Pokémon Go: How to fix ’The Gym is under attack! Try again later’ error

How do you fix the 'The Gym is under attack! Try again later' bug in Pokémon Go? By turning up the clock!

Pokémon Go is currently experiencing a bug where the game incorrectly throws up an error for people trying to add their Pokémon to a freshly claimed Gym. Basically, one person can go in fine, but anyone and everyone else has to wait 10 minutes before they can add their Pokémon and help defend the Gym.

It's super frustrating to players who attack Gyms in groups. Pokémon Go developer Niantic says the bug is know and the company is working on the fix. In the meantime, here's a fix you can apply right now!


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TL;DR: How do you fix it?

  1. Have everyone put their Pokémon on all at the same time.
  2. Or, if you miss it, manually your phone clock 10 minutes forward to temporarily fool the system.
  3. Make sure you set your phone clock back to automatic afterwards or it could screw up your Raid timer.

How do you know it's an error and that Ninatic is working to fix it?

Niantic has stated the error was a known issue both on Reddit and on the company's support website:

Trainers incorrectly receive an error message when attempting to assign a Pokémon to a Gym Some Trainers may experience a bug where they are unable to assign a Pokémon to a Gym shortly after the Gym was claimed for their team. Attempting to assign a Pokémon returns the error message: "The Gym is under attack! Try again later." The issue could take up to an hour to resolve itself. We're actively working on a fix.

Why is this error message even in the game?

Pokémon Go hasn't said. Initially some thought the error may have been created to prevent people from throwing more and more Pokémon on a Gym as it's under attack and other Pokémon are kicked off, thereby creating a stalemate. But it doesn't seem to be preventing that at all — you can still add Pokémon to a Gym that's actually under attack if you time it right, you simply can't add them to a Gym that's no longer under attack.

Others have theorized the error was to prevent multi-account cheating, where one person with several devices or several accounts on the same device tries to fill a Gym and squeeze legitimate players out, or shave/cycle the Gym by knocking a Pokémon out and replacing it with one of their own. It doesn't seem to have slowed them down either, though.

What if you and your fellow players have been able to place Pokémon without issue?

Then you've been lucky! Seriously, though, I get the error all the time when I walk up to a friendly Gym that was taken only a few minutes before, and I see people complaining about it constantly online and in real life.

It's possible you might not be experiencing the bug. It's also possible you've been placing your Pokémon at roughly the same time as other players, which doesn't trigger the bug.

Wait, if everyone places a Pokémon on a Gym at the same time it doesn't trigger the bug?

Nope! Simply have everyone select a Pokemon but wait at the confirmation screen. Then, when everyone is ready, start counting down from 3 and have everyone place their Pokémon at roughly the same time.

Bingo. Everyone's on the Gym.

What if you miss that brief, beautiful window of simultaneity?

Oh, great question and great phrasing. If either you crash, show up late, or otherwise have a problem and can't get your Pokémon on the Gym at the same time as everyone else, there's on more trick you can try: setting your clock forward.

From The Silph Road:

If a gym gets flipped but you're unable to add your Pokemon due to the gym-is-under-attack error (a.k.a. the 10-minute lockout), change the clock on your phone 10 minutes ahead and you can add your defender.

I tested it several times and with several other people and it worked each and every time.

How do you change the clock on your phone to avoid the Pokémon Go Gym bug?

If you get the "The Gym is under attack! Try again later" error in Pokémon Go you typically have to wait 10 minutes before you can add your Pokémon to the Gym. The thing is, though, you don't actually have to wait. You can fool Pokémon Go into thinking you've waiting simply by setting your clock forward 10 minutes.

  1. Launch Settings on your iPhone.
  2. Tap on *General**.
  3. Tap on Date & Time.
  4. Toggle Set Automatically to OFF.
  5. Make sure the *Time Zone** doesn't change. If it does, set it back to your local time zone.
  6. Tap on the Current Time.
  7. Spin the Time ten minutes ahead.

Once you're done, go back to the Gym and add your Pokémon. Then reset the time on you're phone.

Can you use this trick to get Raids to start sooner or last longer?

Nope. Sorry. But make sure you set your clock back to automatic ASAP or you might get weird count down errors when you start your Raids.

Any Pokémon Go questions?

If you have any questions about this or any other Pokémon Go bug, drop 'em in the comments below!

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