Basic Troubleshooting and Common Issues

[SylenThunder]

• How to Clean Save Data
  
  
• How to Fully Refresh the Client
  
  
• Excluding the Client from Security Software
  
  
• Installing/Updating GPU drivers
  
  
• Moving Save Location to Another Drive
  
  
• Starting the Client in "Windowed Borderless"
  
  
• Game is Stuck on Generating the World
  
  
• Strange Marble Blocks and Blocked Doorways You Can Walk Through
  
  
• Missing Traders or Broken Trader Quest
  
  
• Possible Fix for Restoring a Corrupted Save
  
  
• How To Report an Issue
  
  
• Running multiple client versions on the same PC

[SylenThunder]

How to Clean Save Data

Alpha 21 is not compatible with V1.0 saves/maps, or with earlier experimental builds of a19. It is advised to back up your existing saves prior to performing this if you want to return to an older version later.
Failure to follow these steps between major client updates (a18 to a19), will result in corrupted saves and unstable gameplay.

1. Start the game from inside your Steam library.
   
2. Select "Show game launcher" from the window that appears and click Play.
   
3. Click on the "Tools" tab in the launcher window.
   
4. Click the button labeled "Clean game data".
   
5. Click in the boxes for "Game settings" and "Game data", then tick the selector for "All maps".
   At this point everything should have a tick next to it.
   
6. Click the "Clean" button.
   
7. Navigate to the game client folder, and delete the Mods folder.
   Game client is usually at 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\Common\7 Days Top Die'
   
8. Delete the Mods folder from your client directory to ensure you do not have any old/incompatible mods installed.
   
9. Follow the instructions in How to Fully Refresh the Client

[SylenThunder]

How to Fully Refresh the Client

1. Start Task manager and End task on either of these if running:
   7DaysToDie.exe
   7DaysToDie_EAC.exe
   
2. Open a Windows Explorer Window.
   
3. Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\EasyAntiCheat
   
4. Right-Click EasyAntiCheat.exe and select Run As Administrator from the menu.
   
5. From the Drop-Down select "7 Days To Die".
   
6. Click the "Uninstall" button in the lower left corner.
   
7. After the process is completed, restart your computer.
   
8. Open the Steam Client
   
9. Navigate to your Games Library
   
10. Right-Click on 7 Days To Die in the left navigation bar.
    
11. Click Properties
    
12. Click on the Local Files Tab
    
13. Click the "Browse Local Files" Button
    -This will open a Windows Explorer Window. The next Steps Take Place in Windows Explorer
    
14. In Windows Explorer, go up 1 Level so that you should now see the '7 Days Top Die' folder which is likely '\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\Common\'
    
15. For now leave this Windows Explorer open but switch back to the Steam Client
    
16. You should still have the properties screen for 7 Days To Die open, and be on the Local Files tab, if not, please follow the steps above to get there again.
    
17. Click the Delete Local Content Button - This will uninstall the game, follow the prompts.
    
18. Back to the Windows Explorer that we left running at probably '\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\Common\'
    
19. Right-Click the 7 Days To Die folder
    
20. Click Delete
    
21. Type the following into the address bar without the quotes then press enter:
    '%appdata%\7DaysToDie'
    
22. Select all files and folders in this location and delete them.
    NOTE: This will remove all save games and generated maps. If you wish to retain any data, back it up prior to deletion.
    
23. WARNING: The Next Steps involve the Registry. You can really mess your system up if you make a mistake or have a problem. Neither I, nor The Fun Pimps, nor any other person on the planet but yourself can take responsibility for following the remaining steps. The following steps are listed for completeness in potential troubleshooting techniques. If you choose not to delete the registry entries, skip to the after the Close Regedit step and re-install the game.
    
24. Click Start
    
25. In the app finder, or the run dialog, type 'regedit.exe' without quotes and hit enter
    
26. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\The Fun Pimps\
    
27. Right-Click the 7 Days To Die key folder
    
28. Click Delete
    
29. Close Regedit
    
30. Close Explorer
    
31. Restart your computer.
    
32. Temporarily disable your security software.
    
33. Open Steam
    
34. Click Install on 7 Days To Die in Steam Client
    
35. Right-Click 7 Days To Die in the Steam Client
    
36. Click Properties
    
37. Click Set Launch Options Button
    
38. Delete anything in that field
    
39. Click OK a few times
    
40. Exlude the client from your security software.
    
41. Try Playing.

[SylenThunder]

Excluding the Client from Security Software

Why are you telling me to exclude the program from my Antivirus software?
Antivirus software is a must-have in today's age of computing if your PC is attached to the internet at all. (Some will argue otherwise, but for 95% of PC users this is a simple fact.)

Unfortunately, the scans that it runs on active processes can have an negative impact in your game clients performance. Additionally there is the complication caused by false-positives or corruption of client files due to being locked while in use, or "cleaned" by the software.
Since we trust Steam, and their vetting process to prevent us from being sent malware through games we purchase, we can safely trust them as a publisher. As such, I recommend excluding the entire Steam folder rather than just your 7DaysToDie folder under SeamApps\Common.

In fact, I keep all of my games from trusted publishers in a "Games" folder, and have excluded that entire folder. Steam, Origin, and other such tools all reside inside of this folder, along with individually purchased games from other companies I trust.

How to exclude the program from your Antivirus software.

Truly, the biggest hurdle in doing this is figuring out how to perform the exclusion in your particular software. As such, I have compiled a list of the top Antivirus solutions and am providing links to their instructions.
If you say "I don't have any antivirus", you have Microsoft Security Essentials.

• BitDefenter[www.bitdefender.com]
  
• McAffee[service.mcafee.com]
  
• Norton[support.norton.com] (Page 44)
  
• Avast![support.avast.com]
  
• AVG[support.avg.com]
  
• Avira[support.avira.com]
  
• Trend Micro[docs.trendmicro.com]
  
• eScan[faqs.escanav.com]
  
• G Data[help.gdatasoftware.com]
  
• ESET NOD32[support.eset.com]
  
• Microsoft Security Essentials[answers.microsoft.com]

If you don't have one of the above programs, just do what I did to get the above links. Go to the website for your antivirus software, go to the support section, search for "exclude folder", then follow the instructions to exclude the entire client directory. (Alternatively, you can also Google "NameOfAnti-VirusSoftware exclude folder".)

[SylenThunder]

Installing/Updating GPU drivers

1. Go to the manufacturer support page for your card.
   Nvidia[www.nvidia.com]
   AMD/ATI[www.amd.com]
   
2. Select your OS version and device model from the drop-down menu, then download the file.
   
3. Go to the location where you saved the file to.
   
4. Right-Click the installer file and select Run As Administrator from the menu.
   
5. Follow the prompts to get to the advanced/custom installation options.
   
6. Select the option for "Perform a clean installation" Note that this will remove any custom driver options you may have set.[/b]
   
7. Complete the driver installation.
   
8. Restart your computer fully.
   
9. Attempt to play the game again.

[SylenThunder]

Moving Save Location to Another Drive

This is especially helpful when you are short of space on your C: drive, or wish to move your save data to a faster drive for better performance.

1. Open the Steam Client
   
2. Navigate to your Games Library
   
3. Right-Click on 7 Days To Die in the left navigation bar.
   
4. Click Properties
   
5. Look at the "LAUNCH OPTIONS" on the general tab.
   
6. In the bottom field underneath the text stating "Advanced users may choose to enter modifications to their launch options", enter the following
   -UserDataFolder=E:\SaveGames\V1.0
   
   Do note that this will be the path for it to create the Saves folder inside of. There will also be a GeneratedWorlds folder created there if you create any maps.

Now when you start the game it will use your path for the save files.

NOTE: you probably want to move your old save files from "%appdata%\7 Days To Die\Saves".

[SylenThunder]

Starting the client in "Windowed Borderless"

1. In the client set the Resolution to the same as your desktop. (Note that resolutions greater than 1920x1080 are not recommended, and will put an extra load on your CPU.)
   
2. Set the Fullscreen option to "NO".
   
3. Exit the client.
   
4. Go to the steam client.
   
5. Right Click 7 Days To Die and select properties
   
6. General Tab, Click Set Launch Options button.
   
7. Place the following in the box:
   

   -popupwindow

Now when you start the client it will be in a borderless full screen window.

[SylenThunder]

Game is Stuck on Generating the World

On hardware that meets the recommended system requirements, an 8k world will take on average 15-25 minutes to create.
If your system only meets the minimum system requirements, an 8k world can take anywhere from 40 minutes to two and a half hours to create.
If you are still within this window, then just wait.
If you killed the client while it was still generating the map, either choose a different seed, or follow the instructions to Clean Save Data
If you are still getting stuck at generating a map and you feel something is really wrong, please start a thread following the instructions in How to Report an Issue.

[SylenThunder]

Strange Marble Blocks and Blocked Doorways You Can Walk Through

This is a known issue that will hopefully be resolved in a20.

Until then the common fixes are to fully exit the game and re-enter it, or to use the POIS command.

Using the POIS command

1. While in the game experiencing the issue, press F1] to open the console.
   
2. In the command line type in 'pois' without the quotes. This will disable distant POI.
   
3. In the command line type in 'pois' without the quotes. This will now enable distant POI.
   
4. Press the ESC key to exit the console window.

[SylenThunder]

Missing Traders or Broken Trader Quest

The most common cause for this error is because of generated worlds left over from previous client versions. The fix for this is to follow the instructions in How to Clean Save Data.

Another common cause for this issue is using worlds generated with the 3rd party tool Nitrogen. If you are using this tool to create your worlds and recieve this issue, it is usually because you do not have a center forest section in the world data. The client code is looking for traders in the "starter" forest section in the middle of the map.

Also note that support for Nitrogen ended before a19 was released to Stable. As such you may experience a number of other issues when using it with a19.

[SylenThunder]

Possible Fix for Restoring a Corrupted Save

This method may possibly/partially restore a save game that is corrupted by not exiting the client correctly. It is strongly advised to troubleshoot the issue that initially caused the improper shutdown before continuing.

1. Navigate to: C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\7DaysToDie\Saves\<map name>\<save name> (the error message should give you the exact path as well).
   
2. Copy the <save name> folder to your desktop or somewhere else. (you're making a backup just in case)
   
3. Create a new game on that same map and remember the save name, I'll refer to this as <new save name>, then quit the game.
   
4. Navigate to: C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\7DaysToDie\Saves\<map name>\<new save name> and copy both the main.ttw and main.ttw.bak to the C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\7DaysToDie\Saves\<map name>\<save name> folder. You will be told that "The destination has 2 files with the same names", click on "Replace the files in the destination" button.
   
5. Run 7DTD and try to continue your game.

Note that this is not a guarunteed fix. You may have more data corruption as a result of the improper shutdown, and may just need to wipe everything and start over. It is a good practice to keep regular backups.

[SylenThunder]

Running multiple client versions on the same PC

For those of you who wish to have the best of both worlds, here are some rather simple instructions.
Note: If you do not start the client from inside Steam an error may appear about a missing file. It is safe to ignore this error and continue by pressing the 'Escape' key.


Copy the current version

1. In your Steam games list, right-click the game in the left menu, and choose "Properties".
   
2. Click on the tab labeled "Local Files".
   
3. Click on the button labeled "BROWSE LOCAL FILES".
   
4. You will find yourself in a folder that looks similar to this.
   C:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\7 Days To Die
   
5. Go up one folder path so you can see the game folder itself.
   C:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\
   
6. Right-click on the folder "7 Days to Die"
   
7. From the drop-down list that appears, choose "Copy".
   
8. Now right-click in an empty space in the folder, and choose "Paste" from the drop-down menu.
   
9. You will now have a folder called "7 Days to Die - Copy"
   
10. Right-click the new folder and choose "Rename".
    
11. Replace the word 'Copy' with the version number.
    Example - "7 Days to Die - 19.6"

Congratulations, you now have two games! You can now go back into the Betas tab and download a different version.

1. Go back to the Steam Properties window for 7 Days to Die.
   
2. Click on the tab labeled "BETAS".
   
3. From the drop-down list, choose the build you want. ("latest_experimental" for current test versions, "NONE - Opt out of all betas" for the current stable branch.)
   
4. Click Close
   
5. It will now download the client version you selected.

Creating a shortcut to the game copy

1. Go to the copied client folder you created earlier.
   
2. Right-click on the file "7DaysToDie_EAC.exe", and choose Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).
   
3. Now close those windows so you can see your Desktop.
   
4. Right-click the newly created shortcut, and choose "Rename".
   
5. Change the name to something like "7DTD a19.6"

Now you can use that shortcut to launch a19.6, and you can launch the other branch directly from Steam.

It may also be useful to follow the steps in Moving Save Location to Another Drive. This way you won't cross incompatible save data between the different clients.