UnityPlayer.dll caused an Access Violation (0xc0000005)

Some users are not able to play the games that use the UnityPlayer.dll file. According to them, the games keep crashing because of the Access Violation error. UnityPlayer.dll is a Dynamic Link Library that is responsible for generating 3D materials for games and animated characters. It is developed by Payload Studios. On viewing the error log in the Event Viewer, they saw the UnityPlayer.dll caused an Access Violation (0xc0000005) error message. If the games that use UnityPlayer.dll crash on your system due to the access violation error, the solutions provided in this article may help you resolve the issue.

UnityPlayer.dll caused an Access Violation (0xc0000005)

If the games that use the UnityPlayer.dll file crash on your system and you see the “UnityPlayer.dll caused an Access Violation (0xc0000005)” message in the error log, try the following solutions to fix it.

Run the game as an administrator
Disable your antivirus
Troubleshoot in a Clean Boot state
Disable CPU Overclocking
Disable XMP Profile
Upgrade your RAM

Let’s see all these fixes in detail.

1] Run the game as an administrator

This is the first thing that you should do. Run the problematic game with administrative privileges and see if it helps. If the issue was occurring due to administrative privileges, running it as an administrator will fix the problem. To do so, right-click on the desktop shortcut of the game and select Run as administrator.

If this fixes the issue, you can make your game always run as an administrator.

2] Disable your antivirus

Antivirus protects our systems from different types of threats. But sometimes, they block genuine files by considering them a threat. This is a false positive flag from antivirus which can be avoided. In your case, the error is associated with the UnityPlayer.dll file. Hence, it is possible that this file is considered a threat to your system by your antivirus. You can check this by disabling your antivirus temporarily.

Disable your antivirus and then launch the game. See if it crashes this time too. If the game runs properly, you have to tell your antivirus that the UbityPlayer.dll file is a genuine file by adding it as an exclusion to your antivirus. In Windows Security, you can easily exclude a program or a file. If you are using a third-party antivirus, read its manual or contact its support to know how to do that.

3] Troubleshoot in a Clean Boot state

If the problem still persists, you should check if an app or software is causing the conflict with the game by troubleshooting in a Clean Boot state. A system is said to be started in a Clean Boot state when all the third-party startup apps and services are disabled. Hence, you have to disable all the third-party services and startup apps by using MSConfig and then restart your system to enter the Clean Boot state.

In the Clean Boot state, launch your game and see if it still crashes. If not, a third-party app or service is causing conflict with the game and crashing it unexpectedly. Now, your next step is to identify what is causing the problem. To do so, launch MSConfig and enable all the third-party services and startup apps, and restart your computer in normal mode. If you have too many third-party services, enable half of them and restart your computer. Now, check if the problem persists. If the issue reappears, one of the services or the startup apps that you have just enabled is causing the problem.

Now, first, check if a startup app is causing the problem or not. To do so, disable all the startup apps one by one and see if the problem disappears. If yes, that startup app is the culprit. Now, uninstall that app or check if an updated version is available on its official website.

If the startup app is not causing the problem, a third-party background service may be the culprit. Launch MSConfig, hide all Microsoft Services, and then disable one of the third-party services. Restart your system and check if the problem persists. Repeat this process to check which third-party service is causing the problem. Once you identify the third-party service, disable it via the Service Management app.

According to the feedback of some affected users, the following apps were causing the problem:

Citrix Remote Desktop app.
Citrix Workspace.

If you have installed any of the above apps on your system, uninstall them or update them (if an updated version is available on the official website) and see if the error disappears. Also, remove the Citrix driver from the Device Manager. To do so, right-click on the Citrix driver in the Device Manager and then select the Uninstall device option.

4] Disable CPU Overclocking

The process of increasing CPU clock rate is called CPU Overclocking. In simple words, CPU Overclocking is the process of making the CPU operate at a higher rate than the default value set by the manufacturer. In some cases, overclocking the CPU creates issues on a PC. If you have overclocked your CPU, turn it off and see if it helps.

5] Disable XMP Profile

XMP Profile or Extreme Memory Profile is used to improve gaming performance. It was first developed by Intel and now it is used by all high-performance RAM manufacturers. If your RAM supports XMP Profile, you will see an option to enable it in BIOS. If you have enabled the XMP Profile for your RAM, disabling it can fix the issue. Go to your system BIOS and find an option to disable the XMP Profile.

6] Upgrade your RAM

Some users were able to fix the problem by upgrading their RAM. You can also try this. But we recommend you upgrade your RAM only if your system does not have the minimum memory to run the game as per the hardware requirements of the game.

Read: Fix Witcher 3 VCOMP110.dll was not found error.

How do I fix a DLL error?

The DLL files are required by programs to run properly on a PC. When you install a program, the required DLL files are also installed on your system. One possible cause of the missing DLL file error is the improper installation of the game. If you abort the installation process or if you do not install the game properly, it may result in the missing of important files required by the game.

If you get a missing DLL file error, you need to reinstall the program or repair your system files by running the SFC and DISM scans. You will find many websites offering DLL files to download. But we do not recommend such websites to download DLL files. Instead of doing that, you can copy the missing DLL file from another healthy computer to your computer.

How do I fix UnityPlayer.dll not found?

The error message is self-explanatory. The game that you are running does not find the UnityPlayer.dll file on your system. Usually, this error occurs if you move the game files from the installation folder to another location. Copy all the game files and move them to the game installation folder and then launch the game. It should work.

If this does not help, uninstall and install the game again. But before you proceed, make sure that you have backed up all your game data to the cloud.

I hope this helps.