Cannot invite friends to game

[Shinryu]

Hi devs. I am creating a new game (7 Days to Die on Steam) and when the game loads, I press escape to select the "Invite Friends" option that appears with the menu options on the top left but it's greyed out. I had no problems inviting friends a few weeks ago but after the last two steam updates, I can no longer invite friends. I can't even invite them through Steam's friends section where you could invite friends to the game. Now the only option is to invite to watch. There has been no changes to my computer, windows, network etc. The ports are open and I have used software to check if the ports are open too, I can connect to the ports without any issues, they're allowed on my firewall and on my router but all of a sudden for some reason, I cannot host. Bearing in mind this is not a dedicated server, just a New Game which I'm inviting friends to. Any help would be appreciated as this is becoming quite an issue with Steam lately. Thank you for your time and help.

[SylenThunder]

Make certain that you are not set as "Invisible" in the Steam friends list.

[orionxvi]

Having a similar issue.  Can't invite friends at all; confirmed that both accounts were online.  I was also doing peer-to-peer gaming.

 

Tried to make the game public to avoid the friends problem.  Any clients that try to connect to the game get stuck at the screen saying "Waiting for Steam verification".  The game did the same thing when connecting as a LAN game.

 

I have tested this on 3 machines (wanted to guarantee it wasn't hardware or software driver incompatibility)

Reinstalled Steam on all 3 machines

Reinstalled 7DtD on all 3 machines

Had each machine act as a peer-to-peer host to try to get the other 2 computers to connect with no success

Reviewed all of the firewall settings on each machine and my home router; nothing should be blocking the game

 

I've got nothing.  Still can't play together.

 

[Shinryu]

4 hours ago, SylenThunder said:

Make certain that you are not set as "Invisible" in the Steam friends list.

 

Not invisible, profile is also public in all ways. Everything started happening after Steam's update and suffice to say, this is not the first time Steam updates have messed with this game. Hopefully the Devs can check this out and let steam know to look into it. More players are having the same issue after the update on the steam discussion boards. As it stands, there is no reason on my end it shouldn't be working after everything I've checked and done. This is either a Steam issue or a game update issue and I doubt it is the latter of the two.

[meganoth]

If you are right and this is in issue you want TFP to work on then you need to read the pinned threads in this forum section and follow the advice in there, specifically the one about posting of your logfiles (of server and client). Without that TFP is looking at the photo of a black box hundreds or thousands of miles away and you expect them to determine the cause.

 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by meganoth (see edit history)

[orionxvi]

Okay.

 

Here's a host peer-to-peer logfile:

https://pastebin.com/uHrZ0Lx7

 

Here's a client peer-to-peer logfile:

https://pastebin.com/nZFEbvNQ

 

[meganoth]

As far as I can see your logfiles seem to tell the following story:

The server starts. Then the client wants to connect but gets kicked because EAC says there is something wrong with it. Then the client tries to connect again but the server reports an error "ERR [Steamworks.NET] GameServer.LogOn timed out" and the logon attempt fails again.

 

That error message seems to pop up a lot lately and seems to be connected to recent steam and possibly windows updates

 

We also know that steam worked a lot on EAC lately so it might be specifically an EAC problem here. Could you do a test with EAC off on both server and client and see if that works?

 

Another problem might be the way the server is started, see this thread: https://community.7daystodie.com/topic/25334-gameserverlogon-timed-out-issues-no-player-can-connect-my-dedicated-server/ . I'm not sure his and your case is comparable but that case seems to imply that there may be rule changes within steam what is acceptable and what not. Specifically you might try to follow the solution he found (create another steam account for the server) IF you started the server headless (which your logfile seems to suggest since I can't see a local player login on the server).

 

Whatever the result, please tell us, it may pinpoint the problem for other players and for TFP.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by meganoth (see edit history)

[CptMcSexy]

Hey having same problem. Me and my friend have played on the same router since A16, weve played our A19 file since almost it came out. Yet about 2ish weeks ago it suddenly doesnt let us invite to game like you described.

 

Also to note when I hook up my computer to phone hotspot it lets me invite my friends.

 

Tried opening ports, disabling firewall, restoring modem to default settings, nothing works.

[orionxvi]

Sorry for the delay.  Was on a business trip.

 

Tried to connect again with EAC off on both machines.  Still stuck on the "Waiting for Steam verification" screen on the client.

 

Host log:

https://pastebin.com/m4BVTLgC

 

Client Log:

https://pastebin.com/YvSyx7jP

 

[meganoth]

On the server I see that when you login, you are first checked with the server (all the lines with [Auth]), i.e. the server checks if you are allowed to login, if the version is compatible.... Then the server tries to authenticate you with steam. Those are the lines with [Steamworks.NET] following this.

 

So there are the lines "[Steamworks.NET] AuthenticateUser()" and then "[Steamworks.NET] Authenticating player:...". If it would work then this should be followed by "[Steamworks.NET] Authentication callback...."

 

But in your server logfile 10 seconds go by and then it presents the error message "ERR [Steamworks.NET] GameServer.LogOn timed out"

 

So the problem seems to be the connection between server and steam. I'm pretty sure that your server expects some answer from steam which isn't getting in.

 

There is pinned thread called "Support FAQ" here in general support, an old thread and possible outdated in parts, but there is a list of ports you should have open. Were you thinking of those ports too when you said they were open? Or did you simply open all ports?

 

@Jugginator @SylenThunder do you know on which port this callback should come in? Is it possible that something changed with steam authentication? It seems quite a few people suddenly have the same problem.

 

 

 

[SylenThunder]

I'm not sure on the port SteamAuth is using offhand. AFAIK the port range is still accurate, and I'm pretty sure I updated the FAQ when it changed in a17. Default range for the server is TCP 26900 and UDP 26900-26903. Steam may also use additional ports in the 27000-27099 range for processing data, but that isn't something you will typically need to forward like you do with the server ports.

 

Based on the data I can see, I would advise the following steps for both the host and the client.

1. Un plug the router/modem.
2. Completely flush the DNS pool.
   1. Open an administrative command prompt window as an administrator
   2. Type ipconfig /flushdns and hit Enter
   3. Type netsh int ip reset and hit Enter
   4. Close the window
3. Shut down the computer completely.
4. Plug the modem back in. Wait for it to fully setup and get a connection.
5. Start the PC. 

If it's just a case of bad routing, this will typically resolve the issue.   I've been seeing a lot of this happening though since the major Steam update a few weeks ago, and can't help but think it might be something happening on Steam's side of things.  A few of the players on the servers we host have been frequently getting kicked off the servers with a "network timeout" error. All I can see in the log is regular SteamAuth failures. Nothing I have been able to do on our end has alleviated it so far.

[orionxvi]

Followed all the steps.

 

Still nada.

 

Host log:

https://pastebin.com/xw0qzQ1u

 

Client log:

https://pastebin.com/qn0Hfu09

 

I'm thinking it is a Steam issue, but I have no idea how I would actually get help at this point.  They don't have the phone or email service anymore, and Valve doesn't respond to their own Steam forums, and the help system is no help.

[meganoth]

12 hours ago, SylenThunder said:

I'm not sure on the port SteamAuth is using offhand. AFAIK the port range is still accurate, and I'm pretty sure I updated the FAQ when it changed in a17. Default range for the server is TCP 26900 and UDP 26900-26903. Steam may also use additional ports in the 27000-27099 range for processing data, but that isn't something you will typically need to forward like you do with the server ports.

 

Based on the data I can see, I would advise the following steps for both the host and the client.

1. Un plug the router/modem.
2. Completely flush the DNS pool.
   1. Open an administrative command prompt window as an administrator
   2. Type ipconfig /flushdns and hit Enter
   3. Type netsh int ip reset and hit Enter
   4. Close the window
3. Shut down the computer completely.
4. Plug the modem back in. Wait for it to fully setup and get a connection.
5. Start the PC. 

If it's just a case of bad routing, this will typically resolve the issue.   I've been seeing a lot of this happening though since the major Steam update a few weeks ago, and can't help but think it might be something happening on Steam's side of things.  A few of the players on the servers we host have been frequently getting kicked off the servers with a "network timeout" error. All I can see in the log is regular SteamAuth failures. Nothing I have been able to do on our end has alleviated it so far.

 

Ah, I was a little unsure about which ports exactly have to be **forwarded** by the router (so that the port can be "contacted cold" from external sources) and which ones are just used with initial connection always coming from the server (in most cases those need no special attention).

So only 26900 TCP and 26900-26903 UDP need to be open external ports on the router in all cases? If I may suggest an improvement there:  the FAQ talks about "opening ports in firewall" versus "required ports", the distinction is not even clear to me (firewall is ambiguous, router isn't mentioned at all), how can it be clear for users without any network knowledge. Ok, it could be that it is clear for normal windows users and it is me with further knowledge who overthinks it 😉

 

[Gamida]

It may be me as I have very little understanding of servers but was wondering, isn't the ip it is trying to connect to a little odd?

 

LiteNetLib trying to connect to: 10.0.0.4:26900

 

I just have never seen one start with close to that.

 

[orionxvi]

That's because it's an internal address.  The two machines in question are on the same local network but authenticate thru Steam.

[Gamida]

ok. Has anyone tried joining with the external ip? In the connect to ip option?

 

[meganoth]

39 minutes ago, Gamida said:

ok. Has anyone tried joining with the external ip? In the connect to ip option?

 

 

I'm quite sure. In both cases they said they couldn't invite friends anymore and you seldom have all your friends living in the same house with you. Orionxvi specifically told us "The game did the same thing when connecting as a LAN game." which means he first saw the problem with external connections

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by meganoth (see edit history)

[Gamida]

it's just that he said above that both were on the same local network

[meganoth]

5 hours ago, Gamida said:

it's just that he said above that both were on the same local network

Yes, when he answered your question about the specific session he got the logfile from.

[Star69]

Excuse me if this doesn't sound right.....if this 'could' be a Steam issue, wouldn't completely uninstalling/reinstalling Steam so that it automatically sets up the ports it wants to use, be an option for these folks? I am about at that point myself. I posted a thread about a handshake issue where I get booted from a dedicated server a couple of times a night. I've tried every single thing that I could think of as well as those who chimed in on my thread and I still have the issue. Reinstalling Steam is the only thing I haven't tried.

[orionxvi]

21 hours ago, Gamida said:

it's just that he said above that both were on the same local network

Working on the two local machines first, since they're in the same room, and are easier to troubleshoot/test before moving to doing more remote troubleshooting.  I should mention that it doesn't work friends only; the game doesn't show up in friends list, that I can't select join game in Steam overlay despite seeing the client account in the overlay, and the "Invite Friends" button is greyed out.  And the game doesn't work in LAN or peer-to-peer when setting the game to public; when connecting via LAN/peer-to-peer ends up with the endless "Waiting for Steam verification" screen for the clients even with EAC off.

 

3 hours ago, Star69 said:

Excuse me if this doesn't sound right.....if this 'could' be a Steam issue, wouldn't completely uninstalling/reinstalling Steam so that it automatically sets up the ports it wants to use, be an option for these folks? I am about at that point myself. I posted a thread about a handshake issue where I get booted from a dedicated server a couple of times a night. I've tried every single thing that I could think of as well as those who chimed in on my thread and I still have the issue. Reinstalling Steam is the only thing I haven't tried.

 

I already tried reinstalling Steam on the 3 machines I have.  I can say that it didn't help me with this issue.  Your mileage may very.

[Star69]

When you uninstalled Steam, did you then go into your firewall and remove the entries for allowing Steam through the firewall?? I just uninstalled Steam and all my games. Rebooted, went to Windows Firewall and both 7 Days and Steam still had their firewall rules set up as allowed. So if this is a port issue and if it's due to updates to Steam or Windows, you should probably delete your firewall rules for Steam before reinstalling. Just my 2 cents.....I'm hoping this solves my connection issues.