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Even though Minecraft has been out of beta testing since a while, it can still have glitches from time to time. It will eventually experience problems such as crashes and lag when merged with third-party plugins such as CraftBukkit and Tekkit. Server problems are usually unavoidable with most Minecraft servers and the more plugins and the larger your world, the more likely you are to have these issues. This guide will provide detailed information on how to troubleshoot a Minecraft server to help you find the root cause. One point we (GGServers) would like to make is that server crashes and [most] causes of lag have nothing to do with the host themselves (this goes for any hosting company). Every host runs the Minecraft/External Minecraft server software (which is a .jar file) through Java, which is cross-platform (Windows, Mac & Linux Compatible). This allows servers to run in the same way on all OSes. Due to this, it isn't the host that is actually starting/running your server, it is the Minecraft/External Minecraft server software that is running through Java that is the brain of everything, the only time a crash is an issue on the host's side is if their actual physical hardware breaks down or if the operating system crashes. All other crashes are caused directly by Minecraft/External Minecraft server software and plugins themselves. You will also want to understand that host companys cannot fix all Minecraft related problems for you as we did not program the game, CraftBukkit, Tekkit or the plugins you use - we can only give you our best effort at debugging the problems using our experience. It is also possible for a host company to make mistakes, as we did not install the plugins or configure the server. If you have purchased the Modpack Support addon, you should always provide as much detail as you can about the problem to help others. Strongcraft Some problems are not possible to resolve without doing a full reset/rollback. Strongcraft This is sadly the nature of the Minecraft game itself and the plugins based upon it. FIRST STEP OF ANY SERVER ISSUES The first thing YOU, the server owner, should do with ANY kind of server problem is check your console or server.log file (via FTP or built-in file viewer). The console is a realtime copy of the server.log files (a text based file), however the server.log files has a longer historical record since it is all console log's output. While the console display is limited only to the last few line, it can be used as a history file. Although some messages may seem unusual or cryptic within the console/server.log file, you will often find the error messages containing the name of the plugins that the error is related. Error messages are preceded or similar to "[SEVERE]". Some errors will indicate the exact problem. This makes it easier for the server owner to correct the problem. However, in some cases the server.log size may be several gigabytes (1000MB+), and it will not be possible to open. Usually when the server.log file is larger than 1 GB, it is due to chunk errors. Tip: Deleting your server.log file (without the server running) will make it much shorter/cleaner and easier to see startup and shut down errors. It wouldn't be enjoyable to have to download 100MB log files every time. If you want to keep it, you can rename the file to another name (example server.logOLD1). Once you have identified the problem, the next step will be to ensure that all plugins installed are up to date (including your Minecraft/External Minecraft JAR). Click the Update button in the Multicraft panel to do this. This should resolve most, if not all, plugin-related errors. However if you continue to get errors after updating your plug-ins, they could be due to another issue that will require further investigation. REMOVING ALL THINGS WORLDWIDE AS A SOURCE OF THE ISSUE OF THE PROBLEM Sometimes the problem is within your world. To test this, you will want to go into your multi-craft panel and change the "level-name" setting (default is "world") to something else ("world2"), then hit the save button and then allow the server to automatically restart. This will create a folder called "world2", in your server directory. Check your server.log file for the same errors. NOTE: Changing a level-name can affect the way multi-world Plugins work. In this case, you might need to delete the new world from the multiworld Plugin(s) config file. Otherwise the world will be generated again. If this resolves the issue on your server then it means that there is an issue in your world file. This can be, but is not limited to: water, redstone, lava, large quanities of mobs, non-removal of dropped items et cetera. You can also check to see if your plugins keep throwing errors in your server.log file or console. To change the world back into your old one, simply change its name back to what it was before (capitalizations or spaces are important, so type it exactly as before). BASICS TO FIX PLUGIN PROBLEMS Most plugin errors are caused by incorrectly installing them (example: some plugins need other plugins in order to work). It is important to ensure that your Minecraft/External Minecraft server files are always up-to-date (from the game panel) and that all plugins you install support the exact same Minecraft server software version. Differences in these versions/different types of server software can cause errors, lag, and crashes. It is better to avoid installing plugins that do not support CraftBukkit. Plugins can sometimes be updated frequently, so you will always want to check on http://plugins.bukkit.org for the latest versions of your plugins. If updating does not resolve the errors, it is likely that your config file is having issues. Some plugins require things such as a MySQL database (which GGServers can provide by request), and if you don't enter in your MySQL database login info, then the plugin will throw errors. Other issues with plugin configs can come from out-dated config files used with an updated version of the plugin, so you will need to remove the config file, then restart the server so the plugin automatically generates a new config file for it. Some plugins can also have data file issues that can make them unusable. In certain cases, the data can be edited manually to fix it, but you may need the entire data folder removed (or renamed) to fix it. Many errors are caused by config files. (config files extensions is.yml). Those files must be followed strictly. Failure to do so and getting even just a capitalization error, will make the plugin and all associated plugins unusable. You can check the syntax of any .yml file using this site: http://yaml-online-parser.appspot.com/ TYPES OF PLUGINS THAT CAN CAUSE LAG: The following plugins are some (but not limited to) that can cause server lag: -Anti X Ray (or any xray-related plugin) – World Edit –NPC -Anti-cheat –Wrong version anti-lag plug-ins –Outdated/wrong versions of plugins in general PROCESS OF ELUMINATION: Disabling plugins in groups is a great way of testing for server errors. This allows you to quickly narrow down the problem and speed up the process. This is simple, a good way to do this is to append .disabled onto the plugin file name, (example) worldedit.jar.disabled. If you are ready to re-enable your plugin(s), simply remove the.disabled tag from your plugin(s) then restart the server. WHAT TO DO If YOUR SERVER DOES NOT START UP There are many reasons why a server won’t start (at all), so let’s go over some of them. 1. You have no more disk space available, check the profile page in your multi-craft to confirm that you may/may not have reached the limit. This is common if you have backup plugins that you don't keep track of and it creates hundreds of backups, thus using up all of your disk space. If you don't need something, remove it. 2. Chunk errors are detected. Chunk errors are error messages that spam your server.log and can cause your disk space to reach its maximum limit. The server.log contains all error messages, so it can grow into the gigabytes. You will want to delete your server.log file in this case and may need to load a new world sadly. 3. Your Minecraft server JAR file is corrupt/unusable. You can upload the most recent version by using the update button within your multi-craft panel. 4. There is a plugin that will stop/crashe your server upon start-up. TYPES OF LAGA: There are different types of lag that can mean different things on your server. We'll cover a few of them here: 1. Delayed block breaking, movement delay (you are pushed back slightly in time after walking for a certain distance or time), also known as "rubber bandsing" and damage delay. -- This type of lag can usually happen due to network lag (on the hosts or the client side), lag on the client's own internet connection, server runtime/performance issues that can happen from plugins/world(s), and the use of external MySQL databases for plugins. If you feel lag, you can use a plugin called LagMeter (or another similar plugin). If the TPS is less than 20, it may be related to another issue. 2. Framerate issues on the client side. This is usually caused by a problem with the server chunk generation. It can also be caused by TNT explosions and damage to chunks caused by TNT. If the lag lasts for more than 10 minutes, or continues after logging back into the server, a new universe may be necessary. This type of lag can also be caused by plugins that are anti-x-ray or ore obfuscation. You can either update or remove the plugin to resolve this issue. Many servers have also disabled TNT in all of the world (not good for faction-based servers). CONCLUSION If you are experiencing some form of error or lag on your server and are unable to determine using this article, please feel free to open a ticket with our Technical Support team at: https://ggservers.com/billing/submitticket.php. To have your issue resolved quickly, please provide as many details as possible. Without detailed information on the issue, or on troubleshooting you may have already done, our tech support team would start from the most basic troubleshooting procedures and may be repeating what you have already completed.