Rust Server Troubleshooting and Common Crash Fixes

Overview

When a Rust dedicated server fails to boot or repeatedly crashes, identifying the root cause in the console logs avoids unnecessary wipes. This guide covers the most frequent failure modes and their direct solutions.

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Common Issues & Solutions

1. Boot Loop: "Corrupt or invalid save header"

• Cause: The server terminated abruptly while writing proceduralmap.*.*.sav during an auto-save or hard power off.
• Solution:
  1. Open the DustBowl Warden File Manager.
  2. Navigate to /server/<server-identity>/.
  3. Look for auto-backup save files named: proceduralmap.*.*.sav.1, proceduralmap.*.*.sav.2, or proceduralmap.*.*.sav.3.
  4. Rename the corrupted proceduralmap.*.*.sav to corrupted.sav.
  5. Copy the most recent healthy backup (e.g. *.sav.1) and rename it to proceduralmap.*.*.sav.
  6. Restart the server.

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2. Players Cannot Connect: "Steam Auth Timeout" or "Disconnected: Auth Ticket Cancelled"

• Cause: Communication failure between the dedicated server and Valve's Steam authentication servers.
• Solution:
  1. Verify the server's Query Port is accessible and unblocked.
  2. Ensure your server time is synchronized via NTP.
  3. Verify server.secure 1 is configured. If Steam backend services are experiencing maintenance, the server will reject clients until Steam API connectivity recovers.

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3. Crash on Boot After Facepunch Monthly Update

• Cause: An outdated version of Oxide or Carbon is installed on a newly updated server binary.
• Solution:
  1. Open the Startup tab in Warden.
  2. Disable Oxide / Carbon temporarily.
  3. Verify the vanilla server boots cleanly.
  4. Once confirmed, download the newly released Oxide or Carbon build compiled specifically for the new Rust release and re-enable the framework.

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4. Container Terminated (Signal 9 / Out of Memory OOM)

• Cause: Rust dedicated servers require a minimum of 8 GB RAM (and 12-16 GB on maps 4500m+ with 100+ players). If memory exceeds the container limit, Linux OOM killer sends SIGKILL (Exit Code 137).
• Solution:
  1. Reduce map size from 5000 to 3500 or 4000.
  2. Tune garbage collection parameters (gc.buffer 2048, gc.incremental true).
  3. Upgrade your server resource plan in DustBowl Warden.

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5. Server Disappears from Public Server Browser

• Cause: Query Port misconfiguration or network rate-limiting.
• Solution:
  1. Confirm your server.queryport matches the allocated Query Port in the Network tab.
  2. Verify server.secure 1 and server.antihack 1 are set.
  3. Avoid setting server.hostname with forbidden non-UTF8 characters or excessive special symbols that trigger Valve spam filters.

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Log File Locations in DustBowl Warden

If an issue persists, inspect the detailed logs:

• Server Console Log: /server/<server-identity>/Log.Log.txt
• Oxide Compilation Log: /oxide/logs/compiler_*.txt
• Carbon Logs: /carbon/logs/
• Crash Dump Reports: /server/<server-identity>/crashes/

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Next Steps

• Review foundational setup in How to Set Up a Rust Dedicated Server.
• Tune configuration ConVars in How to Configure server.cfg on a Rust Server.