Players are not being Prompted with a Respawn Menu and are Stuck in a Spectator State
Bug Report
I am reporting a widespread issue, commonly referred to as the "Spectator Bug" which has been increasingly affecting Space Engineers servers globally, including our own server (Horizons - Australia).
This issue has become particularly significant for the Oceanic community, as Horizons is one of the last actively populated communities in the region for Space Engineers.
Description of the Issue
The Spectator Bug was initially triggered when players logged off in Cryopods or other forms of seats.
Recently however, this prerequisite no longer applies and the bug occurs regardless. The issue manifests as follows:
- A player joins the server but is not presented with a respawn menu or any user interface elements.
- The player is connected and visible in the player list, but their physical character is not created by the server.
- The player appears to be in a "Spectator-like state," able to move the camera and fly around similar to spectator mode, but unable to return to their character using key binds such as "F6" or "F8" since the character has not been created.
Troubleshooting Steps Taken
We have attempted to resolve the issue using various methods, including running dedicated servers through both Torch and Keen's Dedicated Server Managers, performing fresh installations, testing new empty worlds with and without mods, using different ports and IP addresses, and even reinstalling the entire operating system.
Unfortunately, none of these measures have proven successful.
Temporary Resolution
Currently, the only effective solution has been running the server on a different system in another state. However, this is not a viable long-term option, as our backup server cannot handle the load typically managed by our primary server, and it does not address the underlying issue.
Possible Causes
After spending around 100 hours trying to debug this issue, we believe the problem may lie in hardware incompatibilities with recent updates to the Space Engineers Dedicated Server (SEDS) or issues with KSH servers.
Additional Information
Please find attached documents detailing our server's hardware specifications and a short video demonstrating the issue.
We kindly request your assistance in investigating and resolving this critical bug affecting the Space Engineers community.
I have the same bug
Hello, Koda,
I am sorry you are experiencing this issue. Unfortunately, I was not able to reproduce it. Could you share further information with me? Can you please share your log with me?
- You can access your log files by typing %appdata% into your Windows search bar and you will be redirected to the hidden Roaming folder. After that just follow: \Roaming\SpaceEngineers.
Can you please remove all of the mods you are using and try to play the game again? If you can think of reproduction steps, I would appreciate it because it can help me to better investigate the issue.
Thank you in advance.
Kind regards,
Keen Software House: QA Department
Hello, Koda,
I am sorry you are experiencing this issue. Unfortunately, I was not able to reproduce it. Could you share further information with me? Can you please share your log with me?
- You can access your log files by typing %appdata% into your Windows search bar and you will be redirected to the hidden Roaming folder. After that just follow: \Roaming\SpaceEngineers.
Can you please remove all of the mods you are using and try to play the game again? If you can think of reproduction steps, I would appreciate it because it can help me to better investigate the issue.
Thank you in advance.
Kind regards,
Keen Software House: QA Department
Hello, Koda,
unfortunately since this issue is network specific, I cannot reproduce it.
Is this your server: https://space-engineers.com/server/155814/
If so, I cannot test it because it is running on Torch and is using mods. Torch is a community effort and cannot be supported by our in-house team. We cannot help you determine what the problem could be. Please contact the unofficial torch community.
Thank you for letting me know.
However if you can make your server to not run on Torch and use mods and I will be able to connect to it, it would really help me out with determining the problem.
Kind regards,
Keen Software House: QA Department
Hello, Koda,
unfortunately since this issue is network specific, I cannot reproduce it.
Is this your server: https://space-engineers.com/server/155814/
If so, I cannot test it because it is running on Torch and is using mods. Torch is a community effort and cannot be supported by our in-house team. We cannot help you determine what the problem could be. Please contact the unofficial torch community.
Thank you for letting me know.
However if you can make your server to not run on Torch and use mods and I will be able to connect to it, it would really help me out with determining the problem.
Kind regards,
Keen Software House: QA Department
Hello engineer,
As there has been no reply to this thread in some time, we will close it. If you're experiencing this issue, please create a new thread.
Kind regards,
Keen Software House: QA Department
Hello engineer,
As there has been no reply to this thread in some time, we will close it. If you're experiencing this issue, please create a new thread.
Kind regards,
Keen Software House: QA Department
My friend and I have having this exact same issue right now. Please let me know if you need anything from me to further research this.
My friend and I have having this exact same issue right now. Please let me know if you need anything from me to further research this.
SOLVED. Here is the situation. I created a non-experimental local multiplayer game. My friend was able to join and we played for many days. He also had been playing his own game when we couldn't play together. Also non-experimental. I decided to go experimental and downloaded 2 mods. Popular mods. He then tried to join me. Selected experimental and downloaded the same 2 mods. When he spawned in he was stuck as a camera only view with no body. No HUD. Unable to do anything. I tried to change the save game back to non-experimental and remove the mods so we could play. He did the same. It didn't work. He still spawned in as a camera view only. I then edited the save game file to change experimental TURE to False. That didn't work. The file kept reverting to TRUE. I then switched back to experimental and brought back the 2 mods. I ask him to create a new game with experimental on and 2 mods on. He loaded in, played for a few minutes, saved by exiting. Loaded it up again then exited by saving again. Then he was able to join my game and play normally.
SOLVED. Here is the situation. I created a non-experimental local multiplayer game. My friend was able to join and we played for many days. He also had been playing his own game when we couldn't play together. Also non-experimental. I decided to go experimental and downloaded 2 mods. Popular mods. He then tried to join me. Selected experimental and downloaded the same 2 mods. When he spawned in he was stuck as a camera only view with no body. No HUD. Unable to do anything. I tried to change the save game back to non-experimental and remove the mods so we could play. He did the same. It didn't work. He still spawned in as a camera view only. I then edited the save game file to change experimental TURE to False. That didn't work. The file kept reverting to TRUE. I then switched back to experimental and brought back the 2 mods. I ask him to create a new game with experimental on and 2 mods on. He loaded in, played for a few minutes, saved by exiting. Loaded it up again then exited by saving again. Then he was able to join my game and play normally.
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