Game mode: Online private
Type of issue: Bug
Server type: PvE
Region: North America
Yesterday, a player on my server reported that while running past Hand of the Maker, they suddenly got the message that a purge thrall, Beast-Tamer Ulfarn had died. @Narelle asked them to screenshot the Event Log for me so that I could restore the lost items, but even with Proximity at Max, and both Thrall and Lootbag checked, nothing showed up.
To rule out a PEBCAK error, I used Pippi to put one of my alts in their clan and inspected the Event Log myself and could find nothing of interest. Since many of their followers had been renamed, I looked thru the Follower Management Screen to see if I could find one matching their description, but to no avail. The only mention I saw was an entry from two days prior where it had successfully performed a Returned Home action. Without any entries listing Break Bonds for it, I knew that something weird must have happened.
As a test, I used LBPR to undermesh a plank, deployed a new thrall on it, outfitted it with all Black Dragon armor and then broke the floor under it as I noted the time. While it was still showing in the Follower Management Screen after about 1 minute, I thought I’d rebuild the plank, then teleport away to see if it would Return Home to that spot.
However, 4 minutes later, i observed that it was no longer listed in Follower Management, and there was still nothing in the Event Log. I even went so far as to fall from the same spot to the bottom-most area of the world that I could without dying, then activate Fly, and max proximity still showed nothing.
Noting the time, I pulled the Server Logs, had a look and found some interesting messages:
[2020.06.03-20.07.01:815][571]Combat:Error: Data: [BP_SafetyNetVolume_251] PersistentHumanoidNPC_C_735 triggered the BP_SafetyNetVolume. Falling through the world. This shouldn’t happen.
[2020.06.03-20.07.01:816][571]Combat:Error: Data: [BP_SafetyNetVolume2] PersistentHumanoidNPC_C_735 triggered the BP_SafetyNetVolume. Falling through the world. This shouldn’t happen.
You’ll note about a 4-minute discrepancy between when it glitched under the map, and when it died:
[2020.06.03-20.11.13:287][875]LogActor:Warning: PersistentHumanoidNPC_C_735 is outside the world bounds!
Noting this, I downloaded the game.db so that Narelle and I could browse the “game_events” table for anything matching code 86 (Thrall Death) and found this:
And here are the items that were lost, which check out with those the player said were on the thrall when it died:
- 1x 3635 - Epic Flawless Argossean Phalanx Helm
- 1x 6196 - Epic Flawless Pictish Warchief Chest
- 1x 6197 - Epic Flawless Pictish Warchief Gauntlets
- 1x 5738 - Epic Flawless Barbarian Leggings
- 1x 5739 - Epic Flawless Barbarian Boots
- 1x 50506 - Sword of Crom
- 1000x 10001 - Stone
- 634x 10001 - Stone
Anyway, I restored the thrall and SoC to the player along with another legendary to make up for the rest and simply chalked it up to a freak accident… Until the same thing happened to one of my best thralls today too. While simply AFKing at my tavern, with my favorite Dalinsia following, Little Red Riding Dal, who was nearly level 19, with 40 base Str & Vit, good Vit perks, and respectable Agi disappeared below the map with Aja’s Bane and the Executioner’s Hood on her. 
Inspecting the Event Log and game.db, it was the same thing again:
[2020.06.04-16.04.11:794][ 38]Combat:Error: Data: [BP_SafetyNetVolume_251] PersistentHumanoidNPC_C_672 triggered the BP_SafetyNetVolume. Falling through the world. This shouldn’t happen.
[2020.06.04-16.04.11:794][ 38]Combat:Error: Data: [BP_SafetyNetVolume2] PersistentHumanoidNPC_C_672 triggered the BP_SafetyNetVolume. Falling through the world. This shouldn’t happen.
[2020.06.04-16.08.24:203][358]LogActor:Warning: PersistentHumanoidNPC_C_672 is outside the world bounds!
And what were the treacherous volcano slopes that I surely must have been treading when this calamity occurred? The death coordinates are:
TeleportPlayer 21393.46484375 124948.46875 -1048551.4375
They weren’t volcanic fields or towering cliffs at all, it was the slope where all the Rocknoses spawn north of the Sinkhole obelisk – one of the most heavily visited areas on the server. 
What I don’t understand is, if the game’s code is smart enough to say, “This shouldn’t happen.” Then why is a follower allowed to fall to such an inglorious death? Why not simply have it instantly put on the 10-minute cooldown before it performs the automatic Return Home teleport? Given how long it takes to level thralls at vanilla PvE rates, it’s extremely demoralizing to have this happen to our best thralls. And they are our best thralls because that’s who we naturally take with us when adventuring, and who we give the best gear.
While I can use god-admin powers to recreate thralls and gear, there’s no way for me to restore a string of good luck during leveling, and players on Official servers who encounter this would be completely without recourse.
Please provide a step-by-step process of how the bug can be reproduced. The more details you provide us with the easier it will be for us to find and fix the bug:
- Set a beloved thrall to follow, give it good gear.
- Play the game.
- Notice after some time that your thrall is no longer following, and that you’ve gotten a death message out of the blue.
- Check the Event Log and Follower Management Screen only to find no clues what-so-ever.
- Break out the Ouija Board (DB Browser for SQLite) and conduct a seance to learn their fate.
Modlist, in case there are any known issues (AFAIK, none of the modify the world geometry itself):
If desired, I can upload the Game.db, ConanSandbox, RconCommandLog, and ServerCommandLog to DropBox if the devs would like to look under the hood.