Connectivity issues between friends

[Rattle189]

Hello,

 

I and 4 other friends were comfortably playing Project Zomboid together through a server hosted in-game but suddenly we're all unable to play together now due to numerous issues such as:

• Initially, it started out as 2 friends got stuck in a complete black screen while joining the server, there is no text at the bottom.
• After a while, they were able to join with 200ms (before it was a smooth 20ms ~ 40ms) but it caused issues like zombies disappearing and teleporting.
• When in the server, some parts of the map do not load, it appears as the area is cut off and pitch black but we (the ones who don't have connectivity issues) can pass through.

 

We've tried a few things to fix the issue, here is what they are:

• We tried re-installing the game and deleting the Zomboid project.
• We tried changing saves and creating a new one but the existing issues were still present.
• I tried to host on Windows 10 and Debian 11, but the issues remained present.
• I also tried to host through in-game and a dedicated server on both operating systems.
• I tried reducing and increasing the server memory from 1GB up to 4GB.
• I tried hosting with and without UPnP, if without UPnP I would port forward.
• I tried hosting with DMZ enabled on my machine.

 

The host machine runs these hardware specifications:

• Ryzen 5 2400G.
• 16GB RAM.
• 120GB SATA SSD for the server and game.
• 300Mbps upload/download on fiber optic.
• Windows 10 Pro and Debian 11, both 64-bit.

 

The strange part is that this problem is only exclusive to Project Zomboid. I also run a Starbound dedicated server (both Windows and Linux) and everyone has no issues connecting, reportedly having the same ping when Project Zomboid wasn't acting up.

 

Any help is appreciated.

[Rattle189]

This issue mysteriously solved itself after a while. The server was working again with these new settings:

• UPnP is not enabled. Opened UDP ports are 7777 to 7787.
• Server port is changed from 16261 to 7777.
• Server memory remained the same as 2GB.

Additional possible solutions to those who may encounter this issue can be found within this Steam discussion of the same issue.

[EnigmaGrey]

My only guess would be that something was inteferring with those specific ports, so changing them sorted it.

Very strange, though.