Server Won't Start

If your server fails to start or immediately crashes after booting, this guide covers the most common causes and their solutions.

The first step is always to read the console. Go to the Console tab in your server panel and look for error messages. Common indicators:

• Red text or [ERROR] lines — the server encountered a fatal problem.
• "Port already in use" — another process is using the same port.
• "Out of memory" or OOM killed — your server ran out of RAM.
• "File not found" — a critical file is missing or corrupted.

If the error mentions a port conflict:

1. Check that you haven't manually set a port that's already in use by another server.
2. Use the default port assigned by NovaStack (shown in your server settings).
3. If you have multiple servers, ensure each uses a unique port.

On NovaStack, ports are auto-assigned and managed — this issue usually only occurs if you've manually changed the port configuration.

Servers that exceed their RAM allocation will be killed by the OS (OOM killer).

Signs:

• Server starts, runs for a few seconds/minutes, then stops with no clear error.
• Console shows Killed or exit code 137.

Solutions:

1. Upgrade your plan to get more RAM.
2. Reduce world size or player count.
3. Remove heavy mods/plugins that consume excessive memory.
4. For Minecraft: lower view-distance and simulation-distance.
5. For Rust: reduce server.worldsize.

If critical game server files are missing or corrupted:

1. Go to the Settings tab.
2. Click Reinstall Server. This re-downloads all game files without deleting your configurations or world data.
3. If that doesn't work, restore from a backup.

Common causes:

• A failed update that was interrupted.
• Accidentally deleting files via the File Manager.
• A bad mod that overwrote core files.

A faulty plugin or mod can prevent the server from starting entirely.

1. Check the console for the specific mod/plugin name in the error.
2. Remove or rename the offending plugin file.
3. Restart and confirm the server boots without it.
4. Check for an updated version of the plugin, or report the issue to the plugin author.

Quick test: Temporarily move all mods/plugins out of the folder, start the server vanilla, then add them back one by one to isolate the problem.

If none of the above resolves your issue:

• Open a support ticket from the dashboard — include your server ID and the console output.
• Join our Discord for community help.
• Check the status page to make sure there are no ongoing infrastructure issues.