Incorrect OTP

[OperationsS]

Hello

Me and many users are having issues with google authenticator. Trying to log in with OTP i will get an error message sating
"Login using Google Authenticator failed. Error: Incorrect OTP." I followed the kb articles where I synced the provider with a global ntp and and synced mobile devices time and date, but I still keep getting the incorrect OTP error. Then when I try to check in if a user account is added to the OTP the user does not appear.

 

[LinhP]

That sounds really frustrating, especially after you've already gone through the time sync steps (NTP sync is usually the first fix!).
The fact that the user accounts aren't appearing in the OTP check is a huge clue that this isn't just a time drift problem. It suggests the issue might be happening at the server registration/provisioning stage.
A few things you can check on the server side:

1. Server Time Zone & Format: Double-check that the server's timezone settings are correct and that the clock format (including seconds) matches what the Authenticator app expects, even after NTP sync. Sometimes a small difference in time format can mess up the algorithm.
2. Is the secret key (seed) being stored correctly? When the user registers, the server generates a secret key. If that key isn't stored, retrieved, or associated with the user account properly, any OTP they enter will fail, and they won't show up as 'added'.
3. Try a fresh registration: Can you force one of the affected users to re-register their Authenticator app entirely (clear the current secret and issue a new QR code)? If a new registration fixes it, the issue was with the initial key provisioning.

Let us know which platform or service you are using the Authenticator with (e.g., specific software name) - that might help narrow down the server-side configuration check. Good luck!"