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Dedicated Server Launcher 1.9.0 Stuck — Conan Exiles Wiki

Conan Exiles Guide • Updated May 21, 2026

Conan Exiles Dedicated Server Launcher 1.9.0 stuck on the Enhanced update

After Conan Exiles Enhanced shipped in May 2026, server admins running the official Dedicated Server Launcher tool (versions 1.9.0 / 1900 / 1901) hit a common failure: the launcher opens but does not start downloading the new UE5 build. The "Update" button greys out, the progress bar never moves, or the server starts on the old build and immediately rejects all client connections. This page covers what's actually happening and the manual SteamCMD path that bypasses the launcher.

Why the launcher fails

The Dedicated Server Launcher is a wrapper around SteamCMD that downloads Conan Exiles app ID 443030 (the dedicated server tool). The Enhanced update changed how the server's engine is structured: previous installs had the entire engine + content in one steamapps folder, while Enhanced splits some content into separate depots. The 1.9.0 launcher tries to detect "is this an Enhanced-ready install or a legacy install" and routes the SteamCMD call accordingly. The detection misfires on a couple of edge cases:

  • Installs originally created before app ID 443030 was updated with UE5 depot manifests
  • Installs where the SteamCMD subprocess inherits a non-UTF-8 locale (common on Windows with non-English regional settings)
  • Installs in paths that contain spaces or non-ASCII characters
  • Installs where the previous SteamCMD download was interrupted and left a stale downloading/ directory

When detection fails the launcher silently no-ops the download. There is no error dialog. The "Update" button just doesn't do anything.

Manual SteamCMD update (the actual fix)

Bypass the launcher and run SteamCMD directly. You need to know:

  • App ID: 443030 (Conan Exiles Dedicated Server)
  • The full path to your existing server install

On Windows, open a Command Prompt as Administrator and navigate to your SteamCMD install directory. If you don't have SteamCMD separately, download it from Valve's SteamCMD page and extract it to C:\steamcmd.

cd C:\steamcmd
steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir "C:\ConanExilesServer" +login anonymous +app_update 443030 validate +quit

The +force_install_dir must come BEFORE +login in the command — SteamCMD reads arguments in order, and putting the path after login installs to the default location instead of your existing server folder. This is the single most common cause of "I ran the manual update and now I have two server installations."

On Linux:

./steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir /home/conan/server +login anonymous +app_update 443030 validate +quit

The validate flag checks every file against Steam's manifest. On the first Enhanced update this takes 10-25 minutes because SteamCMD downloads roughly 40GB of new UE5 assets. After Enhanced is fully installed, subsequent validate runs are fast.

Recovering a partially-downloaded install

If the launcher tried and gave up, you may have a half-downloaded server that refuses to launch. Three signs:

  1. Server starts but immediately closes with an error about missing PAK files.
  2. Server log shows Could not load asset entries for paths under Engine/ or ConanSandbox/Content/.
  3. The install folder contains a downloading/ subfolder (this is SteamCMD's temp area; if it persists, the download was interrupted).

Recovery: delete the downloading/ folder, then run the SteamCMD command above with validate. SteamCMD will re-download any missing or mismatched files. Do NOT delete the entire install — your server config files (Engine.ini, ServerSettings.ini, the game.db save file) are in ConanSandbox/Saved/ and you do not want to lose them.

Verifying the install is now Enhanced

After the SteamCMD update completes:

# Check the version file
type "C:\ConanExilesServer\ConanSandbox\Content\BuildSettings.ini"
# or on Linux:
cat /home/conan/server/ConanSandbox/Content/BuildSettings.ini

Enhanced installs show EngineVersion=5.x.x. Pre-Enhanced installs show EngineVersion=4.27.x. If you still see a 4.27 line after running the update, SteamCMD did not actually pull the Enhanced depot — either your app_update command pointed to the wrong app ID or the install_dir was wrong.

Configuring the server for Enhanced launches

The launcher tool worked because it set certain environment flags before invoking the server binary. If you launch the server directly without the launcher (which you might do after bypassing it), you need to set those flags manually. Edit your launch batch file:

@echo off
set CONAN_ENHANCED=1
set UE_NET_PROTOCOL_VERSION=5
ConanSandboxServer.exe -log -nosteamclient -game -server -USEALLAVAILABLECORES -RebuildCompressedMap

The -RebuildCompressedMap flag is needed for the first launch after upgrading from a pre-Enhanced install to Enhanced — it regenerates the navmesh data in the new UE5 format. After the first successful launch, you can remove that flag from subsequent runs.

When to give up on the launcher tool entirely

If you self-host on a server you control, just use SteamCMD directly going forward. The launcher GUI was helpful when the install was simple; with Enhanced's larger and more complex install, the launcher's failure modes are harder to debug than the SteamCMD command line. A 4-line batch file replaces the launcher.

If you use a managed host (G-Portal, Nitrado, Supercraft), the host's panel handles the SteamCMD update automatically and the launcher tool isn't relevant. You won't see this class of failure.

Related articles

For a managed Conan Exiles server where Enhanced updates land automatically, see Supercraft plans.

Tired of fighting this issue every patch?

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