Network Error – MTG Arena client fails to fall back to IPv4 (RFC 6555)
On PC (Steam), MTG Arena repeatedly shows “Network Error” or “Unable to get collection” when IPv6 is enabled.
The issue occurs on a valid dual-stack network: both IPv4 and IPv6 routes are reachable, but the client never retries on IPv4 if IPv6 stalls.
Steps to reproduce
Launch MTG Arena on a Windows system with IPv6 preferred (e.g. Fritz!Box router).
Start the client — it hangs with Network Error.
Launch again using:
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "set PREFERIPV4=true && set UNITYIPV6=0 && start "" "C:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\MTGA\MTGA.exe""
The game connects normally.
Actual result:
Arena fails to connect when IPv6 path is slow or unreachable.
Expected result:
Client should automatically fall back to IPv4 per RFC 6555 (“Happy Eyeballs”).
Workaround:
Setting PREFERIPV4=true and UNITYIPV6=0 forces IPv4-only sockets and resolves the problem immediately.