Troubleshooting

Start here when something is wrong. Most problems have a short fix.

Run a diagnosis first

A diagnosis reads your server's status, its recent logs and these docs, and explains what is wrong in plain words with a suggested fix. It changes nothing.

There are two ways to get one:

• The help bot on this site. Ask it what is wrong. Anyone can ask it about the product and the docs; to diagnose your server you need to be signed in. It can explain problems and suggest fixes, but it cannot change your server. Changes are yours to make in the panel, or your AI's to make under your settings.
• Your own AI. If you have connected your AI, ask it to diagnose your server. It uses a read-only diagnose tool. Once it knows the cause, it can fix things for you, using your Allow, Ask and Block settings.

Chat lines are left out of the diagnosis unless you have turned on chat reading.

The panel also offers a diagnosis automatically when your server crashes repeatedly, and the console and the logs page each have an Explain this button for an error.

The server will not start

1. Look at the console for the last lines before it stopped.
2. Common causes: a broken config after a raw edit, a plugin that does not work with your Minecraft version, or a damaged world file.
3. Fixes: restore a recent backup (see Backups and restores), or take out the newest plugin.

Crashes

When your server crashes, we start it again at once. The console shows "The server crashed and is restarting", and the crash report (if Minecraft wrote one) is on the Logs page.

If it crashes three times in 10 minutes, we stop trying and tell you through your alerts. The console shows "The server crashed 3 times in 10 minutes and was stopped." It stays stopped until you start it. The panel then offers a diagnosis and a restore. When you start it again, the count starts over, so after a fix it gets three tries again before it is stopped.

Running out of memory counts as a crash too. If it keeps happening, remove plugins you do not need, lower the view distance, or move to a plan with more memory.

Players cannot join

• Check the address: name.serverhost.example, no extra port.
• If the server is asleep, the first player waits a few seconds. If it does not wake, see the next section.
• Check the version. Older versions need to be turned on under Versions, Older versions.
• Bedrock players need crossplay switched on. See Bedrock crossplay.
• If you use a whitelist, check that the player is on it.
• A custom domain needs its record set correctly. See Addresses and custom domains.

The server does not wake

• You get an alert if a wake fails. Check Alerts.
• If the region is busy, free servers wait in a queue. Paid servers go first. If you pinned the server to one region, it waits for that region and never starts in another.
• A crash on start shows in the console and the diagnosis.

Lag

• Check the TPS and memory in Analytics.
• Many plugins, a high view distance, or a lot of loaded chunks cause lag.
• New servers start with a view and simulation distance of 6 chunks. Raising them a lot (say to 32) makes the server load and run far more of the world around each player.
• Pre-generating the world can help on paid plans.
• Ask the help bot or your AI to diagnose. The diagnosis looks at how busy the server's processor is and at its view and simulation distance, and suggests lower values when they are the cause.

A plugin does not work

See Plugins, and Common errors in the console for what the error lines mean. Check that it is made for your Minecraft version and for Paper, and that its dependencies are installed.

Your AI cannot do something

• Check AI, Permissions: the action may be set to Block, or to Ask, which waits for you.
• Look in your approvals. Your AI cannot approve its own requests.
• Check AI, History to see what it tried.
• Make sure the AI is still connected under Account, Connected AIs.

I changed something and want it back

If your AI did it, use Undo in AI, History. If you did it, restore a backup. See Backups and restores.

Status of our service

If many servers are affected, check our status page (status.serverhost.example). It shows uptime for each region and any current problem.

Still stuck

Ask in our community Discord (link TBD). We do not promise a reply time. The docs, the help bot and Discord are the support.

To report a bug or suggest an idea, use the form in the panel. A bug report only includes your server and its recent errors if you agree.

Server Host is in beta. If our machine ever fails, we bring servers back from the latest snapshot as best we can, and anything after that snapshot can be lost. Keep your own backups of anything precious. See Backups and restores.