YouTube videos fail to load frequently!
CMajor7
Starting with the 28th of March, I'm receiving very frequent reports of users that YouTube videos fail to load in my world. After some testing I concluded that it's other worlds too. To quantify this problem I ran some data and visualized it. Since the 28th, the Error rate of videos in my world increased to around 20%, meaning every 5th video fails to load. This also exactly lines up with when VRChat had the yt-dlp resolver updated for the last time.
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StormRel
Merged in a post:
Video Players not working... again.
Its Sephy
In every world i go, they are just giving the ''video error'' and ''failed to load video'' messages, it's been more than a week already.
StormRel
Merged in a post:
All video players not working
UviDawg
open vrchat, o to any world ith video player, "playr eror" others see ost error, no matter wht i try to put on. help. its been a month. i just want my music.
"[AVProVideo] Error: Loading failed. File not found, codec not supported, video resolution too high or insufficient system resources."
AndreKangaroo
This error issues literally pisses me off
I can't even watch my own shows and sing my favorite songat any karaoke hangout. THIS JUST FREAKING ABSURD!!!!!!!! 😡😡😡😡
WubTheCaptain
As for recent yt-dlp YouTube playback issues from the past week and uptick in bug reports on VRChat Canny on this issue, there are pull requests & commits at upstream yt-dlp to address YouTube playback issues with .m3u8 playlist downloads, and other issues:
- [ie/youtube] Solve n challenges for manifest formats by bashonly · Pull Request #15602 · yt-dlp/yt-dlp · GitHub https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/15602
- [ie/youtube] Adjust default clients by bashonly · Pull Request #15601 · yt-dlp/yt-dlp · GitHub https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/15601
As of writing this, yt-dlp has not formally released a new version with these patches yet. After the upstream project releases a new version of yt-dlp at some point in the future, it'll also take some time for VRChat Team developers to backport changes to their fork of yt-dlp and include it for VRChat users (unless VRChat decides to cherry-pick and backport those patches earlier into their fork).
Can this issue be closed at the next yt-dlp update in VRChat?
Kizzy
WubTheCaptain bro why do you comment on every single post here acting like a wanna-be janny or member of the developer or community team?
why are you asking for the issue to be closed before it's even acknowledged, let alone fixed?
WubTheCaptain
I don't think this bug report is actionable, as long as VRChat uses the upstream yt-dlp project to download and stream videos. It really isn't even much of a bug report with steps to reproduce and logs, but more of a complaint or a meta-issue for tracking how YouTube does their A/B testing and operates their platform.
I think it'd be better to make actual feature requests if there are specific issues, e.g. "Update yt-dlp to version XXXX.YY.ZZ" or "Backport upstream yt-dlp pull request #XXXX / commit abcdef into VRChat to improve YouTube playback".
VRChat updates its yt-dlp version semi-frequently. As of VRChat 2025.4.2p1 (Build 1769) on Steam (that's live right now), we're on yt-dlp 2025.11.12, which should have included all the YouTube fixes up until that point.
CMajor7 Has the issue in your original post been resolved between April 2025 and December 2025? Do you have more visualized data?
WubTheCaptain
This isn't a bug report, and I was unable to reproduce the issue ("Video Players not working... again." & "In every world").
2026.01.24 00:06:25 Debug - [Video Playback] Attempting to resolve URL 'https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2678273478'
2026.01.24 00:06:25 Debug - NativeProcess.Start: started process id [22628]: C:/Users/linda.LINDALAP/AppData/LocalLow/VRChat/VRChat\Tools/yt-dlp.exe (...)
2026.01.24 00:06:25 Debug - <color=green>[VideoManager]</color> Video ended, resetting subtitles
2026.01.24 00:06:25 Debug - [VRCX] VideoPlay(PopcornPalace) {"videoName":"","videoPos":0,"videoLength":0,"thumbnailUrl":"","displayName":"WubTheCaptain","isPaused":false,"is3D":false,"looping":false}
2026.01.24 00:06:27 Debug - NativeProcess.HasExited: process exited with code 0, took 2239 ms. Command line: C:/Users/linda.LINDALAP/AppData/LocalLow/VRChat/VRChat\Tools/yt-dlp.exe (...)
2026.01.24 00:06:27 Debug - [Video Playback] URL 'https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2678273478' resolved to 'https://d2nvs31859zcd8.cloudfront.net/6746057da23398f39abc_vrchat_35586328269_6059890461/chunked/highlight-2678273478.m3u8'
2026.01.24 00:06:27 Debug - [AVProVideo] Opening https://d2nvs31859zcd8.cloudfront.net/6746057da23398f39abc_vrchat_35586328269_6059890461/chunked/highlight-2678273478.m3u8 (offset 0) with API MediaFoundation
2026.01.24 00:06:29 Debug - [AVProVideo] Using playback path: MF-MediaEngine-Hardware (1920x1080@0.00)
2026.01.24 00:06:29 Debug - [VRCX] VideoPlay(PopcornPalace) {"videoName":"","videoPos":0,"videoLength":0,"thumbnailUrl":"","displayName":"WubTheCaptain","isPaused":false,"is3D":false,"looping":false}
World: Popcorn Palace by spacebaar
It's also a duplicate of this issue: https://feedback.vrchat.com/bug-reports/p/all-video-players-not-working
Its Sephy When creating a bug report, please post the full logs as an attachment and include steps to reproduce the issue.
Possibly related: YouTube videos fail to load frequently!
The upstream yt-dlp project can't change how YouTube operates its platform and its anti-bot measures.
WubTheCaptain
UviDawg When creating a bug report, please post the full logs as an attachment and include steps to reproduce the issue.
If this is about YouTube videos, then the issue is there: YouTube videos fail to load frequently!
I could not reproduce the issue in title ("All video players not working"). AVPro video playback works fine on my end, as attached (short, redacted logs).
2026.01.23 09:18:28 Debug - [Video Playback] URL 'https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2648241795' resolved to 'https://d2nvs31859zcd8.cloudfront.net/8258ec25e9ae85ab1a51_vrchat_89200864370_4653316398/chunked/highlight-2648241795.m3u8'
2026.01.23 09:18:28 Debug - [AVProVideo] Opening https://d2nvs31859zcd8.cloudfront.net/8258ec25e9ae85ab1a51_vrchat_89200864370_4653316398/chunked/highlight-2648241795.m3u8 (offset 0) with API MediaFoundation
2026.01.23 09:18:30 Debug - [AVProVideo] Using playback path: MF-MediaEngine-Hardware (1920x1080@0.00)
World: Illumination Media Player by Οllie
UviDawg
WubTheCaptain here ya go, hope this is enough.
2026.01.23 01:40:58 Debug - [Video Playback] URL 'https://youtu.be/kEAC8eeQWcg' resolved to 'https://manifest.googlevideo.com/api/manifest/hls_playlist/expire/1769179252/ei/FDRzaY_EEOvosfIP8pXF-QY/ip/2604:3d09:3680:1000:6c39:e800:ae64:c90e/id/904002f1e79059c8/itag/301/source/youtube/requiressl/yes/ratebypass/yes/pfa/1/sgoap/clen%3D971973%3Bdur%3D59.977%3Bgir%3Dyes%3Bitag%3D140%3Blmt%3D1759389693773520/sgovp/clen%3D29608140%3Bdur%3D59.933%3Bgir%3Dyes%3Bitag%3D299%3Blmt%3D1759389707089623/rqh/1/hls_chunk_host/rr4---sn-ni5f-ttjz.googlevideo.com/xpc/EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D/cps/10/met/1769157652,/mh/6-/mm/31,29/mn/sn-ni5f-ttjz,sn-nx57ynsk/ms/au,rdu/mv/m/mvi/4/pl/36/rms/au,au/initcwndbps/4028750/bui/AW-iu_r0eNCTio0vh_lQUmfOPlfiIH_gab6nwMoBOz8OQ8noQ2XTn1uZWIE_L5iFMQmCPy2NX05d7G90/spc/q5xjPNL1HEmjskS_pP13XjTF1PH8lF2sB3PaZW7j8J9eO0OANk2K_2QE0rk1h2DHj7Yxsec_/vprv/1/ns/BHNomQv_QemcsYI7E3rx9J4S/playlist_type/CLEAN/dover/11/txp/6209224/mt/1769157161/fvip/4/keepalive/yes/fexp/51355912,51552689,51565116,51565682,51580968/n/j5GkWBiA0j2ylp6n/sparams/expire,ei,ip,id,itag,source,requiressl,ratebypass,pfa,sgoap,sgovp,rqh,xpc,bui,spc,vprv,ns,playlist_type/sig/AJEij0EwRQIgOeIglyw3tfK_ABwWo-1WCAL874bkP43Eq8S_wNQS7E0CIQCobodzUXeQlRpSquMsQA_MqR-cw2qXXp7nET4FrV2EUg%3D%3D/lsparams/hls_chunk_host,cps,met,mh,mm,mn,ms,mv,mvi,pl,rms,initcwndbps/lsig/APaTxxMwRQIhAIsFTpO9A7jcLjUehMhcGFeAxyCLy34xcdtd2bisWoDVAiAXl2EkVXg6E4YHUt4jJdYvhUuy18hxc4oZUE3-Ya_Lsg%3D%3D/playlist/index.m3u8'
2026.01.23 01:40:58 Error - [AVProVideo] Error: Loading failed. File not found, codec not supported, video resolution too high or insufficient system resources.
WubTheCaptain
UviDawg VRChat 2025.4.2p1 (Build 1769) on Steam (that's live right now) uses a fork of upstream yt-dlp 2025.11.12, as seen here:
PS C:\Users\linda.LINDALAP\AppData\LocalLow\VRChat\VRChat\Tools> .\yt-dlp.exe --version
2025.11.12
PS C:\Users\linda.LINDALAP\AppData\LocalLow\VRChat\VRChat\Tools> Get-Item .\yt-dlp.exe
Directory: C:\Users\linda.LINDALAP\AppData\LocalLow\VRChat\VRChat\Tools
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 11/20/2025 11:00 PM 19295400 yt-dlp.exe
There are pull requests & commits at upstream yt-dlp to address YouTube playback issues with .m3u8 playlist downloads, and other issues:
- [ie/youtube] Solve n challenges for manifest formats by bashonly · Pull Request #15602 · yt-dlp/yt-dlp · GitHub https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/15602
- [ie/youtube] Adjust default clients by bashonly · Pull Request #15601 · yt-dlp/yt-dlp · GitHub https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/15601
As of writing this, yt-dlp has not formally released a new version with these patches yet. After the upstream project releases a new version of yt-dlp at some point in the future, it'll also take some time for VRChat Team developers to backport changes to their fork of yt-dlp and include it for VRChat users (unless VRChat decides to cherry-pick and backport those patches earlier into their fork).
StormRel
Merged in a post:
World video players refusing to play or load
Forte_K
I checked in multiple worlds and I noticed that the video players are refusing to play no matter which world I go to. Even the video player in my home world has stopped working. Just wanted to see if this a me thing or if it was a VRChat problem.
WubTheCaptain
Forte_K When creating a bug report, please post logs as an attachment and include steps to reproduce the issue.
If this is about YouTube videos, then the issue is tracked there (you've been blocked as a bot by YouTube, or have network issues): YouTube videos fail to load frequently!
Forte_K
WubTheCaptain I don't know how to post logs and I don't know how to even find them. Also YouTube on my headset works perfectly. I figured out how to check my headsets connection with YouTube.
WubTheCaptain
Forte_K The instructions for logs are linked in my previous response. Without steps to reproduce (what URL was watched, where), or preferably logs to diagnose, this will go nowhere.
"YouTube on my headset works perfectly" - in what way? VRChat uses a third-party yt-dlp program to download videos, which is not the same as using a native YouTube app on a Meta Quest HMD for example.
Forte_K
WubTheCaptain I have a Meta quest 3 with the YouTube app and I'll try the link but it'll have to be when I get on my headset it's charging RN and I don't like playing with it well charging.
StormRel
Merged in a post:
Video player error :(
sᴋʀᴜɴᴋʟʙᴜɴᴋʟ
Video players aren’t working, but for some reason it’s working for a few of my other friends. I’m not sure why it’s not working, every time I try to put on a video it just shows “Video error, retrying” and then after a while of waiting it just removes it from the queue. None of the video players across any maps work, I’ve only been able to watch movies in popcorn palace. This has been going on for 4 days.
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