How to Fix ‘Error 249’ in Phantasy Star Online 2
Some Phantasy Star Online 2 players are reporting that they regularly see the error code 249 when trying to sign into the game with their account. This problem is almost exclusively reported to occur on Windows 10.
After we’ve inspected this issue in dept, it seems like there are a few fairly common causes that will spawn this error on a Windows 10 computer. Here’s a shortlist of potential culprits:
- The server is under maintenance – As a lot of affected users have confirmed, this error could appear because the server is under scheduled maintenance or the devs are in the middle of mitigating an unexpected outage period. Typically, the PSO2 developers announce on their official site every time there is a scheduled maintenance upcoming or ongoing.
- Interference caused by overprotective AV suite – As it turns out, there are several antivirus or firewall suites that are known to label the main executable of the game as a false positive and deny outgoing data connections. To resolve this issue, you’ll need to disable the real-time protection of the antivirus suite that it’s currently active.
- Corrupted Gameguard folder – Although the anti-cheat rootkit available for PSO2 is an essential part of the game, it’s also known for causing this particular error when the cache folder is associated with the anti-cheat engine becomes corrupted. In this case, you can fix the issue by deleting the GameGuard folder using the PSO2 Tweaker utility.
Now that you are familiar with every potential reason that might cause this error to appear, here’s a list of fixed that should help you troubleshoot the error 249 away:
Check if the Server is Under Maintenance
If you encounter the PSO2 Error 249 during the sign-up process, the first thing you should do is verify the status of the server. In the majority of cases, you’ll encounter this error because the server is under scheduled maintenance.
Fortunately, you can verify the schedule for the server’s maintenance or if there are any problems with the server on the official PSO2 site. To do so, access this server info page.
If you found out that the server is under maintenance, wait sometime before checking again if the server is still affected by the same situation.
If you make sure that the error is not caused by scheduled maintenance or any server problems, move below to the next method.
Disable the 3rd Party AV Interference
According to several affected users, this error might also occur due to an overprotective 3rd party antivirus suite that is blocking the ongoing connections required to facilitate online gameplay.
If you’re using a 3rd party suite that tends to be overprotective (you’re encountering similar issues with other multiplayer games) or this scenario looks like it could be applicable, this problem should be solved by disabling the real-time protection of the 3rd party AV suite.
Most 3rd party suites will let you disable them directly from the tray bar icon. Right-click on the icon and look for the option that lets you disable the real-time protection.
Important: Remember that if your 3rd party AV suite comes with a firewall, it is possible that even after you disabled the AV suite, the same security rules are applicable – If that is the case, the only fix for this error is to uninstall the AV suite altogether and remove any remnant files.
If you are not using an AV suite or this method didn’t fix your PSO2 Error 249, go below to the next method.
Delete the GameGuard Folder
GameGuard is an anti-cheat rootkit that hides the game process, observes running processes, and is supposed to make sure that none of your processes interfere with the process it is watching over.
But as it’s been reported by a lot of users, this anti-cheat module can also be responsible for causing the 249 error code due to a fault rooted in the GameGuard engine. Fortunately, the PSO2 Tweaker has an option that solves this particular GameGuard problem.
Follow the next steps to see how to run the troubleshoot for GameGuard:
- Open the PSO2 Tweaker utility. If you don’t have it already installed on your PC, access the official download page here and follow the official instructions to download and install it.
- After that, locate the Troubleshooting button on the left side and click on it.
Accessing the Troubleshooting button - When the Troubleshooting menu appears on your screen, search for the Fix GameGuard button, then click on it.
Fixing the Gameguard button - After that, a message will pop up on your screen telling you to disable the 3rd party suite, if you are using any. Make sure that is disabled, then press OK.
Fixing the Gameguard issues - Another message will pop up on your screen asking for permission. Press OK to start the troubleshooting.
Fixing the permissions of PSO2 - Once the troubleshooting operation is complete, launch the game once again and see if the 249 error is now fixed.
