With the Producer’s Letter released on January 15, 2025, and the shift in development focus toward resolving bugs and increasing stability, let’s take a look at how to properly report bugs, the issues players face when doing so, and what we, as players, can do to assist the Conan Exiles team.
TL;DR: Reporting bugs is important. There are methods to identifying and understanding them, and there’s a proper way to report them.
Why Report Bugs
This is not your responsibility, you do not have to do this if you do not want to. But it helps. “Living with the bugs”, using “workarounds” can alleviate your playing perspective but:
If you see something, say something.
Like any game, providing feedback and instructions on bugs and issues seen is an important part of Games as a Service and continued game development. No matter how large a studio is, they are not infallible; they’re human. The gaming industry relies on player feedback as not everything can be realized the same way on their end; as in, once live, it can become much more apparent, and, some bugs are so deep that no one could know until it happens.
What the goal is in playing video games is FUN. Perhaps we can play a part in providing this feedback so we can get back to or continue to, having fun.
Identifying a Problem & Troubleshooting
It sure does suck when you die for some inexplicable reason or encounter a broken feature.
To begin troubleshooting, ask yourself: Is it the game, my hardware, the server, or something else?
When it comes to hardware, do you meet the minimum system requirements?
XBOX (No info on what is required for PC Gamepass, refer to Steam or Epic requirements).
Playstation 4 and 5
PC Steam
PC EpicIf you do not meet the minimum system requirements this might be the cause of your issue; especially for stability, graphics and performance related problems with the game.
Next, determine whether the issue is reproducible.
A good starting point of how something occurred, especially if you die, lose a thrall or items is to check your Event Log.
How to Access your Event Log and the Controls
On a server or in Singleplayer/Co-op, go to Menu and Click on Server the Event Log:
A new screen of the menu will pop up with settings/controls:
• Increase Proximity to the right, 10,000 will show any events your character/clan have underwent across the map. If you want to narrow down a specific area, then decreasing this can be helpful.
• Increase Days Passed if you want more than the default of 7 days. The maximum is 21.
• Default selections checked are: Server, Building System, Thrall/Pet, Lootbag, Purge, Religious Warfare, Unauthorized Inventory Access and Player with Friendly Inventory Access being unchecked. If you want to narrow down a specific type of event, only keep that type checked.
• Hit Submit and Date and Event window will populate with entries up to a maximum of 200 per submission.
Using the “when, where, who, why, and how” technique can help you identify the problem and understand it better.
That isn't always easy or even possible, but let's break things down with an example
This particular bug where crafting feasts from beginning to end is challenging, it did take some time to figure it out.
I used Feast to Yog as an example.
What: notice that feasts don’t craft completely or at all
Who: anyone in clan, including myself
Where: on multiplayer and singleplayer, on stove and improved stove
When: crafting queue breaks randomly seconds or minutes after initiation
How: 4th slot cancels crafting queue fully or partially if item requires crafting with prerequisitesSo I asked myself the following questions:
• Was it just me?
• Was it the server I was on?
• Was it a specific stove?
• Was it only religious feasts?
• Was it any recipe in the stove?
• Why the 4th slot and how does that happen?
• Is decay or rendering a problem?
• Was it based on a quantity or button?
• Was there something broken with initiating the craft of the end goal recipe?I was able to rule out and determine the following:
• Had other clan members try, ruled out hardware limitations since we play PC and all have different rigs.
• Tried on singleplayer and it was reproducible there.
• Tested other feasts, drinks and food, determined it was all feasts that required prerequisite crafting up to and beyond the 4th slot.
• Tested multiple recipes in the crafting queue that didn’t have prerequisites, determined that if a new recipe started in the 4th slot, it wouldn’t cancel fully or partially.
• Tried different recipes including drinks and determined those are not affected even if they have prerequisites up to and beyond the 4th slot.
• Happened across map, having logged out, staying logged in and while watching.
• Didn’t matter if it was 5, 20 or 500, any crafting amount as long as the 4th or beyond crafting slot was taken up with prerequisites and end goal recipe. Using the different crafting initiations of Craft 1, Craft All or Craft 10 didn’t matter.
• Didn’t matter if queue was filled up with initiating each craft of prerequisite individually.Workaround: craft each prerequisite first to completion; 1. purified water xnum 2. soup xnum 3. bone broth xnum 4. yog feasts xnum, which means babysitting the stove.
*Seems like a lot of work but it was a longstanding bug that I in particularly had odds with. Yog feasts provide quick stamina regeneration and help in PVP fights. So imagine trying to ensure everything is ready for raid time under pressure and time, only to realize the feasts are not ready.
*Even if you cannot determine the cause it is ok to still proceed.
Search & Ask Others
Are you sure it is a bug? Sometimes certain aspects of gameplay might appear strange. Use Google, the forums, Youtube, Reddit and other social media to see if others are experiencing the same thing and/or if there might actually be a reasonable explanation or solution. It can be as simple as an update to hardware, game settings or it is intended.
Searching and posting in the Forums
The forums have a wealth of information and since it is the place to submit bug reports, is one of the best places to look. Searching with the right terms and in the right place is important; searching in the brown square Conan Exiles category will search the entire Conan Exiles forum. Searching in all topics and posts or any other category might not give you the results you’re looking or land you in a different game forum.
If you’d like to ask questions try doing it in a recent post on the same topic or navigate to the Players Helping Players under the General Discussions category and create a New Topic there.
Join a Conan Exiles Discord server
Conan Exiles fan Discord
For modders
For server Admins
Conan Exiles AlliesMake sure to read the respective Discord rules of each server and ask your question if you have one in the correct channel if it is available.
Each Discord server has a search feature.
Use Tools
Single Player
Using Single Player as a testing ground; this helps with determining if it is a game specific issue and provides you with the ability to use infinite resources.
Video Recording
Record the bug with video; most systems have this ability. This way, you can provide a visual reference to show the problem as it occurs.
XBOX
Playstation 4 | Playstation 5
PC Gamebar or preferred recorderAdditionally, creating an account with a video hosting service such as Youtube is useful. On Youtube, you may hide the video especially if it is an exploit where the link can be shared only to those you choose - such as those with the link only.
Screenshots
Take a screenshot if only an image will suffice. Example: armor clipping or removing character parts.
XBOX
Playstation 4 | Playstation 5
PC Windows - CRTL + PRTSCN keys: Entire screen(s) OR ALT + PRTSCN keys: window selected, then CRTL + V (Paste hotkey) into a Forum post or any other place where images can be received in text such as Discord, Facebook, etc.,..
Bug Report Template
Creating a bug report will be dependent on what your hardware is: PC, XBOX or PS.
The categories are located here
Each section has a pinned post at the top called New Bug Report Template, click on this and start filling out the report.
Note that the big blue button called Create New Report is broken. It will create a post but will have nothing you had filled in.
Instead, follow these instructions to help post a bug report, or refer to the image below provided by @Pugilist.
Be respectful, rude behavior takes away from the point of the report and dilutes the message. State facts to the best of your knowledge, be clear and fill in everything. It is ok to include info about why you think it is happening or posting even if you don’t know the cause.
Post in any language, English is not required.
It’s ok to create a duplicate report even IF the issue has already been submitted by yourself or others. Be reasonable though, if you had submitted a bug report in the past consider only re-submitting after an update and you have re-tested it. Submitting duplicates has been instructed by staff as the more feedback is presented, the more the issue can be realized then possible fixes implemented. The only time you should not submit a duplicate report is in any Beta.
Discretion with Exploits
Copy the post into a direct message addressed to “@ + Community”. There can be many arguments for posting directly on forums but lessening the spread of exploit reproduction helps other players not to experience it on multiplayer.
Mods
Mods for Conan Exiles PC are plentiful and add some really amazing diversity to the game beyond vanilla. But sometimes, no matter how carefully mod authors develop their mods or how users install them, it can conflict with the game, especially with an update or if a mod is outdated/unsupported. You have to rule them out first when troubleshooting a bug.
Some considerations
If you have joined a modded private server first reach out to the admin/owner in their preferred space to discuss the possibility of a mod causing an issue. Otherwise, you can implement the same mods on your own server or single player and troubleshoot there.
Warning: do not make changes without doing your due diligence. This information is taken from many posts on the forums and elsewhere, cobbled together as best as I can.
If you generally use mods on your server or in singleplayer for Steam:
- Backup a copy of your save
- Unsub all mods from the Workshop Items in Steam/server settings (make a note of the Mods you are using)
- Remove the mods completely from steam\steamapps\workshop\content, you want to delete all folders named “440900” as this is where the mods are housed
- Verify integrity of files through Steam
- Launch the game to ensure game runs properly
- Test the bug to see if it is reproducible without the mods, it is you can stop testing the mods, if not;
- One by one, reinstall each mod and test in between each installation
- If the issue presents itself after an installation, note the mod
- Reinstall all your mods, or, if the mod in question causes your game to be unplayable, do not reinstall it
If the bug is reproducible in vanilla, submit a bug report.
If the bug is reproducible only once a certain mod is installed, contact the mod author and do not submit a bug report.Here is a comprehensive discussion on Nexus mods for Gamepass and Epic.
The Conan Exiles Modding and Admins United: Conan discords are great resources for troubleshooting and if the bug is known based on a specific mod, you might avoid having to go through the steps yourself to troubleshoot.
The Chain
Moderators on the forums are responsible for reviewing and collecting reports. They check for clarity, attempt to provide immediate solutions, and ensure that the correct template is used. Once they review a report, they may tag it with “Report Received” and forward it to the Conan Exiles staff.
Sometimes, moderators will return with follow-up questions via comments or direct messages. This is because they’ve been asked to.
Keep in mind that moderators are not in charge of fixing bugs and typically cannot provide solutions directly. Be patient with them; they’re only doing their job, which is limited to the initial review and report triage.
Always use the correct Bug Report Template when submitting your issue.
When to use Helpshift
Helpshift is not the place to report bugs, (for the most part).
Instead report the following through Helpshift
• Report a player that has broken the Terms of Conduct, Guidelines and Procedures for Official Servers and hackers that have made their way onto Private servers.
• Purchases for issues with Crom Coins, payment problems, refund requests and reporting issues with Black Lotus Bazaar, DLCs, Twitch Drops, code prizes and Battle Pass items. *Note: while there is no guidance on this as of yet, if there is a bug related to any of the aforementioned items (ex.: clipping, invisible, cannot craft), a Bug Report wouldn’t be a bad thing either; regardless a Zendesk report is still required.
• Ban Appeal for permanent bans from Official servers. Be prepared to provide evidence of your innocence such as screenshots, time/date, videos, etc.,…
• Data Privacy Requests
• Official Server Performance when a server is down, laggy, keep getting kicked, etc.,..
• Other for general inquiries
*You might wonder why I bothered putting this together. I’ve compiled a list of current bugs and issues and see how the reports are submitted. Often, a lot of information is missing and can be as simple as what system the game is being played on or a user does not know about the broken bug reporting templates. I am not an expert or a professional tester, I am only using my experiences and knowledge to attempt to help. Please offer any advice to correct or add to the post as you see fit.