Icarus server keeps shutting down or players cannot join

Icarus tickets are nearly always one of these.

1. The server stops on its own

ShutdownIfNotJoinedFor in ServerSettings.ini stops the server after that many seconds with nobody connected. It is doing exactly what it was told.

1. Stop the server.
2. Set ShutdownIfNotJoinedFor to 0.
3. Save and start the server.

2. No prospect is loaded

• A server with no prospect running will not take players.
• Check CreateProspect, LoadProspect and ResumeProspect. Exactly one should have a value.
• Prospect names are case sensitive. A near miss creates nothing and the console says so.
• Read the console during boot for the prospect name it loaded.

3. Players cannot find the session

• Check SessionName is set and distinctive.
• Give a newly started server a few minutes.
• Confirm they are searching the dedicated server list rather than looking at their own sessions.
• Restart the server after a game update so it matches the clients.

4. The join password is refused

• JoinPassword and AdminPassword are different settings. Make sure you are giving out the right one.
• Check for a trailing space in the value.
• Restart after any change, since the file is read at boot.

5. Settings revert

Icarus rewrites ServerSettings.ini when it shuts down, so an edit made to a running server is lost. Stop the server, edit, save, then start.

6. The prospect was lost

• Check the prospect save folder in the Files tab before assuming anything is gone. Old prospects stay on disk.
• Point LoadProspect at the save you want.
• Take a backup before ending a drop or switching prospects.

Open a ticket from Support in the Client Area with the last 50 lines of console output if none of this fits.