Windrose Server Won't Start - Troubleshooting

Check the Server Status

In the GameGrid dashboard, check the status of your Windrose server. If it shows "Failed" or is stuck on "Starting", there is a startup issue.

Click "Manage" to open the server panel, then go to the Console tab. The console output shows the server startup log, which usually indicates why the server failed to start.

Corrupted ServerDescription.json

The most common cause of startup failure is a corrupted ServerDescription.json file. This happens if the file was edited manually with invalid JSON syntax.

Symptoms: The server starts, immediately crashes, and the console shows a JSON parse error.

Solution: with the server stopped, rename R5/ServerDescription.json to ServerDescription.json.bak from the Files tab rather than deleting it — keeping the broken copy means support can see what went wrong. Start the server; Windrose writes a fresh one with its own defaults.

You will lose your server name, password, player limit, invite code, region and world selection, because all of them live in that file. Set them again from the Settings tab before letting players back in. Your world itself is untouched — it lives under R5/Saved.

Missing Game Files

If the server was recently provisioned or the game files were corrupted, the server executable may be missing.

Symptoms: The console shows "file not found" or "executable not found" errors.

Solution: try "Check & Repair" on the Admin tab first. It reports whether every game file your server should have is present, whether they all come from one build, whether that install finished and whether the game’s own start-up check passes — and it puts missing files back. If it cannot, use "Reinstall Server Files" in Quick Actions on the Overview tab, which replaces every game file from the host’s own copy. Both need the server stopped.

Neither touches your world, your settings or your mods, and a reinstall lists what it left alone. Nothing is downloaded from Steam either: a game’s files live once per host and a reinstall re-lays your server’s copy from that one. Take a backup first anyway if the world matters to you.

Port Conflict

On GameGrid, port conflicts are rare because each instance gets a unique port block. However, if the server was recently moved or the host was restarted, a port conflict can occur.

Symptoms: The console shows "port already in use" or "address already in use" errors.

Solution: ports are allocated by the platform and are not reassigned by a restart. Run "Check & Repair" on the Admin tab, which checks the platform-assigned port against the server’s own configuration, then open a support ticket with the console output if the error persists — a real port clash needs someone to look at the host.

Windrose Plus Installation Issues

If Windrose Plus was recently enabled and the server won't start, the mod installation may have failed.

Symptoms: The server crashes during startup after Windrose Plus was enabled. The console may show UE4SS or DLL loading errors.

Solution: flick the toggle at the top of the WindRose Plus tab off and restart the server. If it starts, Windrose Plus was the cause. A Windrose server runs perfectly well without it.

Toggle it back on to install a fresh copy from GitHub, and restart again. If the crash comes back, the mod is probably not yet compatible with the Windrose build you are on — leave it off and check github.com/HumanGenome/WindrosePlus for a release. There is no compatibility warning in the panel to tell you.

When to Contact Support

If none of the above solutions fix the startup issue, contact support with the following information:

Your Service ID, at the bottom of the Connection Info panel on the Overview tab.

The console output from the Console tab (copy and paste the last 20 to 30 lines).

When the issue started (after an update, after enabling Windrose Plus, after a config change, etc.).

Any recent changes you made to the server settings or files.

Our support team can check the host agent logs and server logs to diagnose the issue.