Game mode: Online official | Online private Type of issue: Bug Workaround Server type: PvP | PvE-Conflict | PvE Region: Any
Multiplayer environments have long reported placeables with 0 hit points, requiring a server reboot or damage to the placeable before it can be picked up. This has been a persistent and painful bug that causes erosive attitudes toward the health and prosperity of the server, and the greater game. After some analysis and hard thinking as a server operator, this solution, while inelegant, was only available to me through the help, comfort and sounding board of my brother @Cauthey. We are all only as good as our best friends and co-workers.
The bug:
Every server, when new, will be susceptible to this
Every pickupable placeable, the first time it’s placed, will go down as 0 HP
It must survive a server reboot
Subsequent placings will work normally
The solution:
Admin your server
Find a nice quiet location out of the way
Spawn and place every placeable item
Restart the server
Every object will now be placeable and retractable by every player
Notes: Future placeables, including those from DLC, will need to be dealt with in such a manner.
Single Player mode is not susceptible to this glitch, which makes its diagnosis all the more frustrating to individuals who’ve tried to help in the past. This also explains why “fresh” servers, including officials, report/reported diminishing occurrences of this bug over time, until it was entirely absent.
This has been tested with mods and without. The scene of anxiety-triggering clutter was repeated on my modded server, and a fresh test instance, and both went through “normal” server reboots this morning, to put the icing on the cake.
Amazing investigative deep dive here, Barnsie! The part I played in this discovery was so minor. But I am happy to be your sounding board and your brother! You truly are the Chosen of Asura!
If there is something that is “not initialized” on a fresh server for placables, would it be possible to identify the DB delta, and compose a script that will do the necessary “prep” for each placable type? Effectively “pre-place” all placables, and incorporate whatever verification that the server recycle performs?
This seems to me like this would HAVE to be low hanging fruit that can be easily plucked by a devkit-head, or Funcom itself.
After further investigation, and astute players who are engaged in this process – thanks to Stranger and @droch-aon – there was one notable recalcitrant building piece that simply would not change its status. This led me down the rabbit hole of DB comparison, and after it all, I was able to determine that the distro (the software distribution) used by most, if not all of our common hosting providers, results in malformed data related to the health of our builables.
Thank you to every admin who’s answered my call this morning to send me their DBs: Nitrado, g-portal and Nodecraft servers all have this critical DB flaw, which will/could end up causing persistent 0 HP on many, if not all placeables. The brute-force solution I’ve provided in my OP is indeed laborious, and it is valid for those admins who do not feel comfortable with the process of pruning their databases. It will not fix vertical elevators, though, and they will still need to be dismantled rather than being able to be picked up.
How it was discovered: this morning I created a new Dedicated server on a very low-end PC I just so happen to have in the kitchen. After first checking its default status, I imported an old DB from another server, and still there was no issue. I repeat, the amazing server tool Funcom has provided will set up your server the proper way, and with comparatively no risk of this 0 HP issue.
After importing my professionally-hosted private server’s DB, the 0 HP issue persisted for vertical elevators without letup. At this point I delved into the DB to determine the differences.
Long story short, I have derogated the Server Cleanup batch file that is provided with every Dedicated server solution. This simplified cleanup tool will reset the health characteristics of buildables in the world without altering any player data or structure.
I will be testing this in “clinical trials” with my playerbase as soon as possible, and will make the batch file available once we are certain there are no harmful after-effects.
Latest results: the “health reset,” in concert with the manual placing of all objects, has made the 0 HP bug go away on both servers, my active one and test server. Three objects that were in my inventory and not placed in the world during the fix/reboot were still 0 HP after placement. When I left them out overnight for the server reboot, they are now able to be picked up. This confirms that subsequent “new” items will need to be dealt with similarly.
Findings:
If your DB starts out clean, as created by a fresh instance of the Conan Exiles Dedicated Server launcher subsystem, you are not usually susceptible to this bug.
If you start out your server on a hosting provider, it is known that you may end up with a DB that creates this 0 HP bug.
If this 0 HP bug presents itself, you will need to perform the one-time placing of all placeables, then rebooting the server.
You will need to run the HP Health Reset, in the form of a sqlite3 command, on your DB, or else your vertical elevators will be similarly bugged.
Recommendations:
a. New hostings should start with a fresh version of the DB, rather than the one issued by the host during the server’s installation.
b. If you are starting a new server and are stuck using the DB offered by the host, stop your server, delete the DB and restart the server. It will create a brand new, blank world with a high likelihood of being immune to this bug.
c. If you find you have this bug, follow the steps in my OP, and contact me privately for the instructions to reset your placeable health. This step requires running a sqlite3 command on your DB, which comes with a degree of risk.
You truly are the Chosen of Asura!