Modern Warfare 2 “Display name not allowed” error: How to fix, possible errors, and more

Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer mode seems to have more performance issues than Activision would like it to have. Despite garnering a positive response from the Call of Duty player base, the latest franchise entry does not allow players to enjoy the title as was intended.

There are a great many bugs and performance errors that players have to deal with in the shooter, one of the most annoying ones being the “Display name not allowed” error.

This issue usually occurs for those booting up the game for the first time, and the title asks them to enter a display name that they can show off as their in-game name.

This error will not allow you to set a name, no matter how unique it is, which has caused a significant amount of problems for many in the community.

While there is no permanent solution to the problem, today’s guide will seek to go over certain temporary workarounds that will help you deal with the “Display name not allowed” error in Modern Warfare 2.

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Fixing the “Display name not allowed” error in Modern Warfare 2

What makes the “Display name not allowed” error so annoying to deal with in Modern Warfare 2 is that even if you are following the guidelines strictly when setting a name, the issue will still pop up.

While the shooter will not allow you to insert duplicate in-game names, or even names that are inappropriate and have profanity on them, the error will still not allow you to play the game even if you are following the rules.

Hence, to work around it, here are a few things you can look to do.

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1) Restarting the game

Restarting Modern Warfare 2 seems to be the step that is solving the issue for most people in the community. Often, something might go wrong while booting the title through Battle.net or Steam client, and the error message pops up as a result.

You can also try and launch the game as an administrator upon restarting the game. Some players have reported that this has done the trick not just for the display name bug but also with other performance issues that Modern Warfare 2 seems to be facing on PC.

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2) Scanning and repairing files

There is a chance that certain game files might be corrupted in the installation directory. Hence, the best way to deal with this would be to scan and fix the game files with the use of the Battle.net and Steam client.

By going to the game options and selecting “scan and repair,” you will be able to let the client go through the files in the directory and automatically replace the ones that are corrupted.

You can also even look to update the game to the latest version, which will help weed out any corrupt files that might be there in the directory.

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3) Check Modern Warfare 2 server status

It’s likely that the issue is from Activision’s end, and you may be required to check for the server status and availability before starting the game and setting up a display name. If the servers are facing issues and are down for maintenance, you will need to wait for Activision to make it live before hopping into the game.