Contact PDC on logon failure
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Net Logon Description
This policy setting defines whether a domain controller (DC) should attempt to verify the password provided by a client with the PDC emulator if the DC failed to validate the password. Contacting the PDC emulator is useful in case the client’s password was recently changed and did not propagate to the DC yet. Users may want to disable this feature if the PDC emulator is located over a slow WAN connection. If you enable this policy setting, the DCs to which this policy setting applies will attempt to verify a password with the PDC emulator if the DC fails to validate the password. If you disable this policy setting, the DCs will not attempt to verify any passwords with the PDC emulator. If you do not configure this policy setting, it is not applied to any DCs.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters Value name: AvoidPdcOnWan
Enabled: AvoidPdcOnWan = 0
Disabled: AvoidPdcOnWan = 1
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Netlogon/Netlogon_AvoidPdcOnWan Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Contact PDC on logon failure
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters]
"AvoidPdcOnWan"=dword:00000000More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Contact PDC on logon failure
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AvoidPdcOnWan' -Value 0 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Netlogon/Netlogon_AvoidPdcOnWan
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Contact PDC on logon failure
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters' -Name 'AvoidPdcOnWan' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Contact PDC on logon failure
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AvoidPdcOnWan' -Value 0 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Contact PDC on logon failure
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Contact PDC on logon failure
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters' -Name 'AvoidPdcOnWan' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Contact PDC on logon failure
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AvoidPdcOnWan' -Value 0 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.