ARC Raiders Not Launching or Stuck in Queue: What to Check
The common ARC Raiders launch and connection problems — SID and EAC errors, the "In Queue" screen and dropped connections — and the safe order to fix them.
Applies to: Common ARC Raiders PC launch and connection problems and their recommended fixes, checked on October 15, 2026, with official support treated as the first port of call
Quick answer
Most ARC Raiders launch problems come down to the anti-cheat or to Embark's servers rather than to your files. The repeat offenders are SID errors (often a flagged background tool such as AutoHotkey, or a failed Easy Anti-Cheat install), "Login failed due to a service interruption" and the "In Queue" screen, which usually clears on its own within 15–20 minutes and points to load on Embark's side. Start with the checks below, and treat the official support channels as the first source for anything server-side rather than a third-party "fixer" site.
At a glance
Most ARC Raiders launch problems trace back to one of two places: the anti-cheat, or Embark's servers. The repeat offenders are SID errors (often a flagged background tool or a failed Easy Anti-Cheat install), "Login failed due to a service interruption", and the "In Queue" screen, which usually clears on its own. Treat the developer's own support channels as the first source for anything server-side rather than a third-party "fixer" page.
Is it you or the servers
Before changing anything on your PC, work out whether the problem is local or global.
- Check if others are affected. A spike of reports, or an acknowledgement from Embark's own channels, points to a server-side incident rather than your machine.
- Try once, cleanly. Wait a few minutes and relaunch once before you start changing settings.
- Do not hammer reconnect. Repeatedly restarting the client or spamming Retry can push you back in the queue and add load.
SID and Easy Anti-Cheat
"SID" is not a single bug — it is a label that appears next to a more useful message. Match your fix to the exact text beside it.
| Message | Usual meaning | First thing to try |
|---|---|---|
| Cheat software detected | A background tool is flagged (AutoHotkey and similar are commonly named) | Close the flagged program and any automation/macro tools, then relaunch |
| EasyAntiCheat failed to install | The anti-cheat did not finish setting up | Verify game files, relaunch, and let EAC reinstall; remove stale EAC files if it persists |
| Login failed due to a service interruption | A backend or login-side issue | Wait, then retry once; confirm it is not a wider outage |
| Maximum simultaneous instances reached | A stuck background process or a session that did not close | End any ARC Raiders process, restart, and wait a few minutes before relaunching |
Stuck "In Queue" or disconnecting
The "In Queue" screen appears under heavy load and often resolves on its own within 15–20 minutes. If it comes with a dropped connection or an error code, a full restart sometimes clears it. Reported codes in this group include ARMR0002 (matchmaking failed), AREX0024 (connection lost) and ART00004 or a generic network timeout — all of which usually point at Embark's services rather than your files.
A safe order to try
- Confirm it is not a global outage — check Embark's channels for an acknowledgement.
- Close the game fully — end any ARC Raiders process in Task Manager, then exit Steam or Epic.
- Verify game files through your launcher — the single most repeated fix in Steam discussions.
- Close background tools — anything that injects into games, overlays or automation utilities.
- Restart your PC, then relaunch once through your normal launcher.
- Wait out the queue rather than restarting repeatedly if the screen is just a queue.
Reinstalling the whole game is slow and rarely the first thing to try; file verification and an anti-cheat repair address most launch problems.
What is not official
- A published error-code reference. The codes above are player-reported; Embark Studios has not published a full list with definitions.
- A guarantee that a given fix works. These are mitigations, not developer instructions.
- Cause of a specific outage. Nothing here diagnoses an individual incident.
Sources and review scope
- Embark Studios — ARC Raiders official site — the developer's own channels, named here as the first source for server-side problems.
- Steam — ARC Raiders news — used to check whether a launch issue coincides with a known update or incident.
- Steam community discussions and third-party help articles (LagoFast, VGTimes, Olles) — used only as leads for the common error messages and fixes, all labelled third-party.
Checked on October 15, 2026. No fix on this page is presented as an Embark Studios instruction; the messages and mitigations are aggregated from player reports and are labelled third-party. Server-side problems should always be verified against the developer's own support and status channels.
Checked on October 15, 2026 against the Steam store listing and the Steam Web API app-details, current-players, review-summary and news endpoints for ARC Raiders, and Embark Studios' own posts on arcraiders.com. Live figures such as the concurrent-player count and the review total are timestamped snapshots that keep moving and are labelled as such. Game-internal details that Embark Studios has not published come from the community-run ARC Raiders Wiki and are labelled third-party, not official. Player-tested values are marked as such. Anything neither source states is written as unconfirmed rather than guessed.
Not independently play-tested. This is not a claim that every platform or game version was tested. Source review: Oct 15, 2026.
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