AK Chatroom causing 429 - Too Many Request errors?

[AdamAnt316]

Last night, after entering the Official AK Chatroom (yes, it's still a thing) as usual, I started getting 429 - Too Many Requests errors, looking like this:

At first, I thought it was another incident of bot attacks on the forum, and after several attempts to send messages (mostly) resulted in the old "Oops! A Problem Occurred" graphic, I gave up. During the day, when I generally don't enter the chatroom, I didn't get any of the 429 errors, so I hoped that the forum problem had been solved. Earlier tonight, not long after entering the chatroom for another go-round, what should I get but another 429 error.

I closed the floating chat window (it also happens with non-floating windows) I had open, and after a few minutes, I was able to access the forum again, and posted to this thread. Re-entered the chatroom with another floating window, and sure enough, a few minutes later, got another 429 error. Now suspicious, I asked someone in a Discord room to try accessing AK themselves, and they were able to do so while I (with the floating window still open) was not. This makes me think that the chatroom function's normal forum calls are somehow making the server think I'm a spammer, or something like that.

Hopefully an admin can look into this issue and make the chatroom function useful again.
-Adam

 

[harman/kardon]

I had this twenty minutes ago. I don't know why.

 

[pac1085]

Yea I just tried it, once you join the chat room you won't be able to browse anywhere else on AK for a period of time and you will keep getting those 429 errors. It cleared after 2-3 minutes.

 

[AdamAnt316]

Yea I just tried it, once you join the chat room you won't be able to browse anywhere else on AK for a period of time and you will keep getting those 429 errors. It cleared after 2-3 minutes.

Yep, it's definitely something odd with the chatroom, though I've found I can just sit in the chatroom without posting and not get a 429 error, but it generally comes up within minute or two of posting a message in there. Hopefully @Tinkerbelle or one of the other admins can look into why the chatroom (and other aspects of AK?) might be causing this issue with the server/Cloudflare/what-have-you.
-Adam

 

[AdamAnt316]

Still having this 429 problem; maybe not as annoying or widespread to some as the 503 or Forbidden error, but still an issue. The steps to trigger it seem to be as such:

1. Enter the chatroom; this alone is not enough to cause a problem
2. Send a chat message; this starts the clock
3. Within two or so minutes, I can hit the back button from the chatroom (or close the floating window) and nothing happens
4. After two minutes, it seems, I start getting the 429 Too Many Requests error message (which manifests in the chatroom itself as an "Oops! A Problem Occurred" message when trying to send a chat message or whatnot)
5. Back out of the chatroom, get the white error screen; wait a couple of minutes, refresh the AK page, and I can access the forum again

Not as persistent as the Forbidden error we got much of last night, but still annoying for those of us who try to use the chatroom. Hopefully @Tinkerbelle, @Ms Grumpy or one of the other admins can please look into why this might be occurring.
-Adam

 

[Tinkerbelle]

Late to see this, unfortunately, but elevating to get it addressed.

 

[Hyperion]

See this....

Post in thread 'Can't post, Can't Edit, Permissions, etc... Please use this thread'

Jun 1, 2026

The fun behind-the-scenes activities have now completely killed AK's chat function. Entering the chat room and just sitting there for a few minutes causes the following error when trying to post in there or to go elsewhere in the AK forums.

Too Many Requests​

​

The user has sent too many requests in a given amount of time.​

Exiting AK for a few minutes clears the error. This does not happen every time, however, it happens so often that the chat function is now effectively dead. If this error is not cleared, you might as well disable chat and remove it...

• pustelniakr

• 

 

[Tinkerbelle]

See this....

Post in thread 'Can't post, Can't Edit, Permissions, etc... Please use this thread'

Jun 1, 2026

The fun behind-the-scenes activities have now completely killed AK's chat function. Entering the chat room and just sitting there for a few minutes causes the following error when trying to post in there or to go elsewhere in the AK forums.

Too Many Requests​

​

The user has sent too many requests in a given amount of time.​

Exiting AK for a few minutes clears the error. This does not happen every time, however, it happens so often that the chat function is now effectively dead. If this error is not cleared, you might as well disable chat and remove it...

• pustelniakr

• 

Noted, thank you!

 

[AdamAnt316]

Not sure if any forum settings have been changed, but the chat seems to be working a little bit better, though still not very well. Entered the chat earlier tonight, posted in it, waited a few minutes, still working. Waited 15 minutes, successfully posted again, tried to return to the forum a couple of minutes later, seemed to still be working. Opened a floating/pop-up chat window, waited a few more minutes, refreshed the main AK window, and alas, got the 429 error yet again. So it seems to be a little less prone to the dreaded error, but it's still occurring, especially when the floating/pop-up window is involved. Hopefully the problem will be fixed soon.....
-Adam

 

[AdamAnt316]

Any updates on this problem? I test the chatroom every so often, and while it isn't triggered quite as quickly as it used to be, it continues to be a thing. Hopefully the issue is still being worked on.....
-Adam

 

[Tinkerbelle]

Any updates on this problem? I test the chatroom every so often, and while it isn't triggered quite as quickly as it used to be, it continues to be a thing. Hopefully the issue is still being worked on.....
-Adam

Some interim tweaks, I believe, but not yet what we hope to be a final solution.

A change was just made following a suggestion from @pustelniakr, so please let us know if that somewhat improves or alleviates the 429 error occurrences. @AdamAnt316

 

[AdamAnt316]

Some interim tweaks, I believe, but not yet what we hope to be a final solution.

A change was just made following a suggestion from @pustelniakr, so please let us know if that somewhat improves or alleviates the 429 error occurrences. @AdamAnt316

I tried holding a conversation with someone in there, and it worked for about 10 minutes before the "Oops! A problem occurred" banner popped up, leading to the 429 Too Many Requests screen when I pressed my browser's 'Back' button. Somewhat better than it was before, but there are definitely still problems.
-Adam

 

[Tinkerbelle]

OK, noted, thank you

 

[BSome]

This happened to me Sunday night

 

[AdamAnt316]

In spite of the server change, it seems that this cursed problem is still occurring in one way or another. After the past few chat sessions were uneventful (if mostly without activity), I opened the chatroom (in non-floating window mode) a little while ago to see what was going on, present in the room but didn't post for several minutes. A few minutes ago, I posted a message without incident, but when I tried to post another, I got the "Oops! We ran into some problems." message seen below. While it isn't outright triggering the 429 errors this time, it would seem that something's still not right about the chatroom, and possibly the rest of the forum as well. Hopefully @Tinkerbelle, @Ms Grumpy or one of the other admins can finally fix whatever server setting(s) is causing this.
-Adam

PS: After said problem, it took me several attempts to post this message due to repeatedly getting this pop-up when trying to add smilies/mentions/etc.:

 

[Tinkerbelle]

In spite of the server change, it seems that this cursed problem is still occurring in one way or another. After the past few chat sessions were uneventful (if mostly without activity), I opened the chatroom (in non-floating window mode) a little while ago to see what was going on, present in the room but didn't post for several minutes. A few minutes ago, I posted a message without incident, but when I tried to post another, I got the "Oops! We ran into some problems." message seen below. While it isn't outright triggering the 429 errors this time, it would seem that something's still not right about the chatroom, and possibly the rest of the forum as well. Hopefully @Tinkerbelle, @Ms Grumpy or one of the other admins can finally fix whatever server setting(s) is causing this.
-Adam

PS: After said problem, it took me several attempts to post this message due to repeatedly getting this pop-up when trying to add smilies/mentions/etc.:
View attachment 3812122

Thank you, Adam. This is good feedback and is passed on up the line

 

[Ms Grumpy]

I have been working with the staff working to correct this issue in the chat. Here is a request from the team to help with finding the problem.

1) Including your members' screenshots are currently a better lead than just the text.
2) Include the time and their time zone when they post one, that materially improves the odds of finding the issue.

Remember not all members are in the same time zone and this is important.

 

[AdamAnt316]

I have been working with the staff working to correct this issue in the chat. Here is a request from the team to help with finding the problem.

1) Including your members' screenshots are currently a better lead than our instruments.
2) Include the time and their time zone when they post one, that materially improves the odds of naming the advertiser responsible.

Remember not all members are in the same time zone and this is important.

In the case of the incident I posted about above, I forget exactly when I entered the room to monitor it, but I made a post of "So, anyone around?" at 8:39PM EDT. A minute or so later, I attempted to Mention a few of the chat (ir)regulars using the '@' symbol, only to be greeted with an "Oops! We ran into some problem." error. I pressed the back button to return to the forum, and while I didn't get a 429 error, I kept getting the aforementioned error for several minutes afterwards every time I re-entered the chatroom and tried to use the Mention function. I then started typing my post in this thread, only to be greeted by that error box every time I tried to use the Mention function (probably would've gotten it had I clicked Post Reply as well). I had to wait several more minutes before I could finally complete the Mentions and successfully post the reply at 8:54PM EDT. I then returned the chatroom, waited several minutes, posted successfully at 9:09PM EDT, and didn't get any further errors for the remainder of my (mostly slow) chat session.
-Adam

 

[mbz]

Bit left field, are you running VPN SW (eg Norton VPN).

I need to turn VPN off so I can log onto AK otherwise AK thinks I'm a bot.
Also Norton has an automatic re-enable of VPN after some time (5-10minutes?).
So if while logged onto AK Norton re-enables VPN then the next AK action I attempt is greeted with the "Oooops" message.

 

[AdamAnt316]

Bit left field, are you running VPN SW (eg Norton VPN).

I need to turn VPN off so I can log onto AK otherwise AK thinks I'm a bot.
Also Norton has an automatic re-enable of VPN after some time (5-10minutes?).
So if while logged onto AK Norton re-enables VPN then the next AK action I attempt is greeted with the "Oooops" message.

I don't use a VPN.