PVP Net Kernel Not Working? Here’s 7 Ways to Fix it

According to the official League of Legends (LOL) wiki, “PVP.net was the front-end interface for the player versus player aspect of League of Legends.”

The PVP.net client is deprecated now and has been replaced by the Launcher since 2017. However, veteran League players may have a not-so-fond memory of unsuccessfully updating with the PVP.net patcher.

In this article, we’ve concisely listed the reasons for the PVP Net Kernel Not Working error as well as various ways to fix it.

Why Is PVP Net Kernel Not Working?

How to Fix PVP Net Kernel Not Working?

A quick fix that has worked for some users is to spam the launcher. This may not always work, but it doesn’t hurt to try before applying any of the troubleshooting methods listed below.

End PVP.net Patcher Process via Task Manager

The PVP.net patcher could be bugged, or it could be conflicting with some other background process or service, which ultimately makes the patcher crash. In such cases, here’s what you can do to resolve the issue:

1. Press CTRL + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager.
2. Locate the Patcher process and press End Task.
   
3. Check if you can launch LOL now. Some users were only able to launch LOL after ending the process and running the launcher multiple times, so that’s worth trying as well.

Run LOL as Administrator

The patcher could also be malfunctioning because LOL doesn’t have the necessary permissions to download the update files. In such cases, here’s what you can do:

1. Right-click the launcher and select Run as Administrator.
   
2. If the problem was indeed due to a lack of admin privileges, the game should run properly now.
3. In some cases, you may also encounter an error message stating that Another instance of the launcher is running. You can press OK to terminate it and the game should launch.
   

Run LOL in Compatibility Mode

If the patcher is crashing due to compatibility issues, the fix is very simple. You just need to run League in compatibility mode and try out a few different configurations. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Right-click the launcher and select Properties, and switch to the Compatibility tab.
2. Enable the Run this program in compatibility mode for option and select a different OS. A lot of users have had success with Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Windows 95.
   
3. Check if the issue is resolved now.

Update LOL Manually

You can launch the patcher independently and check if you can manually update it. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Go to League’s installed directory and locate the LolPatcher executable:
   Riot Games\League of Legends\RADS\projects\lol_patcher\releases\<latestrelease>\deploy
2. Run LoLPatcher as administrator. Once the update completes, check if you can launch LOL.

Delete Patch Files

If you can’t manually update with the method detailed above, you can also delete the current patch files to force an automatic re-download. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Navigate to: Riot Games\League of Legends\RADS\projects\lol_air_client\releases.
2. Open the latest release here and delete the releasemanifest and S_OK files.
3. Next, open the deploy folder and delete the following items:
   lib
META-INF
mod
lolclient.exe
lolclient.swf
locale.properties
   
4. The next time you launch LOL, the patch files should automatically download again. If the previous files were corrupt, the new files will replace them and the issue should be resolved.

Add LOL to Antivirus Exclusion List

In addition to background service conflict with Antivirus, the Antivirus could also be misinterpreting the LOL Patcher as a threat and blocking it from running. In such cases, you can resolve the issue by adding LOL to the antivirus’ exclusion list:

1. Launch the antivirus and open Settings.
2. Click on the Manage Exclusions or similar option and press Add.
   
3. Browse and add the Riot Games folder to the exclusion list.

Reinstall League Of Legends

If nothing else works, the final option is to completely remove, then reinstall LOL. The first way to do this is with Riot’s Hextech Repair Tool. Additionally, you can also try to repair your current installation with the repair tool.

The second way is to manually uninstall, then reinstall LOL. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Press Win + R, type appwiz.cpl, and press Enter.
2. Select League of Legends from the list, press Uninstall, and follow the on-screen instructions.
   
3. Once LOL is removed, restart your PC, reinstall LOL and check if the issue is resolved.