When players cannot join a PlayNHost Quake Live server, the usual cause is the address: it must include the port, typed as /connect and the full Server Address from Overview, and the badge must say Online. A wrong or missing Server Password is next. Other Quake Live problems and their fixes are below, most frequent first.
Players cannot join
Why: the server is not Online yet, the port is missing from the address, the password does not match, or the server is full. Fix: work through the causes in Players cannot join your Quake Live server.
The server is not in the Quake Live server list
Why: Server Type is not 2. The panel's help text for Quake Live says Internet lists you publicly, LAN and Offline do not. A change on the Settings tab also needs a restart before it counts. Fix: set Server Type to 2 under Settings, Game Settings, then click Restart now: How to list your Quake Live server in the server browser. Players can always join with /connect meanwhile.
A setting I changed did nothing
Why: Quake Live reads every Game Settings value when it starts. After a save the panel says "Saved. The server must restart before these take effect." Fix: click Restart now in that message, or Restart under Additional power actions, the arrow next to Stop.
The server takes long to start, or stays on Starting
Why: with Workshop IDs filled in, Quake Live downloads each Workshop item before it finishes starting, so the first start after you add items takes longer. A start without Workshop items took about 11 seconds on PlayNHost's test server. Fix: open the Console and watch. While new lines such as Waiting on 1 Workshop downloads keep appearing, it is still working. The server is ready at zmq stats and rcon passwords updated. Quake Live skips an item it cannot download and keeps starting, according to its official server readme. If the Console stops moving before the ready line, remove the item you added last on the Workshop tab, click Save, then Restart to apply: How to add Steam Workshop items to your Quake Live server.
A Workshop map never comes up in the map vote
Why: downloading a Workshop item does not add its map to the rotation. The panel's note on the Workshop tab says so: you add the map name to baseq3/mappool.txt yourself. Fix: add a line for the map to baseq3/mappool.txt under Files, then restart: How to add Steam Workshop items to your Quake Live server.
The Workshop tab marks an item Not found, Wrong game or Collection
Why: the panel checks each id against Steam before you save. Not found means Steam has no Workshop item with that id, Wrong game means the item was published for another game, and Collection means the id is a Steam collection, while this field takes single items. You can still save, but a marked entry will not load. Fix: remove the marked entry and paste the id of a single Quake Live Workshop item, the number at the end of its Steam address. For a collection, add the items in it one by one: How to add Steam Workshop items to your Quake Live server.
An RCON tool cannot connect, or gets no answer
Why: Quake Live's remote console is its own ZeroMQ-based one, not the classic Quake III rcon, so a Quake III rcon tool gets nothing back. With RCON Password empty, the remote console is closed to every outside tool. A wrong password also gets no reply at all, not an error. Fix: set RCON Password, restart, and use a tool that speaks Quake Live's ZeroMQ rcon with the username rcon, on your server's own port over TCP: How to connect an RCON tool to your Quake Live server. The Console tab in the panel works without any of this.
The server is full
Why: Max Players is the player limit your plan includes, and Quake Live refuses connections past it. Fix: check the Slots row on Overview: How to change player slots on your Quake Live server.
The panel will not save the Server Name or Server Password
Why: Server Name takes at most 70 characters and Server Password and RCON Password at most 20. None of the three can contain a double quote (") or a backslash (\), because the panel passes them to Quake Live inside quotes. Fix: shorten the value and leave those two characters out: How to change your Quake Live server name and password.
I cannot change FPS or Max Players
Why: both show Read only under Game Settings. Max Players follows your plan. FPS shows 40: Quake Live itself has locked the server frame rate (sv_fps) since update 1066 in December 2015, so the panel does not offer to change it. Fix: for the player limit, use the Slots row on Overview. FPS cannot be changed.
The panel says "Installation failed"
Why: the panel says "The installer did not finish, so this server has not been set up yet." The usual cause is that Steam did not deliver the Quake Live server files. The installer already tries Steam 3 times, 15 seconds apart, before it gives up with "SteamCMD failed to install app 349090 after 3 attempts." Fix: open a ticket. There is no reinstall button for Quake Live in the panel, so support takes it from there.
Still stuck?
Open a ticket with the time of the problem and the last 50 to 100 lines of the Console. General help: How to fix a server that will not start.
