Server not responding

[Junebug]

Hi! I keep running into issues joining modded servers. I've even tried downloading all of the mods that are listed on the server but every time I try to join one it says server is not responding. Most servers are doing this even when a ton of players are online. Anyone know a fix?

[Jack Schitt]

I *think* when you join a server that includes mods you get an option to download the exact mods that are running. By how you wrote your question it seems like you're looking at the mod list and going to the workshop to subscribe to the mods on the list manually. Maybe that's what's messing up. If that's what you're doing you may not be getting the same exact mod the server is running. Just join the server and let the joining process download the mods so you're sure to have the exact same ones.

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, you are not the first asking about this, a few recent discussions can be found.

The best Tip was shared by a server admin playing with 90 Mods and 3 players.

The new player was not able to join and he told the server admin.

Solution :

The admin had to withdraw half of the Mods and the new player was able to join in.
+
He RE added back in the missing Mods > ONE at a time.

It worked for him so why I shared all of this with you.

[Jack Schitt]

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

Hi, you are not the first asking about this, a few recent discussions can be found.

The best Tip was shared by a server admin playing with 90 Mods and 3 players.

The new player was not able to join and he told the server admin.

Solution :

The admin had to withdraw half of the Mods and the new player was able to join in.
+
He RE added back in the missing Mods > ONE at a time.

It worked for him so why I shared all of this with you.

*thumbs up*!

[Junebug]

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

I *think* when you join a server that includes mods you get an option to download the exact mods that are running. By how you wrote your question it seems like you're looking at the mod list and going to the workshop to subscribe to the mods on the list manually. Maybe that's what's messing up. If that's what you're doing you may not be getting the same exact mod the server is running. Just join the server and let the joining process download the mods so you're sure to have the exact same ones.

Nope, tried just joining without manually downloading the mods first but I read that someone suggested downloading them manually but that didn't work either.

[Jack Schitt]

Then it has to be what Dan2D3D shared; too many mods. And, as Dan mentioned, the only fix known for it is to get the server admin to remove a bunch of them and re-add them one by one after you join. Unfortunately there most likely aren't many server admins who will go through all of that to gain just one more player on their server. And that is probably within reason because if they remove the mods it might destroy stuff people who have been playing on that server have built and have been using for a while.

Your only option may be to find other servers. Sorry !

[Dan2D3D]

It's not going well when playing with A Lot of Mods on a server (Steam Mod download become huge and fail), I have noticed this problem since it is Steam in charge of the Mods, more precisely since all Mods goes into the Steam folder server admins have this problem.

[Jack Schitt]

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

It's not going well when playing with A Lot of Mods on a server (Steam Mod download become huge and fail), I have noticed this problem since it is Steam in charge of the Mods, more precisely since all Mods goes into the Steam folder server admins have this problem.

Hmm...
All due respect and courtesy to you, Dan. This is somewhat a question but also a comment adding to what you've shared. I've created a mod recently that I've shared in the workshop and I haven't tried it online because I don't play a lot of multi-player games for this game but the only place I need the files to be is in the AppData folder.

I'm not sure which is why this is mostly a question; when you subscribe to a workshop item...where do they go? To my knowledge they go into the cloud for the users account that subscribes to them unless, like in my scenario, they were self-authored creations.
My Mod folder in my steam library directory for this game is empty, there is absolutely nothing in it, but I do have a few mods (windows, and some other simple ones I've read that are not prone to effect the vanilla version of the game much, just add to it).

Where do the mods go if they don't go in the appdata or mods folder? It has to be somewhere in the cloud, which we can't access and look at. Or can we somehow access the cloud folders to look at and modify or edit them?

[Dan2D3D]

Jack Schitt,

Well I am not sure, it's by reading other members post that I came to that conclusion.

Some told me that the Mods don't go to their appdata SE folder but I am in since 2013 and always backup that folder and it is still there for me, Full of old Mods and I rarely sub. to new Mods on the Workshop cause I have all I need since 2015 > Mods that always update auto when I load a modded save.

[Jack Schitt]

Interesting. Feel free to look at my profile page and the workshop items I have for SE if that's possible that you can and want to. I really don't have too many. They don't go in the SteamApps...\SE\Mods folder because mine is empty. My appdata mods folder does have a bunch of stuff in it.

[Dan2D3D]

Tho I have reported this "problem" a few times directly to the SE Team and they may have changed it, again and now it goes to the appdata =

I have asked to have more information about this and still waiting ...

[d3r3k]

Ever since the last big update I have had very consistent issues joining any modded servers too.
I have tried uninstalling, changing drives the game is installed on, etc.
I've got a fairly beefy PC and strong network, its not my system.
But Ill get all 1000+ servers to load, choose any modded server (1 to 100 mods, doesnt matter) and 80% of the time it'll start to load, get a few downloads in and then say 'server not responding'. When it does get through, the load screen takes a long time, then choosing a respawn option, it'll actually sit there for up to a minute or two before i can actually play. This is not my PC and it is only after the last major update.

Even servers I have played on in the past. Do the Devs not even play as normal players and see this stuff? I'm very surprised I do not see A LOT more 'Server not responding" error threads on here.

One of my fav games by far, and I havent been able to play in months. So disappointing.

[Bodyboarder2528]

The issue is because SE downloads the mods so it tells steam hey we need these steam cant keep up and takes longer to download so sometime you need to try and connect about 5 times to make sure all mods are downloaded and then you can get in

[Bodyboarder2528]

If SE puts in a longer wait time or a way to know how much longer it will take to download the mods then it should work better

[Jack Schitt]

Originally posted by bodyboarder2528:

The issue is because SE downloads the mods so it tells steam hey we need these steam cant keep up and takes longer to download so sometime you need to try and connect about 5 times to make sure all mods are downloaded and then you can get in

Originally posted by bodyboarder2528:

If SE puts in a longer wait time or a way to know how much longer it will take to download the mods then it should work better

Good points that could be the cause. Peak Times and the amount of stuff that has to be downloaded and/or version-match-checked. At peak times which are generally from 7am to 11pm no matter the time zone servers are busy and can be slow. That might be what it is. The only way to test this out is to try joining the server outside of peak times.

If for some reason trying outside of peak times is not something you can do have you tried finding other servers that run the same or similar mods?

Is it just this one server or does it happen to all of them, all of the time?

Does it seem to be more likely to happen with a large amount of workshop stuff activated on the server? Try joining servers with less mods as well as NO mods and see.

This game is pretty resource hungry. It's hard on both servers and computers trying to run them. The more stuff there is the more trouble both the server and everyone's computer has running it.
You can only fill a container so far before it can't hold any more ya know?

[Bodyboarder2528]

i run a server and this it my findings that i stated above