Permanent Solo Lobby Method

[poopypoopypooper]

Improved, now with easier setup. No need to load into Change Appearance. Although, you're still fucked and probably have to use Change Appearance anyway.

Initial Setup
1. Open Windows Defender Firewall and click Advanced settings
2. Click Outbound Rules
3. Right-click Outbound Rules and click New Rule...
4. Select Port and hit Next
5. Select UDP, paste or type 6672, 61455, 61457, 61456, 61458 into the Specific remote ports section and hit Next
6. Select Block the connection and hit Next twice
7. Name the rule whatever you desire and hit Finish
8. Right-click the new saved rule and hit Disable Rule

In-Game Setup
Must be performed each time you want a solo lobby.
1. Launch the game normally while leaving Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security open
2. Do anything that puts you in a solo lobby, for example, enter a stranger mission, start a legendary bounty or load into change appearance
3. Once you're in a solo lobby, hit Enable Rule on the rule we just created
4. That's it, you're now in your solo lobby. You can complete your mission or exit change appearance and stay in. Enjoy!

Tested In-Game Setup Methods
- The dishonor-giving Stranger mission next to Lake Don Julio in New Austin (sometimes)
- Loading into Change Appearance, you may need to enter and exit PvP series to make it load (most consistent for me)

Adding Friends or Posse Members
1. Ask them to also set up the port-blocking rule on their own router or PC
2. While their port-blocking is disabled, send them an invite from your solo lobby
3. Have them accept the invite and wait for the to load into your session
4. Have them quickly turn on port-blocking so that other people cannot join your session
5. One of you may disconnect sometimes, just repeat the process to invite the person back into the lobby

Tips for Console Players
- Google how to block ports on your specific router or ask for help in this thread by listing your router
- The settings are likely under something like "Filter", "Security", "Firewall" > "Add custom rules" or something like that
- Use your router's admin panel to block the ports at the correct time as I've suggested in this thread (during Change Appearance, stranger missions, legendary bounties, etc.)
- If you can't figure out how to access your admin panel, just Google how. For mine, I just type 10.0.0.1 into my browser but it's different for other people with different routers.
- Guide for iptables: https://i.imgur.com/q6ASQsB.png

Troubleshooing Section
- Try restarting your PC!
- It doesn't work 100% of the time for me, rarely it loads me into tiny lobbies instead of an empty lobby. I just instantly go to Change Appearance because it works in small lobbies and try again.
- You may find yourself disconnecting a lot like normal if Rockstar's servers are under heavy load.
- It might help you to block the ports individually.
- If your lobby is auto-filling, you can type netstat -a -b in your Command Prompt to see which UDP ports are still listening and how to fix it.
- If you're disconnecting a lot instantly after getting into a solo lobby, you can try leaving your ports open until the lobby loads correctly and then block the ports after you feel like it's working. Just be wary that you might auto-fill sometimes and have to re-do it.
- For some people, just blocking port 6672 is enough and might work better for you.
- If you're playing with friends, there is sometimes an issue where camps and moonshiner shacks will not stay up. There is no known fix for this issue yet besides playing alone instead.
- Windows Firewall is garbage and sometimes requires you to restart/remake rules to get it working again.

If anyone can find a faster method, please tell us or post your own guide. This method was only discovered a few days ago and I'm sure it can be done even better if someone can find a way.

[GothBoss]

Thank you for the above ^_^

[poopypoopypooper]

Np GothBoss. I hope to update the guide again soon to make it simpler!

[jphillz]

Why do you want solo lobby? Does teleportation get you banned now?

[SimonCowell]

Why do you want solo lobby? Does teleportation get you banned now?

Full lobbies decrease wildlife population drastically + griefers/other cheaters are annoying as fuck

[poopypoopypooper]

Why do you want solo lobby? Does teleportation get you banned now?

Aside from what was already mentioned, another benefit might be trying to trigger dynamic events which also get reduced in full lobbies. It can improve frame rate, prevent some loading screen issues sometimes, help reduce crashes and disconnects that come from sharing the lobby, etc. If you're trying to avoid detection from other players and reports, obviously, the best way is going to be to play in a solo lobby.

The only issue found so far is that Moonshiner story missions specifically cannot be played, the game attempts to load you into another lobby and you'll be disconnected if your ports are blocked. You could probably temporarily unblock them and let a normal lobby load the story mission then go back to your own solo lobby when you're done (I haven't tried it.) You can still do Moonshiner deliveries and bootlegger missions though.

I wanted to add this tip on for anyone trying this but I can't edit my main post anymore: some people report that if you're in change appearance, it helps to wait 30 seconds to 1 minute in change appearance after you block ports before exiting to Free Roam to prevent auto-filling. Some people are also reporting that it helps to block 6672 remotely and locally on Windows Firewall, some people don't need to do this at all. I have it in two separate rules personally but here's a picture of this helps someone with troubleshooting:

[geass55]

I've got error 0x20010006 by doing that

[poopypoopypooper]

I've got error 0x20010006 by doing that

By doing what?

[Lego1914]

Same error here(0x20010006). After doing a legendary bounty.

[kuba2001s]

same error 0x20010006

[jacket_maomao]

Same error here(0x20010006)
After exiting PvP series & enable outbound rules

[poopypoopypooper]

Same error here(0x20010006)
After exiting PvP series & enable outbound rules

One issue I'm seeing here is that the guide says to enter Change Appearance. Are you doing that?

Here's my shortened way if this helps you.

- Enter/exit any PVP series (this is just required due to the infinite loading screen issue when trying to use change appearance and can be skipped if Rockstar patches this issue)
- Quickly load into Change Appearance while your lobby is empty momentarily
- Block the ports you want to block while in Change Appearance, I personally block them all plus I block 6672 remotely and locally with two rules by itself. Just 6672 remotely should be fine though for most people.
- Wait one minute after blocking ports in Change Appearance, this seems to help due to the 'handshake' and has helped some people who had issues with it.
- Exit, you're now in your solo lobby. It should just load instantly and this whole process should take you less than 5 minutes.

All of your disconnect errors are just that you're doing something wrong, blocking too early or trying to block when you're not in Change Appearance. Other "start up" methods are basically just suggestions and it could potentially be done in a legendary bounty because some people have reported it to work for them. Change appearance is still the most consistent for all people.

[Lego1914]

The change appearance method is working, thanks.

[DocQueso]

One issue I'm seeing here is that the guide says to enter Change Appearance. Are you doing that?

Here's my shortened way if this helps you.

- Enter/exit any PVP series (this is just required due to the infinite loading screen issue when trying to use change appearance and can be skipped if Rockstar patches this issue)
- Quickly load into Change Appearance while your lobby is empty momentarily
- Block the ports you want to block while in Change Appearance, I personally block them all plus I block 6672 remotely and locally with two rules by itself. Just 6672 remotely should be fine though for most people.
- Wait one minute after blocking ports in Change Appearance, this seems to help due to the 'handshake' and has helped some people who had issues with it.
- Exit, you're now in your solo lobby. It should just load instantly and this whole process should take you less than 5 minutes.

All of your disconnect errors are just that you're doing something wrong, blocking too early or trying to block when you're not in Change Appearance. Other "start up" methods are basically just suggestions and it could potentially be done in a legendary bounty because some people have reported it to work for them. Change appearance is still the most consistent for all people.

Whenever I log in, I try loading up Change Appearance and get stuck in an infinite load screen

[MasterThiefUA]

So I have been using this tutorial for a while and it stopped working since today. I guess Change Appearance lobby is not so solo anymore or they changed ports they use with the latest update.