Notes

Minecraft Server Troubleshooting Guide Print

Although Minecraft has been out for beta testing for a while, there are still some glitches. You can merge it with CraftBukkit, Tekkit or third-party plugins to have problems like crashes, lags, errors, and faulty plugins. Server problems are usually unavoidable with most Minecraft servers and the more plugins and the larger your world, the more likely you are to have these issues. This guide will provide detailed information on how to troubleshoot a Minecraft server to help you find the root cause.



One point we (GGServers) would like to make is that server crashes and [most] causes of lag have nothing to do with the host themselves (this goes for any hosting company). Every host runs the Minecraft/External Minecraft server software (which is a .jar file) through Java, which is cross-platform (Windows, Mac & Linux Compatible). This allows all servers the ability to function on different OSes. Due to this, it isn't the host that is actually starting/running your server, it is the Minecraft/External Minecraft server software that is running through Java that is the brain of everything, the only time a crash is an issue on the host's side is if their actual physical hardware breaks down or if the operating system crashes. All other crashes are caused directly by Minecraft/External Minecraft server software and plugins themselves.



You will also want to understand that host companys cannot fix all Minecraft related problems for you as we did not program the game, CraftBukkit, Tekkit or the plugins you use - we can only give you our best effort at debugging the problems using our experience. A host cannot fix user error because we didn't configure your server or install the plugins. The exception is if you purchased the Modpack Support Addon. You should always give as much detail as possible about how the problem started. However, some problems may not be able to be resolved WITHOUT doing a whole reset/rollback. This is unfortunately the nature of Minecraft and the plugins that are based on it.



FIRST STEP FOR SERVER ISSUES



First, you, the server owner should check your console/server.log file (via FTP) or built-in file viewer. The console displays a realtime version (a txt file) of the server.log. However, the server.log contains a more extensive history as it includes all console log output. Some messages may look strange or cryptic, but you can usually find error messages that include the names of the plugins to which they are related. Error messages begin with a tag similar to, or identical to: "[SEVERE]". Some errors will let you know exactly what the problem was, which makes it easier to fix it. Sometimes, however, the server.log file size can reach gigabytes (1000MB+), making it difficult to open. Usually when the server.log file is larger than 1 GB, it is due to chunk errors.



Tip: Delete your server.log file without the server running to make it easier to see startup/shut down errors. It wouldn't be enjoyable to have to download 100MB log files every time. If you want to keep it, you can rename the file to another name (example server.logOLD1).



Once you have identified the problem, the next step will be to ensure that all plugins installed are up to date (including your Minecraft/External Minecraft JAR). This can be done by clicking on Update in the Multicraft panel. This should resolve most of the plugin-related errors. If you still get errors after updating your plugins then there may be other issues that need to be investigated.



REMOVING THE WORLD - A SOURCE FOR THE PROBLEM



Sometimes, the problem is something within the world itself. To test this, you will want to go into your multi-craft panel and change the "level-name" setting (default is "world") to something else ("world2"), then hit the save button and then allow the server to automatically restart. This will create an empty folder in your server's directories called "world2". (Or other names if desired). It will then be a plain, unmodified world that is not subject to user input. Check your server.log file to see if the same errors come up. NOTE: Changing your level-name might interfere with how multi-world plugins work (you may also have to remove the world we just created from the multi-world plugin(s) config file, otherwise the world will automatically be generated again.)



If this eliminates the issue on your server, then it means that something in your world file is causing issue. This could be water, redstone and lava, large quantities of mobs, the non-removal or removal of dropped items, etc. You can also check if plugins are throwing errors in your server.log or console.



To change the entire world back to the one you have before, simply change the name to the original. Spaces and capitalizations are important so type it exactly the same way as before.



BASICS FOR FIXING PLUGIN PROBLEMS



In most cases, plugin errors are caused because they are incorrectly installed (example, some plugins require other plugins to be installed to work) or they are out of date. It is important to ensure that your Minecraft/External Minecraft server files are always up-to-date (from the game panel) and that all plugins you install support the exact same Minecraft server software version. Differences between these versions/different types could cause errors, lag, or crashes. It is often best to just not install plugins that aren't compatible with CraftBukkit. Plugins can sometimes be updated frequently, so you will always want to check on http://plugins.bukkit.org for the latest versions of your plugins.



If updating does not resolve the errors, it is likely that your config file is having issues. Some plugins require things such as a MySQL database (which GGServers can provide by request), and if you don't enter in your MySQL database login info, then the plugin will throw errors. You may also encounter issues with plugin configurations due to outdated config files that were used with an older version of the plugin. To remove the config file and restart the server, the plugin will automatically generate a new one.



Some plugins may have data files that are not usable. In some cases the data files can be manually edited but you may need to delete (or rename!) the entire plugin's data folder in order to fix the problem. Many errors can be caused by config files. The.yml extension is.yml. Those files must be followed strictly. Failure to do so and getting even just a capitalization error, will make the plugin and all associated plugins unusable. You can check the syntax of any .yml file using this site: http://yaml-online-parser.appspot.com/



LAG CAUSED BY TYPES OF PLUGINS:



These plugins, among others, can cause server-lag.



-Anti Xray (or any xray related plug-in) –World Edit –NPC –Anti-cheat –Wrong Anti-lag plugins –Outdated/wrong Version of plugins generally



THE PROCESS OF ELIMINATION:



One of the best ways to test for server errors is to disable plugins in groups to begin narrowing down the issue to a single plugin while making the procces faster of course. This is simple, a good way to do this is to append .disabled onto the plugin file name, (example) worldedit.jar.disabled. You can re-enable plugins by removing the.disabled and restarting the server.



WHAT TO DO IN THE EVENT THAT YOUR SERVER DON'T START UP



There are several reasons why a server won’t launch (or not at all), so we’ll cover a few of them here.
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1. If you have exhausted your disk space, please check the profile page of your multi-craft to see if you have exceeded the limit. This is common if backup plugins are not kept track of. It creates hundreds of backups and takes up all your disk space. It's best to get rid of anything you don’t need.



2. Chunk errors may be present. Chunk Errors send spam messages to your server.log, and it will max out your disk storage. The server.log contains all error messages, so it can grow into the gigabytes. In this situation, you will need the server.log file to be deleted and a new world to be created.



3. Your Minecraft server JAR is corrupted/unusable. You can upload the latest version using the update button in your multi-craft panel.



4. A plugin can stop/crashe the server upon startup. To fix this, please read the article 'The process for elimination'.



TYPES OF LAG:



There are many types of lag, which can be used to indicate different things on your server. We'll go over a couple here:



1. Movement lag, delayed block breaking and movement lag are two examples of a delay in block breaking. (This is also known under the name "rubber banding" and damage delays. This type of lag may be caused by network lag (on the clients or the hosts), lag on their own internet connection, server performance issues and plugin/world issues.

A plugin called "LagMeter", or another similar plugin, can be used to determine if lag is coming out of your world/plugins. You can also use the /lag command if you feel lag. If the TPS is near 20, then the issue is related to other things.

2. Simply cannot (or hardly) look around - framerate issue on the client side. This is usually caused by a problem with the server chunk generation. It can also be caused by TNT explosions and damage to chunks caused by TNT. If this type of lag persists after logging in to the server, or if it lasts more than a few seconds, a new world may be needed. This type of lag can also be caused by plugins that are anti-x-ray or ore obfuscation. The only way to fix this is to either update the plugin or remove it. Many servers have also removed TNT from the world, which is not ideal for faction-based servers.



CONCLUSION



If you are experiencing some form of error or lag on your server and are unable to determine using this article, please feel free to open a ticket with our Technical Support team at: https://ggservers.com/billing/submitticket.php. To get your problem resolved quickly, please provide as much detail as possible. Also, please list any troubleshooting methods you have used. Our tech support team won't be able to assist you with the most basic troubleshooting and may repeat what you have done.


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