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When Vanguard is not behaving the way you expect, the quickest way to find out why is the Activity Log page. Every action Vanguard sends, and every reply the game returns, is written there in plain language. This page covers the most common problems, what a refused verdict means, and how to collect information for support. For issues with Vanguard Hub (headless multi-account mode), see the Hub troubleshooting guide.
Vanguard must be running as administrator. Approve the UAC prompt when it opens, or right-click the .exe and choose Run as administrator. The game must be open and logged in, and no other tool may be attached to it. On Settings, make sure Game connection is set to PC if you play the PC client, or Emulator if you play in an Android emulator.
Go to License and paste your key, then press Activate. If it says the key has expired, paste a renewed key. To get one, press Contact us and pick Billing & licenses. A full Vanguard key also works in Vanguard Farm. A Vanguard Farm key or a Vanguard Hub key will not work in the other app.
Check three things:
  1. The pill: in DRY-RUN nothing is sent.
  2. The function toggle: the feature’s card must be switched on.
  3. The rest window: open Settings and check whether a resting now badge is showing. If it is, Vanguard is paused until the rest window ends.
Then open the Activity Log and look for refused lines. They say why the game declined the action.
Change it yourself. Open the relevant feature card, expand Settings ▾ (or Advanced inside it, shown when Expert mode is on in Settings), and type the new number. For gather-specific limits, use the Gather card settings. The new value applies on the next pass. No update is needed. The undo arrow next to any value you changed puts it back to the built-in default.
Gathering commanders only is switched off. With it off, Vanguard ranks every idle commander and sends the best two, whoever they are. Switch it back on in the Gather card’s Settings ▾. Switching it off asks you to tap twice on purpose.
Vanguard learned a march limit from an earlier refusal. On the Gather card, press re-learn next to the march slot limit. The game will set the correct limit again the next time it matters.
Stop ends the loop as soon as the chore that is running finishes. The chores still waiting in that round do not run. If the running chore is waiting on the game (a long march search, for example), it can take a little longer. Press Detach afterwards if you want the game fully disconnected.
Yes. Resources, gather settings, pacing, timing randomness, the rest window and DRY-RUN/LIVE all apply on the next pass. Switching a feature on or off applies straight away.
Each Vanguard drives exactly one game. Make a second copy of the whole Vanguard folder (it keeps its own settings and learned files) and give it its own license key, open the second game, then in each Vanguard go to Settings and use the Game instance picker to choose which game that copy should drive. If the second game runs inside a sandbox such as Sandboxie, the Vanguard for it must be started inside the same sandbox. A program outside the sandbox is not allowed to connect to a program inside it.
Press Stop, then Detach, restart the game and log in, then Attach to game again and press Start Loop. Vanguard does not re-attach on its own after a crash.
Vanguard checks in with the license server to keep one running copy per key. If the same key is started on another PC, the first copy loses it and stops. The hub logs every account out when this happens. Close the other copy, then start the hub again. See License for how the online check works.

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Understanding refused actions in the Activity Log

When the game declines a request, the Activity Log shows a refused badge and a plain-English reason. The most common ones are:
A refused action is not always a bug. The tavern draw returning “not ready yet” or a chest being “already opened” simply means the game is not ready, and Vanguard will try again later.

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Contact support with your log

The quickest way to get help is Contact us at the bottom of the sidebar. Pick a topic, describe what you expected and what happened, and leave Attach my activity log ticked. Vanguard sends the log for you, so there is nothing to find or attach. See Contact us. To keep a copy of the log yourself, open the Activity Log page and press Export log. Vanguard saves the full log as a text file wherever you choose.
The log contains your governor name, city coordinates, and alliance tags. It never contains your password or your license key. Only share an exported log with people you trust.

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Still stuck?

If none of the items above matches your problem, run one more DRY-RUN pass, then press Contact us with Attach my activity log ticked. Say whether the top bar was in DRY-RUN or LIVE at the time. For issues related to the headless multi-account Hub, see Hub troubleshooting.
Last modified on October 22, 2026