Dedicated server crash - NullReferenceException in MySoundBlock.UpdateLoopableSoundEmitter (Update 1

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Here's more info:

The crash is fully reproducible - it has happened repeatedly with the exact same stack trace (NullReferenceException in MySoundBlock.UpdateLoopableSoundEmitter) at least 17 times between yesterday evening (July 27, ~22:43) and this morning (July 28, ~08:38). The server crashes anywhere between 2 and 8 minutes after each restart, always with the identical error. I'm attaching the most recent server log from this session (SpaceEngineersDedicated_20260728_083632734.log), and I can provide several other consecutive crash logs from the same session if that helps.

I do have the saved world file, but I'm unable to upload it through your website (the file is too large / the upload doesn't seem to accept it). Would it be possible to send it to you by email instead, or is there another way I could share it (e.g. a link to a file transfer service)? Let me know what works best on your end.

No minidump file was available on my end. idk

Thanks for looking into this!

oh juste zip lol

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply. I think I found the actual cause of the crash.

In my world, I had placed a blueprint ship, and this specific ship produces a sound. It seems like this sound is what's crashing the server (the NullReferenceException in MySoundBlock.UpdateLoopableSoundEmitter). I'm not sure exactly why this sound causes the crash, but after removing/dealing with this ship, the crash stopped happening.

Not sure if this is related to the Nanobot Build and Repair System mod or not — the ship might have been interacting with it, but the crash seems tied to the sound block on that ship specifically.

Let me know if you need more info (world file with just that ship, logs, etc.) to help investigate further.

Thanks!

A bit more context:

Placing a grid whose blueprint contains a MyObjectBuilder_SoundBlock saved with IsPlaying=true (block was actively playing a looping sound when the blueprint was created) crashes the server on the very next simulation tick with a NullReferenceException in MySoundBlock.UpdateLoopableSoundEmitter(). Reproducible via copy-paste of the blueprint, and via building the grid from a projection.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Place a sound block on a grid. Set a loopable cue (IsLoopableSound=true), start it playing.

2. While it's playing, save/export the grid as a blueprint. The block's SBC entry looks like:

<MyObjectBuilder_CubeBlock xsi:type="MyObjectBuilder_SoundBlock">

<Range>250</Range>

<Volume>1</Volume>

<CueName>SoundBlockAlert2</CueName>

<LoopPeriod>3</LoopPeriod>

<IsPlaying>true</IsPlaying>

<ElapsedSoundSeconds>1.86639786</ElapsedSoundSeconds>

<IsLoopableSound>true</IsLoopableSound>

</MyObjectBuilder_CubeBlock>

3. Either:

- a) Copy the grid and paste it (blueprint paste), or

- b) Build the grid from a projection usincted model,

on a dedicated server.

4. Server crashes on next tick:

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

at SpaceEngineers.Game.Entities.Blocks.MydEmitter()

at SpaceEngineers.Game.Entities.Blocks.MySoundBlock.UpdateBeforeSimulation()

at Sandbox.Game.Entities.MyParallelEntityUpdateOrchestrator.UpdateBeforeSimulation()

at Sandbox.Game.Entities.MyParallelEntityUpdateOrchestrator.DispatchBeforeSimulation()

at Sandbox.Game.Entities.MyEntities.UpdateBeforeSimulation()

at Sandbox.Game.World.MySector.UpdateBefo

at Sandbox.Game.World.MySession.UpdateComponents()

at Sandbox.Game.World.MySession.Update(MyTimeSpan updateTime)

at Sandbox.MySandboxGame.Update()

at Sandbox.Engine.Platform.Game.UpdateInternal()

at Sandbox.Engine.Platform.Game.RunSingleFrame()

at Sandbox.Engine.Platform.FixedLoop.<>c_

at Sandbox.Engine.Platform.GenericLoop.Run(VoidAction tickCallback)

at Sandbox.Engine.Platform.Game.RunLoop()

at Sandbox.MySandboxGame.Run(Boolean customRenderLoop, Action disposeSplashScreen)

at VRage.Dedicated.DedicatedServer.RunInternal(String instanceName)

at VRage.Dedicated.DedicatedServer.RunMain(String instanceName, String customPath, Boolean isService, Boolean showConsole, Boolean checkAlive)

at VRage.Dedicated.DedicatedServer.ProcessArgs(String[] args)

at VRage.Dedicated.DedicatedServer.Run(String[] args, Action`1 initializeServices)

at SpaceEngineersDedicated.MyProgram.Main

Analysis:

IsPlaying=true in the object builder tells the block it should already be mid-loop as soon as it exists in the world. But the sound emitter object is only constructed via the normal "start playing" path (player interaction, or the safe world-load init sequence) - not during deserialization from a blueprint. Grids that come into existence via paste or projection-build skip that safe path, so UpdateBeforeSimulation sees IsPlaying=true, calls UpdateLoopableSoundEmitter(), and hits an emitter reference that was never created. Regular world load appears

unaffected, implying it goes through a diffeste/projection-build.

Impact: Full dedicated-server process crash, not a recoverable in-game error. Any blueprint exported while a sound

block is actively playing becomes a live greuilding it from a projection takes the server down. This is easy to hit by accident (export a ship while a sound block loop is running) and could be abused

deliberately by sharing "poisoned" blueprint

Suggested fix: In MySoundBlock, null-check the sound emitter in UpdateLoopableSoundEmitter(), and lazily create it if IsPlaying=true was set from the object builder but no emitter exists yet - matching whatever init path world-load uses to avoid this.

Workaround for affected players: Before sharre any sound blocks are toggled off(IsPlaying=false, ElapsedSoundSeconds=0) before export.