Game server not starting / Game server crashing

Make sure to follow all steps, in the order as listed.

To make sure you're not losing any progress, we strongly advise you to create a backup.

Please make sure to follow all steps exactly as instructed before reaching out the help desk. 

  1. Check the logs
    1. Check all the logs you can find on the game server settings page -> logs. Look for crashes or errors that mention what is causing your server to crash / stop working.
    2. Check the "Events" page for any recent changes and/or Docker startup errors.
    3. Use Google to loop up a solution for any errors / crash logs you find.
    4. Reach out to the game / mod / plugin developers for any errors you find. If there is an error, GSA probably can't do anything about it.
  2. Create a backup for your server
    1. Some tests can cause data loss, so make sure you create a backup before going to the next step.
  3. Perform an update
    1. Even if there is no update available for your server, a manual update will force the game server to validate its. If anything is wrong with the files, the update should resolve.
  4. Default configs
    1. Activate the default configuration on your game server
    2. If the server manages to start, there is an issue with your configs -> make a new one and slowly add the config you want and test while adding.
  5. Default map
    1. Launch the game server with the default map
  6. Mods / Plugins
    1. Make sure no mods/plugins are loaded in (remove all mods/plugins or remove mod activation from config)
    2. If the server manages to start, there is an issue with (one of) your mods -> add mods one-by-one and test if it starts each time after adding a new mod.
  7. Recently update the game or mod? 
    1. Check the Game developers website or the Mod page, to rule out any issues with the latest update
    2. Updates frequently introduce problems. In that case you can try to contact Game developer or the Mod developer for assistance. 
  8. Are you migrating from another provider
    1. check how much memory the game server was consuming on the previous host. If your game server is using up more memory than is available, it will crash. 
    2. Try removing all save files. If your game server starts again, its very likely that you need more memory to run those save files. In order to get your game server up and running, you should lower the memory consumption of your game server (save files). In this case you either need to wipe your server, or upgrade to a bigger plan that has more memory.
      Extra info: When your game server is starting up, it will load all save files into its memory. If the save files are to big, it will use up to much memory and crash.
  9. Re-install the game server
    Occasionally something goes wrong with the steam game server installation, causing the game server to have some issues. If none of the above suggestions solved your problems, please try a re-install.
  10. Running out of memory
    While this may be a bit harder to detect, since the memory bar won't go all the way up to 100% before crashing, most often this is the case when running a 1 CPU game server.
    If you have a 1 CPU game server and have a custom map or many mods installed, you are probably running into memory limits. Please try and upgrade your game server.

If none of the above steps managed to help you out, please feel free to contact the helpdesk. Make sure you followed ALL steps!