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Conan Exiles Dedicated Server Crashing — Diagnosis & Fixes

Conan Exiles Guide • Updated May 3, 2026

Conan Exiles Dedicated Server Crashing — Diagnosis & Fixes

A Conan Exiles dedicated server crashing in 2026 typically falls into one of four patterns: mod conflicts, memory exhaustion from large player-built structures, BattlEye-related boot failures, and Wine-layer issues on Linux hosts. This guide walks through each pattern with log signatures and the practical fix.

First diagnostic step: grab the latest log from ConanSandbox/Saved/Logs/. Conan Exiles logs are verbose and almost always show the cause of a crash in the last 100-200 lines. Without the log, you're guessing.

Crash Pattern 1: Mod Conflict

By far the most common cause. A mod that worked last patch breaks after a Funcom update; OR two mods touch the same scripted hook and step on each other.

Symptom in log:

  • Mod XYZ failed to load
  • NullReferenceException followed by a script path containing a mod ID
  • Crashes 30-90 seconds after world load (right when mod scripts initialize)

Fix: Disable mods one at a time via modlist.txt. Restart between each change. The biggest offenders historically are large overhaul mods (Hosav's UI, Stacksize, Pippi) that depend on specific game versions. If a mod author hasn't pushed an update for the current Conan patch, remove that mod and wait.

For mod loading mechanics see Conan Exiles mods installation.

Crash Pattern 2: Out of Memory from Large Builds

Conan Exiles' simulation gets heavier as players build big. Once your server's structure count crosses ~100,000 placed pieces, memory usage spikes during area-of-effect calculations (decay sweep, raid damage) and the server can OOM.

Symptom:

  • OutOfMemoryError or std::bad_alloc in the Unreal log
  • Server crashes during decay sweep or raid window
  • OS kills the process with OOM-killer messages in dmesg

Fix:

  • Increase RAM allocation. Conan's baseline is moderate; mature server RAM creep is real. If you're hitting OOM, your VPS plan has outgrown its purpose.
  • Consider building rate-limits or anti-grief systems via mods like Pippi or admin commands
  • Run a periodic structure-prune RCON command targeting abandoned builds

Crash Pattern 3: BattlEye Boot Failure

BattlEye sometimes fails to initialize on startup, especially after a patch that changed BE files. The server appears to start but crashes within the first minute.

Symptom:

  • BattlEye initialization failed
  • Server reboots in a loop without ever reaching steady state

Fix:

  • Re-validate the server install: steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir [path] +app_update 443030 validate +quit
  • If you're running mods that need BattlEye exemptions, your BattlEye/scripts.txt may need updates after the patch — check community Discord channels for the current exemption list
  • For testing only, you can disable BattlEye with -NoBattlEye launch arg, but don't run a public server without anti-cheat

Crash Pattern 4: Wine Layer (Linux Hosts)

Conan Exiles' dedicated server is a Windows binary. Linux hosts run it through Wine. Wine-related crashes appear differently from Windows-native ones.

Symptom:

  • wine: Unhandled page fault in the wine log
  • fixme: messages flooding the log just before the crash
  • Server starts cleanly on Windows but crashes on Linux+Wine

Fix:

  • Use a current stable Wine (or Wine staging). Older Wine versions miss .NET fixes Conan needs
  • Install winetricks dependencies: winetricks dotnet48 vcrun2019
  • Some hosts use GE Proton instead of vanilla Wine for better game compatibility
  • If you've custom-tweaked your Wine prefix, try a fresh prefix to rule out stale config

Quick-Diagnosis Decision Tree

Crash timingLikely causeFirst check
30-90 seconds after world loadMod conflictDisable mods one at a time
During decay sweep / raid window / "30-min mark"OOM from large structure countCheck dmesg for OOM-killer
Within first minute of every restartBattlEye initRe-validate install; check BE script exemptions
Linux only, runs fine on WindowsWine layerUpdate Wine; install dotnet48 + vcrun2019

Recovery After a Crash

Conan Exiles crashes occasionally corrupt the world database. Recovery options:

  1. Restore the previous game.db backup. The server creates rotating backups by default — check ConanSandbox/Saved/
  2. For minor corruption, use the SQL repair commands documented in the official Conan Exiles wiki
  3. If neither works, restore from your last clean snapshot (managed hosts have these; self-hosts need a snapshot script)

Long-Term Crash Prevention

  • Set up rolling backups every 30 minutes
  • Stay one version behind unstable mods rather than chasing every release
  • Watch the Conan Exiles official forum for known-bad patches before updating
  • Run a periodic structure-decay check to prevent runaway build counts

Related Reading

Quick Start with Supercraft

Supercraft hosts Conan Exiles dedicated servers with Wine + dependencies preconfigured, automatic 30-minute snapshots, BattlEye script management exposed in the panel, and crash-recovery automation. Mod conflicts are easy to diagnose with the panel's mod-toggle UI.

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