The Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) Social Club activation error is a widely reported gaming issue. A player reported that error on Steam’s forum as follows: “When I load the game, it gives me a screen that says: ‘Activation Error Your social club account is not entitled to Red Dead Redemption 2.'” Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn’t start when it throws up that error message. This is how you can fix the RDR2 Social Club activation error on Windows PCs.
Run Red Dead Redemption 2 With Admin Rights
Some players confirm that running Red Dead Redemption 2 with admin rights can fix the RDR2 Social Club activation error. Rockstar support also recommends the troubleshooting method. You can set your Red Dead Redemption 2 game to run with admin rights like this:
- Open Explorer and the installation folder for Red Dead Redemption 2, which will be in a C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\directory path for Steam users. If installed with Rockstar Games, that folder path would be more like: C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2.
- Right-click your RDR2.exe game file to select a Properties context menu option.
- Click Compatibility and select the Run this program as administrator option from there.
The Compatibility tab
- Press Apply > OK to set the elevated privileges.
Delete RDR2 Files and Verify the Game
A widely confirmed way to fix the RDR2 Social Club activation error is to erase a couple of RDR2 EXE files and then verify the game to repair. These are the steps for applying this possible fix:
- Go into File Explorer and navigate to the Red Dead Redemption 2 installation directory.
- Right-click the RDR2.exe file to select Delete.
- Then, click the PlayRDR2.exe file and select Delete.
- Verify your Red Dead Redemption 2 game as outlined on these Steam help or Epic support pages.
The Verify integrity of game files option
Change to the Google DNS
The RDR2 Social Club activation error message suggests that players verify connections. One way to do this is to set a Google DNS, which has worked for some Red Dead players. You can change to a Google DNS like this:
- Right-click Start, select the Run shortcut, enter ncpa.cpl, and click OK.
- Next, right-click the Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) network adapter and select Properties.
- Click Internet Protocol Version 4 > Properties in the Networking tab.
- Select Use the following DNS server addresses inside the General tab.
- First, type 8.8.8.8 inside the box for Preferred DNS.
- Then, input 8.8.4.4 within the value box for Alternative DNS.
The Use the following DNS server addresses radio button
- Select OK to finish.
Install and Use a Free VPN
Installing and utilizing VPNs has fixed the RDR2 Social Club activation error for some players. Proton VPN and Windscribe are two decent enough, freely available options for applying this potential fix. When you’ve installed one of those VPNs, connect to the private network and try starting Red Dead Redemption 2 again.
Execute Network Commands
Executing a series of network commands for flushing DNS, resetting Winsock, resetting IPv4, and resetting IPv6 is another way to fix the RDR2 Social Club activation error that players confirm can work. You can execute all such commands via the CMD Prompt like this:
- Bring up your Windows file search utility by clicking its taskbar box or button.
- Type in a CMD search phrase.
- Click Run as administrator for the Command Prompt app shown in the search results.
- Then, input these separate network commands pressing Return after each to execute:
netsh winsock reset
ipconfig /flushdns
netsh int ipv6 reset
netsh int ipv4 reset
netsh winhttp reset proxy
netsh winsock reset
ipconfig /registerdns
The ipconfig /flushdns command
Applying the potential resolutions covered above will usually fix the RDR2 Social Club activation error on PCs. Many players have fixed that game error by applying it. You can also ask Red Dead Redemption 2’s support service for more potential fixes by clicking the Submit a Request button on this Rockstar page.
