Network time out issue that is like clockwork

[Vizixys]

I play on a server that's hosted NA West and I'm NA East but it's hasn't caused any problems before. Like it would be a network time out every once and in a while but now it's every 25-35 min if I open a inventory in that window then I freeze and I disconnect. It started 2 maybe 3 days ago and I don't know what to do cause I have reinstalled the game and I use Ethernet. I have 100mbs download and 10mbs upload. I'm the only one this happens too. and when i say its like clock work i mean every 20 min if i open an inventory/GUI the server network times out. and if im going from point A to B and the 20 min past halfway to point B then when i open my inventory i will disconnect and when i rejoin i spawn where the 20 min window was crossed but my vehicle will stay at where i got timed out. my uncle and my 2 friends who are good with this stuff and done everything we could think of for the past 2 days to fix it but no result. also if i dont close and reopen the game after the timeout then my game will show a unity error and crash. My specs are r5 2600 rx580 and 16gb ram. My computer also doesn't overheat and there's no usage for anything PC related. It's a dedicated server run by my uncle and it uses darkness falls mod. It's alpha 20.6. the darkness falls version is 4.1.2.

[Star69]

While you have provided some good info, what is really needed is copies of your output log and the servers logs at the time your disconnect occurs. Read this pinned topic for instructions on how to find the logs and how to post them here using pastebin.com:

 

Finally, does this happen when you play other servers or just your uncles server? If it’s just your uncles server, it would great great if you could run run the tracert command as administrator a few times and post those results.

[Vizixys]

what part of my output log do you need cause its very long

 

[SylenThunder]

Most all of it. If it's super long because it's spamming errors, then you can truncate it after the first few sets of errors.  Or try again and exit when the issue starts so it isn't super long.

 

Also if it doesn't fit on pastebin.com justpate.it will usually work.  This is all noted in the instructions you are expected to have read.

Edited April 23, 2023 by SylenThunder (see edit history)

[Riamus]

5 hours ago, Vizixys said:

I play on a server that's hosted NA West and I'm NA East but it's hasn't caused any problems before. Like it would be a network time out every once and in a while but now it's every 25-35 min if I open a inventory in that window then I freeze and I disconnect. It started 2 maybe 3 days ago and I don't know what to do cause I have reinstalled the game and I use Ethernet. I have 100mbs download and 10mbs upload. I'm the only one this happens too. and when i say its like clock work i mean every 20 min if i open an inventory/GUI the server network times out. and if im going from point A to B and the 20 min past halfway to point B then when i open my inventory i will disconnect and when i rejoin i spawn where the 20 min window was crossed but my vehicle will stay at where i got timed out. my uncle and my 2 friends who are good with this stuff and done everything we could think of for the past 2 days to fix it but no result. also if i dont close and reopen the game after the timeout then my game will show a unity error and crash. My specs are r5 2600 rx580 and 16gb ram. My computer also doesn't overheat and there's no usage for anything PC related. It's a dedicated server run by my uncle and it uses darkness falls mod. It's alpha 20.6. the darkness falls version is 4.1.2.

Whenever I see 20 minutes, it is clear what the problem is.  Every 20 minutes (triggered only when opening containers/inventory/etc), the game clears out unused data.  This can cause the game to hang and depending how long the game hangs and what the timeout is for the server, you can get disconnected.  You can easily verify this be opening the console and reading the last couple of lines when the disconnect happens.  You are going to see a line similar to:

 

2023-04-21T22:50:57 1294.235 INF UnloadUnusedAssets after 20.04197 m, took 0 ms

 

All of these are going to say after 20 minutes, give or take, because that's how often they run.

 

Now, here are the main ways to fix this issue or at least limit it:

• Make sure your page file is on a SSD and set to allow Windows to control its size.
• Preferably also have your game and saves on SSD as well, though that is less of an issue as the page file.
• Increase your RAM. 16GB is not bad and is above specs, but it is helpful.

Note that the issue is mostly where the page file is located in my experience.  The other points just further improve the situation.  Also note that the timeout problem is going to be most noticeable on servers, less so when connecting to someone hosting from their own computer, and non-existent in single player.  But you'll still see the game hanging every 20 minutes in each instance.  Servers usually have a low timeout period and that's why it is most noticeable there.

 

Just for reference:

I played the game with the game installed on SSD, but due to it being a small SSD, I had the saves and page file on HDD.  I had 8GB RAM at the time.  Every 20 minutes, I would freeze when opening inventory/containers/etc. and that freeze usually lasted for 2-4 minutes, though it sometimes was only seconds.  As soon as I added a larger SSD and placed my page file on SSD and my saves on SSD (game still on SSD), that freeze dropped to no more than 3-4 seconds.  As soon as I upgraded to 32GB RAM, it dropped to under 1 second.

 

Oh, and you have almost the same specs as I had.  I have AMD Ryzen 5 2400G with Radeon RX580 and originally had 8GB RAM.

Edited April 23, 2023 by Riamus (see edit history)

[Vizixys]

if the problem is cause of my page files that wouldnt make much sense cause i have the game a a 1tb ssd so would that mean its a ram issue? also if its a server thing then why am i the only one being effected

[Beelzybub]

1 hour ago, Vizixys said:

if the problem is cause of my page files that wouldnt make much sense cause i have the game a a 1tb ssd

The pagefile is a Windows function, not a game function. Is Windows installed on the ssd?

[Riamus]

On 4/23/2023 at 2:22 PM, Vizixys said:

if the problem is cause of my page files that wouldnt make much sense cause i have the game a a 1tb ssd so would that mean its a ram issue? also if its a server thing then why am i the only one being effected

Not sure what OS you are on, but if Windows 10, go to the Start Menu and type:  systempropertiesadvanced    and then hit Enter.  Click on the top Settings button in the Performance section.  Click the Advanced tab.  Click the Change button.  You will see the list of your hard drives.  Click on each drive and see what it says for the page file settings.  *If you are using another version of Windows, just Google "page file settings Windows" followed by whatever version you have and you'll get easy instructions on how to see the settings.  The settings you want to use will be the same once you're in there.

 

There are 3 options for each drive - Custom Size, System Managed Size, No Paging File.  You want the drive(s) that you have your page file on (the SSD) to be set to System Managed Size.  Any HDD drives should be set to No Paging File.  Don't use Custom Size on any drives.

 

Normally you would just have it enabled for your C drive, but that may vary if your C drive is slower or if your C drive is small.  What you will want is to have whatever drive is your fastest SSD be the one your page file is on if possible.  If not, then any other SSD.

 

If the page file is already enabled on a SSD and it is not set to System Managed Size, then this isn't your issue and RAM may be your best option.  However, I would be surprised if this problem affects you if your page file is on a SSD and is set to System Managed Size.  At least, that depends on how long your freeze is for.  If your freeze is only a matter of seconds, then it will likely just be RAM.  If it's longer, then I would expect it to be the page file more than the RAM.  Just from my experience, anyhow.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Riamus (see edit history)

[SylenThunder]

12 hours ago, Riamus said:

If the page file is already enabled on a SSD and it is not set to Custom Size, then this isn't your issue and RAM may be your best option.

Small correction here. Unity doesn't work well with custom set pagefile settings. Even if you have it set manually to always be larger than the 8GB minimum that Unity requires, it still seems to cause a problem when Unity goes to address the pagefile addresses. This will end up crashing the client, and usually gives a generic memory allocation error. (Even if the game client wouldn't even use the pagefile because you have more than enough RAM available.)

 

Besides that, if you have Win 7 SP1 or greater, setting a custom fixed pagefile will decrease performance 90% of the time when compared to having it set to System Managed.

[Jugginator]

So, the disconnect is a relation to the garbage cleanup (which isn't a hard set 20 seconds btw). However, the system is heavily bogged down/at the limit as far as resource availability goes; so, when the garbage cleanup happens in your case during a heavy time, your system stops responding to the server because it has so much to catch up on that it can't process and send off packets at the moment. The server boot is pretty trigger-happy but with good reason. Try lowering some of your settings, especially resolution.

[Riamus]

2 hours ago, SylenThunder said:

Small correction here. Unity doesn't work well with custom set pagefile settings. Even if you have it set manually to always be larger than the 8GB minimum that Unity requires, it still seems to cause a problem when Unity goes to address the pagefile addresses. This will end up crashing the client, and usually gives a generic memory allocation error. (Even if the game client wouldn't even use the pagefile because you have more than enough RAM available.)

 

Besides that, if you have Win 7 SP1 or greater, setting a custom fixed pagefile will decrease performance 90% of the time when compared to having it set to System Managed.

Thanks.  That was a mistake in what I was writing.  I meant to say not set to System Managed Size.  I corrected it in the post.

2 hours ago, Jugginator said:

So, the disconnect is a relation to the garbage cleanup (which isn't a hard set 20 seconds btw). However, the system is heavily bogged down/at the limit as far as resource availability goes; so, when the garbage cleanup happens in your case during a heavy time, your system stops responding to the server because it has so much to catch up on that it can't process and send off packets at the moment. The server boot is pretty trigger-happy but with good reason. Try lowering some of your settings, especially resolution.

Are you sure it isn't hard set at 20 minutes?  I mean, I know it triggers on opening inventory/etc., but from what I've seen and even in logs, it is the first time you open inventory/container/etc. after hitting 20 minutes.