy.
Account on hold due to disciplinary action
If we find that a Resident has broken our Terms of Service, Community Standards, or other policies, we may place that Resident's account on hold as a disciplinary measure. When we place an account on hold in this way, we send an email to the account holder at the address registered to that account.
Important | Make sure you add "secondlife.com" and "lindenlab.com" to your email client's trusted senders list to prevent our messages from getting marked as spam or junk mail. |
How do I fix it?
If you're not sure why you can't log in, try these things:
- Double-check your username and password. If you continue to receive an error message, try logging into the Second Life website. If you are unable to log into the website, the problem is likely to be your username or password. Follow the Forgot your login information? instructions on the website to reset your password.
- Change your login location to a different region. See below for instructions on how to do this.
- Restart your computer, modem, and router. When restarting, make sure to leave everything powered off for at least ten seconds before restarting. This step can often fix routing issues and other connection-related problems.
- If you are still unable to log in, Premium, Premium Plus, and Concierge Residents may contact customer support via live chat, support cases (tickets), or telephone. Basic customers may file a support case. See How to contact customer support for more information.
Changing your login location
A starting location field appears on the login screen; you may choose to log in at your last location, your home, or you may enter the name of any Region in order to attempt to log into that Region directly.
If you'd like to always have a login location dropdown available on the login screen, you can set these preferences in the viewer:
- Start Second Life. At the login screen, go to Me > Preferences.
- Click the General tab.
- Check the box marked Show favorite locations on login screen.
- Click OK.
Don't see what you need here? Please visit our Knowledge Base for a more comprehensive list of Support topics!