8 Ways To Fix Payday 3 Crashing

I have a lot of memories with PayDay 2, as it was me and my squad’s go-to multiplayer game back in the day. So you would understand when I said I had high hopes for Payday 3 as a means of getting the gang back together. However, my hopes were shortlived as Payday 3 is littered with glitches and bugs that range from funny to game-breaking. One of those bugs is the Payday 3 crashing issue preventing players from accessing the game. We’ll cover different error fixes to help you resolve this issue and get back to having fun with your pals. 

Verify System Requirements For Payday 3

Before we start diagnosing and applying various fixes to resolve the Payday 3 crashing issue on your PC, let’s first make sure your PC can handle the game to begin with. Here are the official Payday 3 system requirements. You must compare them with your system specifications and see if your PC can run the game. 

Minimum System Requirements For Payday 3

• OS: 64-Bit Windows 10
• CPU: Intel Core i5-9400F
• System RAM: 16GB RAM
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 1650 (4 GB)
• DirectX Version: 11

Recommended System Requirements For Payday 3

• OS: 64-Bit Windows 10
• CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K
• System RAM: 16GB RAM
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 1080 (8GB)
• DirectX Version: 12

Use A Mod To Remove State Of Liberty Mask

A preorder mask in Payday 3 called the State of Liberty mask crashes your game when you equip it and launch it. It’s quite a weird issue as to how can a single cosmetic item cause the game to crash, but it’s happening to players nonetheless.

To fix this issue, you must use a mod (link to ModWorkshop.net) to replace the State of Liberty mask with the Dallas Mask. This way, the mask will be removed from the game, and you won’t face the Payday 2 not launching issues anymore. 

You can undo the mod once the developers release a patch to address this issue so you can equip it again. 

Try Switching Between DX12 or DX11

Players have been reporting in the community that switching the game’s graphics API has helped them overcome the Payday 3 crashing issues.

Payday 3 is running on DX11 mode by default, and there’s no in-game setting to switch to DX12. However, you must set launch parameters in Steam or Epic Games to switch the API to DX12. Here’s how to do it:

Steam

1. You must open Steam and locate Payday 3 in your games library. 
2. Once you’ve found it, right-click on the game and access its properties. 
3. Once inside the general tab of the properties, you’ll see the option of adding Launch Options.

   

4. In the box, type “-DX12” without quotes and simply close the windows. 

The launch argument will be saved, and as you launch the game after doing this, Payday 3 will launch with DirectX 12 API. 

Epic Games

1. Open Epic Launcher and locate the Payday 3 game in the library. 
2. Once you locate it, right-click on it and click on Manage. 
3. Inside the manage game window, you’ll see an option to add launch options on the bottom. First toggle this setting on to reveal the text box below.

   

4. In the text box, type “-DX12” without quotes and close the window to save changes. 

When you launch Payday 3, it’ll launch in DirectX12 mode.

Unplug VR Headset & Disable VR Capabilities In Payday 3

Payday 3 did something new that wasn’t available in the previous entries on day 1: VR. I’ve had fun playing Payday 2 in VR long after its release. However, since Payday 3 just got released, the VR playability is a bit unstable, and players have reported on Reddit that their games are cashing even if they’ve left their VR headsets attached to their PCs. 

So until the developers release a patch to address this issue, here’s what you have to do: 

1. First, you have to locate Payday 3 files. You can easily do that using the locate local files option from Steam or Epic Games. 
2. Once you’re in the installation folder for Payday 3, go into the following folder:
   Engine > Binaries > Thirdparty
3. Once you’re in the Thirdparty folder, delete a folder called OpenXR.

After deleting the folder, VR will be completely disabled from Payday 3 on the feature level. As a precaution, I recommend unplugging your VR headset from the PC. This will prevent any Payday 3 crashing issue that was occurring due to VR. 

Once the developers fix this issue, you can validate your game files to restore Payday 3’s VR capabilities. 

Run Payday 3 As Administrator

Running Payday 3 with administrator privileges has also fixed the crashing issues on the PC. In several games, your PC isn’t providing the game complete access to resources, which leads to a crash. To resolve this, you can simply choose to launch Payday 3 as administrator. Here’s how to do it: 

1. First, you have to locate the game files for Payday 3. You’ll know where they’re located since we’ve already done it in the previous fix. 
2. Here, you’ll have to find the main executable file for Payday 3. Once you find it, right-click on it and access its properties. 
3. In the properties window, you’ll need to jump to the compatibility tab.

   

4. Inside the compatibility tab, you’ll just need to checkmark 2 options. One is to run the program as an administrator, and the other is to disable fullscreen optimization.
5. Once you’re done, click on OK to save changes. 

Now, Payday 3 will always run with administrative privileges. If you were facing any crashes due to the game’s lack of permissions, now there won’t be any problems. 

Whitelist Payday 3 From Antivirus

Antivirus software is known to generate false positive reports on games, which restricts them from using your PC resources. A lack of resources means the game will ultimately crash on the desktop. To see whether your system antivirus is the reason behind the Payday 3 crashing issue, we’ll need to disable it temporarily.

Disable Antivirus Shields

Here’s how you can do it (We’ll be taking Windows Defender as an example, but other antiviruses have similar options): 

1. First, you have to open up Windows Defender settings. Type Windows Security into the Windows Search and click on the first result.
2. After the Windows Security settings open up, you must head to the Virus and Threat Protection tab on the left. Inside this tab, hit Manage Settings under the Virus and Threat Protection settings.

   

3. In the Virus and Threat Protection settings, turn off the Real-Time Protection option to turn off al the antivirus shields.

   

Once you’re done deactivating your antivirus shields, go ahead and launch Payday 3. Try playing around for a while and see if you’re facing any crashes. If everything goes well, you’ve found the culprit behind the crashing issue. 

Whitelist Payday 3 Install Directory

However, you cannot leave your PC unprotected. So, instead of keeping Windows Defender disabled, you can exclude the Payday 3 install directory from scanning. Here’s how to do it: 

1. You’ll already be inside the settings for Virus and Threat Protection. Simply scroll down until you see an option to Add or Remove Exclusions. Click on it.

   

2. Once inside the Exclusions settings, click +Add an Exclusion and select the folder option.
3.  As you select the folder option, browse and look for the Payday 3’s installation directory and add it here.

   

Once the installation directory for Payday 3 is added, it’ll be free from any restrictions from the antivirus. Now you can play the game without worrying that your antivirus will crash it every 5 minutes.

Remove Any Overclocking Profile On Your System

Overclocking your PC is simply one of the best feelings you can get as a PC gamer. The thrill of adjusting the wattages and pumping up those gains is exhilarating. However, not all games are compatible with overclocked hardware, which can result in issues like Payday 3 crashing. 

You’ll need to restore your system’s default clock speeds to avoid these crashes. You’ll do this depending on the original method you’ve used to overclock your PC to begin with. You could have used software like Intel XTU or Throttlestop. Or you might have overclocked your system from the UEFI/BIOS. 

Verify Payday 3 Game Files

After applying all the fixes, if you’re still facing Payday 3 crashing issues, there’s a problem with your game files.

There can be several reasons why your game files have either gone missing or corrupted. This couldn’t happen due to antivirus software or system cleaners. So, to fix this problem, you can simply use the game client’s utility to verify the integrity of game files and fix the issue at the root. Here’s how to do it:

Steam

1. Open up Steam and find Payday 3 in your game library.
2. Once you locate it, right-click on it and select its properties.

   

3. Inside the properties, you’ll see the Installed Files tab on the left side. Access it. 
4. After opening the Installed Files tab, click the Verify Integrity of Game Files option on the right.

   

After clicking on the verify integrity of game files option, Steam will start scanning Payday 3’s install directory and figure out which files need replacing.

Once it lists down the files that are either corrupted or gone missing, it’ll notify you and start downloading those particular files.

Epic Games

Here’s how you can verify Payday 3 files through Epic Launcher:

1. Open up Epic Launcher from either the taskbar in the bottom right corner of your desktop or use Windows Search.
2. Once it opens up, look for Payday 3 in your Game Library.
3. Once you find it, right-click on it and select Manage.

   

4. In the Manage section, you’ll see an option to Verify files at the top. Simply click on it and wait for the verification process to start.

   

Like what I’ve explained for Steam, Epic Launcher will not detect and install any missing/corrupted game files for Payday 3. This will resolve almost all your issues if there are any files that are missing from the game directory.  

Reinstall The Game

I usually don’t recommend it, but seeing how the community has been discussing this as an effective fix, I had to include it.

If nothing else in this error fix guide works for you, try reinstalling the game in order to fix Payday 3 crashing issues on your PC. 

Did You Finally Fix The Crashing Issue? 

These are all the best solutions to Payday 3 crashing issues I’ve tested on PC. These are the best solutions out there, and hopefully, this helped you get back into the game without any hitches. Hopefully, The developers will take note of these issues and develop patches soon to address them. Until then, resolve them with my guide and enjoy your time looting banks with your pals in Payday 3.