# How to unblock blocked user

**URL:** <https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800>\
**Category:** Community Support\
**Created:** [December 20, 2020, 11:48am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800 "2020-12-20T11:48:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rockrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@rockrob](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/rockrob)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 11:48am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/1 "2020-12-20T11:48:34Z")

</div>

### Description

A user has blocked himself from login - now the blocking time 10min is more than 30min back and the user still gets the notification “Login has been temporarily blocked for this User”

No idea why the rocket.chat server did not unblock the user automatically after 10 minutes, and where is the admin option to manually unblock the user ? Did not see anything suitable in the administration section…

There is no 2FA involved.

### Server Setup Information

- Version of Rocket.Chat Server: 3.9.3
- Operating System: Linux
- Deployment Method: tar
- Number of Running Instances: 1
- DB Replicaset Oplog: active
- NodeJS Version: v12.18.4
- MongoDB Version: 4.0.21
- Proxy: nginx
- Firewalls involved: yes

### Any additional Information

journalctl -u rocketchat.service

Failed login detected - Username[ronald] ClientAddress[192.168.130.1] ForwardedFor[192.168.130.1] XRealIp[192.168.130.1] UserAgent[Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86\_64; rv:84.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/84.0]  
Dez 20 12:43:39 server rocketchat[193011]: Exception while invoking method login Error: Login has been temporarily blocked For User [error-login-blocked-for-user]  
Dez 20 12:43:39 server rocketchat[193011]: at app/authentication/server/startup/index.js:307:9

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![esxpfe](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/forums.rocket.chat/esxpfe/32/2384_2.png) [@esxpfe](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/esxpfe)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 6:51am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/2 "2021-03-17T06:51:18Z")

</div>

We have exact same problem, but with email 2FA enabled and believe it is a glitch in Rocket Chat?

The only way I could fix this was to go to Administrator → Users, select the user account, then click on reset 2FA, disable them and then re-enable them; and finally, untoggle the button to unverify the users email address. We also tried rebooting the Rocket Chat server.

The user was only able to login again once the email address wasn’t “verified”.

Definitely some unexpected behaviour happening behind the scenes…

I hope you managed to get a fix too!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![john.crisp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/forums.rocket.chat/john.crisp/32/2711_2.png) [@john.crisp](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/john.crisp)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:48am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/6 "2021-05-21T10:48:35Z")

</div>

Hi.

Need to be careful here as Rocket has been changing so fast that what happened on one version is fixed in another.

There have been some huge code changes from 3.10-3.13

So always make sure you test on the latest version first, and don’t confuse things with a version from 3/4/5/6 months ago.

So please test on at least 3.14.1, or preferably the latest 3.15.RC which is just landing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![angel.docampo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@angel.docampo](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/angel.docampo)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 6:18am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/7 "2021-06-07T06:18:54Z")

</div>

The exact thing happened here. No 2FA, users taken from Active Directory, when the AD GPO forces users to password change, it seems RC doesn’t refresh on most of my users (but others do) and some of them ends blocking their RC account.

Administrators should be able to unblock users manually and without doing any trick nor asking any intervention on the user-side.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![john.crisp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/forums.rocket.chat/john.crisp/32/2711_2.png) [@john.crisp](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/john.crisp)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 8:19am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/8 "2021-06-07T08:19:53Z")

</div>

> [@angel.docampo](#):
>
> The exact thing happened her

Same version or a different one?

Without that context we can’t help much.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![angel.docampo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@angel.docampo](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/angel.docampo)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 11:21am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/9 "2021-06-07T11:21:14Z")

</div>

Sorry, my bad… server version is 3.12.3 and users are synced from an Active Directory, if that matters at all.  
Users are self-unlocked after a while, but that mechanism doesn’t seems to honour the time specified on settings (5 minutes) and the few users have lock their account would be able to login back after 15~20’ (sorry for being so imprecise, but they notified me after that time, but I warned them to try to login back after the sixth minute and they weren’t able to log in)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![john.crisp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/forums.rocket.chat/john.crisp/32/2711_2.png) [@john.crisp](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/john.crisp)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/10 "2021-06-07T11:41:55Z")

</div>

OK thanks. When debugging issues details really do matter. Even little ones!

As per this from our bug reporting template the very first thing to do when trying to fix things is get your system up to date, or at least test on the latest version. Bugs get fixed quite rapidly and your version is a few months out of date. There are a lot of new features too.

> If you have questions or are looking for help/support please see: [https://rocket.chat/docs/getting-support](https://rocket.chat/docs/getting-support)

> **[Rocket.Chat's Support Structure](https://docs.rocket.chat/resources/rocket.chats-support-structure)**

Yours is now out of date so if there is a bug it will not get fixed in you version.

> [@angel.docampo](#):
>
> Users are self-unlocked after a while

By what? AD, Rocket?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![angel.docampo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@angel.docampo](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/angel.docampo)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 1:30pm UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/11 "2021-06-08T13:30:20Z")

</div>

> [@john.crisp](#):
>
> As per this from our bug reporting template the very first thing to do when trying to fix things is get your system up to date, or at least test on the latest version. Bugs get fixed quite rapidly and your version is a few months out of date. There are a lot of new features too.

Experience has taught me that it is quite counterproductive to have the latest version of RocketChat in production. We suffered bug after bug until we got to version 3.12.3 which is pretty stable, so I’m not going to upgrade until after extensively testing the latest version or reading the issues on github before upgrading. My bosses would not forgive me another catastrophic bug like the ones in 3.12.1 and 3.12.2.

Bugs are not fixed as fast as you say, there are certain CSS issues reported months ago, or suggestions already approved by the developers years ago that are still in the pipeline.

By this I don’t mean I won’t upgrade, just that I’ve jumped off the latest version bandwagon. I have to set up a test server and test with the latest version, to see if the same thing happens there and report back.

> [@john.crisp](#):
>
> By what? AD, Rocket?

By Rocket, user is unlocked on the AD, of course. Failing to log in into RC doesn’t lock AD user on the domain.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![john.crisp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/forums.rocket.chat/john.crisp/32/2711_2.png) [@john.crisp](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/john.crisp)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 3:26pm UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/12 "2021-06-08T15:26:59Z")

</div>

I understand your pain… I run my own servers too 😉

The point is that you aren’t even on the latest point release - have you checked? I would…

> **[Release 3.12.7 · RocketChat/Rocket.Chat](https://github.com/RocketChat/Rocket.Chat/releases/tag/3.12.7)**
>
> 2021-05-27 · 2 🐛 · 2 👩‍💻👨‍💻
> Engine versions
> 
> Node: 12.18.4
> NPM: 6.14.8
> MongoDB: 3.4, 3.6, 4.0
> Apps-Engine: 1.23.0
> 
> 🐛 Bug fixes
> 
> 
> Discussion names showing a random value (#22172)
> 
> 
> Security Hotf...

In any event 3.12.x is EOL.

I know that isn’t what you want to hear, but the point is if you have found a bug in your version, it won’t get fixed and backported.

You don’t have to actually upgrade. Just run a test server. I have one that is a main server, and the second that runs latest to see what issues there might be before I upgrade the main install.

So, if there really is an issue it will only be looked at if it is on latest or a development version.

I think in time the development cycle may slow a bit, but not yet.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hans4rc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/aeb1de/32.png) [@hans4rc](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/hans4rc)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 10:34am UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/13 "2022-09-07T10:34:14Z")

</div>

I have the same problem here. For years. No matter with which RC version.  
See also:

> <https://github.com/RocketChat/Rocket.Chat/issues/21158>
>
> \<!-- 
> 
> Please see our guide for opening issues: https://rocket.chat/docs/contr…ibuting/reporting-issues
> 
> If you have questions or are looking for help/support please see: https://rocket.chat/docs/getting-support
> 
> If you are experiencing a bug please search our issues to be sure it is not already present: https://github.com/RocketChat/Rocket.Chat/issues
> 
> \--\>
> 
> \### Description:
> I'm an administrator on a Rocket Chat instance and got a user report that they were locked out of their account because they forgot their password and had failed login attempts. I was able to reset the password as admin some time later (hours later after they reported it) but even the next day (more than 24hrs later) and after a reboot of the Rocket Chat server the user reported being still locked out of their account. They were also on another IP address by that time (and after trying on multiple devices). I checked the settings in Administration -\> Accounts -\> Failed Login Attempts and they are as follows:
> 
> !\[lockout\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1122344/111449055-2825a580-8763-11eb-82ad-52ecaaf1b6dc.PNG)
> 
> So I then tried clicking on the user account in Administration -\> Users and clicked "Reset TOTP" and also clicked "Deactivate" and waited a moment, then "Activate" to re-enable the account. Both didn't work.
> 
> !\[tiles\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1122344/111456599-4e4f4380-876b-11eb-86c1-1a724f413b2d.PNG)
> 
> The only way the user was able to get back into their account was for me to toggle the "verify" button next to their email address so it became unverified. The user then was able to login successfully, change their password, and reverify their email address.
> 
> !\[this\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1122344/111456773-82c2ff80-876b-11eb-9d3e-061299ebe37a.PNG)
> 
> Clearly something is broken here... Also, forum post about this issue too: https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800 Though they said they are having the same problem regardless of 2FA.
> 
> Our 2FA settings are these:
> 
> !\[2fa-1\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1122344/111457853-daae3600-876c-11eb-929e-639a19b410bf.PNG)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> \### Steps to reproduce:
> 
> 1. User account is locked due to failed login attempts
> 
> \### Expected behavior:
> 
> 1. User IP is unblocked after specified time
> and/or
> 2. User account is hard reactivated after an admin does a password reset and/or going through "Deactivate" and "Activate" process (which should be unnecessary anyway but an absolute failsafe?)
> 
> \### Actual behavior:
> 
> User account remained locked until email address was switched to "unverified".
> 
> \### Server Setup Information:
> 
> \- Version of Rocket.Chat Server: 3.12.0
> \- Operating System: Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS
> \- Deployment Method: TAR (manual)
> \- Number of Running Instances: 1
> \- DB Replicaset Oplog: True
> \- NodeJS Version: 12.18.4
> \- MongoDB Version: 4.0.23
> 
> \### Client Setup Information
> 
> \- Desktop App or Browser Version: Firefox 86.0.1
> \- Operating System: Mac OS Big Sur and Windows 10
> 
> \### Additional context
> 
> Forum post about this issue: https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800
> 
> \### Relevant logs:
> 
> These logs after the server has been reset and more than 24hrs after first report of account locking:
> 
> \`\`\`
> I20210317-16:37:07.350(11) Failed login detected - Username\[unknown\] ClientAddress\[xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx\] ForwardedFor\[xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx\] XRealIp\[xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx\] UserAgent\[Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10\_15\_6) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/14.0.3 Safari/605.1.15\] 
> I20210317-16:37:07.355(11) Exception while invoking method login Error: Login has been temporarily blocked For User \[error-login-blocked-for-user\] at app/authentication/server/startup/index.js:308:9 at packages/callback-hook/hook.js:131:22 at packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:167:15 at Hook.each (packages/callback-hook/hook.js:109:15) at AccountsServer.\_validateLogin (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:164:29) at AccountsServer.\_attemptLogin (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:353:10) at MethodInvocation.methods.login (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:535:23) at maybeAuditArgumentChecks (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1771:12) at packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1689:15 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1687:36 at new Promise (\<anonymous\>) at Server.applyAsync (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1686:12) at Server.apply (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1625:26) at Server.call (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1607:17) at Object.post (app/api/server/v1/misc.js:263:26) at app/api/server/api.js:394:82 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at Object.\_internalRouteActionHandler \[as action\] (app/api/server/api.js:394:39) at Route.share.Route.Route.\_callEndpoint (packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:150:32) at packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:59:33 at packages/simple\_json-routes.js:98:9 =\> awaited here: at Promise.await (/opt/Rocket.Chat/programs/server/npm/node\_modules/meteor/promise/node\_modules/meteor-promise/promise\_server.js:60:12) at Server.apply (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1638:22) at Server.call (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1607:17) at Object.post (app/api/server/v1/misc.js:263:26) at app/api/server/api.js:394:82 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at Object.\_internalRouteActionHandler \[as action\] (app/api/server/api.js:394:39) at Route.share.Route.Route.\_callEndpoint (packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:150:32) at packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:59:33 at packages/simple\_json-routes.js:98:9
> I20210317-16:41:40.431(11) Exception while invoking method login Error: Login has been temporarily blocked For User \[error-login-blocked-for-user\] at app/authentication/server/startup/index.js:308:9 at packages/callback-hook/hook.js:131:22 at packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:167:15 at Hook.each (packages/callback-hook/hook.js:109:15) at AccountsServer.\_validateLogin (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:164:29) at AccountsServer.\_attemptLogin (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:353:10) at MethodInvocation.methods.login (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:535:23) at maybeAuditArgumentChecks (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1771:12) at packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1689:15 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1687:36 at new Promise (\<anonymous\>) at Server.applyAsync (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1686:12) at Server.apply (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1625:26) at Server.call (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1607:17) at Object.post (app/api/server/v1/misc.js:263:26) at app/api/server/api.js:394:82 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at Object.\_internalRouteActionHandler \[as action\] (app/api/server/api.js:394:39) at Route.share.Route.Route.\_callEndpoint (packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:150:32) at packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:59:33 at packages/simple\_json-routes.js:98:9 =\> awaited here: at Promise.await (/opt/Rocket.Chat/programs/server/npm/node\_modules/meteor/promise/node\_modules/meteor-promise/promise\_server.js:60:12) at Server.apply (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1638:22) at Server.call (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1607:17) at Object.post (app/api/server/v1/misc.js:263:26) at app/api/server/api.js:394:82 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at Object.\_internalRouteActionHandler \[as action\] (app/api/server/api.js:394:39) at Route.share.Route.Route.\_callEndpoint (packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:150:32) at packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:59:33 at packages/simple\_json-routes.js:98:9
> I20210317-17:18:54.501(11) Exception while invoking method verifyEmail Error: TOTP Required \[totp-required\] at checkCodeForUser (app/2fa/server/code/index.ts:186:9) at app/2fa/server/loginHandler.js:30:2 at callbacks.runItem (app/callbacks/lib/callbacks.js:111:70) at Object.callbacks.runItem (app/metrics/server/callbacksMetrics.js:24:20) at app/callbacks/lib/callbacks.js:39:35 at app/callbacks/lib/callbacks.js:45:45 at callbacks.run (app/callbacks/lib/callbacks.js:127:9) at Object.callbacks.run (app/metrics/server/callbacksMetrics.js:14:17) at app/authentication/server/startup/index.js:346:20 at packages/callback-hook/hook.js:131:22 at packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:167:15 at Hook.each (packages/callback-hook/hook.js:109:15) at AccountsServer.\_validateLogin (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:164:29) at AccountsServer.\_attemptLogin (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:353:10) at AccountsServer.\_loginMethod (packages/accounts-base/accounts\_server.js:385:17) at MethodInvocation.verifyEmail (packages/accounts-password/password\_server.js:928:19) at maybeAuditArgumentChecks (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1771:12) at packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1689:15 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1687:36 at new Promise (\<anonymous\>) at Server.applyAsync (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1686:12) at Server.apply (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1625:26) at Server.call (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1607:17) at Object.post (app/api/server/v1/misc.js:263:26) at app/api/server/api.js:394:82 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at Object.\_internalRouteActionHandler \[as action\] (app/api/server/api.js:394:39) at Route.share.Route.Route.\_callEndpoint (packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:150:32) at packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:59:33 at packages/simple\_json-routes.js:98:9 =\> awaited here: at Promise.await (/opt/Rocket.Chat/programs/server/npm/node\_modules/meteor/promise/node\_modules/meteor-promise/promise\_server.js:60:12) at Server.apply (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1638:22) at Server.call (packages/ddp-server/livedata\_server.js:1607:17) at Object.post (app/api/server/v1/misc.js:263:26) at app/api/server/api.js:394:82 at Meteor.EnvironmentVariable.EVp.withValue (packages/meteor.js:1234:12) at Object.\_internalRouteActionHandler \[as action\] (app/api/server/api.js:394:39) at Route.share.Route.Route.\_callEndpoint (packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:150:32) at packages/nimble\_restivus/lib/route.coffee:59:33 at packages/simple\_json-routes.js:98:9 
> \`\`\`

> <https://github.com/RocketChat/Rocket.Chat/issues/26828>
>
> \<!-- 
> 
> Please see our guide for opening issues: https://rocket.chat/docs/contr…ibuting/reporting-issues
> 
> If you have questions or are looking for help/support please see: https://rocket.chat/docs/getting-support
> 
> If you are experiencing a bug please search our issues to be sure it is not already present: https://github.com/RocketChat/Rocket.Chat/issues
> 
> \--\>
> 
> \### Description:
> See also #21158
> Same Problem = "Login has been temporarily blocked for this User" = "Die Anmeldung wurde für diesen Benutzer vorübergehend gesperrt"
> 
> Unfortunately, it happens several times a year that a user is blocked. Even if username and password were entered correctly (because stored in the password list)!
> 
> The user enters username, password and TOTP and then the message "Login has been temporarily blocked for this User" is displayed.
> 
> At the moment I solve the problem by playing around with 
> \- Change user
> \- Change email address
> \- activate/deactivate "Verify User"
> \- enable/disable 2FA
> 
> At some point the user works again. Unfortunately I can't exactly reproduce the process because I'm just "playing around". 
> 
> Currently I use RC 5.1.0
> Application engine version 1.34.0
> Node version v14.20.0
> Database migration 281 (September 6, 2022 11:10)
> MongoDB 5.0.11 / wiredTiger (oplog Enabled)
> 
> Whereas all this information is secondary as the problem has been there for years.
> And all details are also described in #21158
> 
> A solution approach as described by @benji1000 in \[#21158#issuecomment-856884323 \](https://github.com/RocketChat/Rocket.Chat/issues/21158#issuecomment-856884323) would be to aim for.
> !\[image\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/66670106/188852811-19f59e66-9374-4565-b5b1-a843d268b062.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hans4rc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/aeb1de/32.png) [@hans4rc](https://forums.rocket.chat/u/hans4rc)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 8:50pm UTC](https://forums.rocket.chat/t/how-to-unblock-blocked-user/9800/14 "2022-09-08T20:50:04Z")

</div>

BUG! I have now tried around with a colleague and we have found that the failed login counter is not reset!!! There is a bug in the code! PLEASE FIX URGENTLY!

RC 5.1.0