Red Dead Redemption Online Not Working? Try These Potential Fixes

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Red Dead Redemption Online released today. And as you might expect from a beta, not everything has gotten off to a peachy start. 

While most players have been able to log in, create their characters, and form a posse with their friends, some players have found that they either can’t load Red Dead Redemption Online or it’s simply not working at all.

Although problems persist across both PS4 and Xbox One, it appears Xbox One users have been hit the hardest.

If you’re running into this problem, let’s start with the most basic of basics: make sure you have the ultimate edition of the game or are accessing the beta at the right time. Since Rockstar is rolling the release of the beta out over the course of this week, not every player has access to the beta at the same time. 

Here are the times when the beta is releasing this week, as well as the requirements for access: 

• Tuesday, November 27: Red Dead Redemption Online will be available to all players who purchased the ultimate edition of Red Dead Redemption 2. 
• Wednesday, November 28: Anyone who played RDR 2 on October 26  will gain access to the beta. 
• Thursday, November 29: Anyone who played RDR 2 from October 26 to October 29. 
• Friday, November 30: Everyone else who has purchased any other edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 and played after the above dates. 

If the beta is still not working, your next step is to check the server status here. 

If all else fails, then you’ll have to get your hands dirty. 

Clear Your System Cache: Xbox One & PS4

Since both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 store temporary files, you need to make sure to clear your cache from time to time to speed things up and improve gameplay. 

To clear your cache on either system: 

1. Turn the console completely off
2. Unplug the power cord from the console itself (not just the wall)
3. Wait for at least 30 seconds (60 seconds to be sure)
4. Plug the power cable back in
5. Turn on the console

Set Nat Type to Open

Another possible reason Red Dead Online might not be working correctly is that your NAT Type is not set to open. While it doesn’t always affect your connection, an open Nat Type is always best for online play. 

For Xbox One, follow these steps: 

1. Settings -> Network -> Test Multiplayer Connection.
2. Wait for your Xbox One to test your connection.
3. When it says “Everything is Good”, press LT+RT+LB+RB to go into “Detailed Network Statistics.” 
4. Wait for the three dots under “Detailed NAT Information” to change to either “Your network is behind a cone NAT” or “Your network is behind a port-restricted NAT.”
5. If you see “Your network is behind a cone NAT”, press “A” twice. You’ll be taken back to the “Network Settings” menu and you should have an open NAT Type. 
6. If you see “Your network is behind a port-restricted NAT”, you’ll need to follow these detailed instructions.

For PS4, the easiest method for getting an open NAT type is by simply plugging your PS4 directly into your modem with an ethernet cable. There are a few other ways, which YouTuber John Glasscock does a great job of explaining here, but they’re far more complicated. 

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Aside from clearing the cache on your router by turning it off, unplugging it, and plugging it back in, you can submit a ticket to Rockstar and a representative will attempt to fix the issue. 

On top of what’s above, there are several other ways that you can try to rectify the problem, such as calling your cable provider, disabling firewalls, and tweaking uPnP, but all of those are rather lengthy processes. 

Rockstar is currently aware of the issue, and they will most likely have a fix out for the issue relatively quickly. So if the methods above don’t fix Red Dead Online for you, it might just be best to wait a few hours for the problem to be fixed server-side.