I own the game on steam and even verfied it but the console can't verify it when i start the game. It just says authentification request and handeling hello request.

[II-Raptor-II]

[Erkik]

Hey there! Thanks for providing all the screenshots, they are incredibly helpful for diagnosing the issue.

First of all, your third screenshot shows that your Steam account is synced perfectly. Your ownership verification is 100% correct, so there is nothing wrong with your account or your Steam copy.

Getting stuck on [DW][Auth] Handling authentication request... and [DW][Lobby] Handling hello request... means that the Plutonium client is trying to communicate with the Plutonium Master Servers to log you in, but the connection is being blocked locally on your PC or by your network. Also, in your console screenshot, there is a massive Hitch warning: 9787 msec which means the client froze for almost 10 seconds trying to bypass a block.

Here is how to fix this:

1. Windows Firewall / Antivirus (Most likely culprit):
   Your firewall or antivirus is silently blocking the connection to the Plutonium auth servers.

You need to add a folder exclusion in Windows Defender (or your 3rd party antivirus) for your MW3 Game Folder AND your Plutonium folder (%localappdata%\Plutonium).

Also, make sure plutonium-bootstrapper-win32.exe is allowed through your Windows Defender Firewall on both Private and Public networks.

2. Hidden Game Window:
   Sometimes, the console hangs on "Handling hello request..." because the actual game window has already launched but is minimized or hidden behind another window. Try pressing Alt + Tab to see if the MW3 window is actually open in the background.

3. DNS / ISP Blocking:
   Some Internet Service Providers block the specific ports or domains that Plutonium uses for authentication.

Try restarting your router.

Try changing your Windows IPv4 DNS settings to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1) or Google (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4).

As a quick test, you can connect your PC to your phone's mobile hotspot. If it launches instantly, your home ISP/Router is blocking the connection.

Try these steps (especially the Firewall/AV exclusions) and let us know if it finally pushes through to the main menu!

[II-Raptor-II]

So I tried every the Firewall and Antivirus exclusions and is still does not work. I also tried different DNS-settings and they did also not work. Do i need to restart my router if i use Ethernet and change my DNS? Also sadly i can't do the mobile hot spot test cause my PC only has Ethernet.

I can't provide every screenshot in english bcs my windows license is german. Ausschlüsse = exclusions

So if my Internet provider blocks the servers, how can I access them again?

[Erkik]

II-Raptor-II
Thanks for the screenshots! Don't worry about the German, Ausschlüsse is perfectly clear. Your exclusions and firewall settings are set up flawlessly, so we can 100% rule out Windows Defender blocking it locally.

To answer your questions and move to the next steps:

1. Do I need to restart my router after changing DNS?
   Yes, it is highly recommended. Also, your Windows machine might still be remembering the old blocked routes. After changing your DNS to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), open your Windows search, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt and run as Administrator. Type ipconfig /flushdns and hit Enter. Then restart your PC.

2. How to test/bypass an ISP block without a mobile hotspot?
   If your ISP is blocking the auth servers, the easiest way to test and bypass this is by using a VPN.
   Download a free and safe VPN (like Cloudflare WARP or ProtonVPN). Turn the VPN on and try launching Plutonium. If the game launches instantly and gets past the "Handling hello request", then your ISP is definitely the culprit. You can use the VPN to log in, and once the game is open, you can often turn the VPN off to play with your normal ping.

3. Double-check for 3rd Party Antivirus:
   Just to be absolutely sure: do you have any other antivirus installed like Avast, Kaspersky, Bitdefender, or McAfee? If you do, your Windows Defender exclusions won't work because the 3rd-party antivirus takes control of your PC. You would need to add the exclusions in that specific software.

4. MW3 Specific Config Bug:
   Sometimes MW3 hangs on that exact screen because of a corrupted config file. Go to your MW3 game folder, find the players2 folder, and temporarily move it to your Desktop (don't delete it, just move it). Launch Plutonium again. The game will generate a fresh config file, which sometimes instantly fixes the freeze.

Try the free VPN test first, as that will immediately give us the answer if it's your internet provider! Let me know how it goes.

[TnznSimba]

Annoyingly, the game works, I have tried sooooooo many instructions to get it to work aaaand NOTHING.

Until I decided to try and trick the screen as I noticed that the mouse icon for the game show us up briefly when I navigate back and forth between windows (using ALT + TAB)... Whilst navigating back to the game screen, before anything point your mouse at the button you want to click (e.g. 'browse servers') then navigate back to the game screen (using ALT + TAB) and VERY QUICKLY click on the game screen button you want... then you can start using keyboard arrows and ENTR/ESC to navigate and select...

WHAT A JOURNEY!... this is too much... I think game developers need to review this issue/code/function.

I hope it works for you so we can get developers to look into this!

[II-Raptor-II]

Erkik So i did not find time until today, so I'm sorry that I only answer now.
Ok, so I tried everything you said and it still does not work. I searched for any anti virus besides Windows defender and I did not find anything.
I think it has something to do with the config files bcs MW3 (the game) crashes when i try to change the resolution.
Tho even if i moved the config files, new files did not get created. So I really don't know what to do now.