Dedicated Server crashes on startup - UseDirectConnection: false (default config)

[mental fiber]

Server version: 0.10.0.3.104-256f9653
OS: Windows 11 26H2

After backend auth succeeds, R5NetGrpcServerV2 tries to bind a local port for P2P and fails. Two bugs found in this path:

1. Bind fails on ports that are not in use
The port being attempted does not appear in netstat -ano output at any point before or during launch. Nothing is holding it.

2. Retry loop is broken
The server logs a new port each retry but the actual bind attempt always uses the original port:

R5NetGrpcServerV2: Cannot create Server. Maybe ServerPort 43371 is busy. Try next one
[error] target_address:"ipv4:192.168.1.10:43371"  ← still 43371
R5NetGrpcServerV2: Cannot create Server. Maybe ServerPort 44181 is busy. Try next one
[error] target_address:"ipv4:192.168.1.10:43371"  ← still 43371
R5NetGrpcServerV2: Cannot create Server. Maybe ServerPort 43802 is busy. Try next one
[error] target_address:"ipv4:192.168.1.10:43371"  ← still 43371

After exhausting retries the server crashes with Server will be stopped due to data inconsistency.

Tested with P2pProxyAddress set to 127.0.0.1, 0.0.0.0, and a LAN IP — all crash the same way. With 0.0.0.0 the gRPC library resolves to IPv6 ([::]) and the same stuck-port behavior occurs on the IPv6 stack.

Note on documentation: The official docs example config shows UseDirectConnection: false with a LAN IP in P2pProxyAddress. This is exactly the configuration that causes the crash. There is no mention that this mode is broken or that UseDirectConnection: true is required as a workaround.

Workaround:

"P2pProxyAddress": "192.168.1.10",
"UseDirectConnection": true,
"DirectConnectionServerPort": 25565,
"DirectConnectionProxyAddress": "0.0.0.0"

Note: with this workaround the invite code flow does not work — players must connect via direct IP instead.

[narrow hamlet]

hte connection sirvices are only used for player's connection (handshake) it should not affect the game ping. if yo uare using a dedicated servers rental service please reach out to your service

[narrow hamlet]

try connecting to each other vie regular Host \ Join option and see if there is any difference in ping

[narrow hamlet]

Possible issues:

Something just went wrong within network set up

It is quite common that something could go wrong just because your machine or your router worked without rebooting for a long time. Turning it off and on again sometimes can do magic… no one in the world know why... but before trying other things, try doing the basics:

Reboot your PC
Shut down Steam and relog
Reboot your router
Check the game's file integrity

Block by your ISP

We are seeing that quite a few ISPs are blocking access to our backend service that help player to connect. We do not understand why this happens yet, but we are trying to reach out to them and try t address this. A few has already replied and unblocked us allowing players to play normally, however this process could take time.

If your ISP has any sort of app or a website where you can turn off additional security settings - try doing this, it could help!
If you know a place where your ISP shows a list of blocked sites - try looking for something that has windrose.support in it - this is us! Please unblock!
Try connecting via different connection services (even if you are from NA, if you can not connect with your friends, try selecting Asia or CIS and see if it works for you)
We cannot recommend to install any third party software, but quite a few people reported that using apps like https://one.one.one.one/ or similar to this one could help to bypass this block until it is lifted by ISPs
You network settings priorities IPv6 over IPv4

The game is currently architected to use IPv4, so if your IPv6 priority is much higher there could be connection issues. Disabling IPv6, or increasing IPv4 priority could sole that issue.

https://playwindrose.com/faq/#faq-ipv6

[mental fiber]

this is kind of very off topic for this report...

[little orbit]

@narrow hamlet @severe shuttle why in the hell did you guys just come into this report and start talking about something completely off topic and unrelated to to the report, Drake you didn't even help or talk about the issue that this report was made for that is unbelievable man.

<@&1354821664998817822>

delete all this except the report please

unrelated make ur own thread please

[shell saddle]

Aye, kinda hijacked your thread here

@severe shuttle If youre having similar problems, dont just take over someone elses support thread as your issues are probably different and it just takes away focus from helping OP. Make your own support thread if you are having issues.

[little orbit]

thank you

[shell saddle]

Thread is unlocked now too so OP can continue reporting their problems

[shell saddle]

Sorry for the delay man, theres a lot going on and not all of us are available at all times.

[mental fiber]

is this even the right category for my topic im unsure cuz this more of a report im not looking for a fix this is something the devs should fix lol

i gave an extensive report of the issue

[shell saddle]

I'd say so aye. If its a self hosted server, means theres probably a connectivity issue with the game and the more reports, the easier it is to diagnose the root cause and fix it

If its via a server provider, tech support is probably the better place for it as we dont handle how server providers do it. We have a couple of the people from Nitrado in here who are helping Nitrado users

[mental fiber]

I mean the issue is in software here