Every Update Breaks My Unmodded Server — Conan Exiles Wiki

"Every Conan Exiles update breaks my unmodded server" — patch-day discipline

A recurring r/ConanExiles thread: a player reports that nearly every Conan Exiles update breaks their "unmodded" private server. Crashes, login failures, NPC issues, world corruption. They eventually roll back to a save from before the patch. The pattern repeats each patch. This page covers why this happens, why most "unmodded" servers aren't truly unmodded, and the patch-day discipline that prevents most of these incidents.

The "unmodded" assumption is usually wrong

When a server admin says "I'm unmodded," they often mean "I don't use Steam Workshop mods." That's not the same as "no plugins loaded."

Things that count as mods, even on a vanilla-feeling server:

• Pippi (the most common admin/QoL plugin — half of "unmodded" servers have it)
• Discord Bot integration plugins
• Auto-restart and announcement plugins
• Decay protection plugins
• Server stats and ping plugins
• Modded asset packs (Less Building Placement Restrictions, Stacksize Plus, etc.)

Any of these can break in a patch. The cost of "unmodded" is theoretical; actually unmodded means nothing in ConanSandbox/Mods/ and nothing in the mod list at server start.

To verify your server is truly unmodded, check the server log around startup:

grep -i "mod" ConanSandbox/Saved/Logs/ConanSandbox.log | head -50

Lines like LogModManager: Loading mod <name> indicate active mods. If those exist, your server has mods regardless of what you've been calling it.

Real causes of "vanilla server breaks on patch"

Cause 1: Mods (see above)

The most common cause. Even one mod compiled against the old build can break things badly.

Cause 2: Dedicated Server Launcher version drift

If you use the Dedicated Server Launcher tool and it has its own pre-launch logic, it sometimes adds command-line flags that work for one game version but break another. See the 1.9.0 article.

Cause 3: Save format upgrades

Some Conan Exiles patches upgrade the save database format. On the first server start after the patch, the database gets migrated. If the migration is interrupted (server killed mid-migration, disk full, permissions issue), you end up with a half-migrated save that crashes the server every time you try to load it. Restore the pre-patch backup, retry the migration on a clean run, and don't interrupt it.

Cause 4: Custom ServerSettings.ini values that conflict with new defaults

Each patch may add new settings or change the valid range for existing settings. If your ServerSettings.ini has a value that's no longer valid (e.g., a removed setting or a value out of the new allowed range), the server may refuse to load the config or load with broken defaults.

The diagnostic: rename ServerSettings.ini aside, restart the server (it creates a fresh default), copy your old settings BACK into the new defaults one at a time and restart to verify each one. Tedious; usually finds the cause within 5-6 settings.

Cause 5: BattlEye / anti-cheat updates

Funcom sometimes updates BattlEye between patches. If your server was hosting a specific BattlEye version, the new game client may refuse to connect. Check that BattlEye is enabled (or disabled — both can break) and matches what your players expect.

Cause 6: Funcom genuinely shipped a broken build

Sometimes the patch IS broken. Funcom ships a hotfix within 24-72 hours. If the patch literally broke production servers (your admin friends are seeing the same crashes), wait for the hotfix.

The patch-day discipline that prevents most pain

Before applying any Conan Exiles patch:

1. Don't update on patch day. Funcom's first patch ships, sees real-world issues, gets a hotfix in 24-72 hours. Update after the hotfix lands. The cost of waiting a few days is players grumbling; the cost of updating immediately is a weekend lost to debugging.
2. Read the patch notes. Specifically look for "Known Issues" and any mention of save format, mod compatibility, or "may require fresh start." If the notes warn, take them seriously.
3. Back up before updating. Full directory backup of ConanSandbox/Saved/. Include the entire save folder (game.db, config, ModControllerData, etc.), not just the .db file.
4. Test updates on a separate copy. If you can spare disk, run a second SteamCMD install in a different directory, apply the patch to it, copy a recent save into it, and try to launch. If it crashes, you know before touching production.
5. Update mods AFTER server updates, not before. Mod authors publish updates after Funcom ships the patch. Server first, mods second.
6. Have a written rollback procedure. "Stop server, replace Saved/ from backup, downgrade dedicated server via SteamCMD app_update with build_id specified, restart" — written down before you need it.

Pinning to a specific build

SteamCMD lets you pin to a specific game build:

steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir "C:\ConanServer" \
    +login anonymous \
    +app_update 443030 -beta <branch> -betapassword <password> \
    +quit

For Conan Exiles specifically, Funcom occasionally offers a public-test branch ("testlive" or similar) and an opt-out branch that pins to the previous stable. Check the SteamDB page for Conan Exiles Dedicated Server (app 443030) for currently-available branches. The opt-out branch is the safety net for "this patch broke things, I need yesterday's version."

The "skip this patch entirely" decision

Sometimes a patch is so broken (or so disruptive to a long campaign) that the right call is to skip it. The cost: your server's build no longer matches the latest client, so players who auto-updated their game cannot connect. The benefit: your existing campaign continues uninterrupted.

To pull this off:

1. Use SteamCMD to pin the server to a specific build_id (not just "latest").
2. Tell your players to opt out of auto-update via Steam → right-click Conan Exiles → Properties → Updates → Updates only when launched + don't auto-update unless launched.
3. Coordinate via Discord that everyone's client and server are on the same older build.
4. Plan when you'll catch up — usually after the next hotfix or after a content gap when restarting would feel less disruptive anyway.

This is uncommon but valuable for "we're 100 hours into a Siptah PvE campaign and don't want Funcom to break our world."

When the issue isn't actually patches

If you've gone through the discipline above and your server STILL breaks after every patch, the cause may not be patches at all. Some long-running servers accumulate world-state corruption over months — a memory leak in a specific player-built structure, a thrall whose AI references a removed asset, a Pippi script that fires once per session — and the patch-day restart is just the moment the underlying issue surfaces.

If patch-day reliably breaks your server even with no mods and clean configs, schedule a server wipe (with player communication and warning). A clean save state usually fixes class of issues that have been there silently.

Related articles

• Dedicated Server Launcher 1.9.0 Enhanced update
• Dedicated server crashing diagnosis
• Save file management and backups
• General update guide

For a managed Conan Exiles server where patches are tested on staging before hitting your server, see Supercraft plans.