How to fix the reliable packet 1 (size=16) error in Among Us

Despite being released in 2018, Among Us has quickly risen in popularity this summer since many popular streamers picked up the game—and it’s proven to be a great source of content with its action-packed gameplay. The game’s availability on mobile platforms was also one of the significant factors behind its success and the player count has continued increasing to levels that Innersloth, the developer of the game, could never imagine.

While popular games are excellent for creating content and gathering with friends to test each other’s mettle, a surge in player counts for an indie game like Among Us can also mean server problems. Among Us and most indie games adjust their servers’ capacity by running estimations on their expected player counts. Though there’s nothing wrong with that, it simply means the developer can be caught off guard when millions of players decide to play their game at the same time. And the “reliable packet 1 (size=16) error” is just one of the errors that prevent players from joining in on the fun.

The error lacks detail when it comes to what you can do to fix it by yourself and a Google search returns no developer responses. Innersloth commented on previous errors with different size codes in the past, but there isn’t an officially recommended fix for this error code yet.

That doesn’t mean your hands are tied, however, since the community was quick to find a couple of band aid fixes for the time being that should get you going right away.

How can you fix the reliable packet 1 (size=16) error in Among Us?

By the looks of many forum posts and Reddit threads, the issue seems to be tied to the overall capacity of Among Us’ servers. The error resurfaces whenever the servers are overrun with players, meaning there isn’t a space for you at the time you receive this error.  

If not playing during the prime times of gaming isn’t an option for you, most Among Us fans reported that they were successful in joining a lobby after changing their server region. This means you’ll need to pick any other server than your current region.

Related: How to fix “disconnected from the server” error in Among Us

Try picking the Asian or the European game servers if you’re in North America, which should potentially fix the problem since most of the players in those regions will be asleep, meaning the servers will be less crowded. If you’re worried about the ping, fear not since the gameplay of Among Us is pretty much the same no matter what your ping is.

If changing servers doesn’t work, some fans could also jump into a game by activating a VPN. This is essentially the same method since triggering a VPN is highly likely to change your in-game region because you would be connecting from another part of the world, but it’s still worth a try in case there are other variables that Among Us fans don’t know about yet.