I can't join any server

[Meninx]

I was able to up until some weeks ago, but now i can't join any type of server whatsoever for some reason?

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, some members were not able to play Public recently and here is what they did to fix :

1 - The problem was caused by router MTU being set to 1400 to my ISP gateway. Changing the MTU to 1500 fixed the problem.
MTU = Maximum Transmission Unit

2 - Turn off ASUS' ROG GameFirst < That one was reported preventing players to play on server.

3 - Also one member was stuck in space and could not see the respawn screen, he switched to Wifi to fix.

[Meninx]

But i was able to join normally up until some days ago, i didn't fiddle with any settings and/or even install any new software that could have changed anything

[Dan2D3D]

It's just a temp Steam down then!

Try again later or restart PC in case it's a bad Windows connection.

[Meninx]

How's a temp steam down? I've tried everything you said, i also checked the files integrity and even reinstalled everything from zero. Still nothing. I can see the list of servers/games with people in them but i can't even read the server description since it says "Error downloading server settings!". Also i noticed whenever i start the game and alt-tab to Steam, i can't even get into the workshop or community page for some mysterious reason.

[Dan2D3D]

You seem to have done the important and still can't join public servers = It may just be a Steam problem if it was working before, it happens durring Sales where Steam is having high internet traffic (temp Steam down).

Maybe wait and try tomorrow after Steam routine maintenance and see if all back to normal.
(steam is down for routine maintenance every tuesday)

[Meninx]

UPDATE: It appears i can login into the servers from the Steam servers menu.

[Jack Schitt]

I've read all the text here. I'm assuming it might be something with an anti-virus or firewall you're running. If you prefer to use the in-game menu to join (it does provide more info than the steam servers window) try checking your anti-virus and firewall stuff including windows defender and windows firewall. Make sure they allow everything for the game.

Some of it might be that you're from Italy. The location of the servers you're trying to join might have something to do with it, too, if you're attempting to join servers that are located across the planet from you = you're not going to have a good connection to that server / servers located far away from your location.

Something that might help with the menus that helps me when they lag or mess up is deleting the game's ShaderCache content (files). They're located in the %appdata% folders for the game and there's another shadercache folder in the steam library directory for this game. Don't delete the folders, delete the files inside the shadercache folders.
Those files will come back but for some reason this helps me and others when menus in the game lag or have issues. Worth a try.

[Meninx]

I've been joining public servers since i bought the game. Of the dozens servers i've joined since the purchase (vanilla, modded, survival and creative) i have never had any issues connecting to any of them. It's true, most of the servers i used to play in were european ones, but today i couldn't login even in other italian servers. The issue only appeared today.

I did check the firewall and the windows defender settings but i couldn't find anything related to the possibility of the game being blocked somehow. Nor i did fiddle with the settings or installed any antivirus software that could have done that sneakingly.

I did also try to do a complete clean new installation of the game, deleting any directories left on my computer just to be safe (both the Steam installation directories and the %appdata% one). Still nothing. For now i'll just use the Steam servers search engine window since it's the only way for me to successfully join any servers.

[Jack Schitt]

If you haven't made sure windows firewall and defender and your anti-virus (and firewall if your AV has one included) Allow Space Engineers do that. Create exceptions or exclusions for the game to insure your security software isn't causing this. That can explain why it works through Steam's server browser and not the in-game server features if any of the security apps that might be running are disrupting the game in any way.

It might work through View > Servers because Steam is allowed by whatever security *might* be doing it, but it's all of a sudden blocking the game menu's somehow (an update or something if you haven't changed any settings - it's possible).

Make sure all of your security has exceptions for the game, doesn't interrupt the game at all by adding them to the allowed "do not disturb" list(s)....whatever the software you use calls the ignore lists.

You can test if that's what's doing it by turning off windows firewall and defender and your AV/Firewall if you have a separate firewall suite.

I'll launch to see if I'm having this issue and edit with the result. I use the steam server browser under view > settings for all of my games except Space Engineers because of the info SE's in game server info features has. Steam's server window is good enough for most games but it doesn't have a lot of the info this game's in-game server browser features have that's useful to have and know when choosing one to join.

[Meninx]

I've tried as you said by turning windows defender and firewall completely off (after checking if the game was allowed and it already was) but i still can't login by the servers list in game. This is actually starting to freak me out a little...I have no idea what's going on anymore...

[Jack Schitt]

I was able to see 13 servers that did not have a password. 29 servers total with show passworded servers enabled. I did not see any of the official servers which I think is a bit weird unless they're down so there may be something going on that we as users have no control over?

I didn't try to join any of the ones I saw that I could join. I just peaked to see if I could see any. Can you see some but joining fails? Is there an error or does the game say it timed out or what?

I took screenshots but I wasn't able to upload and share them because something's also up with Steam's cloud or my connection to it although I have just under 1gb/s download and 50MB/s upload.

Have you ran a speed test on your connection?
What's the lowest ping you're seeing in Steam's server window?

[Meninx]

Yes i've run a speed test and everything seems to work just fine. I can play other multiplayer games on Steam with no problem at all. Currently, the lowest ping i see in the servers window is 37.

Addendum: I've noticed that my whole internet connection stops working (meaning i can't even load webpages with my normal browser) whenever i get out of the game and until Steam confirms the game application is not running anymore.

[Jack Schitt]

It does that same thing to me. I almost don't have enough patience for how long it takes to load from desktop to main menu without any mods at all where I can click to start or join a game, then loading a game until I can play also tests how patient I am for a game to load When I click exit to windows and the game closes I sometimes can't do anything else until SE stops running completely, which sometimes takes 10 minutes until it stops holding my computer hostage.
No other game or program I have does that.

They need to fix that. There are several issues on the bug report portal that are marked as 'considered' or 'in progress' that are 2 to 5 years old, considered or 'in progress' that long.

We have to enjoy this game the way it is sometimes.
I enjoy it despite all of those kind of things when I can summon the patience to wait for it to load. There are a lot of times I'll leave it run in the background and alt+tab doing other things for extended periods of time because I don't want to go through waiting for it to load and let go of my computer after trying to close it.

The closing thing might be partially due to Steam's cloud because it does sync with the cloud when it closes. That's not the part that takes forever for me when I close it though it's whatever it's doing before syncing that takes forever.

You're not alone with that one.

[Dan2D3D]

All good for me and friends so the best you can do would to let the SE programmers know about your problem, well in case they have to hotfix the game to run in your PC or they may have something important to tell you that I don't know.



__

Report directly to the SE programmers so they can chat with you if they need more info :

Support Portal = https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers/pc
(create "Bug report" or "Request help" or "Feedback"(Petition) on the Portal)

You may use the Support Email to report if you prefer :
Email = [e-mail]

+
And here is the important Data you must add in your report to help the SE programmer :
https://steamcommunity.com/app/244850/discussions/1/523897653318639486/

[Jack Schitt]

Dan, Please help us by using your source of contact with them since you're the only one that can reach them and request that site is finally fixed. That site doesn't work, we can't get in to it after we register and post once, I can't anyway. And they don't monitor that email because they never reply to it.

Has anyone ever gotten a reply from sending a message to that email? I haven't. I've sent several message to it and didn't even once get even an automated reply.
Am I the only one this stuff doesn't work for? They ignore just me? lol!!!
The portal doesn't work for just me? We've touched this subject before, Dan.
You've suggested the same suggestion that isn't helpful and does not work every time because your reply is to 'contact the devs' that I can't contact.